My heart’s overflowing by the time we make it back to our seats with no one any the wiser as to what we were up to. We spend the remainder of the flight lightly discussing Hawk, but it quickly dissolves into a sweet trip down memory lane. We discuss the first day we met, our first kiss, and our teasing promises to one another about how we were going to be the biggest secret in New York. I tell him one of my favorite memories is now that night we spent in Greece having dinner and just talking, before it all went to shit. It’s been a strange way to do it but there’s also no one I’d rather travel the world with than Cian.
He accuses me of being sappy but kisses me regardless.
By the time the plane lands, my mood’s settled. It’ll be up to me to get us through customs but with my contact’s information, it shouldn’t be a problem. But as I stand, something catches my attention.
No one else stands.
Some busy themselves with their carry-on bags, others are deep in conversation, but no one else seems desperate to get off the flight. Confusion stirs in my gut and I put it down to my paranoid nature, but as we make our way down the aisle, it becomes painfully clear that we’re the only ones leaving the plane.
I glance back at Cian, who seems to catch on to the same issue as he looks around in confusion. No one looks us in the eye, and when his eyes lock onto me, a cold sense of dread creeps up my spine. All the sweet relaxation we earned in the past few hours melts away.
“This way, Ma’am,” comes a voice to my left. The stewardess smiles widely at me with her perfectly painted red lips and she motions for me to continue down the aisle. Her smile is eerily doll-like. My heart starts to pound.
What the fuck is going on?
We get our answer when we reach the exit of the plane and gaze out at the tarmac. Where an Australian airport should greet us, we’re faced with a private runway surrounded with trees and sand. The ocean twinkles at us in the distance while a vibrant, scorching sun bakes down from above.
A few feet away on the tarmac are several sleek, black cars with silver trim. They shimmer slightly in the sun while countless sweating, stern-faced men observe us from around the vehicles.
Cian suddenly steps in front of me at the top of the steps just as I lock eyes with one man in particular.
Wearing a white shirt, white pants, and dark sunglasses, he stands with his arms crossed in the middle of the crowd and gazes up at us with a smirk.
Hawk.
29
CIAN
Hawk.
He stands in the center of his guards like some kind of king and the mocking smirk on his face ignites a fury within me that I didn’t know existed. How the hell we ended up here is beyond me, but if I can reach the gun in my rucksack then I’ll wipe that fucking smirk off his face within seconds.
He’s destroyed my family.
Caused me more pain than I can fathom.
Yet he stands there utterly unfazed and I can’t make sense of it.
Faina’s hand lightly touches my back and she murmurs softly. “Don’t react, Cian. Take it slow.”
Easy for her to say.
As soon as I think about it, guilt worms in my gut. He’s caused her pain too and we still don’t know the fate of Anastasia. Hawk’s torn through our world like a fucking cyclone and there’s nothing stopping him from killing us right here.
But he doesn’t.
His stance remains casual as he watches us with his clothes moving lightly in the warm breeze that dances down the runway. None of the guards, while armed, have their guns focused on us. They’re all as relaxed as their boss which is equally confusing and irritating.
“You going to stand there all day?” Hawk finally speaks, and he greets us lightly as if we’re all friends. “Or are you going to come down?”
My mind races. We could take the other people on the plane hostage and force the pilot to take off but until we know how he got the plane to land here in the first place, there’s no guarantee that will work. Plus, his work with heavy weapons doesn’t rule out the possibility that someone is armed with something that could shoot us right out of the sky.
Should I bargain? Let him take me while Faina goes free?
If anyone can fight their way out of this, it’s her, but Hawk is such a rat, there’s no guarantee either of us would be safe under a deal like that. The way he twists things, it would surely be a death sentence.
Slowly, I glance behind me to Faina and search her eyes for a solution, but she seems as pissed and confused as I am. Her hand remains pressed against the small of my back as we turn back to Hawk who is finally moving. He spreads his arms wide, causing the loose sleeves of his shirt to bunch up at his shoulders.
