Irrevocable (Fated series (can be read as a standalone) Book 3) Read online

  We had very competently sped through the darkness. I watched the way Brent handled the car. I could see him glancing in the mirrors and knew he was looking out for people who may be following us. I let him concentrate on the winding country lanes as I gripped on tightly to the door handle, until we were finally free and had hit the M20. I then felt happy to start with the questions I had brewing.

  ‘Where are my mum and dad?’ I put out into the darkness. I saw his eyes dart quickly over to the side in silent acknowledgement of my question.

  ‘They’re about ten minutes ahead of us. As they live in a different place, I made the decision that it was safer to pick you up in different vehicles,’ he answered, as he worked through the gearing system like a natural. I could hear he was American and knew they usually drove automatics.

  ‘And Jack, has he been picked up too?’ I questioned.

  ‘Not yet, he wasn’t where we expected him to be… which is very unusual. He will be picked up very soon.’

  ‘Right,’ I added in slight confusion. ‘So where are we going?’

  ‘That I can’t answer. If we got pulled over, you might under… well, under questioning, give that information away.’ He turned his head to look at me once again. ‘It’s just better if you don’t know.’

  ‘Are they going to come after us, then?’ I felt the grip of terror starting to tighten its claws around my body.

  ‘There’s a chance, otherwise Alex, Mr. Blackmore, wouldn’t have given the orders for us to act… He’s not a guy who generally acts on impulse. John, his head of security, would have had the final say. He trusts his instinct 100% and so do I.’

  I could tell that he had said all he was going to at the moment and settled my tired body down in the soft upholstery of the brand new Range Rover. I knew I wouldn’t sleep. My brain was switched on and running every eventuality through my head, although the feelings of earlier panic had begun to lift.

  A few hours later I had an idea of our final destination, and call me crass under the circumstances, but I was so excited I could have burst. I could see the huge cruise ships in the distance, as we descended into Southampton. I had always wanted to go on a cruise and it appeared we were using the cover of a holiday, to run away.

  Brent expertly handled the car around the maze of carparks and we finally pulled into a covered VIP area. Placing the car into an empty slot he seemed to freeze for a moment and then he pressed his fingers to his ear and listened. I hadn’t realised before, but he was obviously wired to the other guys travelling with my family. He held the flat of his palm up to stop the immediate attention of the cabin stewards.

  ‘I’ve arrived,’ he stated ‘Yep, yeah understood. So how long? OK.’ He let out a deep laugh. ‘Was he now, that could be useful.’ He chuckled as he concentrated on the reply. ‘Yeah see you in a few.’

  I sat motionless next to him, not wanting to move and make even a small amount of noise. I didn’t want him to not be able to hear the other party he was talking to. Suddenly he turned slightly to face me, I watched him place one elbow on the steering wheel and the other against the seat back, his hands meeting in the middle. Slowly he turned a large, dark metallic ring around his little finger.

  ‘OK, we’re going to wait here for a few minutes. Your mom and dad are already on board and in their suite. We just want to stagger our arrivals in case we’re being watched. Any questions?’ He sounded almost like he was in the military with his last question and I nodded my head back to him.

  ‘How long until Jack gets here?’

  ‘Well, they’re on the way now and coming straight down what you guys call the motorway, from Surrey, so hopefully he’ll arrive before the ship leaves. The ship should have left last night. but Alex has paid enough money to keep it here waiting for us, under the pretence of technical issues.’ He lifted his hands and air quoted as he said technical issues.

  ‘Surrey? He lives in Central London,’ I questioned, thinking back to my brother.

  I watched Brent’s hands as he showed me his open palms, shook his head and pulled a “Not a clue” face. How strange.

