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“No.”
“Okay. So we need to head to the airport?”
“No. The private airstrip a couple miles from here. Ash is loaning us the OZ plane and pilots.”
Even though he trusted Serena more than he trusted even himself, he was getting a gut-jarring feeling about this. Narrowing his eyes, he said, “Ash isn’t one to just loan out a hundred-million-dollar plane on a whim.”
A slight smile curved her mouth. “Actually, when I asked him if we could use it, he said he was so thrilled we were healthy, back together again, and returning to OZ, he might consider giving us the plane.”
“Hmm. That’d be a nice vow-renewal gift. Too bad it wouldn’t fit in our garage.”
“So it’s a go? You’ll come, no questions?”
Since he did trust her and would follow her to the ends of the earth, if necessary, he had no problem saying, “All right.”
Her smile a mixture of relief and trepidation, she said, “Grab the bags, and let’s go.”
The chances of her throwing up before this trip was over were one hundred percent. Serena didn’t think she’d ever been more nervous in her entire life. Even though Sean had been remarkably cooperative with the minimal information she’d provided, she knew she had only the length of the flight—a little over five hours—to explain and then, if necessary, beg for Sean’s forgiveness.
Not that she thought he’d be angry with her, but this was a volatile situation, and she just didn’t know how he was going to handle all the emotions.
They sat across from each other. The pilot, copilot, and a flight attendant were the only other passengers. Serena had called ahead and asked for a bottle of Scotch and a pitcher of lemonade to be waiting for them in the kitchen area. She had also requested complete privacy after the initial welcome, unless there was an emergency.
Everything was set and ready to go. The jet had just taken off, its trajectory upward while her heart was somewhere down in her stomach, doing some kind of wild, bohemian dance. If she didn’t get it settled down, she was going to have to excuse herself to throw up before she even got started.
She was enormously grateful that Ash was allowing them to use OZ’s jet. Normally, she wouldn’t ask him for something so monumental, but getting to their destination and back before the ceremony tomorrow evening was of vital importance. Just as important was the need to tell Sean about this before they renewed their vows. When they stood in front of their loved ones tomorrow, she wanted no secrets between them.
Taking a sip of lemonade, she drew in a shaky breath. A large, strong hand suddenly appeared on top of hers, and she realized she had been unconsciously squeezing the armrest.
“Hey,” Sean said gruffly, “whatever it is, you can tell me.”
Grateful beyond words for that quiet assurance, she took in another breath and said, “After you left a couple of weeks ago to track Kingsley, I started another project.”
Looking intrigued, he said, “Okay. So, we are headed to do a job for OZ?”
“Not exactly.” She cleared her throat. “I—”
Sean’s phone blared with Ash’s ringtone. Her boss would not be calling unless something big had happened.
Punching a key, Sean said, “Hey, I’ve got you on speaker with Serena. What’s going on?”
“Kingsley is dead,” Ash said grimly.
“What happened?”
“The convoy transporting him to Kate’s plane got hijacked.”
“What about Kate’s people?” Serena asked. “Are they—”
“They’re fine, thankfully. They got hit with some kind of high-powered tranquilizers. When they woke up, Kingsley was gone.”
“How do you know he’s dead?” Sean asked. “Maybe they just took him.”
“A couple of the guys were trying to protect him. Kingsley had crawled beneath one of their seats. They said the back door opened, and before they could even raise their weapons, they were shot with the tranquilizers. Both said that before they passed out, they saw Kingsley get shot in the head—bullets, not tranquilizers. The blood in the area supports that claim.”
“So we got nothing out of capturing him?” Sean asked.
“We got some intel. Before he left, I got him to give up the names of a couple of council members. I got the feeling he was going to try to negotiate with the rest. It wasn’t all we wanted, but it’s still going to help.”
