Conviction (A Stand-alone Novel): A Bad Boy Romance (29 page)

"They didn't skip town?" Ayden asked. "Please tell me they don't have some shark of a lawyer that will get them off tomorrow."

"They do, but he is currently in court. Turns out the FBI also froze the Mertz brothers' assets, and they won't be able to pay any lawyer," Shelton said in a pleased tone.

"That is wonderful news, thank you Bryon!" I said. He hung up the phone, and Ayden and I grinned at each other. "Are you seeing the other side yet? I swear we have almost made it through."

Ayden glanced down at his watch and his smile changed.

"I'll see you when you get back. Good luck," I said and opened his office door.

"Would you like to come along? I'd love your company," he said.

I felt his hand reach for my wrist, and I turned and fell into his arms. "I would love to."

* * * * *

"Time to go, sir?" Alan asked as we walked to the front doors.

"Please don't call me that, Alan. Yes, we're ready to go," Ayden said.

Alan had been brought on full time as both our personal security guard and our driver. I had told Ayden about all the times that Alan had beat me and my driver to our destination. The driver now worked driving the nightclub V. I. P.s, and Alan was with us full time.

Darla was extremely pleased by the change. She straightened Alan's tie and reached way up on her tippy toes to kiss him good-bye. "See you in a bit, sweetie pie."

I swear that Alan blushed as he waved goodbye and walked with us out to the elevators. The reporter was gone, but Alan cleared his throat. "I'm afraid there are probably more reporters downstairs. You've become big news."

Ayden shook his head. "It has to have blown over by now. Plus the police stopped the story about the intruder, ah, dying in our living room."

Microphones and recorders were shoved in Ayden's face as soon as the elevator doors were opened. The security guards at the front desk apologized profusely as they tried to escort the reporters out of the lobby.

"Mr. King! Mr. King! Is it true the Mertz brothers have been arrested?"

"Heads down, no comments and walk straight out the door," Alan said. He stepped in front and moved like a plow through a light snow.

The reporters jumped to the side as Alan moved through, and Ayden and I walked closely in his wake. The questions came from every side as Ayden slipped on a pair of dark sunglasses and wrapped an arm tightly around me.

"What do you say to reports that you took down the Mertz brothers? How did you topple their criminal organization?"

"Do you agree the Mertz brothers tried to put a stranglehold on Las Vegas real estate? Would you say their business practices really harken back to the mobster beginnings of our town?

The young reporter who had managed to slip upstairs earlier reappeared. "Is it true that you and Ms. Bishop are romantically involved? Is that an engagement ring on her finger?"

Cameras appeared everywhere, and I ducked my head against Ayden's shoulder as the flashes blinded me. He shielded my face with his hand and swept me along behind Alan. We burst out of the lobby and Alan went to work clearing reporters from the limousine door as if they were flies.

Once we scooted inside and the door was shut, the sound of the crowd died down to a soft murmur. The limousine had soundproof walls, tinted windows, and bulletproof plating under its sleek exterior. We sat back and breathed in the peace as Alan easily made his way around to the driver's side. Reporters cleared out of his way. He started the car and pulled away from the car, smoothly missing those reporters that darted in front of us.

"We might have company on the drive," Alan said over the speaker.

"Drive down the Strip," Ayden said, "that should slow them down." He leaned his wavy black hair against the tan leather of the limousine and sighed. "What in the hell was all of that?"

"That is what it is like to be a hero," I told him and patted his hand. "Your story is emerging as the scrappy underdog that stood up to the giant, evil conglomerate. Not only that, but you brought justice to Jace Knight."

"People will believe anything these days," Ayden mumbled.

I laughed. "Especially if it’s the truth." I scooted closer to him across the soft leather seats. "I know one thing for certain, you are my hero."

He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer as he shook his head. "I seem to recall that you are quite capable of defending yourself. In fact, you saved me."

"I did not!"

"You stepped between me and a loaded gun, Autumn. No one has ever done anything that heroic for me." He tipped my chin to his face and kissed me gently. "Or idiotic. I still have nightmares about it, but I'm amazed by you."

