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The door to the plane opened, and out there on the tarmac was a limousine.
Suddenly, she was frozen. Because here she was, on the precipice of something much bigger than she was.
“I don’t have a passport,” she said.
She’d only just had a name change. There was no way he’d gotten her the papers she needed yet. It was one thing to have no documents in a country church with a priest who was likely on Cameron’s payroll. But here?
He laughed. “Everything is taken care of. You’ve no need to worry.”
“We won’t be... Traveling through immigration? My father made sure that I knew that I couldn’t get far without him because I was not in possession of my own documents.”
“As I said. It is handled. Do you think billionaires wait in lines to have their paperwork pored over? Of course we don’t. And neither will you.”
“How does that work?”
“I declared you.”
She wrinkled her nose as they walked off the plane and got into the limousine. “Declared me? Like... Like I am anapple?”
“Yes.”
She huffed. “That’s vaguely demeaning.”
“Little runaway beggars who technically don’t exist in the system should perhaps not be choosers.”
“Basically men who have not even spoken to another person face-to-face in ten years should perhaps not think so highly of themselves.”
He laughed. “Oh, I don’t think highly of myself, little goddess, but I certainly know what I’m about.”
“And that is?”
“Getting exactly what I came for.”
And then it was difficult for her to banter with him because she was so focused on the scenery around them. The majesty of the buildings, the architecture. She felt something in her spirit move. She had been affected by the Highlands this way, by nature. Not things built by men.
But this artistry, this triumph of humanity called out to her.
In the same way that a mountain did, or a flower.
People didn’t have to make things beautiful. They only had to make them functional. But they made art instead, simply because they could.
“What do you think?” he asked, his voice sounding rusty.
“I am an awe. This is more beautiful than any book ever suggested that it could be. This is...”
“Yes, it is.”
She watched him closely, for some sign that he was having an emotional reaction. It was impossible to say. He was remote. The only indication that he was moved was the tightness of his jaw, the way that it tugged on the scar tissue on his cheek.
“Where are we going?”
“Apollo has assured me that accommodation has been arranged for us.”
“Thank you. For taking me to see this. It’s... Important to me.”
“I know. I told you, there are things on your list that I can give you. A chance to see the world and comfort is one of them.”
“You also said there were things you could not give me.”
