Page 25 of The Heir
"Melody, help me!" I gasp, reaching over to grab her hand.
She looks over at me quizzically. "Just stop, Izzy. It's okay, we can take another break. You've never done four miles before!"
"I don't want to look stupid in front of my business partner!" I whisper to her, grabbing her hand hard.
She nods, moves closer to where our hips are almost touching and then links her arm tightly with mine. "Come on, pick it up. You can do it!" she whispers, and then surges forward, pulling me along with her tightly.
I'm huffing and puffing but I'm making it. My lips tighten as I feel sweat streaming down my back. The hair from my pony tail is stuck to my face in some spots, my vision wavers, and just when I'm sure I'm about to pass out we get to the top where I collapse straight to my knees, laying my forehead on my arm. Right in the middle of the trail.
And then I start crying.
I get exactly three seconds to have a self pity party before being picked up into the air and held against a damp, muscular body. My eyes fly open in horror but I can't speak, can barely move. My arm flops to the side and my head hangs over King's arm limply as he proceeds to carry me. He feels like a rock, there's nothing soft about him.
"Aw Izzy! I'm so proud of you! You've never done that hill before!" My mom leans down and catches my eye as I watch the trees pass upside down.
"I am never, ever going running with you guys again!" I hiss at her, too tired to even tell King to put me down. "I don't careh-h-how much you beg," I gasp, my heart suddenly fluttering and robbing me of my breath."She'sthe track aficionado, not me!"
"She's a runner, she's a track star," King sings under his breath. Melody looks over at him and they laugh.
I hike my head up and pin him with a death stare."Put me down!"I grit through my teeth, narrowing my eyes at him. But suddenly the blood rushes from my head from being in my position for so long and I moan, putting a hand up to my temple. It looks incredibly dramatic but I think I might faint honestly.
"You know, you could say thank you. If I didn't see you with your friend the other night, I would think that it would kill you to be nice."
"Isobel has a very ambitious, determined streak," Mom chimes in. "But she's a softy at heart, don't let her fool you. She'd give you the shirt off her back if you asked her to." My mother looks at me with such tenderness, but I can't enjoy it because she just outed me to the sexiest man alive, who still has me in his arms by the way.
"Mom,"I whine, now narrowing my eyes at her. "You're not supposed to say stuff like that to someone I do business with! This isKing!"
"Oh!" Mom gasps."Thisis the asshole who-" she slaps a hand over her mouth to physically shut herself up.
My jaw literally drops as I choke on my own spit. My eyes meet King's in renewed embarrassment, yet I see nothing but amusement in his as he grins down at me and winks. "Asshole, huh?" he says with a little laugh. "Seems you've formed quite the opinion about me."
My heart races, proving that I might need to go to urgent care.
I put a hand to my chest and will it to slow down. My thoughts take a left turn, quickly reminding me that I'm in a relationship; Christopher would be pissed that another man was carrying me.
Thinking of Christopher I pale and begin to push at King. "P-put me down… I can walk. Seriously, it's not appropriate. Christopher would-"
King's arms tighten around me, and the sudden, possessive move makes me snap my mouth shut. A random clicking noise fromsomewhere nearby distracts me from the almost feral look in his eyes, and I tense, whipping my head to the side to seepaparazziat the end of the trail with their cameras, taking pictures of us.
A loud gasp erupts from my mother's throat causing me to swing my head back to look over King's shoulder, seeing she's stopped walking, the men have too.
"Mom?"I say quizzically, surprised at the abrupt change of her demeanor. One of the security guards calls out for King, who stops and turns back, making us face them head on where the guards begin to form a circle around us.
Ignoring me calling for her, she lunges to the middle of the group, all the way in between the body guards, reaching back out and snatching Melody in behind her. King's brows furrow at the commotion and flits his eyes to his guards who-already on high alert- become even more so.
"Isobel, get in here!" Mom says in a panicked voice, reaching out to grab my ankle and pull, however, King still refuses to let me go. Instead, he walks into the middle of the circle with them.
"What's wrong?" His voice is laced with concern, however he ignores me trying to wiggle out of his arms, keeping all his attention on her. "It's just paparrazzi. You don't need to be worried, my guards won't let them hurt you."
"Mom, what happened?"I ask.
The same energy that would possess her to quickly pack us up and move to a different part of the country in the dead of the night rolls off of her in waves, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up and my spine stiffen.
"Why the hell are they taking pictures of us!?" she hisses angrily. Correction, sheseemsangry, but there's a fear in her eyes I haven't seen in years, confirming my suspicions. Keeping my eyes on her I tapKing's chest,hard,letting him know I mean business. "Put me down,now."
He tilts his head to give me a slow look, his eyes boring into mine for long, drawn out seconds. I don't know what he observes, but he bends to place my feet on the ground and I take a step towards my mom, wrapping her in a tight hug.
"Isobel, I have to get out of here," Mom says in a desperate tone that causes my anxiety to spike."I can't be seen."
