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For so much. “Yes.”
“Perfect, there will be food…” he said mysteriously, his lips parting in a smile, showing his white teeth.
I played along. “Owen, where are we going?”
I turned to look out the window and realized we were driving away from Chicago, heading northwest. Of course, there were many potential destinations in that direction, but I could think of only one that would be crazy enough for Owen to have picked.
We were heading for O’Hare International Airport.
I swallowed hard. I had been ready to go to a restaurant or a late showing of a movie, but flying somewhere? That was something else, and I wasn’t sure I was onboard with that.
But I was excited too. It would be the adventure I had always dreamed of – to be swept off my feet by a prince and fly to Europe or Asia, somewhere so far away that no problems at home could ever catch up to me. Somewhere I could take a break from bills and playing nurse. It had been so long.
“I’m not telling.”
“So, it’s a surprise?”
“As a matter of fact, it is a surprise. Where would you like to go?”
I considered it. I had been to France and some neighboring countries during my gap year in college, and they all looked about the same to me, beautiful old ruins. I would’ve liked to go somewhere warm, where we could spend our days on the beach or by the pool, eating fruits and drinking wine all day. Maybe we could rent a convertible and cruise along the coastline, the ones shown in TV commercials. People in those shows always looked happy. But that didn’t really matter. I knew I would go anywhere with him.
Which was crazy.
Instead of a reply, I asked, “Where would you like to go, Owen?”
He took no time to think. “Away. I want to just leave and never come back to this… life.”
“I wish I could do that. I have family to look after.”
“Of course,” he agreed. “You’ll have to introduce us sometime.”
“Sometime, I will.” Would I? What the hell would Declan say? “What’s stopping you? From leaving, I mean.”
“Work, mostly, but let’s not bring that up. If I can escape even for a few days, I’ll take it. And you’re off right? For summer?”
I wasn’t going to tell him about my crap job at the supermarket, that I was using to pay Declan’s bills. He would be okay for a few days, I needed a break.
I took out my phone and sent out several texts. One was to Julia, telling her that the date night went well, and I would be out of town for a few days. The other one was to my brother, with a similar message, minus the details. And the third one was to my job, calling in sick. Given how many extra hours I had worked, they wouldn’t mind too much. Last time I had checked, I was the most productive person at that place.
“Yes,” I said. “It’s all taken care of, but I don’t have clothes or anything.”
“Where we’re going, you won’t need them.” Warmth crept up my cheeks before he added. “Anything you can’t live without we’ll buy.”
Of course, he would buy it, he had just paid two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to whisk me away.
Would Declan have approved? Never. My younger brother had always been my defender. He wouldn’t let any man close to me until he had gotten to know them. But I was no longer a little girl, and we no longer had a plethora of options. Some compromises had to be made. The same way I had made the leap of faith by going to the auction, Declan would have to accept that I’d done it for him - if he ever found out.
And that was big if.
I was doing this for the family. Had already done it, for that matter. The money would start flowing into my account in equal amounts over the period a couple weeks, which would easily pay off Declan’s treatment bills.
We arrived at the airport after midnight, but the driver didn’t take us to any of the major airlines terminals. Instead, we bypassed them altogether, driving along the tall wire fence until we reached a security checkpoint.
I didn’t understand at first, but as Owen spoke to the officer, I got it. They were heading straight to Owen’s plane, which he kept in a private hangar at O’Hare. The officer had no further questions.
We arrived at the hangar and boarded a small private jet. It was a beautiful navy-blue color and white on the inside. I could hardly believe what was happening to me.
Owen sat down in a far seat and instructed a stewardess to leave us alone for the flight.