"You do turn me into an amazing idiot," I murmured against his lips. Then I pressed closer into the kiss.

My tongue trailed along his lower lip, and he groaned softly. The hand on my chin dropped to wrap around my waist and pull me almost onto his lap. Ayden panted as I opened and explored and drove him wild with my tongue. He fell back against the seat and gave into me. Having the power to bring my tough talking, rock-hard, heroic leader to the hazy brink of lust was intoxicating.

"We better slow down," I whispered against his lips and then pulled back.

Ayden groaned. "No, no we don't. I told Alan to take Vegas Boulevard. We've got plenty of time."

I remembered and peeked out the tinted windows. The tall columns of Caesar's Palace swept by and I bit my lip. I loved Las Vegas. I had been born there and raised and had loved every moment of it. Now that I thought about it, though, almost every moment Ayden had spent there was tainted by struggle, loss, or sorrow. What if now that all the obstacles were clearing from his path, he wanted to venture farther out into the world?

"What are you worrying about, Honey Bee?" Ayden asked. He coaxed me back against his side.

"Have you thought about where you want to be? I mean now that things are smoothing out, there is no reason you have to stay in Las Vegas full time."

He chuckled. "There is one very good reason I have for staying here permanently." He held up my hand and showed me the glittering engagement ring. "Sorry, darling, but you're going to be stuck with me. Wherever you are, I want to be."

"So if I want to stay in Las Vegas, you'll be alright with that?" I looked deep into his laser blue eyes.

"There is no place I would rather be except maybe there," Ayden nodded out the window. The dancing fountains of the Bellagio burst into the sky and then dropped leaving rainbows in the mist.

I grinned and laced my fingers through his. "Remember our night there?"

"How could I forget my first night in a penthouse suite?"

"All I remember is how much I wanted you. You were so intimidating, but I was drawn to you. I spent a lot of that night wide awake with you on my mind," I confessed.

Ayden sat up and looked at me. "Really? So did I. I hardly slept a wink, but tried to blame it on the overabundance of luxury."

"A flimsy excuse."

"I know," Ayden laughed. "I just did not want to admit how badly I wanted you. I was trying to be a gentleman."

"Well," I pressed my thigh against his, "I think we should reserve the penthouse again soon, and this time make sure we have the night we both wanted so, so badly."

He gave a shudder of pleasure at my purring before he shook his head and changed the subject. "Are you happy with your wedding ring? I realize a girl born and raised in Vegas might be wanting a Harry Winston diamond."

"I love my ring, my bees." I held it up protectively.

Ayden smiled and fiddled with the ring sending rainbows all over the roof of the limousine. "Have you given any thought to what kind of wedding you want?"

The air whooshed out of my lungs, and I struggled to catch it back. It was really happening. I was going to marry Ayden King. "Ah, um, I thought about it a lot when I was in junior high," I joked.

"A big white wedding with an enormous dress and mountains of flowers?" he asked.

"No. No horse-drawn carriages either. I do want a church wedding, though," I ventured a glance at his face.

His jaw flexed. "I don't know about that. It might be a little depressing. Your side will be jammed pack with all your friends, and there won't be a single soul on my side unless Alan and Darla take pity on me. Why don't we just elope? I hear there are even drive-through wedding chapels here in Vegas."

"No, no thanks," I quipped. "Though I'm sure we'll figure something out. I mean just look at the window and pick a fantastic venue."

Ayden looked out over my shoulder and was blinded by the impressive glass front rise of the Mandarin Oriental. "Done," he said.

I laughed and swatted his knee.

We drove the rest of the way in comfortable quiet as Alan easily lost the rest of the reporters. It was not until he had turned down a side street that Ayden began to tense up. The street changed to a long road shrouded by tall gates and fences topped with barbed wire. We were coming to a hard place for Ayden to face, and I sat up to give him room.

