Page 18 of Forever: The Companion

Renzo flashed her with a blinding smile. “Will do.”

“Back home?” she asked, coming closer until she could grab the hand that he held out for her. “Or do you have something else planned?”

He winked. “You know me so well. Definitely something else. Get in the car—we gotta head out of the city.”

“To where?”

“You’ll see.”

This man was lucky she loved surprises.

• • •

“Ren—”

It was like he could hear the concern in Lucia’s voice as she finally recognized where they were, and what the private air strip meant. Not to mention, the damn jet at the end of the runway looked as though it were on standby and ready to fly.

“Let me talk,” he said, never once taking his gaze away from the window while he navigated the Maserati down the long strip, “and then we’ll see how you feel, okay?”

She passed him a look.

He still kept his stare on the road.

Dammit.

She loved this man, but she didn’t know if she liked this idea of his very much, considering everything that she was now seeing.

“Fine, talk,” she said.

“Six days in Bali—a private residence with maids, a cook, and everything. There’s even a damn waterfall in the back, Lucia, and a pool that has one glass wall, so it looks like the water just drops off all of the sudden. Can you imagine the views? There’ll be no working, nobody bothering you or me, and time for us to get back to what’s important here. Tell me that doesn’t sound fucking amazing.”

“That’s my mother and father’s trip.”

“No, it’s ours because they decided to give it to us to use. Don’t feel guilty about that—we’re just going to pay them back times a hundred for their anniversary or something, okay? So, six days in Bali, think about it.”

She sighed.

That did sound lovely.

Perfect, really.

Still, she had to think about everything else she had going on, too. Life couldn’t be as simple as Lucia just packing up her shit and heading out of town for almost an entire week. Even Renzo had to know that, but his next words made it seem like he had all those bits figured out, too.

“Nothing on your schedule was so important, according to your assistant—you know, that person you hire to take care of these things for you and be aware of this shit—that it couldn’t be moved. Oh, and that showing you have for the artist? It’s not for another two weeks, and since I know damn well it’s been a major source of stress for you, it would be good to get some time away from it.”

“But—”

“Not done, Lucia.”

She pressed her lips together, trying to hide her smile. She loved that somehow, he’d managed to pull this together for her in a day. How, she didn’t know.

“Your aunt, Kim, is going to handle the gallery for the week,” Renzo added.

He pulled the car to a stop a good fifty meters away from the private jet—she recognized the plane well enough because it belonged to her other aunt, Catrina. In the driver’s seat, Renzo turned to face her with a grin and his eyebrows raised expectantly.

“Your ma packed the bags for us. They’re already waiting on the jet. The gallery will be handled. John is going to keep an eye on Diego. Your father will keep everyone else in line.”

Lucia laughed lightly. “Of course.”