The Vindication Gents

Chapter 3.4

Kiara Hoffman’s POV

“So, what now?” I asked them as the chill air just passed through the room. Nobody said anything as I saw that Charles’ jaws clenched. He must know about this and I think he doesn’t want to tell us.

“Well, it seems that you guys will be traveling out of the country together,” Boss said as he was smiling at me and Charles. I arched my eyebrows at him before he put two passports on the table.

I went to take a look at the passports. It was Switzerland's passport. With a neutral status of the country, we might not get in any trouble that we don’t want. I flipped it open and it stated that my name was Kiara Durand.

Then, I went to flip the other passport. It was Charles’ but what bugged me was that his surname was Durand as well.

What the hell?!

I turned to look at the boss as he was smiling wickedly at me. I scoffed at him before I placed the passports back onto the table.

“No,” I said as Charles went to look at the passport.

“You haven’t heard what I have to say,” Boss replied before I rolled my eyes at him. Charles was picking up the passports before he was arching his eyebrows at his eyebrows.

“What’s the meaning of this?” He asked.

“Exactly what you think it would be,” I replied as I was crossing my arms in front of him. The boss arched his eyebrows before he sighed.

“It was Peter’s order,” he said. I turned sharply at him as I blinked a few times.

“King Peter asked you to do that. Have we got nothing to say about this matter?” I asked as he looked at me.

“Of course, none. You know how that King of Hungary was. Trying to control everyone’s lives for them,” he said as he was chuckling at me. I gritted my teeth as I was crossing my arms.

I think I might kill someone, after all, starting with Boss.

“Why do we need different passports? We can use our own. No need to do a fake one,” Charles said as he was looking at the Boss. He might be a scientist, but he was no help in this thing.

“It is to mask that we have entered enemy territory, you i***t,” I hissed at him as he shrugged. He seemed not to care at all about the passport.

The ones that stated we were a married couple.

“Well, it seems to me that only you have this problem with the passport, Kiara. Charles has nothing to say about it, so he might as well just do it,” Boss said as he was wheeling himself out of the lab.

“Besides, I’m too tired to do another one,” he said as he was looking at us, smirking. I pinched the bridge of my nose before I sighed.

“It wasn’t so bad,” Charles said before I turned sharply at him. He put his hands up as a surrender sign before he left me alone with my thoughts.

Damn these men!

And so, with those passports, we flew to Finland to investigate what Chris Virtanen was supposed to be doing in Hungary at that time. I don’t think I might be saying this, but my adrenaline rush has been high since we flew the plane.

“Does anyone need to declare something in their bags, please raise your hands so you can get the form to declare it,” the flight attendant said as some of the passengers were raising their hands. I was still reading my novel to get any attention.

“Kiara,” a voice was calling me, but I was ignoring it. I don’t think we might have to declare anything in our bags.

“Kiara,” he asked me again, and I turned him down again. He tsked before he nudged me with his elbow, which made my reading unbearable until I answered his question.

“What?” I hissed at him before I realized that he had come closer and we were mere inches from each other. It had been 2 days since I kissed him. Well, not for romance purposes, that transported us back to the lab.

“We don’t have anything suspicious and need to declare, right?” He asked as he was eyeing my lips before returning to my eyes. I did the same thing.

Focus, Kiara. Damn it!

I cleared my throat before I shook my head. I took the novel that I had been reading and opened the pages that I paused before I turned to look at the pages again and read it. I needed to keep my head cool when I needed to be around Charles.

I don’t want the past to repeat itself.

The flight attendant was walking around as he passed the way before I asked for a glass of ginger ale. He nodded at me before he informed his colleague to get a glass. I looked at their interactions. If my money was right, I saw he had a relationship with the woman that was giving me my ginger ale just now.

“Ladies and gentle people, please remain seated as we will begin our descent now. The current weather in Helsinki, Finland is 43 degrees Fahrenheit. It is sunny for a picnic on the beach,” the captain said as I was strapping on the seatbelt before I felt someone tense beside me. I turned to see that Charles was breathing deeply right now. I didn’t notice during the departure that he was as distressed as he is right now.

