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I had assumed we were driving to wherever we were going, but by the look of the helicopter sitting about a hundred feet away with its propeller blades whirring noisily, that was not the case.
As we parked, Marko ran towards us. He whispered something into Ash’s ear and winked at me.
Obviously, they were up to something.
Ash slung his arm around my shoulder and led me towards the aircraft. Oh my god! I was going to fly in a helicopter! My inner devil was doing a jig while mumbling something about joining the mile-high club! Uh-huh, not in a helicopter, I told her, bursting her bubble.
Ash helped me climb in, and Marko handed the suitcase to him before taking Ash’s car keys.
“Have a great time!” he shouted over the noise, grinning widely as he waved us off.
The view was utterly breathtaking. Thank God I wasn’t afraid of heights!
A couple of hours later, Ash pointed to a spot ahead, and my breath hitched when I saw the most splendid, unique sight I had ever seen.
“Star Castle, Isle of Scilly,” he shouted over the noise of the propellers. “That’s where we’ll be staying,” he said, smiling broadly. Oh wow! Ash was taking me to a castle, after all.
I threw my arms around him and gave him a quick kiss of thanks before turning back to watch as we approached this majestic building.
“Look at the shape!” I cried excitedly.
It was absolutely stunning. The castle itself was a square building nestled inside a wall shaped like an eight-point star. The Bratva star. I smirked and raised an eyebrow at him.
“It seemed fitting,” he said, grinning.
I chuckled. It did, indeed.
We landed a couple of minutes later in a special area within the gardens just outside the wall.
We were greeted by the hotel concierge, who loaded us into a golf cart and drove us into the castle and up to the grand entrance.
If I’d felt like a celebrity in the car and the helicopter, I now felt like a princess being taken to the castle of the prince for the first time. I was absolutely giddy with the excitement of it all. I couldn’t stop beaming at Ash as he held my hand, and we enjoyed a tour of the main castle building. It was small but luxurious, as I expected a sixteenth-century castle turned hotel to be.
I was a little disappointed to find out that we weren’t actually staying in the castle itself until I saw the suite Ash had booked instead. It was located within a newer building set within the garden grounds with its own private entrance and lawn area. It was beautiful.
I only had time for a quick freshen-up before Ash led me outside, where a table for two had been set up, complete with a bottle of champagne chilling in an ice bucket. Oh, this was just getting better and better, and the romance addict in me was so happy.
We indulged in a wonderful meal of mussels in white wine to start and prawn linguine for our main while listening to a string quartet playing discreetly in the background.
The waiter informed us that all of the seafood was caught locally and prepared in the hotel restaurant, and everything tasted so good. I was thoroughly enjoying myself and didn’t think anything could top this, but I was wrong.
After clearing our plates away, the waiter whispered something into Ash’s ear before he and the quartet disappeared.
As soon as they left, Ash reached under the table and pulled out a box. I swallowed hard when I recognised it was the iconic blue and white Tiffany’s box. I’d never had one before, but I knew what they looked like. My heart pounded as I realised that he had bought me a very expensive gift and taken me on this wonderful trip. He had also had flowers sent to me this morning. I was being completely spoiled.
“Happy birthday, sweetheart”, he said, passing the gift to me.
“Open it!” he urged when I simply stared in awe at the box.
My hands shook as I very carefully undid the ribbon. Before opening the lid, I stopped to admire the beautiful box which I intended to keep forever.
I gasped. Inside was a beautiful platinum necklace with a heart-shaped ruby pendant, which was my birthstone, surrounded by smaller diamonds and matching earrings. Oh my gosh, I jumped up and ran around the table, grabbed Ash, and kissed him soundly on the lips.
“Thank you, they are gorgeous!” I said, amazed by the generous gift.
“You don’t have to spend so much on me, you know…”
I started to say, but he cut me off with a wave of his hand.