He took my hand and laced his fingers through mine then squeezed. Ayden did not need to be there, but he had insisted. He was determined to face it no matter how uncomfortable it made him.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked quietly.

"I have to."

Alan pulled the limousine to a stop next to a towering, thick metal door. It was so huge that within it was another regular sized door. Ayden got out of the limousine, shut the door behind him, and blew me a kiss through the tinted window. Then he leaned on the side and faced the smaller door and waited.

Long, slow minutes later, a light came on and a buzzer sounded. There was a loud metallic click and the smaller door swung open. A guard looked at Ayden, nodded, and then checked the area. Once he stepped back inside, he announced something I could not hear and the door was left open.

Joseph King stepped through the door and stopped, stunned. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard you got released today, and I figured you might need a ride," Ayden smiled and gestured to the long, sleek limousine.

Chapter Twenty-One

Ayden

It felt like a century passed between the time I blew a kiss through the tinted windows to Autumn, and the jail door opened. In that time I stared down the specter I was sure would haunt me for the rest of my life. Soaring, secure walls that were topped with barbed wire; thick metal gates and the heavy turn of computerized locks; and armed guards scowling at me. It was torture to stand there and face my greatest fear, but I knew it was for the best.

Besides, it erased any hesitation I had. I would marry Autumn in a church, and we would have a wildly extravagant reception in the Mandarin Oriental. I loved the fact that she directed me to look out the limousine window and pick a venue, so I was going to stick with the place I saw that very moment.

First, though, I had to make things right with my father. I knew only too well how awkward it felt to walk towards the release door and not know what was on the other side. I had heard horror stories about inmates being abandoned when cabs drove off or buses refused to stop for them. A lot of inmates walked the long road back to civilization, and I was not about to let that happen to my father.

The light signaled the armed guards in the towers, and they turned their attention to the small door. There was a huge metallic clunk, the kind that knocked my brain back into bad, locked-up memories. Then the door opened and my father stepped through.

He was stunned and I could not help but grin. I must have looked exactly like that when I saw Jace waiting in the shade with his limousine.

I offered my father a ride, and he turned me down flat.

Joseph King skirted around me and the limousine and walked towards the bus stop. I stood up and then ran to snag his arm. "Where are you going? The bus won't be here for hours if it comes at all."

"I told you, Ayden. I don't want anything from you. That's not why I came here. Now I know full well that you are a very busy man, and I'm not about to take up any more of your time," my father said.

"Please, let me give you a ride to the airport or anywhere you want to go. It’s the least I can do," I said.

He yanked his arm free. "That's just it. I didn't do it to make you owe me. I did it so you could go off and live your life. I know you don't want to be chasing around after an old man that abandoned you. I just wanted to give you a chance to have the life you should have all those years ago. Now I've done that, and I don't want you feeling like you have a debt to pay."

I threw my arms up in the arm. "Don't be ridiculous. It’s just a damned ride."

My father turned and pinned me with a sharp blue gaze. "I shouldn't even be out. Someone must have put up a lot of money to make my bail."

"That won't matter when it comes to trial," I snapped. "That intruder happened to be a felon with a history of violent assaults, and Shelton will easily prove you did it in self-defense."

"And that's another thing," Joseph spat. "Tell that fancy lawyer of yours that I can't pay him, so I don't want his help. The public defender is good enough for me. God knows that’s all you had."

I rolled my eyes to the sky, but there was no help for it so I yelled. "I didn't come to hear you wallow in your guilt. Just get in the damned car!"

"Get out of here, son. Go live your life. You deserve better than this."

"Fine. There is just one more thing that I have to say to you, old man." I grabbed my father by the shoulders and forced him to face me. "Thank you."

"No, thank you," he snapped in the same harsh tone I had used.

Then we burst out laughing. My father's eyes met mine, and I realized for the first time that we stood at the same height, the same build, and looked at each other with the same colored eyes. We even yelled in the same tone. The uncontrollable laughter rolled over us until we were weak and swaying. Then my father pulled me in for a hug. I was so surprised that I stumbled and then hugged him back.