  We sat in silence, just waiting for the minutes to tick by. It was a relief when he finally deemed enough time had passed and we made our way out of the car and into the VIP section of the terminal building. I had hardly ever travelled before and definitely not as a VIP. We were met immediately by a purser and followed closely by the stewards who had taken our luggage from the car. It seemed almost flawless as we were whisked through the fast track security and I thanked my lucky stars that although I was very often short of money I had the foresight to always keep a passport. My instinct, well ok, my wishful thinking had made me pay out my hard-earned money to keep my passport up to date, so it was always available to be used if necessary. My mum and dad had offered to pay for holidays for me, but they had done enough for me in my life, so I hadn’t been away in a long time.

  As we first stepped up and onto the ship my breath was taken away, the gigantic structure was absolutely stunning. The ship was striking, it smelt clean and fresh and even sparkled in places. It was like we were the first ones to ever to sail in her and I was in awe. The stewards followed us to my cabin, at least I hoped it was going to be my cabin. I really didn’t want to be sharing with my new bodyguard. He seemed very good at his job, God I hoped he wasn’t going to insist on sharing. A small giggle slipped out of my lips. I pressed my finger tips to my mouth to hopefully disguise my outburst.

  ‘Here we are sir, madam.’ The steward stepped aside and I walked through the open doorway to what had to be one of the most expensive suites on the ship. The steward placed my scruffy looking holdall down in the majestic room of burgundy and cream with gold highlights. It looked sad and pathetic as it sat on the luxury suitcase holder, much like my life.

  Brent spun around and placed a note into the steward’s hand and shut the door after him.

  ‘Are you staying in here, too?’ I tentatively asked, placing my hands into the back pockets of the jeans I was wearing.

  ‘At the moment, yep.’ He turned around and stepped closer to the wall of cabinets, one of which held a mini bar. Opening it up he found himself a can of Coke. I heard the snap and rip of the ring-pull and watched as he poured almost all the contents down his throat. He sighed, his thirst quenched. ‘Do you want anything?’

  I shook my head in answer. ‘How long is this cruise for?’

  ‘It’s for thirteen nights. To be honest I don’t know how long we will be on board for, probably only for as long as we need to make sure you’re all safe.’

  ‘I need to know what’s happened to make the Blackmores feel this was necessary.’

  ‘All in good time, once your brother’s on board we will have a meeting and let you all know.’

  Just then there was a loud knuckle rap on the door. Brent moved over to answer it, peering briefly through the spy-hole. My mum and dad burst through the door, followed by their security detail, the relief on their faces was palpable.

  ‘Thank God, Jasmin, you’re here.’ I allowed myself to be gathered into my dad’s embrace, breathing in the same cologne he had always worn. It made me feel safe and wanted. We went out onto the balcony as a family and sat out in the early morning chill. We didn’t speak, just finding the strength we needed from each other’s company. My dad had hold of our hands as we sat one either side of him and stared out to the blue-grey sea, just waiting for Jack to arrive.

  I huddled under one of the blankets Brent had brought out to us. He and the other security guys had left us in peace, obviously understanding we wanted to be by ourselves. The roll of the balcony doors sounded behind us and I swivelled my head around quickly. The relief I felt flushed over me as I saw the forever cheeky face of my little brother smiling back at me. It didn’t matter that he stood about a foot taller than me, he would forever remain my little brother. I flung the burgundy fleece blanket off my shoulders and stood at the same time, pushing my chair backwards so forcibly it ground out its
protest on the floor.

  ‘Jack.’ I flung myself into his awaiting arms. He started to back us through the open balcony door. As beautiful as the whole cabin was, the balcony wasn’t going to accommodate any more of us.

  ‘Hey, sis…family. How we all doing? Anyone know what the fuck is going on?’

  ‘Jack.’ My dad stood and followed us back inside. He clapped Jack on the shoulder, in welcome. ‘Jack, do you have a black eye?’ he questioned, staring at him.

  I moved out of his hug and stared up at his face. I watched Jack lift his hand up and touch his eye socket.

  ‘Yeah… I was at a party when they picked me up, some shit went down and this was the result. You should see the other guy.’ He smiled his most charismatic, cheeky smile, it was a well-known one, one he had been practising since he hit puberty and starting getting into scrapes. I didn’t fall for it, he knew it, but it seemed to answer my dad’s question and with a sigh he shook his head and let my mum fuss over her baby. I had to laugh at the way she stood close to him and examined his eye. Jack let her for a few seconds and then tilted his head back out of her reach, letting her silently know he’d had enough.

