Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Ride or die. That is Aurora Valentino. She doesn’t question me. She doesn’t try to change my mind about leaving. Instead, she holds out a hand and says, “Let’s go.”
I can’t stop myself. My lips are on hers in seconds, my tongue pushing into her mouth. “I fucking love you,” I whisper when I pull back again.
“I love you,” she says.
I take hold of her hand and look out the window. Fuck. I did not think of how to get her out of here. We’re on the second floor. I can climb down, but I don’t want to risk her falling.
“Scared of heights all of a sudden?” Aurora quirks an eyebrow as if reading my mind.
“No, I’m scared of you getting hurt,” I tell her.
“Connor O’Malley, I swear if you start treating me like I’m a girl and can’t do the same shit you do, I’m going to stab you.” She shoves me out of the way, sits on the ledge, and throws her legs over the other side.
“Wait! Let me go first. At least then I can catch you.” I reach out to grab her.
“Snooze, you lose, Harvard,” she says as she turns her body and lowers herself from the building. Then I watch as she climbs down the same pipe I used to climb up.
My need to protect her has nothing to do with me not thinking she’s capable. It’s because I failed to keep her safe and I don’t want to fail her again.
I climb out the window and start making my own way down.
As soon as my feet hit the ground, I take Aurora’s hand in mine and lead her to the back of the property.
She doesn’t ask where I’m taking her, not even when we reach the forest and I start along the path that will guide us to the main road where I parked.
Forty minutes later, we reach the car and I open the door for Aurora. She climbs in—again without a word.
As soon as I pull out onto the quiet highway, I pick her hand up and bring it to my mouth. “I’m sorry,” I tell her.
“For what?” she asks.
“For making you leave your family.” I know how much they mean to her. It can’t be easy.
“Connor, you did not make me leave. I chose to leave with you. I will always choose you,” she tells me. “If anyone should be sorry, it’s me. I’m the reason you had to…”
“You are not the reason I killed my father. Don’t even think that, princess. You are the reason I breathe. You are the reason there is something in this life worth fighting for,” I tell her.
“Oxygen,” she says.
“Huh?”
“You are my oxygen,” she clarifies.
“Ditto.”
It takes two hours to make it to the hangar with the private plane I arranged. The pilot is someone I trust, but also someone who won’t make it back to be able to tell anyone where we went.
I logged in and forged the flight logs. This plane is headed to Houston. Aurora and I will be landing in the Maldives. I’ve booked a honeymoon villa overlooking the ocean, under an alias obviously.
We’re going to hide in plain sight, and where better than paradise? The time we spent on her aunt’s island was magical. I want that again. I want to be just us… while I figure out how I’m going to use the intel from that box to get us back to The States safely.
“Is there a bed on this plane?” Aurora asks as we walk up the stairs.
“No, but the chairs should be okay to sleep on,” I tell her.
“Sleeping isn’t what I had in mind.”
Well, fuck. Now I wish I’d arranged for a larger plane. I picked something small, something that will attract less attention.
“Welcome, sir. We’re ready to take off,” the pilot says right as we claim our seats.
“Thank you.” I nod and make sure Aurora is buckled in before I fasten my own belt.
“You know him?” she asks.
“Nope,” I tell her.
“You trust him not to tell anyone where we’re headed?”
“He’s not going to be able to tell anyone anything,” I whisper.
She understands the meaning of my words. I know Aurora doesn’t like the idea of killing innocent people. But I chose this pilot for a reason. Killing him isn’t a crime. It’s a community service. He has a record for child abuse.
“Trust me, he deserves it, princess,” I tell Aurora. I don’t need my wife believing I’m more of a monster than she already does.
“Connor, whatever you think we need to do, I will support you. I will help you. Even if it means ruining my manicure to dig holes,” she says.
“How did you get so fucking perfect?” I ask her.
“I had a dark prince awaken me with a kiss so magical it should be illegal.” Aurora smiles.
As soon as we were in the air, I had Aurora take off her belt and lie across the seats, her head resting on my lap. She fell asleep real quick, which tells me just how tired she was. I don’t like doing this to her. I hate that we have to run and hide. I just don’t know what else to do.
We’re fucking eighteen. We should be living it up, experiencing our final year of high school. Not fighting for our lives. Fighting for our love. Although I’d always choose this—her—over anything else.
My fingers comb through the length of her hair. I watch her chest rise and fall as I mull over what my next move is going to be. Does my mother know what my father was hiding?
I have no doubt that she does. My father never did anything without telling her.
Why, though? Why would he hide this?
I can’t for the life of me think of a reason. I did always question why I was an only child. Families like ours, families who need heirs, tend to have multiple children. Spares.
Well, I guess I know why now.
Whatever his reasoning was, I don’t care. I know, and I’m going to figure out a way to use this information to my advantage.
I considered hunting down my mother, demanding answers from her.
I don’t have the time for that, though. My uncle might have been dealt with, but there are others actively looking for me right now.
They know if they don’t get to me first, theirs will be the next heart delivered to their loved ones in a box.
I have three more of my father’s top men. The ones who were loyal to him. Once they’re gone, you’d think the war would be over, but it won’t be. I still have to figure out what to do with my mother. She’s not going to just vanish.
Can I kill her? I’m not so sure. Killing my father was easy, but the thought of having to kill my mother doesn’t sit well with me. But I will do it, if that’s what it takes.
Patty stayed in Dublin. He was going to start closing in on the fuckers trying to close in on us. I didn’t tell him what I’d found. I don’t know if I can tell anyone.
What if it doesn’t work out? What if this secret isn’t my saving grace?
I think, for now, it’s best if no one knows. Although when Aurora wakes up and it’s just the two of us, I can tell her. She is the one person in this world I trust completely.
Which is funny, considering it wasn’t all that long ago that she tricked me into coming to help her and then I ended up drugged, tied to a bed, and at her mercy. All because she wasn’t prepared to give us up.
Really, though, if you’re not prepared to kidnap someone, do you even love them?
Aurora stirs, her eyes blink open, and she looks up at me. “You’re still here.” Her words are barely audible and she sighs in relief. Where the fuck does she think I’m going?
“Always,” I tell her.
“Did you sleep?”
“I was busy watching an angel.” I smirk.
“I’m far from an angel and we both know that.” She chuckles as she pushes upright in her seat. I’m fucking drained but I couldn’t rest. My head is pounding. I feel like I’m hungover without having had the fun part of actually drinking.
“You need to sleep. You look like shit, Connor,” Aurora tells me.
“Thanks?”
“I mean, you’re still hot as fuck. But you look exhausted,” she adds.
“We’re almost there. I’ll sleep after we’re settled in.”
“Okay,” Aurora says, still not even bothering to ask me where I’m taking her.