AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Carlina
The day she left…
I quietly shut the door behind myself, trying to make as little noise as possible. My brothers are all light sleepers and wake at the sound of a creaking floorboard. A sigh of relief escapes me when I don’t hear thundering footsteps behind me when the door clicks shut. I carry my suitcase by the handle so the sound of the rolling wheels doesn’t wake them. I’ve made sure to time my escape well, I have a three-minute window before the new guards take over. I quicken my pace and rush to the end of the drive and slip out the side gate to meet my waiting Uber.
I don’t waste time, shoving my bag on the back seat and quickly rushing around to the other side to climb in. I know they will see me on the cameras but at least by the time they figure it out, I’ll be on a plane and long gone by then. They could have Luka track me but I know Bishop won’t as the guilt of him knowing what happened to me at the hands of our father will still his hand.
Each of my brothers may be named after pieces of a game but I wasn’t. My father could have named me queen but chose not to. In this world we live in a woman is a means to an end—someone to cook, clean and give you a son. My whole life I have been kept a secret. No one outside of my family even knows I exist, well except for Kiara and now Gage.
I know me taking off at this time is shitty as we are in the middle of a war with the other families, but I can’t do it anymore.
I won’t be trapped in an ivory tower waiting for someone to come and rescue me. Since being back with Kiara, her strength has rubbed off on me and shown me that I don’t need a man to save me, or my brothers to protect me. I need to fight my own battles and make my own mistakes without Bishop or King bailing me out. The twins and I are close, Rook and I more so. I know me not telling him I’m leaving is going to hurt him but I need to do this for me. I have to get away from this place and clear my head. I need to heal away from my family and that fucking house of pain. Nightmares plague me every night I’m in that house. Every night I close my eyes, I’m plagued by my past and things that were done to me as a child.
* * *
I thought passing through security at the airport I would get flagged because of my last name, but I didn’t. The law may know what my family does but they can’t prove a fucking thing. Bishop never flies commercial for this reason.
I find my seat and quickly place my purse under the seat in front of me. It may sound shallow but I feel giddy over the fact I’m flying economy and not first class, or on a private jet. This is something normal people would do and I love the fact I get to be one of them, even if it is for a short time.
I rest my head back and close my eyes, allowing myself to soak in this moment. I’ve never been anywhere on my own. I have always had a guard, my brother or one of our maids escort me whenever I left the house. It used to piss me off growing up. If someone recognized my brothers, they had to say I was their date for the night so they didn’t know I was Tony Murdoch’s bargaining chip until I was ofage. I scoff at the thought. The bastard never gave a shit about my age while he was defiling my body nightly! Disgust rolls through me as I think about the horrible things he did to me and made me do. I was a child and my own father used my innocence against me.
I don’t bother to open my eyes when I feel someone claim the seat beside me. I don’t even bother to open them when the captain speaks over the intercom system or when they do the safety demonstration. All I care about is getting to Brazil and spending some time there sightseeing, then making my way to Chile. For the first time in my life, I am going to be free and it is an exhilarating feeling. When the plane takes off, I finally open my eyes and peer out the small window smiling. I say a silent goodbye to New York and hope to not be back in this place for long,longtime. That city holds too many dark memories for me—memories I have spent most of my life trying to run from.
“It’s a beautiful view, isn’t it?” The husky tone of my companion’s voice washes over me, deep and manly. I close my eyes again and pray the sexy voice belongs to some hot stranger that I wouldn’t mind staring at and maybe even flirting with for the next few hours. I slowly turn my gaze from the window to look at him and stifle the moan that wants to break free.
This guy is gorgeous!
His brown eyes shine with bold curiosity. The way he stares at me like he has a right is unnerving and thrilling. He shakes his head to flick the strands of his brown hair from his face, shaved on the sides and longer on the top. I run my gaze over him and pinch my mouth to the side when I see his knees are pressed firmly against the seat in front of him. He is already taller than me sitting down, which means he would dwarf my small five-foot six frame standing. His light-blue jeans with tears in the knees hug his thick thighs, his plain black cotton shirt molded to his torso like a second skin enhancing the muscles that lay beneath. I slowly pull my gaze back to his face, the five o’clock shadow that dusts his face only adds to his appeal. He smirks knowing I was just checking him out. His espresso-colored eyes darken when I dart my tongue out to moisten my lips.
