Chapter Twenty-nine
Brynn
The Zeta with the basket of roses doesn’t approach Killian and try to upsell him—probably figuring he already way overpaid—but he snatches one anyway as he walks past her.
“You have to buy those,” I hear her tell him.
“Put it on my tab,” he says, not pausing on his way to me.
Another helpless smile claims my lips. “I like roses,” I say softly.
“I know you do,” he says, as he holds it out to me.
“Thank you.”
He doesn’t wait for me to take his arm the way Vanessa’s date did. Instead, he slides a hand around my waist and pulls me against him.
I wind my arms around his neck and lean on him, but this public display of affection when the public makes up so many… “Can we get out of here?” I whisper.
He smirks. “We sure can.”
His hand lingers on my waist, and I slide my arm behind his back, leaning on him as he leads me out of the ballroom area.
We’re nearly to the door when I hear, “Wait!” and turn around.
Addison is rushing toward us in her cute little dress and heels, holding out a bowl with a blue lid on it.
I glance at the bowl, confused.
“It’s cookies,” she states. “I stole them out of the batch I made for whoever wins me,” she adds with a roll of her eyes. “You mentioned yesterday you were jealous of whoever won, and—” she cuts a pointed once-over at Killian “—clearly you were only referring to the cookies, so I thought I’d sneak you a couple.”
Killian smirks, and I crack a smile as she hands me the bowl. “Aw, thank you, Addison. That’s really sweet.”
She flashes me a brief smile. “I have to get back. Be careful with this one,” she says, eyeing Killian.
“I think she can handle me,” he assures her.
“You would think that,” she murmurs.
Killian uses his hand on my waist to subtly turn me back in the other direction, heading for the exit. “Goodbye, Addison.”
I hear her heels moving quickly across the floor as she returns to her spot in line.
I slow down, looking back once I know she’s gone. “Wait. Can we stay? I’m worried no one’s going to bid on her.”
“Why?”
“Because she likes girls, and I just felt like a poor little fish dangled over a shark tank and I like boys, so I can’t imagine how that would feel if I didn’t.”
“Ryan’s in there. I’ll text him and make sure he outbids any creeps who try to bid on her.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, craning my neck to look back.
“I’m positive,” he says, forcing me to keep moving toward the door. “We have a date to get to.”
My gaze snaps back to his. “We do?”
He nods, pushing open the front door. A gust of cold air hits me and I shiver, realizing I left my coat in Addison’s room because I had no idea I would be leaving the house as soon as someone “bought me.”
“I need to get my coat.”
“No time,” he tells me. “I’ll buy you a new one.”
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“You’ll see.”
“How did you even know about this? I didn’t tell you I’d be here.”
“Just assume I know everything that goes on around here,” he tells me.
I roll my eyes. “Stupid all-knowing Blue Bloods.”
He smirks and lets me go so we can get into his car, which is parked very illegally on the street in front of the house instead of the parking deck right next to the house. Guess he wanted a quick getaway.
“Can I get a hint about where we’re going?” I ask, since he seems to be in an actual hurry.
“Maybe.” He nods toward the backseat. “I told her. See if you can get her to tell you.”
Her?
Even though I know logically there is no one in the backseat, I look back there.
Then I gasp when I see my sweet perfect baby curled up in a cat bed on the seat behind me. “Toast. Oh, Mommy missed you so much.” I reach for her, and she reluctantly uncurls and stretches before carefully climbing to the front seat to see me.
I sigh happily, burying my face in her soft fur and giving her all the cuddles I haven’t been able to give her while I was at the apartment without her.
When I’ve had my fill and my heart feels happy again, I look over at Killian. “Did you get my stuff from the apartment?”
“Yep. It’s back at my place.”
“Thank you,” I say, though I’m still not sure that’s a good idea.
I don’t waste time thinking about it now. I was happy to see him at the sorority house, and I’m happy to be holding my cat. All is well right now, and I’m going to let myself have this moment.
He bought a date with me, after all, and he paid a pretty penny for it.
It’s a peaceful ride, even though I’m not sure where our destination is. It’s kind of exciting to be surprised like this, though.
The only thing I feel certain of is that it’s not a restaurant he’s taking me to because I don’t think any restaurant would allow me to bring Toast, but I still make a few guesses with myself.
It turns out all my guesses are miles off, though, because when we pull in somewhere, it’s an airport.
Looking over at Killian uncertainly, I ask, “What are we doing here?”
He doesn’t answer.
I’m getting antsy now.
I’m torn between keeping an eye on him and keeping an out in front of us to see where we’re going. Surely there’s some other reason he would bring me here. I can’t think what it would be, but surely…
And then he slows to a stop outside a gate. I look beyond it at what appears to be a tarmac, but… there’s no way.
We sit there for a second, then the gates open and Killian drives through.
I stare, wide-eyed, as he gives a thank-you wave to the attendant who gestures for him to head in this direction, and then I sit there unable to process reality as he drives around the building and doesn’t stop until we’re parked facing a matte black jet that’s parked on a tarmac.
Slowly, I look over at him. “What… is going on?”
He smirks, then he leans over and steals a kiss. “We’re going on our first date.”
After the kiss, he steals my cat—again.
