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If he calls me out on it, Gabriel’s going to get out of that bed and chase me, painkillers or no painkillers.
I put a hand on Jameson’s elbow. “You all right?”
He looks away and flips the switch in the bedroom. The last of the sunset peeks in around the curtains. “I’m good. See you in a few.”
We both step into the hall.
“Jameson.” It’s Gabriel, half-asleep.
“Yeah?”
“I need to tell you something. While it doesn’t hurt.”
“…what?”
There. Gabriel won’t be by himself when he falls asleep. I can guess what the conversation’s going to be, though, and maybe I should—
No.
I have to do this.
I slip out of the penthouse. The only person I see is Mason, and I tell him I need to get some things from Gabriel’s place. The rest of Gabriel’s family and Lydia and Nate are busy laughing at the show. In the parking garage, I get my purse from Mason’s SUV and request the same midnight blue one.
That’s the SUV I take through the city.
I make two stops. One is to a building marked as a doctor’s office, where I hand three hundred dollars in cash to a man who wears a white coat. The second is to a pharmacy to fill the prescription.
My destination is the private airstrip where my father keeps his private jet.
If the feds have done their jobs, the airstrip should be empty.
I know the moment I pull onto the access road for the hangar space that it’s not empty. All the lights in the hangar blaze. People move from the hangar to the tarmac.
My father’s plane is already there, fueled and ready to go.
14
ELISE
There’sa parking area behind the hangar. I park in the first spot, grab my purse, and climb out.
No more tears in my eyes. A few of them are still trying to escape, but I tip my head back and blink until they’re gone.
I’m making my way toward the tarmac when a black SUV pulls onto the access road. Its headlights bounce over the runway and the plane. It slows to a crawl as it passes me. All the muscles in my legs tense. I should run. I shouldrun. Drive ninety miles an hour back to Gabriel.
I don’t run.
The SUV stops on the tarmac, and the driver hops out to open the back door. A bodyguard takes up a position near the back wheel. My father steps out in one of his favorite suits, neatly pressed. His hand comes up to his forehead. He drops it as soon as he realizes what he’s doing and opens his arms instead.
“Elise.” His smile is sharp and satisfied, but he covers it with a warmth that I know isn’t real. Iknowit isn’t real. He’s acting like I’ve come home for Christmas. “There you are. I knew you’d come.”
I don’t want to go to him, and I do. I know my father’s a monster, and a small, uncertain part of me wonders if I’ll regret not giving him one last hug.
It doesn’t actually matter what I want. My feet know that. They walk me right into my father’s arms. He uses the same cologne as he did when I was a girl. “Where are your bags?”
He laughs without any sound. It’s only movement. With my head against his chest, I can hear his heartbeat. It’s fast, I think. He’s excited for his getaway.
“I have everything I need where I’m going. Houses around the world. Do you remember that game? It was your favorite.”