“I… Uh, what was the question?” I flush when a throaty chuckle comes from him. God, this guy is beautiful. When his eyes widen, I clamp a hand over my mouth in horror. “I just said that out loud, didn’t I?” I mumble from behind my hand. This time when he laughs, he doesn’t hold back, it’s a deep and infectious. I feel it inside my soul and envy the carefreeness about him. It’s amazing to me how he can laugh so freely and not worry that the sound of his boisterous laughter is drawing the attention of the other passengers.
“Well, at least I’m not the only one sitting here thinking how beautiful the person sitting next to me is.” I roll my lips over my teeth to keep my smile from breaking free. I nod, unsure of what else to do, then begin to nibble on my bottom lip. In a bold and slightly daring move he reaches across cupping my chin and uses his thumb to free my lip. I stare at him wide-eyed and taken back that he touched me––is touching me! Whatever he sees in my eyes has him pulling back and dropping his hand into his lap. “Sorry, I… shouldn’t have done that.”
I shake my head to clear my wayward thoughts then clear my throat. “It’s okay.” I smile not wanting to make this awkward for us, we’re stuck beside each other for the next nine hours. He smiles and holds out his hand. I eye it before quirking a questioning brow at him.
“My name is Vin.” I smile placing my much smaller hand in his and shake it.
“Carlina.” His mouth forms an O shape, making me feel slightly worried. Does he not like my name?
“What a beautiful name for a beautiful woman.” I feel the blush heat my cheeks before I duck my gaze back out the window. This guy is so good for my ego. As the hours go by, Vin and I converse nonstop. He tells me he is taking a trip to just get away from work. I lie and tell him I’m visiting friends whilst on a gap year from college. Truth is, I don’t plan to go to college. I don’t think anyone in my family has gone to college, it wasn’t an option for us. But now, thanks to Bishop, it is an option for me and the twins. I don’t even know if I want to go. It would be great to live out the dorm life and party on Greek row, but it wouldn’t be the same as other kids. The twins would have to be with me or I would have a shadow all the time. I wouldn’t be allowed to go certain places in case it was overcrowded and made it easy for my brother’s enemies to take me.
“What’s wrong? The smile just dropped from your face and your eyes glazed over.” I stare at Vin slightly stunned. He’s known me for a few hours and already he is able to read me. My brothers can’t even do that. The only person who was able to read me like a book is Kiara. I love her to death but the fact that her and Bish are together makes things hard. Her loyalty would always be to my brother. Even Rook, I know he loves me but I also know he reports everything back to Bishop. I wish I had someone of my own to care for me alone and always have my back. To the outside world my family are hotel and club owners, rich and wealthy. People try to use me to snag one of my brothers for their meal tickets. I don’t even have any real fucking friends. I’m pathetic!
“Sorry, I was just thinking about my brothers and… yeah.” My shoulders droop slightly on an exhale. I know they will all be up now and searching for me. I thought I would be riddled with guilt, but I’m not.
“Don’t think about them then. Think of all the fun you are going to have with your friends in Brazil. Block them out and enjoy your gap year, you can deal with all that crap when you get home.” I smile thankfully, he has no idea what his kind words mean to me. Vin is right, the problems back home will always be there, I need to focus on me right now.
Carlina
As the plane slowly crawls along the runway to head to our gate so we can disembark, sadness washes over me. I felt at ease and more like myself than I ever have talking with Vin. Having to say goodbye to him is going to suck. As the plane comes to a stop and we wait for the fasten seatbelt to be turned off, Vin turns to me and asks,
“Where are you staying?” I may like the guy but I’m not stupid enough to name my hotel.
“Sao Paulo, for a couple weeks then I’m off to Rio for a bit.” He nods and scratches at the stubble that coats his chin nodding.
“I’m in town for a bit as well. Hopefully I’ll get to see you around.” I nod but then decide to take a risk and actually speak what’s on my mind.
“I’d like that.” His eyes darken and a sexy smirk graces his beautiful, tanned face. God, this guy is like a mix betweenHenry CavilandMichele Morrone.The captain flicks the sign off and everyone stands wanting to rush off the plane to clear customs quickly. Vin steps out into the isle and motions for me to hop in front of him. I smile my thanks, grateful to be able to stretch my legs. I peek over my shoulder and try to hide my shock—he could easily fold over me, he is that freaking tall! I quickly pull my gaze back to the front in case I do something embarrassing like fawn all over him because tall guys have always made me hot and needy.