I watch him climb out with her, still in disbelief, but since it seems I’m expected to exit the car, I do.
It’s still cold and windy, but right now I’m distracted enough that I hardly notice.
Killian grabs Toast’s bed and a bag out of the trunk, then he walks over to a balding man standing between the car and the jet in a windbreaker holding a clipboard. He put Toast in the bag—it seems to be some kind of cat travel bag—and he’s wearing her like a backpack.
The man nods and takes Killian’s keys with a servile smile, then he looks over at me. “Brynn Blakely?”
I nod.
He flashes me the same smile, then gestures toward the jet. “You’re good to board.”
It’s the only logical conclusion given the unfolding events, but I still have trouble making sense of it. This is clearly a private jet, and Killian already told me he hates accepting things from his stepfather, so even if his stepfather had a private jet, I can’t see him feeling good about using it. I know he has his investment with Silvan, whatever that means, but there’s no way Killian’s making private jet money while we’re still in college.
Killian approaches and grabs my hand, then he walks me over to the staircase up to the jet.
“Wait,” I say, holding up the cookies Addison gave me. “Am I allowed to bring these on the plane?”
“Yeah,” Killian says, smiling faintly. “It’s not like flying commercial. You can bring whatever you want.”
“This is crazy,” I state. “I’m supposed to get on this thing?”
“Yep.”
Some part of me is still convinced this must be some elaborate hoax. I don’t know how or why. Can you rent out private jets for dinner or something? Would that be weird? Yes. Would it still be easier to accept than what seems to be happening? Also yes.
I shift my hold on the rose and the cookies so they’re in the same hand, then I grab onto the railing and climb the stairs to the private jet.
What is this life?
A brunette flight attendant waits for me just inside with a friendly smile. As I duck inside the plane, she gestures to the cabin area to my right and says, “Take any seat you’d like.”
“Thank you,” I murmur, flashing her a polite smile as I make my way into the cabin.
I stop short only a step or two inside when I see we’re not alone.
Killian came up right behind me, so he has to stop when I do.
The interior of this jet isn’t like a regular plane with just rows of seats. There are comfy-looking leather seats, but there are also couches and a little booth with a table you can eat at.
And on one of the couches sits a pair of beautiful people I don’t recognize.
The guy appears relaxed, his long arm stretched out across the couch behind the girl. She’s lying against him with his too-big black wool coat draped over her shoulders to keep her warm. It’s cool in the cabin with the door open, but I suppose he doesn’t need it since he’s wearing a charcoal gray sweater.
As I’m entering the cabin, the brunette grabs a gummy bear out of the bag she’s snacking on and reaches her hand up to offer him one. He takes it between his lips with the most dead-ass expression on his bored, handsome face, then the gummy bear dies a swift death as he pulls it into his mouth and starts to chew.
“Oh, they’re here,” the pretty brunette says, her gaze shifting in our direction as she pushes herself up to a more upright position and flashes me a smile. “Hi, I’m Aubrey. You must be Brynn.”
Recovering quickly from the surprise of unexpected people on the plane, I keep moving forward toward them and flash her a smile. “Hi. Yeah, that’s me.”
Killian steps around me now that we’re in a space big enough for us to stand side-by-side. Gesturing toward the dark-haired guy on the couch, he says, “This is my friend, Dare. It’s his jet. And that’s his girlfriend, Aubrey.”
“Pleasure’s all mine,” Dare says casually, and the sound of his voice wipes the smile right off my face.
I didn’t recognize his face because they all wore masks that night, but… that is definitely the voice of one of the Blue Bloods who kidnapped me.
The driver. The one in the leather gloves. The one who tied me to that table much more effectively than my first batch of sacrificers.
Now that I meet his dark gaze, I see beyond the initial fa?ade of rich-boy boredom. I see he knew I’d be coming, and he knew I’d likely recognize him the moment I heard him speak, and now his intelligent gaze is fixed on me, watching to see what I’ll do next.
I swallow.
Before I left their beautiful hell castle or dark cathedral—whatever the hell building I got taken to, Hex made it very clear that I wasn’t allowed to tell Killian about the kidnapping. I assumed my obedience in that matter was part of the test, so of course I haven’t said anything.
I’m not about to now, either.
I feel a little uneasy about having one of them along with us on whatever this is, but I do my best to shove it down and put a smile back on my face, since anything else would be notably strange. “Nice to meet you.”
His eyes glint with the faintest hint of amusement, but he doesn’t say anything.
Killian steps in front of me, leading me over to the couch across from them and sitting down. Toast is still in her travel bag, but he puts it on the couch on the other side of him, leaving room for me to sit next to him.
I glance uncertainly at the more traditional—if much more luxe—airplane seats at the far front of the cabin, but since everyone else is sitting on the couches, I do too.
“These have seat belts,” Aubrey assures me, seeming to follow my gaze and interpreting my concern. She reaches into the couch behind her and pulls out a silver seat belt to show me. “We’ll have to buckle up for take off like on a normal plane, but after that we can take them off. I take it you’ve never flown private?”
I shake my head. “No,” I say a bit shyly.
She nods as if she can relate. “I hadn’t either until I met him, but Dare would rather die than spend hours in a flying metal tube packed full of strangers, so…”
I crack a smile. “Good thing he has a private jet, then.”