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“Yes. Where do you want to go?”
“To a place where you can see only the ocean in every direction and the stars fill the sky and the moon is so large that it lights the night.”
It was where I felt the happiest as well. “I know the place. What do you say? Want to get the hell out of here in the morning?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. I’ll make the arrangements. Do you need help with packing or anything?” I asked.
She sighed. “Maybe one thing.”
“What is that?” I asked.
“Explaining to my daughter why I am running off with a man I barely know,” she said.
“You were safe with me the first time, and I’ll keep you safe again,” I promised.
“I know that. But this is different. You were being paid to do this. I mean, I can pay you if you want.”
Wow. I felt a little insulted that she thought I was doing this for any other reason than because I cared. But I had to remember what Draven said. She was under a lot of emotional stress right now.
Keeping my tone in check I replied, “Venus, this has never been about money, and it never will be. I think you know that.”
“I’m...sorry. I do. Okay, I guess we leave tomorrow. I’ll call her after all the travel arrangements are made,” she said. “And Declan, thank you for listening and for...understanding. Bet you never thought you’d be rescuing me from Tabiq for a second time.”
“Not rescuing this time. We’re just going to travel and enjoy the vast open seas together.” I didn’t want her to feel as though she was anything less than the strong woman who has survived without help all this time. “Good night, Venus. Get your rest. We’ve got a lot of traveling to do tomorrow.”
“Good night, Declan.”
I ended the call and stood there looking at my phone for a few seconds. Did this really happen? Had Venus actually called me to take her away from this? Just a couple of hours ago I wasn’t sure she wanted to see me again, and now we were about to get into a situation where we would be seeing a lot of each other.
This wasn’t a good idea. But I had promised to take her wherever she wanted. When I had asked her, I was thinking she’d say another country, not a private sailboat. We were just starting to talk and agreed to get to know each other.What if she changes her mind when we are in the open sea?It wasn’t like I could just bring her back to land instantly.
Oh, so much can go wrong with this. Why didn’t I just leave it when I told her I didn’t have the boat? Why did I tell her we could use a different one?
Simple answer. I had dreamt so many times of sailing around the world with her, that this felt like fate. But this wasn’t real. We were not the same people we used to be. It was possible that twenty-four hours into the trip we realized that we couldn’t stand each other. Hell, I'd gotten on people's nerves in less time than that. Only took minutes to piss Alex off. Then again, I didn’t care what he thought.I might care too much about what Venus does. I don’t want to do anything to upset her.
It was too late to back out now. I’d committed and now I needed to make it happen. We could fly back to the States, and use my sailboat that was still docked in Portland. That was too close to home for me. I could rent one close by or hell I could even buy one if I needed to. Rather not do either.
Smiling, I remembered that a friend who I had sold a sailboat to had just relocated to this side of the planet. I had sold it to him pretty much at cost. It wouldn’t be mine, but it would serve the purpose and also keep us away from the US and Canada for now.
I placed a call to him, and surprisingly he had the boat docked. His kids were in school, and he hadn’t had the time to sail like he used to. Never thought he’d be the family man. Last time I saw him he’d sworn nothing was going to get him off the ocean. That had changed and now worked in my favor. He said I was welcome to the boat as long as I needed it.
That was the simple part. Getting off this island was the difficult part. I needed to book a flight. There was only one way on this island and getting off it had to be done the same way. Either you had a private jet that was approved to land, or you used the Hendersons’ transportation. Either way, the Hendersons would know I was leaving.
Booking a private charter flight went better than I thought. All I needed to do was inform the resort I would be checking out in the morning. Alex would be pleased to hear that. But I didn’t want him to know Venus was traveling with me. For that, I needed help. There was only one person here who I could talk to. Hopefully, he’d hear me out and understand what had gone down between me and Venus. I wasn’t leading her on, I was just fulfilling her request.
Sorry, Draven. Looks like you won’t be surfing tonight. I need your help. I need an ally.
CHAPTER8
Venus
My car was all packed and I couldn’t believe that I was on my way to the airport. I had no idea why Declan wouldn’t allow me to pick him up at New Hope so that we could drive together. He said this would be more convenient. Not as far as I was concerned, but at least I was pulling up to the jet now. It wouldn’t be long before we were in the air, and on our way.
I parked the car close enough to the jet so I could unload my luggage. Looking around, I didn’t see Declan, yet there was a black SUV nearby. Maybe he was waiting there for me. I walked over and peeked in the window. It was empty.
Walking back to my car, I picked up one suitcase and started towards the jet. A pilot came out and said, “Let me help you with that.” He took my bag and asked, “Are those yours as well?” I nodded. “I’ll get them as well. If you’d like to board and make yourself comfortable, we’ll leave as soon as Mr. O’Leary arrives.”
