His sincerity vibrated off his skin, glowed in his gaze, and powered every breath in his gorgeous body. “But we need to go.” He kissed me again and stood, his attention on the cockpit. “Be right back.”
I looked down at my seatbelt. Evidently, he didn’t want me to move. My heart squeezed. I still needed to say good-bye to—
Collin stepped out of the cockpit, his blue eyes locked on mine, his lips tilted in a lop-sided grin. He sat beside me and embraced me in a tight hug. “We’re not saying good-bye, hooker.”
I hugged him back, nodding against his neck, fighting like hell to hold back my damned tears.
He leaned back and tugged on the braid draped over my chest. “I’ve arranged everything for your arrival. There’s a change of clothes for both of you.” He jerked his head at the bags on the floor by the door. “Benny took care of the passports, citizenship paperwork, and your new identities.”
“Thank you,” I said, my throat closing up.
He reached inside his suit jacket and removed a folded sleeve of papers. Unfolding them and flipping to the last page, he pointed at the signature line at the bottom. “I had this drawn up yesterday.”
Divorce papers. I stared at his signature with blurry eyes and sensed Logan approaching from the front of the plane.
Collin handed me a pen. “This is the last of their control. We’re free, sweetheart.”
I accepted the pen and signed. No hesitation, despite the torrent of emotions my heart was battling. “I’m leaving you. Alone.”
He slipped the papers back in his jacket and cupped my face. “I have Seth. And you’re not leaving me. You’re leaving them.” He pressed a kiss to my lips and stood. “I’ll see you in one month, and that villa better have decent bedding or I’m staying in a hotel.”
I huffed, a smile yanking on my lips. “Love you, you fussy pain-in-the-ass.”
“Love you too, you crazy bitch.” He stared at me for a moment, his smile so full of love and devotion. God, I was going to miss him.
He turned toward Logan and gave him a one-armed hug. “Take care of her.”
Logan nodded, his eyes burning with intensity, his jaw rigidly locked. “With every breath.”
Then Collin was gone and Logan was buckled in beside me. My head fell against his shoulder, my hands reaching for his, and somewhere between zero- and forty-thousand-feet, I passed out.
I woke to a dim cabin, the whisper of air through the vents, and Logan’s lips on my neck. He unzipped my leather jacket, removed my seatbelt, and helped me out of the rest of my clothes.
There was no staff on board. Only us, and the pilot, and ten hours of downtime. He’d already changed into a t-shirt and a pair of exercise pants. His blond hair hung in dark, wet strands around his ears, and the scent of soap breathed from his skin.
“Did you take a shower?”
He kissed my lips. “Yeah, it’s too small for two people, but I’ll help you with yours.” His golden eyes glimmered in the soft illumination of the ceiling lights.
I glanced at the rear of the cabin. “No bedroom on this one.”
He shook his head, his lips twitching. “There’s eight chairs and a couch to try out.”
I stared into his eyes, fell into them like a dream. Only I wasn’t dreaming. We were on a plane. Flying to Italy. Wealthy beyond imagination. No more Trent. No more murder and revenge.
I kissed him, pressing my lips all over his face, his persistently-arched brow, his whiskered jaw, his sinful lips, and leaned back. “It’s over.”
He dipped his head and spoke against my lips. “No, baby. It’s beginning.”
31
Kaci
A breeze drifted in through the sitting room window, warm and salty, filling my lungs with a weightless kind of peace. We’d lived in the beach-front villa for nine months, yet every time I took a breath, it was like inhaling the sea for the first time.
Life was different here. I didn’t own a pair of high heels. Never slept or woke in an empty bed. I didn’t work twelve hour days. Hell, we had enough money that neither of us needed to work again.
But we found something we loved. Pro racing in Italy was a big deal. Some of the most successful world superbikers were born and bred here. We didn’t aspire to compete in the Grand Prix and travel the world. We just wanted normalcy and a passion to keep the mind busy. Racing in the beginner and intermediate classes gave us that.
And the really convenient part? Anonymity. We walked through the security gates wearing our helmets, we raced the circuit, declined the interviews, and left without showing our faces. The perfect job for two people who couldn’t reveal their identities.
Identity was important to Logan, so much so he’d spent several months researching his biological mother. He confirmed Ella Flynt was a reporter who vanished a few months after his birth, but he couldn’t find anything that linked her to a sister or a son. After a long and unproductive investigation, he decided to put his past behind him and accepted that his questions surrounding her death and his adoption to Maura had died with her.