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Natalie shook all their hands.
“Okay. We will take her to the airport and meet Grant with the plane,” Dad said. “And it will give my son time with my future daughter-in-law.” He beamed at her.
She smiled back, but not so big.
Shawn stepped forward. “I would fly her directly to Maryland on the helicopter. If you fly on a plane, she’ll be listed on a manifest there and a good investigator could find her. Nicolas has a lot of resources.”
I got his meaning. Though it was obvious she would go to her mother, if his people were given a head start to search and didn’t find that she’d booked any tickets, they may assume she drove, possibly buying her more time. That was a big if, but it was something.
Dad looked at Connor who nodded. I said, “The helo was full of fuel when we flew over this morning.”
“That will give us enough to make it to Maryland. I’ll tell Grant he can take the plane without us and go to Florida to see Jo,” Dad said.
“Sounds like a plan. I have to go. I can’t give Nicolas’s people any reason to think I’m not on their side. A female agent, named Gandy, will be at your Mom’s house when you arrive. She will get you transferred to a US Marshalls agent. I should be out of custody before you arrive and will get word to you on what’s next.”
Shawn got into the elevator. I eyed Connor, who gave me a slight nod. I took that to mean that Shawn was in fact, Matt, Lizzy’s brother. I would keep that secret. Knowing it gave me comfort about Natalie going into witness protection.
She looked at all of us. “He’s an undercover cop or FBI?” We didn’t answer and only nodded. “And he has to go to jail.” We nodded again. “That sucks.”
It did and the hell of it was, he didn’t have to. Lizzy said he had a trust fund that would allow him never to work a day of his life. Yet, he chose that career. I had a feeling we had a lot in common.
“It’s for his protection,” Kalen said to her. “Trust me when I say you can trust him.”
Natalie tugged at the ring on her finger as she said, “I should give this back. It’s your great-grandmother’s.”
I covered her hand so she couldn’t remove it, just so I could touch her again. “I still want to marry you. Do you want to marry me?”
Twenty-Two
Natalie
His eyes swallowed me whole and held me in their depths for confirmation of my true feelings. With everyone watching, it felt wrong to verbalize any doubts because of the situation. So I just nodded.
“Will you guys have a ride home?” Liam asked the other three men in the room.
“We have company cars in the garage,” the big guy with the Scottish accent said. I think he was Kalen. The other Scotsman with the goofy but incredibly sexy smile was Griffin if I remembered correctly. Oh, I bet he had all the women. Though to be honest, I was in a room full of attractive men. Tall, dark, and handsome described each one of them.
Liam took my hand, and we didn’t take the elevator we’d come up in. We walked down a hallway to a private elevator and up we went.
I never thought I was scared of heights until I was standing on top of the world. Okay, a skyscraper, but whoa, it was crazy high and too windy for my taste. Liam held on tight, as I was reluctant to take another step farther on the roof.
“I won’t let you go,” he said in my ear.
His father had already gotten into the helicopter, and I closed my eyes as he walked us toward it. He had to strap me in and put on my headset as I held on to the seat for dear life. Funny thing was the fear didn’t let go of me until we lifted off. That was when I finally let my white-knuckle grip go.
Liam flipped a switch before leaning over and kissing me. “Sorry. I had to do that first so Dad won’t hear us.”
My smile was genuine that time. “Thanks. Now will you tell me what’s going on?”
He did, starting from the beginning. He told me about his parents’ drunken night together they hadn’t remembered. They’d been plastered and his dad assumed it to be a dream.
“You were right the whole time,” he said.
“About what?”
“When you asked why I was searching for a father when I already had one.”
I nodded.
“I’m actually happy it worked out this way. Though I don’t look forward to the day Royce finds out. Though he and Dad had it out earlier. I haven’t had a chance to ask him what was said.”
“Does it matter?” I asked him.
