Page 27

“Did we get re-routed or something?” I ask. “And where did Hayden just go?”

“Bathroom,” Gabriel replies, putting away his book.

I narrow my eyes. “The bathroom is at the back of the plane. Hayden went to the front.”

“Thank you all for your patience,” the captain says over the intercom before either of them can respond to that. “We are beginning our descent into Denver. Please return to your seats and put on your seatbelts.”

My nose wrinkles up as my mind races. It’s a crazy thought, but I can’t help myself, so I have to ask, “Did you guys just… not let us land? Did we get delayed somehow?”

Hayden walks back in and seats himself, ignoring me. Ford shoots Gabriel a look, and Gabriel shrugs casually. “We asked the pilot if we had enough fuel in the jet and if the air traffic control would allow us to circle, just for a little while. The pilot charted out a new flight plan in conjunction with the airport so that we wouldn’t interrupt any other incoming flights, and we stayed airborne.”

My brows shoot up as I blink in shock. I can’t think of anything to say, not even thank you, because I’m too stunned. That is an insane, extravagant, impossible amount of effort to go through just for me. “Why?” I finally blurt out.

“You said you didn’t sleep last night,” Hayden says, sounding irritated, like I should have figured that out on my own.

I look over at Ford. “But you hate flying.”

“Take-off and landing,” Ford mutters, as if he’s had to tell this to people a million times. “We already went through take-off, and anything to delay the landing is fine by me.”

I could see Ford using my lack of sleep last night as an excuse, and I really must’ve been exhausted if I didn’t hear them talking about this and the pilot arranging everything. I clearly needed the rest. But I still can’t get over what a thoughtful, considerate, and over-the-top gesture that was.

Then again, I think as we settle into our seats and begin landing, these are three billionaires.

They’re used to getting whatever they want. Maybe asking a pilot to see about changing an entire flight pattern and getting permission from ATC is like ordering something from the menu at a restaurant for them. Maybe, to them, it really was nothing at all.

Still, I can’t help but feel oddly touched.

13

MAEVE

I don’t take Ford’s hand this time as we land, not wanting to push my luck, but I watch him out of the corner of my eye. The rigid set of his jaw, the white-knuckled grip on the armrests—none of it eases until the wheels are on the ground and the engines begin their slow, whining descent into silence. I can’t help but feel a strange, unfamiliar empathy for him.

I know that sounds crazy. Ford is a powerful man who can do whatever he wants, have whatever he wants. He just got permission from air traffic control to let our plane circle for over an hour so that I could keep sleeping, and I’m sure he thought nothing of it.

But maybe that’s exactly it. Ford has always seemed so untouchable to me, even emotionless at times. Seeing that he has this phobia makes him more human. It’s a crack in his armor, a glimpse of the man behind the carefully constructed fortress of ice and steel.

When we land, there’s a car waiting for us with a driver. The driver loads all our luggage for us, then holds the doors as we get into the car.

It’s silent as we drive up. The driver keeps to himself, playing some soft jazz through the radio. Hayden is still on his phone, his thumbs moving with relentless, efficient taps across the screen. Gabriel pulls his book out again. Ford is silent, but it’s not a peaceful quiet. He’s a coiled spring, his gaze fixed on the passing landscape, his thoughts a thousand miles away.

I stare out the window, watching the snow fall as the lights of the city, and then the country, fly by. Colorado is beautiful, although I can’t see much of it in the dark. The family estate is in a small town a bit outside of Denver, so we have a drive to get there.

While I really needed that rest, it’s not enough to get rid of the knots that are slowly forming and tightening in my stomach as time goes on. I have no idea how this is going to go and now that we’re here, the time to back out is shortening with every mile this car eats up.

“Excited to be back?” I ask Ford, looking over at him.

Ford shrugs. “I suppose.”

“You must come here every year, right? Liam does.”

“I haven’t been here in a couple of years.”

I frown. Not since my breakup with Liam, in other words. I’m sure that’s just a coincidence, but I wasn’t aware that Ford had a bad relationship with his family. Sure, he’s a workaholic, but this feels like more than that. “Is… everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine.” His voice is flat, a wall I’m not meant to scale.

“Will my being here—that won’t make things worse? If things are tense…”