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It all flew through her mind in a whirlwind until her chest ached with unreleased pain.
No one was watching. No one would see. She turned her face into the pillow and let the tears flow.
She cried until there was nothing left and her head ached. What was she going to do now? Go tell Smithson he was right? He’d tried to kill her. Going to him was out of the question.
And it wasn’t as though she could go to the police. They’d laugh her out of town. She wondered what Smithson would do when he found out she was still alive. Would he come after her again to finish the job? He was powerful and feared.
Anne tried to get comfortable, though her ankle was aching. She finally got into a somewhat acceptable position, exhaustion covering her like a heavy blanket. Sleep overtook her and her thoughts were finally, blessedly, blank.
Chapter Fourteen
Kade watched Blane during the flight. He hadn’t seen Blane like this in a very long time.
He was still, almost unnaturally so. His expression was flat, his face like granite. His hands were curled into fists.
Kade knew Blane had internalized all of the anger and frustration he was feeling. Locked away everything he was feeling so he could function at peak level. For revenge. And to win back the girl. Anne.
Kade liked her. He wasn’t sure at first, but that was his instinctive nature of wanting to protect Blane. Fuck knew there had been enough fortune hunters, publicity seekers, and vapid models who had set their sights on Blane over the years. Some Kade had even visited himself to…discourage them…in his own special way.
He wasnothappy about a deepfake that showed him murdering someone. Not that he hadn’t killed before, but he didn’t particularly like being accused of something that wasn’t his work. Like he’d ever be so clumsy as to be caught full-face on camera, stalking the victim.
They landed at the Portland airport where Kade had parked his private jet. It was an indulgence Kathleen chastised him about, but it came in very handy. And the cost was discreetly passed on to his customers.
Everyone loaded up and by unspoken agreement, he and Blane took seats on opposite sides of a table, Blane riding backwards.
Kade sank into the plush leather and signaled the flight attendant for two drinks. She smiled and went to pour scotch for him and Blane. God knew, Blane needed a drink. And sure enough, Blane tossed it back and signaled for another.
When they were wheels up and the sound of the engines would muffle their voices, Kade spoke.
“How bad do you have it for this girl?” he asked, his voice deceptively light.
Blane, who had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, now sat up and looked at Kade. His eyes were the stormy gray they turned when he was furious.
“Bad enough to kill Smithson with my bare hands and fuck the consequences.”
Well, alrighty then. Kade took another sip of his drink, thinking carefully of how he should word it.
“You asked her to marry you,” he began.
“Yes.” Blane’s voice was implacable.
“Huh.” Eloquence wasn’t something Kade counted as one of his virtues. Actually, did he have any virtues? Anyway, “Are you sure about this? You know, you just met her. Are you sure this isn’t your…biological clock ticking?”
The look Blane leveled at him had Kade shutting up quick, though he did mutter a “Just asking,” because he always tried to get in the last word where Blane was concerned.
“What’s your first move going to be?” Kade asked.
“Try to see Anne, explain. See how she’s doing.” It was killing him that she’d run from him. Though he supposed he couldn’t blame her after being confronted with the man she thought had killed her brother in cold blood.
She’d been scared and she’d been hurt. He had no idea how she’d made it to the hospital on a broken ankle. A couple hundred bucks slipped to a nurse had gotten him a look at Anne’s chart and X-rays, HIPAA be damned. The break had been clean and the surgery had went well.
He spoke to Kade. “Get some surveillance on her apartment, parents, and the best friend. See if she’s there. Though I’m betting on the parents’.”
“What do you think she’ll do?”
“No, idea. I don’t think she’ll go to Smithson. Not after he tried to kill her.” It was a dichotomy that she still believed the file even after the place crash. “We need to get security on her as soon as possible, in case Smithson decides to go after her to finish the job.”
“Will do,” Kade assured him. “No one will get her. I’ll take care of it personally.”
