“It’s time,” she frowned, scanning the text.
At their own stations, Leo and Spencer set down their tools, looking up at her in disbelief.
“Are you serious?” Spencer asked, holding her breath.
But Dom just started moving for the door. “Let’s go.”
The four of us plus Lady hopped into Dom’s Camaro, me and Spencer squishing together to ensure that the dog got a window seat. On the drive over, Dom grumbled that it was ridiculous for us to bring her with us, but I could tell deep down that even she felt too guilty to leave her with a babysitter again.
We drove for a long time, leaving Valemont behind along with any other signs of life as we headed deep into thewilderness, past the mountains and toward the big open fields beyond.
I wasn’t sure how long the drive would be, and I wasn’t sure when I’d get a chance to use the bathroom again. How far away could his lawyer have been? But before I could ask, the sight of an airfield up ahead stole the question from my lips.
“...Is that a fucking jet?” I gaped.
“It’s not a train.” Dom quipped back.
In the middle of a vast chained field was a long stretch of asphalt with a jetblack airplane waiting to board: not a little two-seater, but a full-fledged private jet.
Before I knew it, Dom was pulling off the road and down the dusty road to the airfield gate — only the headlights illuminating our path. She’d hardly come to a stop when a security officer approached the car, taking a peek at all the passengers inside. “Name?”
“Dom Dumont.” Dom grumbled, flexing her fingers against the steering wheel.
“Business?”
“Ask your bird-brained bosses. They want us to meet with some lawyer.”
Looking down at a clipboard in her hand, the security guard nodded. “Come on through. And have a safe flight, ladies.”
She pressed a button in the control station, causing the chain link fence to part up ahead. Dom drove through like this was any random Tuesday, like she rode on private jets everywhere she went.
But while I’d seen tons of expensive houses, I’d never seen anything quite like this. The size alone was shocking, even in the dark of night. The tarmac was lit up by overhead lights and flashing LEDs embedded in the concrete.
The jet was smaller than the commercial airliners I’d been on before, but I’d always entered those through the tunnel.Approaching an airplane from the outside, it was hard to grasp how something so hulking was supposed to defy gravity.
Or how something like this could be just for us.
Once we were within walking distance of the jet, Dom pulled the Camaro off to the side, gesturing for all of us to get out. A chipper attendant in a black windbreaker hustled over just in time for Dom to toss her the keys. “Put a single mile on this car, and I’ll show you what the undercarriage looks like.”
Her smile faded as she swallowed hard. “Noted.”
Before Dom could lodge any further threats at our poor helper, a flight attendant in a black pantsuit with a silk scarf around her neck stepped down the staircase leading up to the jet. “Good evening, Ms. Dumont. My name is Ashley, and I’ll be your flight attendant. Can we help you with any bags?”
“No, thank you,” Dom murmured. “This should be a short trip.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off of the flight attendant as she led the way up the stairs. She was so elegant and poised — the type of beauty that, in a different life, might have teased out my insecurities just through her proximity. I’d grown so wary of beautiful women in Gabe’s company.
But, while they were as sweet and kind as ever, my lovers gave me no reason to worry about their intentions. They were all about me, helping me up the stairs, making sure Lady was attended to.
And in all the stress of this meeting and The Oracle and the dangers surrounding us, I was surprised at how much relief I felt. It was nice having partners whose respect for me wasn’t just a performance, but a part of every little thing they did.
As we boarded the plane, the air escaped right out of my lungs. The cabin was spacious despite its relatively small footprint. On the left side of the aisle, four white leather recliners were grouped around a polished wooden table. On the right, twomore leather seats were set apart with a perfect view out one of the windows. Gleaming wood accents along the baseboard and back wall brought much needed warmth into the space.
Excited to explore, Lady hopped right up onto the leather seats, taking up two seats on her own as she stared out the window at the employees jutting around below. While the rest of us got settled in, Dom made her way straight to the cockpit, grumbling a brief greeting before instructing the pilot to hide our flight path.
“Jesus…” Spencer grumbled, “Can she just let a woman do her job?”
“She’s just trying to keep our little Princess safe,” Leo murmured, pulling me into the seat beside her. As my head nestled into the crook of her neck, warmth tickled through my chest.
