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An hour later they found themselves in a stretch limo on their way to the airport and once there they had bypassed the usual lines and were soon comfortably settled in the waiting room. Bill had pulled out some papers to work on, leaving the two of them to chat privately. Kira had been sharing with him her vision for the Superior’s refit, and was delighted that he was interested enough to make real worthwhile suggestions. As she giggled at one of his more outlandish ideas she had noticed him stiffen. Suddenly his body was rigid and his face black with anger as he stared disbelieving ahead of him.
“Are you OK Craig” she asked in surprise before her eyes followed his to see what had made his mood change so dramatically. Seeing her father sitting watching them from the other side of the waiting area she had gasped, grabbing his arm in panic
“Oh my God….” She whispered in total shock
Craig suddenly aware of her shock had looked deeply into her eyes seeing the fear and disbelief in them.
“It’s OK Kira” he said, his voice tight “Ignore him”
Pulling her eyes from her father who sat stonily watching them she looked deeply into his, hers full of such confusion
“What’s he doing here” she asked her voice a whisper
“It doesn’t matter…he can’t hurt you” he said softly, his eyes becoming more reassuring
However, as she looked at him nodding gently another voice cut in
“Hello Craig…..Hello Kira. I see you still have a problem keeping your hands off my property Craig” he said unpleasantly
Kira swung her eyes around to look at the man before her with no attempt to conceal the hatred in them.
“I’m not your property” she said coldly
With a cold smile he had said “No kiss for your dad Kira”
“Get away from me” she snarled leaning in closer to Craig
The man before her laughed nastily
“You never did know how to show respect…..just like your mother” he said looking at her in complete contempt.
Before she could respond, Craig had stood between her and her father his voice controlled and cold
“Which rock did you crawl out of Allan” he had asked softly
“Perhaps you should turn around and crawl back under it”
Allan Rothman had laughed unpleasantly
“As charming as ever eh Craig. I see you don’t ever learn your lesson. My….daughter” he spat out the word with distaste “does have a way of attracting you doesn’t she….then again she always was a whore…..just like her mother”
As Kira gasped in horror Craig had stepped up even closer to him
“Be very careful how you speak to her Rothman” he growled angrily “One more word, and I swear to god that I will make you even sorrier than two years ago” his voice contained undertones which Allan Rothman caught making him scowl.
“In fact if anything you should thank her….she was the only reason I didn’t finish you then….but you never learn do you?” Allan Rothman glared at him.
“I know that you are behind it” he said his voice angry
“Don’t think that this will save your precious friend Paul” he finished
Craig smiled the smile cold “Really…are you so sure of that Rothman……seems to me you’ve made a lot of enemies” he said his voice low
Kira was not sure of what the two were now talking about, only aware that the subject seemed to have changed to something which was enraging her father
“I will fight this Craig, you won’t win”
“I think we just might Allan” he had said his voice sure and angry still
“I will make sure that you are never in any position to come after anybody I care about again” he had added, briefly looked at Kira as he said this.
“Well we’ll see about that” Allan Rothman had spat back before without another look at his daughter, moving angrily away towards the departure gate for the American flight.
Sitting back down Craig had put his arms around Kira feeling her quivering, the look of shock still on her face
“What did he mean” she finally managed to say looking up at him with confusion
“What is he going to do?”
Craig had smiled down at her softly.
“It’s not what he is going to do” he said “It’s what we did”
As she looked at him questioningly he had explained
“As you know your father came after me three years ago. It was a dirty no holds battle between us, but two years ago I finally beat him…he was furious. It cost him a lot and took him over a year to get his company back up to strength. I on the other hand during that time managed to make some really good business choices and my company is now doing so well that there was no way he could come back after me”
He sighed
“So he went after the next best thing…Paul. Paul supported me both as a friend and with financial help during his initial battle with me. So he decided to get to me through him.”
What are you going to do she asked softly
“Already done Kira” he said his face sombre
“When we were at Paul’s we created a consortium …. Led by Paul, with myself and 2 others which began a hostile take over bid of your fathers Company...Looks like your father may be retiring real soon”
Kira gasped
“Really?” she said
“I didn’t know how to tell you” he said “didn’t know how you would take it”
Nodding slowly she had looked at him with a warm glow in her eye
“I appreciate your concern for me Craig. But Allan Rothman has never been a father to me. He made mine and my mother’s life hell, and I really have no loyalty to him…..and as you heard there neither does he have for me.”
Smiling he had taken her hand kissing it gently.
From his seat close by them Bill Thomson had watched the exchange between the three. He had instantly recognised Allan Rothman, and as he was about to rise was stopped when Craig had stepped in. He had smiled as he watched how Craig had placed himself between father and daughter, before dealing with the man who had make her life such a misery. Yes Bill was starting to really like Craig Kent
CHAPTER TEN
Kira had been stunned at the upper class suites onboard the plane
“Have you ever seen cattle class” she asked Craig, who had laughed
“Well, once I thought I might have to travel that way” he joked, “But the air hostess was very accommodating” he winked
Kira had glared playfully back at him “I just bet she was” she giggled
The three had sat at the bar talking for several hours before Kira had began to grow tired
“I’m really sorry” she had said “but I didn’t get a lot of sleep”
Her eyes flew to Bill as she realised what she had said, and she had blushed
“I mean…I …”
He had smiled softly
“It’s OK Kira” he gently patted her hand
“You go to sleep”
Craig had watched the exchange with a smile on his lips; she had reminded him of a school girl just admitting to her father she had done something naughty.
“I’ll help you with the bed” he said, moving over to show her how to convert the chair into a bed. Once she was securely tucked up with the blanket around her he had kissed her gently on the lips
“Goodnight Kira, see you in the morning”
She had smiled up at him with a seductive look
“Now how much extra is it to join the mile high club” she whispered naughtily. He chuckled
“Well I am already a member” he said wickedly, as she glared at him
“Well it was the only way to avoid cattle class” he laughed gently, as she chuckled back
“Ah…well that’s OK then” she grinned. He had given her another kiss before leaving her to move back to finish his drink with Bill.
Bill had sat silently for a while watching Craig with a cautious look on his face
“I saw what happened in the lounge with her father” he had finally said
“Will she be safe from him Craig?”
He had looked thoughtfully back at Bill.
“Allan Rothman by the end of business tomorrow will no longer be running his business Bill. Instead it will be run by a consortium…of which I am one. He will be allowed to retire gracefully to his property in America, his personal fortune intact……..with one very large proviso from me………that he never come near her again”
Bill had smiled nodding. “Thank you”
“Kira means a lot to you doesn’t she” he asked
The older man had nodded “Yes she does” before adding with a small note of sadness
“Over two years ago, my son died”
