“Good to meet you, Mr. Ryan,” I said, shaking his hand.
“Please, call me Quinn,” he said.
“Only if you call me Marcus.”
“Sounds like a plan,” he said grinning ear-to-ear. “So, it looks like clear skies all the way to Vegas. The flight plan’s been logged and we’ve been cleared for take-off. We’re ready to leave whenever you are.”
“No issues with the registration or anything?” I asked as I climbed the stairs, trailing just behind by the pilot.
“Took some doing,” he said, “but your man Mr. Suhr helped us get everything settled.”
“Good deal,” I said as I stepped into the plane, my eyes taking a moment to adjust from the bright morning light outside to the interior as I looked around. “Has everyone else arrived?”
“All but one,” a pleasant voice behind me said.
I turned and stopped in my tracks as I saw a stunning woman standing in front of me.
She was five feet tall with dark brown hair that fell down her back in soft waves. Her skin was nearly Erin’s shade of olive, but her eyes weren’t quite as dark as my assistant’s. Her full lips, dark, mono-lid eyes, and cute button nose made it plain as day that her family was from the Pacific region. She wore a blue flight attendant’s uniform, with a hip-hugging skirt that stopped just above the knees and showed off a beautiful, plump little ass. The double-breasted top created a sharp V that stopped about mid-breast, showing the inner slopes of breasts that looked to be slightly larger than what her height would suggest. If I had to guess, they were somewhere between Erin’s and Helen’s in size.
She showed off a dazzling smile and said, “Hello Mr. Upton. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Shea. I’ll be serving you and your party while you’re in the air.”
She offered me a dainty hand and I shook it. “Oh! Uh… good to meet you, Shea! I, uh…” Fuck, I hadn’t even thought about a flight attendant. I glanced at Erin, who entered the plane behind me. She smirked at me with a twinkle in her eyes.
“You don’t need to call me Mr. Upton,” I said. “Marcus is fine.”
“If that’s what you’d like,” she said and looked back down at the sheet of paper she held. Then she glanced up as my security team was filing in behind me. The captain was no longer around; I assumed he had made his way to the cabin.
“It looks like we’re only waiting for… one more,” she said.
“Cool,” I said. I assumed Ashlee was running late since I’d sprung this trip on her late last night. “So the other guest is here?”
“The other two are, yes,” Shae said. “Would you like me to take you to them?”
“What?” Chloe immediately perked up. “Where are they?”
“They?” I asked.
“Um.” Looking confused, Shea pointed in the direction of the main cabin. “That way?”
Chloe brushed past me and disappeared through the door in the direction Shea pointed. One of the Johns followed on her heels.
“I’m sorry,” Shea said, looking at me and leaning close, “Is there a problem?”
“There was only supposed to be one other person,” I said. “Excuse me.”
I moved past Shea and followed my bodyguards, my mind already starting to run through several scenarios of what this could mean. When I walked through the door and into the main cabin, I saw Natashya sitting in a small booth with a table. She looked a little confused while watching Chloe conversin with a second woman sitting in the booth opposite Natashya. All I could see of her was dark brown hair almost the color of Ashlee’s. Had Shea missed Ashlee getting on the plane?
I approached my bodyguards and asked, “Is everything alright?”
“Everything’s fine. I think there was just a little mix-up,” Chloe said, her mouth screwed tight in disapproval.
The dark-haired girl turned in her seat to look up at me with pale eyes; her full lips were turned downward into a confused frown.
“Marcus?” Emily said. “Is something wrong?”
“Emily?” I said in shock and horror. “What are you doing here?”
Emily glanced from me to Chloe, then back to me. “I’m… coming to Vegas?”
“I…” I looked at Chloe, but as always, she wasn’t giving me anything to work with. As soon as Emily proved to not be a threat, she was out. I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my eyebrows, massaging them to make the sudden headache I was feeling go away. “Look, don’t take this the wrong way… Did I invite you?”
“Yeah,” she said, clearly taking it the exact way I had told her not to. “I asked you yesterday when we were on the phone.”
“What?” I said. That couldn’t have been right. “You asked if you could use the house while I was gone.”
“But that was before you told me where you were going.” she said, getting more upset with each passing moment. “I specifically asked…”
Emily looked like she was on the verge of tears. She’d always been sensitive even when we were young, but after what happened to her in the wake of her fiance’s death and her subsequent recovery, she’d gotten worse. Especially when she felt like she already owed me so much.
“Hey! It’s okay,” I assured her. “We’re okay.”
Then a thought struck me. “How did you know where the plane was?”
“I didn’t,” she said. “Vikram arranged it. You told me to ask him…”
I wracked my brain, going back over the conversation I had with my sister, and remembered saying something about Vikram arranging it. I’d meant access to the apartment, but now that I thought about it, Erin and Helen had been fooling around while I was on the phone with Emily, and I might have missed some of what she had been saying. This was on me.
I shook my head and said, “Hey, you know what? I’m glad you’re here. This is going to be great.”
Emily didn’t look convinced. “Are you sure? I feel really bad! I’m going to ruin your trip!”
“Absolutely not! Chloe,” I said, turning to my bodyguard, “if my sister tries to leave the plane, shoot her.”
That got a rare chuckle out of the ex-CIA agent. “No problem, Mr. Upton,” she said as she moved past me toward the back of the plane.
“Really?” Emily said, joy replacing some of her distress.
“Of course!”
“Oh good!” Erin exclaimed, circling me to hug Emily. “Girl, this is going to be so much fun! Here… come with me. I want to talk to you real quick and then I’ve got a surprise for you.”
She grabbed Emily by the hand and dragged her out of her chair.
“Um… okay,” Emily said with a laugh. She paused beside me and gave me a peck on the cheek. “Thanks, M. I’m grateful for letting me tag along. She glanced at Natashya and back at me. “Have fun!” Then she disappeared.
I plopped down in Emily’s seat, placed a hand over my eyes and let out a long sigh. This was perfect. The only thing that made me okay with bringing Ashley to Las Vegas was Erin’s assurance that Natashya would be completely happy with the arrangement. Erin even suggested getting Natashya to help. However, Emily being here complicated things even further.
I’d wanted to get away and spend the week with two of the most beautiful women in my life. Doing that with Ashlee around was going to be hard enough, but the last thing I wanted was to have my sister catch me slutting around with a small harem. I wanted to keep that part of my life separate from my family. Now that I thought about it, letting her use my apartment while Bobbi was there wasn’t the best idea. Still… this was going to be a balancing act that would turn this entire trip into a stressful eighties rom-com.