  We sat down in my room and Brent told us what had happened to cause the reaction of pulling us from our homes in the middle of the night. The Antonescus had absconded bail and possibly flown into America. In case they made a move against us in retaliation for Bella’s evidence, it had been decided to remove us all from the country. He reassured us it was just a precautionary measure, but one that they felt was required. He finished by introducing us to his team, Mike, Brad and Rik.

  ‘Tell us about our daughter Bella. Is she safe?’ my dad asked.

  ‘I can assure you she has already left the Blackmore home and is now on her way to safety. As soon as we know more, we will obviously keep you informed. Please don’t contact her, it may jeopardise their cover.’ He glanced around us all as we sat in shock, the realisation hitting us all hard.

  ‘You said their cover, who is with Bella?’ I asked, lifting my eyes from my hand that was being squeezed so tightly by my mum, it felt as though my appendage had no blood left in it at all.

  ‘She’s with Nathan Blackmore, Mr. Blackmore’s brother. I know he’ll take good care of her, from what I’ve seen she means a lot to him,’ he added trying to ease our fears, shuffling from foot to foot obviously feeling uncomfortable as he stood in front of us and answered our questions.

  He went over a few more housekeeping details. Our cabins were all close together on one side of the corridor and the security team had one cabin opposite mine. They had very quickly installed an alarm system and ran it off the mains. It appeared Rik was very techy and electronically handy. We had to behave as though we were a family on holiday and they would be using the pretext of a stag party. Only if needed would we come together again outside the cover of one of our cabins.

  Plans in place, we all went our separate ways and tried to get some well-earned shut-eye as our floating holiday home departed our home country and made its way towards the Mediterranean. It was the start of what should have been a luxurious thirteen-night cruise, seeing places I had only dreamed of, but instead of being over the moon at my good fortune, I couldn’t help the feeling of dread rising inside of me.

  Two days later

  The plane started its taxi out onto the runway and I allowed myself just a few minutes of relaxation, sinking back further into the comfortable, first-class seat. I stationed my elbows onto the armrests and placed my hands together with only the fingertips touching. I dipped my head slightly and rested my lips onto my index fingers. I exhaled a deep, cleansing breath through my nostrils and momentarily closed my eyes.

  I had only just made the flight. It was the last plane out tonight. To miss it would have possibly been catastrophic. As it was, I was flying into the centre of Spain, Madrid to be exact. I would then have to take a connecting flight down to Murcia, which would enable me to embark the ship at Cartagena. These were the only flights available to us at such short notice. Taking the Blackmore family’s own plane could have possibly caused more problems than it solved, so here I was. It was lucky I didn’t need a lot of sleep, as I could see sleep wouldn’t be much of an option over the next couple of days.

  Opening my eyes, I took a glance around the packed first-class section, it had everything I expected. Due to my height and build I always travelled first class, there was no way in hell I could sit folded up in cattle class. My security firm had made me a very rich man and I had reaped the benefits. Comfortable seating when I travelled was only a very minor one.

  Very deliberately I caught the eye of the stewardess a few rows away. I watched as she took me in and nodded her head just slightly in acknowledgment. Carefully she finished what she was doing, smoothed down her uniform and patted her hair to check it was still in place, before she walked over to me, never breaking eye contact. She walked over like she had just entered the runway of a catwalk. I was her absolute focus. Reading people and manipulating, no maybe that was too strong a word to use, let’s say influencing them, was a skill I had learnt.

  ‘Yes, sir. What can I get for you?’

  ‘Malt whiskey. Macallan, if you have it? With two cubes of ice, please.’ I removed my eyes from hers the moment my request had been made, she needed no more of my time or energy. I knew she would be attentive now to my every need. Women had many tells and she was exhibiting at least two of them at this very moment. I could see her breathing rate had increased and, as she was standing close to my seat, I had witnessed her unconsciously rub together the top of her thighs at least twice during our brief conversation.

