Then, I close myself in the tiny closet of a room. My first job is to check my suitcase. When I’ve double checked that all my money is there, along with my passports, I relax back onto the bed. I didn’t sleep much last night, so a nap would be amazing.
I hear the pilot enter and then twenty minutes later, another man comes on board, the doors closing.
Fifteen minutes after that, we take off. I let out a giant rush of air as we leave the tarmac. Because as I peer out the window, the land moving further and further away, I realize, I’m free.
I’ve left Vegas.
Left my shitty father. Left my brother who tried to use me for his own advantage. Left an arranged engagement with an alphahole. My life has been made up of man after man who wants to put me in a cage.
But now, I get to live my own life.
I close my eyes and draw in a deep breath of recycled airplane air. If it weren’t for Sasha, maybe I’d spend some time just bumming around Europe.
Live a little before I get to work. But there’s no time for that.
I need to get moving. Even now, my sister is marrying Ryker Smith, and she doesn’t know that I left to set us both free.
I wish I could have told her. But Sasha sucks at keeping secrets. I roll over on my belly, my fist coming under my chin.
Is she frightened?
Does she think I’ve abandoned her? My gut twists. I’m not always great at showing love, but it doesn’t mean I don’t feel it. Especially for her.
She’s my little sister and probably the only person in my entire life who hasn’t tried to screw me over.
An hour passes and then two, the flight quiet enough that I start to drift off to sleep. I have no idea where we are when suddenly, the plane dips, hitting some turbulence. I come fullyawake as it bounces again. Gripping the side of the bed, I hold on as the plane vibrates with whatever currents of air it’s in.
We hit another pocket. As the plane drops, sending me airborne for a second, I have to hold in a scream.
From outside my door, I hear the flight attendant. “Sir, we should get a seatbelt on you.”
“I’m fine. It’s just turbulence,” a deep baritone replies, the sound of his voice making me jerk up to a sitting position.
It’s sexy as hell, but it also rings with a familiar British accent and cadence that has the hair standing up on the back of my neck.
Just then, the plane dips again, but this time, I’m not holding on. I fly up in the air and land in the tiny space between the fold out bed and the wall, crashing into the floor with a force that sends all the air whooshing from my lungs.
The door to the room bangs open and a set of Italian leather dress shoes appears in my narrow field of vision. The bed keeps me from seeing more, and my limbs are so tangled, I can’t move.
I hold my breath, hoping the bed also hides me from view.
But I watch as he bends, squatting down. Dress slacks stretch over his powerful thighs, his collared dress shirt straining over his chest.
His square jaw is perfectly shaved and so masculine, it might make a girl weep. But it’s his eyes that really get me.
Their heat and intensity light my insides on fire.
But also, there is something so familiar about them. I could probably place it if my body wasn’t tied into a literal knot.
He looks back at me, his brows arching up. “Well, well, well. What do we have here?”
CHAPTER THREE
Katarina
Strong hands grabme under the armpits. With a steady grip, he pulls me from under the bed, far enough that my legs straighten.
I get my hands and knees under me, and pull back, trying to escape his grasp.
