Chapter 28
Sadie
When Lucan misses the turn for Ember Falls after we leave campus, I’m certain something’s off.
“Where are we going?” I ask again, peering through the tinted window.
The car glides low to the road, swift yet perfectly controlled. Trees zip past.
“Trust me.” Lucan squeezes my thigh through my stockings, sending a jolt of warmth to my core. “You’ll like it.”
“Did you get a private chef or something?”
“No.” He changes gears over a rise. “We’re going to a restaurant.”
The forest thins to rolling green fields, increasing my confusion. There’s nothing around. Why would a restaurant be in the middle of nowhere?
The nerves in my stomach grow. God, where is he taking me? He ordered me to sit on a glass table the first time he got me alone. Now that we’ve slept together, what might he plan?
Clara and Juliette will soon start wondering where I am, so I write a message to our group chat and hit send. At least they’ll know who I’m with, if not where.
Lucan notices me typing, and I brace for his wry comment.
“Good,” he says. “The people who care about you should know where you are.”
The nervous flutters in my stomach die down. Maybe this is a regular date. Harmless, cute, uneventful.
“Then tell me where you’re taking me? So I can let my friends know.”
He flashes a wicked grin. “Somewhere no one can reach you. You’ll be all mine.”
My heart sinks.
I should’ve known my fear was valid. He’s taking me god-knows-where to do god-knows-what. It’s unlikely I’ll escape with my honor and pride intact, if I have any left after the things I’ve done with him already.
A plane flies overhead, and then another. Leaning forward, I squint at the long buildings behind wire fences down the road.
“An airport?” I ask, feeling like I’ve slipped into another dimension. “But the closest airport is half a state away.”
“The closest public one.” Lucan turns onto a smooth, paved road. “This is a private terminal.”
The gates at the entrance get nearer.
I narrow my eyes in suspicion. “Why are you going inside?”
“I told you. I’m taking you to dinner.”
The gates open as he approaches, a security guard waving from a booth.
Understanding dawns on me, swiftly followed by anxiety. “But…”
Lucan pulls up in the middle of a tarmac near uniformed staff and a sleek white jet.
“You must be kidding,” I say, my knuckles pale as I grip the armrest.
He kills the car engine. “I would never kid.”
Before I can argue, a staff member opens my door. “Good afternoon, Miss Marlowe.”
Lucan exits the car and exchanges words with a woman in a pilot’s uniform. She nods to him, and then climbs the jet’s stairs.
Is this really happening?
Lucan takes the place of the staff member at my door.
“Anything wrong?” he asks. “Pilot’s ready when we are.”
“I’m not,” I say.
His brow creases. “Not what?”
“Ready.”
My insides twist as I stare at the jet.
Getting on the aircraft feels like a huge deal, maybe even as big as having sex with Lucan. The pilot might be flying, but he’s the one in charge. He could take me anywhere, and do anything.
I’d be putting myself in his hands. Trusting him utterly, when I’m not sure I trust him at all.
The engines come alive, whirring and humming. Ground crew in hi-vis vests get into position.
Everyone’s waiting for me.
Lucan leans down, lowering his voice. “Talk to me, Sadie. What’s up?”
“This is a lot for a first date.”
“It’s dinner, I promise. I shouldn’t have teased you on the ride here. I just want to take you somewhere you don’t have to look over your shoulder for one night. You deserve that.”
I swallow. “I’ve never been on a plane before.”
He offers me his hand while subtly holding his breath, like taking me on this date is important to him. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Not tonight, not ever.”
My mind spools through a million reasons to say no, and comes up short.
I’ve always wanted to fly on a plane. Just because I imagined different, humbler circumstances when it happened, doesn’t mean I should say no. Why refuse when I can say yes and maybe have an adventure? Do something worth writing about?
Looking up into Lucan’s eyes, which are the exact shade of deep blue sky at his back, I realize that I want to spend time with him too, jet or no jet. I want to know him better.
“Okay.” My shoulders unwind. “Let’s go to dinner.”
He smiles, hoisting me from the car. “Good girl.”
We climb the narrow stairs of the jet, wind whipping across the tarmac and into my hair. Lucan follows close behind me as a reassuring presence.
A uniformed flight attendant with impeccable makeup greets us inside the aircraft, which smells shiny and new.
“Welcome aboard, Miss Marlowe, Mr. Hale.” She shows us to lounge seating made from cream leather. “We will take off shortly.”
Fastening my seatbelt, I gaze around at the gleaming wood finishes and small tables. The attendant serves us two cocktails with curls of lemon rind on the rims. Lucan and I are the only passengers.
“Flight time is six hours,” she says. “The pilot will announce our descent.”
The engine hums louder, and she takes her seat near the cockpit door.
“Six hours?” My brow furrows. “Either we’re going to the West Coast or…”
Lucan rubs my wrist with his thumb. “Another country.”
“Seriously?”
His eyes gleam with amusement. “Seriously.”
“But I don’t have a passport.”
“It’s all taken care of.”
“If you say so.” I look down at my clothes. “I wish you would’ve let me change.”
My hair and clothes will be far from fresh after a six-hour flight.
“There’s a garment bag for you in the bathroom.” He tilts his head at a wood-paneled door behind us. “You can freshen up and change once we’re in the air.”
“I can’t believe this is normal for you,” I say as the jet turns on the runway and picks up speed. “No wonder you’re so…”
His brow arches. “What?”
I snort. “You.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You would.”
The jet surges down the runway, pinning me against my seat. It feels so much faster than I was expecting.
Lucan takes my hand and laces his fingers through mine, and I let him because his touch feels comforting alongside the intimidating speed.
