Chapter 19 #2
She chuckled and cuddled into her papa’s side, smiling at her dad and père .
“Speaking of your handsome men…” Dad pulled out his phone and shot off a quick text. “I think it’s time that we leave you to them.”
“Wait,” she said, sitting up, and her fathers got to their feet. “You’re leaving now? You just got here.”
“No.” Papa chuckled. “We got here nearly an hour ago. We had breakfast with Ethan and Zayne and then waited to talk to you.”
“What? Why didn’t you wake me up?”
Père came around the coffee table and kissed both her cheeks. “Because we needed to talk about you.”
Chloé’s eyes widened, and Dad laughed.
“They’re on their way back, so that’s our cue to leave and for you to have a wonderful day. Don’t worry about seeing us off—we know the way.”
“You’re all being very cryptic right now.”
“Yes,” Dad said as they headed toward the door. “We are. Bye.”
As they disappeared inside, Chloé turned to look out at the gardens, and sure enough, Ethan and Zayne were walking up from the lake.
Hand in hand, they looked absolutely gorgeous in their fall wear—Ethan in a pair of dark pants and maroon sweater, Zayne in his jeans and bomber jacket.
They took her breath away, and as they got closer, she ran down to them, throwing her arms around them both and greeting them with a kiss.
They pulled her in and kissed her back with the same sweet enthusiasm, and when they finally pulled apart, Ethan asked, “Good visit with the parents?”
“The best.” She took in a deep breath, then said, “Still want to go to Paris?”
Zayne chuckled and took her hand in his. “About that…”
Ethan took her other hand and, as they led her up to the house, said, “We need to show you something.”
* * *
ZAYNE GLANCED IN the sun visor mirror for what felt like the hundredth time since they’d left the estate, and each and every time Chloé was staring right back at him.
She was onto them. She knew they had some kind of surprise for her, and he had the worst poker face ever. But as long as she didn’t start asking difficult questions, he should be able to hold out.
“So wherever we’re going right now, it’s not so you can let me down easy, right?”
Zayne frowned. “Let you down?”
“Yeah, you know, some pretty restaurant where you sit me down and tell me you can’t come to Paris with me.”
“You really think we’d do something like that?”
She grinned. “No, so where are you taking me?”
“Nice try,” Ethan said, his deep chuckle filling the car. “Leave poor Zayne alone—he’s horrible at keeping a secret.”
“Why do you think I’m asking him?”
“Hey, I’m right here, and I can keep a secret. Did you know about the earl, the viscount, and the duchess?”
“You only found out after dinner at JULIEN,” Ethan pointed out.
“Still, I didn’t tell her on the way home in the car.”
Chloé started laughing then. “Okay, okay, I won’t make him crack.”
“I understand the desire to,” Ethan said. “He’s lovely to torture.”
“Are you two trying to drive me crazy?”
Ethan placed a hand on his thigh and winked. “Not trying, succeeding, and if you manage to keep our secret, Z, I just might reward you for it.”
Chloé huffed. “That’s not fair. Now he’s never going to cave.”
Ethan eyed her in the rearview mirror. “I know.”
They were right. That promise, and that name, had Zayne’s mouth clamping shut like a vault. But luckily for him, they were almost there.
Ethan turned off the main highway and started to make his way toward the airport, and as they got closer, Chloé’s questions started up again.
“Are we going somewhere? Is that why you were talking to my fathers? You switched my shift, didn’t you?”
Zayne shook his head and pulled out the blindfold they’d stashed in the glove box earlier. “Nope. Nope. And nope.”
“Then what are we doing here?”
“Put this on.” He handed her the blindfold. “And you just might find out.”
Chloé looked at the black satin eye cover and arched a brow. “I’m not going to have sex as a plane flies over.”
“Good to know,” Ethan said, a wicked smile playing at his lips as he changed lanes. “But if you don’t put that on in the next ten seconds, you don’t get your surprise.”
“Okay.” She slipped on the blindfold. “You know I’m a sucker for a surprise.”
They did know that, and when her eyes were finally covered, Zayne leaned over and kissed Ethan’s cheek.
Then he whispered, “Let’s go surprise our girl.”
* * *
ETHAN PULLED INTO one of the designated parking spots and drew the SUV to a stop.
When Chloé had told them about Paris, she’d brought up some valid points and concerns over the fact that they had business and family they’d be leaving behind back here in the States.
He and Zayne had no problem with that, since for them it was the business side of things, and they would’ve had to manage something from afar no matter where they were living.
The family side of things, however, was a whole different story, and a delicate one at that.
They knew Chloé had been struggling with the idea of leaving her family behind, of the fact that if she moved to another country, she couldn’t just drive over to their house or see them when she went to work.
So, he and Zayne had come up with an idea that they hoped would help her adjust.
As they guided her out of the SUV and toward their final destination, Ethan opened the door and Zayne led her inside.
“Okay, Red, stand right here.” Zayne positioned her as Ethan moved to her other side. “On the count of three, you’re going to remove your blindfold.”
Ethan nodded then started counting. “One. Two. Three.”
Chloé reached up and pulled off the blindfold, and a loud gasp left her. “Oh my God.”
She brought her hands up to cover her mouth, her wide eyes full of disbelief as they scanned the private hangar they stood in, and the shiny new Dassault Falcon 900 jet that was parked center stage.
They’d had the crew decorate the space with hundreds of candles and flowers and French mementos, including flags and Eiffel Towers—there were even a couple of replicas of the Louvre.
It was over the top, but completely worth it to see the enormous smile now plastered all over Chloé’s face.
“What… What is going on?”
They each took one of her hands and guided her over to the foot of the open stairs, where a man dressed in uniform— including a French beret—held a tray of canapés.
“This”—Ethan looked up at the jet—“is your surprise.”
Chloé’s jaw dropped. “ This? ”
“Yeah, Red.” Zayne grinned from ear to ear, clearly delighting in Chloé’s complete and utter shock. “And by this , we don’t mean the canapés.”
Chloé shook her head as she took in the sheer size of the plane, and then she turned.
“You bought me a jet ?”
Ethan did his best to keep from laughing. “Technically we bought us a jet. Since we’re all going to use it.”
Her eyes bugged wide. “Are you insane?”
“No. I’m rich, and we spend our money on ridiculous things. But if truth be told, we were already thinking about it, and Zayne and I thought this would be the easiest way for you to go back and forth to visit your family.”
“Or for them to come visit us,” Zayne added.
“I…” Chloé looked over her shoulder again, her hand coming up to her chest. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” Ethan took her other hand and squeezed. “We love you. We know how hard it is for you to think about leaving your family, but hopefully this can make the distance seem a little less.”
A soft sniff filled the air, and this time when she turned back to them, she had tears running down her cheeks.
“I can’t believe you bought us a plane .”
Zayne laughed and pulled her in under his arm. “You haven’t even seen the best part.”
“There’s more?”
“Oh yeah.” Zayne walked her down to the end of the jet, and Ethan knew exactly where he was going. “We had to give her name.”
Chloé looked up at the tail end of the plane, and right there, written in beautiful script, was—
“ Petite Fille. ” Chloé looked so scandalized they both started to laugh, and Ethan reached for one of her curls and tucked it behind her ear.
“It’s perfect, don’t you think?”
“Perfect if you never want my fathers to set foot in it.”
“It’s perfect for you ,” Ethan said. “Our girl. The one we’re going to love for the rest of our lives.”
“In Paris?” Chloé asked, her voice full of wonder as she looked up at the two of them.
Zayne winked at her. “ Oui , in Paris.”