12
RAVEN
I sag against my seat,tears lining my lashes like little armies of regret.
“What if I can’t be with him? We’re not even in speaking terms right now.”
Not to mention I could’ve chopped his head off last night.
“We’ll see when and if that possibility becomes real.”
“It is real now.”
I seek his eyes, having my bottom lip rolled under my teeth. I nod a couple of times when he shifts his eyes to me.
“We could go to our hotel again, spend the day there,” I say. “Why even return? We could invite Francisco over. I miss him. And I know he’s missed me too. If we are to consummate it. Let’s consummate it then. Kai wants us to do it. And then he doesn’t, but that’s his business. We need to go through with it to understand what this is.”
“It will only harm you if you think about him in those terms. There’s no point in bringing all that anger into our story.”
“I’m not.”
I sound like I am, so I calibrate my voice and say it again.
“I’m not. I missed you and Francisco. And there were things that happened between Kai and me… Things that made me very emotional. And he was the best…”
My voice trails off as I look out the window and suck more air into my lungs, locking my jaw and pushing my tears back.
“I don’t want to get hooked on that man if he takes that away from me. And there’s no point in punishing you or Francisco. I think we pretty much know at this point where we stand and that he wanted it to end. I’m not sure he still does.”
Getting a grip on myself, I shift my focus to him.
“Let’s start all over,” I say, smiling faintly. “Let’s have some fun. You, me, and Francisco. Let’s spend the afternoon and night there and go back whenever. Maybe we can get our own charter plane and fly back to New York when we’re done. He’s given me freedom. What’s the point of having freedom if I’m not using it.”
He looks at me with admiration, and I’m flattered.
“He wanted this…” I continue when he gestures.
“You don’t have to oversell it to me. I couldn’t have said it better,” he says, a grin tugging at his lips.
He fishes out his phone from his pocket while setting his car in motion.
“I have a better idea. We’re going someplace else,” he says.
I give him a questioning look.
“There’s a nice villa miles away from here. Farther away, but the trip is worth it.”
He calls Francisco and asks him to join us before giving him the directions.
Francisco’s answer is a cryptic ‘yes’ before he hangs up.
“He doesn’t seem in a great mood,” I comment.
“He’ll come around. Don’t worry about him. He doesn’t know why I invited him.”
The car eats miles as we head up north.
He spends a few minutes talking on the phone to the people managing the place and ordering some food and drinks for when we arrive before sliding his phone into his pocket and looking at me.