Before I can fully adjust to the hurtling sensation, we’re in the air. The ground rapidly falls away, leaving my stomach behind briefly.
Transfixed, I stare out the window. From up here, the world looks ordered, neat, and small, like a carefully constructed model.
As we ascend through silvery clouds, a flicker of excitement forms in my chest amid the anxiety.
I’m on a plane. I’m going to another country!
How is this real? With a bittersweet pang, I wonder what my mom would say if she could see me.
I know she would want me to enjoy myself, so that’s what I’ll try to do.
When the cabin levels out, Lucan unbuckles our seatbelts and pulls me into his lap.
“When I woke up this morning, I never thought I’d be taking my first flight,” I say.
“First of many,” says Lucan, tracing his fingertip over my jawline and chin to my lips.
He squeezes my hand, and I realize I’m shaking.
“You’re anxious,” he says. “Breathe, beautiful. I promise you’re safe.”
“I’m excited. But yeah, also anxious. The ground is so far away.”
He smiles. “I’ll hold onto you for as long as you like. Maybe longer.”
The flight passes as if I’m in a dream, sipping cocktails and watching the widescreen television while I’m nestled in Lucan’s lap. He strokes my hair, arms, back, thighs. Anything he can reach. Warm honey spills throughout my body at his touch, and my anxiety gradually eases.
In the second half of the flight, I make my way to the bathroom.
The soft lighting and high-gloss countertops are like a five-star hotel powder room. I wash my hair surrounded by fragrant steam, the quiet hum of the aircraft at my feet.
As promised, a garment bag hangs from a gilded hook, labeled with my name. The dress is perfect. Long, sheer, black layers, and a subtle slit over one leg. It’s sexy and timeless.
Slipping into the gown, I swish in front of the full-length mirror a few times before turning to the makeup case. Inside are staple products, but also a navy tube that makes me do a double-take.
Squinting at the name of the lipstick, I shake my head in confusion. This has to be a mistake.
Berry the Evidence was my absolute favorite shade of lipstick, but it was discontinued years ago. It broke my heart.
Twisting the end, the product is exactly as I remember. I apply two light layers with a sigh of pleasure. The color’s perfect.
I keep my hair and makeup simple, and slide my feet into the black slingback heels.
One last case sits on the counter, smaller and made of polished dark wood. Opening the lid, my eyebrows fly up.
The piece of jewelry must belong to his mother or another relative. The pendant and gold chain look very old and expensive.
I hastily close the lid, leave the box, and return to Lucan. He stands when he sees me, giving a low whistle and dragging his eyes over my face and body like he wants to eat me.
“You look incredible.” His gaze stops at my décolletage. “Where’s the necklace?”
I point my thumb at the bathroom. “The one in the case?”
“Was there another?” He snorts. “Yes, the one in the case.”
“Oh. I didn’t think—” My face heating, I take my seat. “That can’t be for me?”
He touches my chin, disappears into the bathroom, and returns with the wooden case.
“It’s for you.” He sits beside me. “This pendant has been in my family for a long time.”
No way. No way.
This is too much.
If I lost the necklace, I’d have to sell a kidney on the black market to pay him back. Or my first-born child, and even that mightn’t cover it.
I shrink away. “You want me to just wear it, right? Not keep it?”
His eyes narrow slightly, like he’s trying to figure out if I’m serious. “I’m not in the habit of asking for things back, Sadie. Here, let me put it on you.”
“I can’t. It’s a family heirloom.”
“We have hundreds of pieces in our collection, if it makes you feel better. I thought this one would suit your taste.”
The old-cut diamond is set in complicated gold filigree. My heart twinges at the idea of Lucan looking through a collection of jewels for one I’d like.
He was right too. As with the dress, he picked something that feels like me.
“What if I lose it?” I ask.
“Don’t. Never take it off, okay?”
I bite the inside of my cheek. “Okay.”
He fastens the chain around my neck while I hold my hair to the side. Lucan’s lips brush against my nape in a gentle, deliberate kiss that sends shivers down my back.
Privately, I decide to return the necklace to him when he lets me. Whatever he says, I can’t possibly keep an heirloom.
“How did you find that lipstick?” I ask. “And how did you know it’s my favorite?”
Lucan toys with the pendant in the hollow of my throat, like he’s glad for any excuse to touch me. “Your social media. Had to go back several years, but it was there.”
I pause to remember. “I made a post in high school? I think I mentioned being disappointed it was discontinued.”
“Correct.”
“Did you get it from a collector or something?”
He takes a mouthful of whiskey. “Hale Enterprises owns the cosmetics company. I had them resurrect the patent and manufacture the product for you.”
I stare at him. “I can’t believe you would do that for me. Wow.”
He just shrugs and rotates his crystal tumbler, but I also notice the pleased smile flicking briefly across his face.
As I sip my drink, I realize that Lucan might be ruining me for all other men. He’s totally overwhelming at times, but how could anyone ever follow him?
What am I going to do?
I can’t just… be with him, can I? Live happily ever after? Experience has taught me that nothing is ever so simple or sweet.
Even if it were, I doubt that I deserve happiness after what I did to Russell. My worst sin is like a demon on my back, gnawing at me, no matter how much I try to ignore it.
Maybe my past will continue to haunt me until I face what I did, instead of pretending nothing happened. Because no matter how far I push it down, the demon persists.
Night falls as we cross from the endless ocean to the sparkling lights of land, and the pilot’s voice comes over the speaker.
“Good evening, Mr. Hale, Miss Marlowe. Welcome to France.”