I don’t bother turning around when I reply. “Somewhere we can talk without worrying about being overheard.”
“Mario will have his guys tracking the helicopter,” Colton warns, and Dan scoffs with amusement.
“He’s going to be disappointed then. This is a military spec bird and can’t be tracked.”
The chopper starts to rise, and I smirk as Mario exits the back, waving his hands in panic. He’s surrounded by his men, who are all waving guns.
Colton scoffs. “He probably thinks we’re doing a runner.”
Xavier groans, and when I turn around, he has his phone out. “I’m just sending him a message to reassure him so he doesn’t do something rash, like hurt your dad.”
I wince. I hadn’t even considered he’d think we were bailing. “Tell him it’s not trackable but that you will send him a location pin when we get where we’re going.”
“Are we going to do that?” Colton asks, and I shake my head.
“Not the first stop, but you can send him the location of the second.”
“Mario isn’t stupid. He’s going to realize there was some lost time in between if we take too long at the first stop,” Xavier warns me. I turn to look at them and find Tristan and Vienna snuggled into one side, and there’s a frosty air to their demeanor. I guess they weren’t able to discuss anything during the hour either. I can’t wait to sweep our house for bugs.
“We will figure something out. Tell him the first stop was a bust or something, so I tried another location.”
Colton nods. “It’s plausible. It should work.”
“We won’t take too long at the other stop. Just enough time for us to be on the same page. I’ll introduce you to Uncle Mickey and Maeve, and we can come up with a plan that will hopefully mean we will all be free and clear by Wednesday night.”
This gets everyone’s attention. “Wednesday night?” Tristan asks carefully.
I smirk. “Yeah. I hope you weren’t actually wanting to honeymoon in Bora Bora.”
He blinks twice, like he can’t compute what I’m saying. “Are you telling me that by Wednesday night, we will be free of all of this?” He gestures wildly.
I wince internally. I can only hope that once they are finally free, they still want something to do with me, though I wouldn’t blame them if they wanted to get as far from Suncity and Banebridge as they can. I’ve let my heart feel now, though, and it’s only going to hurt worse than ever if that’s their choice.
“Our family will finally be free?”
“That’s the plan. After Wednesday night, you won’t have to worry about Mario or anyone else with the Maricuso name, except for yourselves, for the rest of your lives. I hope Mario will actually name you as heirs. You should probably start thinking about what you want to do with the rest of your lives, where you want to live, that sort of thing,” I say breezily like I don’t have an opinion when all I want to do is beg them to stay close so we can explore whatever we almost had. I know I’ll survive no matter what they decide, since I still have Sage, but I can’t help thinking that our lives might be a little fuller with them in it.
There’s a loaded silence, even with the noise of the helicopter. I decide to stay quiet and let them weigh their options. I’m sure they will let me know what they plan on doing.
I switch Dan and me over to the other channel so we can discuss the next stop, letting him know we need to head to the upstate warehouse. This will also give them a moment of privacy to talk amongst themselves.
“Do you think the weather will hold out?” I ask him, staring at the bleak sky. The helicopter is fine in the rain as long as there aren’t high winds or thunderstorms. We may end up grounded if there are.
“I’m not sure. I checked the forecast this morning, and it’s hit and miss. There is a storm front blowing in behind this drizzle, but I’m not sure if it will blow in before we’re done or after. I’ll keep an eye on the radar, and we will have to adjust as needed.”
“Alright. We can always stay at the cabin overnight if we need to, or even the warehouse in a pinch. It won’t be as comfortable, but at least we’d be dry and safe.”
“You know I never say no to a chance to fish.” He chuckles, and I smile. At least someone is happy today. How everyone else will feel after they learn everything is still up in the air.
Hopefully when Vienna and Tristan see Addi is safe, they will forgive everything. I’m pretty sure Xavier and Colton already know I have something to do with it, but seeing her with their own eyes will be reassuring.
Dan and I chat about random things for a while, but eventually, we fall silent as I watch the landscape pass quickly below us. I’m tempted to switch back to the other channel so I can listen in to the others, but they deserve their privacy, and it’s nice to be alone with my own thoughts. I need to figure out the plan for the wedding.
The ceremony is being held in the Suncity Botanical Gardens, which are gorgeous, and I had a small moment of envy when I found this out. It’s much nicer than my own courthouse nuptials. The reception is being held at Mario’s vineyard estate. Stacey wanted to move it to our place, but I told Mario over my dead body, and if he wanted a Russo-Maricuso heir, then he should tell her no as well. Otherwise, I would do my best to make sure it never happened. He then threatened me with harming my father, and I told him that my father would rather be dead than let her have her wedding in my home, and he caved. He knows that until a baby is born, he can’t kill my dad, because it’s the only thing stopping me from retaliating and killing every single one of his crew. Ah, that was a fun conversation, but totallyworth seeing the tantrum Stacey threw when he told her the reception would remain at his estate.
From what the others told me, it’s beautiful anyway—a big, Tuscan style house on a few acres of vineyard. It’s going to be sad to blow up the house, but they can rebuild if they want.
The hour and a half trip flies by, and we’re soon touching down at the cabin. The warehouse we need to go to isn’t very far from here. I should give Xavier the address so he can text it to Mario. Even if he wanted to send people, it would take them at least three hours to drive to the location. I don’t think we will take that long here, but I’ll wait to tell him until right before we leave, just in case.
