For now.
She’d given Emmy the window seat, hoping it would offer her daughter hours of entertainment. She loved watching the clouds and the land below.
While waiting to board their flight, Roarke had checked her and Emmy over for injuries in the family washroom. Some of Laine’s tension eased when Roarke got Emmy giggling from tickles once he seemed certain she wasn’t hurt.
She picked at the sandwich Roarke had ordered her. It had sat almost untouched for the last hour. Thankfully, Emmy had eaten all the snacks Roarke had packed for her, and she’d gobbled up the dinner they’d ordered on the plane.
Toward the end of the flight, Emmy leaned her head on Roarke’s shoulder to close her eyes. When the aircraft began to descend, Laine’s stomach twisted. It was evening, and they still had to find a place to stay. All she wanted to do was fall into bed and forget today had happened.
To land in Roarke’s arms again. Last night had been like piecing together broken parts of her soul. There was so much she hadn’t realized she’d lost, so much she’d missed, a connection she’d ached for—she’d ached for Roarke.
He was gentle where Cameron had always been rough—only taking what he’d wanted from her. Roarke had given her pleasure over and over, treasuring her.
Roarke’s hand covered her knee. “I’ve got a car picking us up. I was going to get us a short-term rental, but a hotel might be safer.”
“They found us at your apartment.” Strain cinched her vocal cords.
“Probably because I’d been staying there a few months already.”
She wet her dry lips. God, she needed lip balm, water, and sleep like a drought needed rain. “How do you think they found us?”
Roarke’s nostrils flared. “I tried texting Hassan at the airport. I’ve got a feeling he was captured. He knew where I was staying.”
Guilt fluttered against her breastbone. “I hope that’s not the case.”
The plane rattled as it dropped to a lower altitude. Anxiety hit her gut. She grabbed Roarke’s wrist. He grinned. The weirdo seemed at ease, and he stretched his hand across her lap like a second seatbelt. Laine instinctively placed her hand on Emmy’s sleeping shoulder just as she woke up.
Roarke’s thick, tanned arm stayed locked across her lap, and damn if the look of his brawny skin didn’t stir something inside her. Even on public transportation, for god’s sake.
His grin turned wicked. “I see you’re thinking what I am.”
She fought the urge to smile. “There’s people around,” she scolded.
“And?”
“And you need to behave.”
He shrugged as the plane landed smoothly. “All I did was distract you. Didn’t take much effort.”
She laughed. Emmy’s eyebrows quirked with interest, but thankfully she got distracted by the ground crew.
Laine had never cared for flying, but Roarke sure made it more tolerable. Just like he made everything else.
Her heart ached. Leaving him once they got to Pittsburgh was going to be impossibly hard.
Chapter
Fifteen
Disgust and guilt filled Roarke’s stomach as he stared at the text from Viper. Hassan had been found floating in the Persian Gulf. Dead.
Shit.
Rubbing the heel of his palm against his temple, he fought the pounding surge of anger rising inside him.
Cameron. That motherfucker.
“What’s wrong?” Laine drifted into the room. She wore the same leggings and tunic she’d had on earlier that day, and her long hair flowed around her shoulders. It seemed somehow looser since they’d arrived in England. Probably due to less humidity—or maybe even her hair was more relaxed being home.
