Shit.
I didn’t meant to say that out loud.
“I guess that’s what happened before.” There was a crack in her voice that I didn’t understand but I didn’t have a chance to ask because the car pulled to a stop.
“Ready?” We only had seconds before the door would open and we would have to climb the steps to the plane. Then we would be in the air and in a few hours I’d have her alone. In the apartment in New York that I had bought for us. Back when I thought that one day she would be my wife.
Oh, how things had changed. Me most of all.
Sophia had changed as well. She was still beautiful, but there was a soft strength in her now that she had lived her own life for a few years.
She had finally figured out who she was as a woman, and now it was my turn to figure her out as well.
“As I’ll ever be.” Squaring her shoulders she sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a long painful sounding sigh. “Let’s get this over and done with.”
“Let’s get this over and done with.” Chuckling I swung my legs out of the car and stood, reaching down to take her hand and help her.
She was so damn graceful. Even in her casual clothes she lookedlike a princess. She might have slummed it in London, but you couldn’t take away what she really was.
Mafia royalty.
No, a small smile curved up my lips. She used to be a Mafia princess. Now she was my mistress.
A goomah.
What a fall from grace.
Keeping a tight hold of her hand, I pulled it through the crook of my arm and led her forward. Not that I really thought she was going to run, because there was nowhere to go, but Sophia was always full of surprises, and I had never been good with those.
Maybe that’s why I had been so attracted to her to start with. Maybe it was because I knew her and that she was dependable. Sophia wouldn’t surprise me. Well, right up until she did.
“We won’t need anything,” I said to the flight attendant at the top of the stairs, and saw her face fall. It fell even further when she saw Sophia’s hand on my arm. “We will call for you if we do.”
“Of course.” A fake, too white smile splashed across her face as she stepped back, but not before I saw her throw Sophia a dirty look.
Sophia’s shoulders snapped back, and her glare had the hostess looking away quickly.
I couldn’t help it. I smiled.
“Let’s take our seats and get comfortable.” Heading toward the cream-colored, buttery seats at the back of the plane, I motioned for her to take the one nearest the window and fastened her seatbelt for her like she was a child.
“Do you recognize this plane?” I asked after several long minutes of silence. She didn’t answer me.
“Sophia?”
“It used to be the one my parents used,” she said in a completely flat voice. “How did you end up with it?”
Fastening my own seatbelt, I looked around before settling my eyes on her again. “I bought it.”
“I see.” There was a sharpness in her voice that I didn’t like. “Anything else of my family’s that you have acquired?”
“Several things, Sophia. A lot has changed since you ran out of the bed we had just shared.”
Sophia made a grumbling sound in the back of her throat. “Don’t say it like that,” she spat. “Don’t pretend.“
Pretend? Rage engulfed me.
What right did she have to look angry when…