  They were facts.

  I had always been able to read facts.

  The plane reached its cruising altitude and I released my seat belt and stood up to remove my jacket and take off my tie. I rolled up the cuffs on my shirt sleeves, this was about as casual as I did. I would certainly need to buy some clothes. I didn’t own much more than suits, but even I knew that I would stand out, cruising the Mediterranean in a suit. I felt a wry smile snag the corners of my mouth.

  Sitting back down, I pulled up the legs of my smart suit trousers, I didn’t want them with knees in later. I pulled out my Mac, placed it on my lap and turned it on. The ice in my drink had melted just enough, the whiskey was cool but not watered down. I lifted the cut-glass tumbler to my lips and began to sip at the nectar as I perused the files I had brought with me.

  Dr. William Jack Carpenter.

  Age 55.

  General Practitioner to the small Kent village of Falham and surrounding areas.

  Time in situ 28 years.

  Married for 26 years to

  Lynn Arrabella Carpenter.

  Age 52.

  Three listed offspring.

  Jasmin Louise Carpenter age 26, no current listed occupation.

  Arrabella Lynn Carpenter age 25, Investigative journalist for the New York Post.

  Jack William Carpenter age 23, Investment banker.

  So, it seemed they lived about an hour away from my father, step-mother and brothers. It wasn’t a place I had been back to in a few years, but I had a good idea of the sort of village they lived in. I opened each file carefully and studied the different areas of their lives. Most of the details I had checked out, but I could see a couple of details were going to need further investigation. I made notes as I went.

  I closed one file and immediately opened another containing photographs of the Carpenter family. I didn’t need to look at Bella’s, I had met her on a few occasions already. It was her history raising its ugly head that warranted the situation we were all in. Truth be known, Alex had had me on this case for a few months now, just keeping an eye on things from near and afar. It was lucky we had been, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to react as quickly as we did when the balance of circumstances had swung in the early hours. This though was what I lived for, the constant buzz of the detailed security work had become my whole life. The fact I
was now paid so highly for it, was an added bonus.

  I heard an almost inaudible whimper close to the side of me. The attentive stewardess was totally unaware of the almost involuntary signal she had just allowed to slip from her lips. My cock immediately flexed within my boxers, forcing his head up and pushing against my belted trousers. I had six hours left of my seven-hour flight. Ten minutes spent dishevelling this immaculate beauty would definitely be a relaxing distraction.

  ‘Mr. Edwards, I took the liberty of bringing you another whiskey. Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?’

  Just the way she said “sir” had a bead of pre-cum oozing out onto the head of my cock. The way she licked her lips afterwards told me she was now fully aware of what she was doing and asking. I looked her up and down, scrutinising every available inch of her, making sure it was evident what I was doing. She was tall and willowy with shapely calves sitting on top of her smart, heeled shoes. Those calves led up to a tight-fitted skirt with a pinched in waist, and a white blouse stretched across small but pert breasts. Any other day, I would have been all over her. Today though, the thought of blowing my load in a small, cramped toilet had my erect cock disappearing almost as quickly as he had risen.

  ‘Thank you,’ I peered to look at her name badge, cross with myself that I hadn’t noticed it before, ‘Simone… but I have everything I need. Your offer however, is gratefully appreciated.’ I kept eye contact with her just long enough for her to understand the implication in my words and tone. Women loved my English words spoken with an American accent, courtesy of going back and forth from the countries throughout my life. She was no different. Simone bent down closer to me, under the pretence of removing my empty glass.

  ‘You don’t know what you’re missing,’ she whispered.

  I smiled at her and let her move away. Simone might be correct, but I had work to do and refused to bow down to the distraction. I opened the file that contained the family’s photographs. I started to take in every detail of each face I saw in front of me. The family all seemed to be light in colouring and had blue eyes. I could see that they were a good looking enough family, the sort of family that would be found as a stock photo in a shop-bought photograph frame.