What had happened last night was an aberration. Nothing more.
The airport car park was quiet, too early for scheduled arrivals and departures. The windsock stirred half-heartedly on its pole, the fury of the storm moved on. Theo made sure to check out who was there before he gave the all clear, Tom whisking their baggage from the car and into the tiny terminal even as a small plane could be seen approaching the runway.
‘That’s us,’ Theo said.
The plane landed, taxiing to a stop just outside the terminal. Propellers stopped. Stairs lowered. And within a few minutes their luggage was stowed and they were boarded, Tom farewelled and the plane was already taxiing for take-off.
Then the small plane lifted off and the car and anyone chasing after her were left far behind them.
And Theo sighed, closed his eyes thinking, with a two-hour flight to Sydney, and nowhere for the Princess to run, that maybe, finally, he might be able to get some sleep.
He closed his eyes. Drifting with the small plane’s rumbling into that blessed sleep state.
Soon, he thought. Soon—finally—he would be rid of her.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
TURBULENCE WAS SOMETHINGIzzy was used to. She’d flown over European mountain ranges, she’d landed in helicopters in high winds over ski fields and into deep valleys, but as Theo’s private jet approached Rubanestein airspace, the turbulence in the air was nothing compared to the turbulence going on in her mind.
Their escape from Lord Howe Island had been smooth and effective. Their transfers at Sydney’s airport had been slick, through private lanes where they were treated as VIPs, clearing customs and immigration. It wasn’t just that she was a princess, Isabella could tell. It was some kind of clout that Theo had. Almost as if he was known and recognised.
She’d considered trying her abandoned Plan B, to make a scene at the island’s airport on their departure to alert security. She’d considered trying it in Sydney but abandoned the idea just as quickly. Theo seemed to have some sort of cachet with the authorities. Like he was the one more likely to be trusted.
And then, knowing that there were people after her and so close behind, did she really want to risk being restrained in Australia?
It was the worst of all worlds. What choice did she have?
It wasn’t long before they were welcomed onto Theo’s private jet. The plane was luxury personified. A sleek jet with cream-coloured leather seats, panelled timber walls and a lush, carpeted floor, the kind of flooring she’d noticed on her recent travels that you didn’t find in the commercial cattle class she’d used to hide her travels.
Beyond the stylish lounge, dining and office seating, she’d been shown a luxurious bedroom and bathroom she was welcome to use.
At any other time, in any circumstance, Isabella would be happy to take such a flight. But her relief at getting away was rapidly giving way to a growing dread. Of being returned to Rubanestein, her brother and his plans for her.
There was no escaping his plans for her.
And the closer the plane got to Rubanestein, the more her dread rose, like bile in her throat.
‘We’ll be landing in thirty minutes,’ the flight attendant told her. ‘Is there anything I can get you before we start our descent?’
She shook her head. ‘No.’
She knew the instant the plane started its descent. Izzy felt it in her gut, and felt all hope go south with it.
She turned to the man in the seat opposite, the man who had said not a word to her this flight. ‘You won’t tell my brother, will you?’ she pleaded. ‘You won’t tell him?’
He looked up. ‘Tell the Prince what? That we fed the fish at Ned’s Beach? Something else?’
‘That I tried to seduce you. And then that you made love to me.’ Her eyes pleaded with him.
He sighed. ‘Do you really think I want to tell the Prince that?’
‘No. Maybe not straight away. But it could get out. Another way. In the press or on social media. You know the sort of thing.“A close source says that while the Princess was in Australia she was uninhibited. Desperate, and begging for sex.”Do you realise how much that might compromise me in the future?’
‘Oh Princess. Do you really think me capable of that?’
‘For money? If someone offered you enough?’
He shook his head. ‘You don’t know me at all, do you?’
