Page 10 of Power
“We’ve got good flying conditions, so we’ll get you there as soon as we can.”
“Flight time?”
“About seven hours,” replied the pilot.
Luciano retreated into the twenty-seat cabin, set down the bags before sitting at a four-person table. He extracted hislaptop, signed in, and opened the file called Background Checks. After finding what he needed, he called his personal assistant.
“Good evening, Mr. Santini,” answered Dominic.
“I need a large bouquet of flowers sent to Simone Redding,” he said. “Include birds of paradise and roses.”
“What do you want the card to say?”
“Next time, ladies first,” Luciano replied.
“Where is it being sent?”
He rattled off her home address and phone number from the report.
“Anything else?”
“Have it delivered tomorrow midafternoon anddon’tadd my name to the card. Just the note.”
“Yes, sir,” his assistant replied.
Luciano ended the call, logged into his personal email account.
“Mr. Santini, we’re cleared for take-off,” said the co-pilot through the intercom.
Luciano snapped the seatbelt into place, opened the window shade, and stared into the night. As the bird taxied toward the runway, his thoughts jumped to a very seductive, very naked Simone Redding, sprawled on the bed. His cock stirred.
Stand down. You had your fun.
He hadn’t planned on hooking up with her, but Simone Redding was impossible to refuse. His stalker had it all. But it wasn’t only her physical beauty that had interested him, it was the intense energy she brought with her. Currently, she heldallthe power.
Andthat, he found irresistible.
The aircraft gained speed as it raced down the runway, then lifted effortlessly off the ground. Luciano glanced down at the sights below, but the bing of an email diverted his attention. When he opened it, the faces of three men appeared on thescreen. All three were members of Haqazzii’s organization. Despite the deaths of the senior Haqazzii and his eldest son, the others—led by the only living son and run by his cousins—were reemerging as one of the most dangerous threats on the planet.
They lived to terrorize, torture, and eliminate innocent souls.
A growl shot from Luciano. He would travel to the ends of the earth to hunt down men like this. As he studied their mug shots, he wondered how’d they’d gotten into the UK with US passports. He had two goals? Extract information, then terminate them.
Something he was more than willing to do.
He spent the majority of the flight working. As CEO and President of Santini International, he could work nonstop and never get it all done. He had big goals, bigger dreams, and a passion for creating. It was a blessing and a curse because he was like a damn cat chasing its tail.
A few hours into the flight, while reviewing sketches for next fall’s lines, his thoughts drifted to Simone again.
Over the past month, he’d spotted her outside his gated mansion more than once, he’d seen her on the banks of the river during his cousin’s wedding, and he’d eyed her waiting for him when he got into his limo at the end of a workday. Always hiding in the shadows or behind a pair of binos, she’d been impossible to ID.
That’s where Teddy had come in. He’d snapped a pic of her and uploaded it to Stryker Truman’s propriety IDWare. That gave him a name.
Simone Redding.
But the background check had been useless. Beyond her name and address, there was nothing. Since Luciano had enemies, he couldn’t begin to know who had hired her to watch him. Rather than try to figure it out, he decided to confront her directly.
Some good that had done.