“Are you alright?” I asked him as he was closing his eyes and gulped. His Adam’s apple was going up and down. It did something to my core.

Settle down, Kiara. Not now. Not ever.

“It’s just I had some bad experiences with flights. I’m fine. I just imagine that I was not on the plane right now,” he whispered as I was looking at his hands. They were gripping the armrest quite strongly if I say so myself.

“Do you want me to hold you?” I asked before he turned to look at me sharply. My face was getting hot. Maybe he got the wrong message.

“Sorry, I mean your hand. I can hold your hand if you want. Not anything else,” I said, as I was looking at something but his face. I heard him chuckle before he took my hand and rested it on his well-muscular thigh.

“Well, that is generous of you. I thought you had turned into an Ice Queen after what happened,” he whispered, before I turned to look at him. I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Even if I did, I cannot let you distress yourself. It breaks my heart to see it,” I said before I realized what it could have meant as well. Charles turned to look at me before I cleared my throat.

“You are my colleague. If anything, I should support you when we were out on a mission together,” I said as my hand began to sweat. Damn it. I hoped he did not notice. But of course, he had to squeeze my hand. I know he noticed that my hand had been sweating for quite some time now.

“Thank you, Kiara,” he said as he was settling in the seat. I nodded at him before I went to read my novel again. Even though we had been apart for 5 years, this touch, the feeling of his calloused hand was smooth against mine. I smiled at that thought.

Has he been holding hands like this with his fiancée?

I blinked as I was reading the same line again and again in the novel. I just registered what I was thinking out loud in my head.

Where had that thought come from?

I cleared my throat before the plane landed on the track before the captain asked the passengers to remain seated. It would take a few more minutes before we can get off of the plane. I saw that many people were rushing to get out. I didn’t even know where they wanted to be. I turned to look at the man that was supposed to be my husband on paper. He was still closing his eyes and his breathing was, even now, normal. I sighed relief.

“If I knew any better, you seem to be pleased that I didn’t fret while we landed,” Charles said as he was peeking at me through his lashes. I scoffed at him before I took my hand from him.

“Now that we have landed, husband, you can let me go now so we can get out of here,” I said as I was getting up from the seat. I was sitting in the aisle and Charles was next to me. He shrugged before I was reaching out for my backpack.

“Allow me, wife,” he said before he took it and gave it to me. I mumbled a thank you before I put it on. The remaining passengers were us.

“Well, it sure helps to be the last one to get out,” he said as we were walking down the aisle of the plane. The flight attendants were smiling at us as I thanked them for their service. Some of the females were checking Charles out. I mean, who can blame them?

Black hair.

Hazel eyes.

Lean, toned body.

He was a Greek god if you undressed him. Not that I know anything about that. When a particular flight attendant was brushing her hand on Charles, I felt something burn inside my chest. Something raw to get out and maybe cut that hand.

“Sorry, honey. I know you want to chit-chat and all, but we have to go now. You won’t miss your honeymoon prize tonight, right?” I said in English sweetly before I took Charles with me. I was walking with determination to get off of the plane and get those dirty hands away from him as quickly as possible.

I know what you might think. I was a possessive person even though I claimed that Charles Debrun was nothing but a pain in the ass. Well, maybe I have been assessing this mission all wrong.

“Kiara, slow down,” Charles said behind me as I was dragging him outside the plane. My eyes still burned with that sneaky hand on his arm. I wanted to kill something right now.

“Kiara,” Charles whispered, and still I didn’t slow down.

“God damn it, Kiara. Can we stop for a while, my feet are killing me,” Charles said before he turned to look at him. I was staring at his chest before I looked up at his face. He was mere inches from me, as I could feel his hot breath on my face.

“Now, will it kill you to walk slowly?” He said as he was smiling at me. Then I saw them. One of the flight attendants didn’t know how to put her hand where it didn’t belong. The possessiveness in me was taking control. Without knowing it, I was gripping Charles’ neck and I pulled him closer.

I kissed him in front of everyone.