It could go crazy well. It could be the apocalypse. Either way, he was ready.
Lan smiled. “I’m in.”
Chapter Five
Alea cast a cautious glance behind her as she stepped onto the airstairs that would take her up to Oliver’s private Boeing. She half expected to see Dane, Coop, and Landon running across the darkened tarmac to stop her, but the world was quiet now. And she hadn’t seen them at all this morning.
Of course it was five thirty a.m., and they were likely sleeping. Even knowing that, a little kernel of completely perverse disappointment weighed down her stomach. She took a deep breath and ascended the steps.
“Good morning, Princess,” the flight attendant Oliver had hired said in her crisp British accent, a jaunty blue and yellow scarf tied at her neck that matched her smile and the navy blazer she wore. “It’s a pleasure to have you here. I hope you find everything to your liking.”
“I’m sure it’s lovely. Thank you.” Alea handed the young woman her suitcase, then looked around the cozy cabin.
But what the small, yet well-appointed interior looked like to her was lonely. She was the only passenger. The pilot was in the cockpit, and a door between them was closed. Another door separated her from the rear of the plane, which included the kitchen and the hostess’s quarters. Once again, Alea was separated from everyone else.
The flight attendant also offered to take her rolling carry-on, but Alea demurred since it held most of her entertainment for the long flight.
As she made her way deeper into the cabin, she felt vaguely guilty for running off when Tal had hired investigators to dig into her kidnapping. But last night had proven that she was near a breaking point, lashing out at everyone. She felt more than vaguely ashamed by the things she’d said to Dane, Lan, and Coop. So Yas and Oliver’s offer had come at the perfect time. This holiday alone would help her think, clear her head. No one would know where she was, especially the ass**le behind her abduction. She didn’t want to worry her family, so she’d text Piper and tell her cousins’ wife to assure everyone that she was perfectly safe.
Two weeks. She was giving herself fourteen days to decide what she wanted to do next in life. She had the investigators’ report in her bag. She was going to read up on her case and decide on a course of action. Maybe she would just take her trust fund and disappear. Then no one would have to deal with her anymore. But the thought of never seeing her family again, of never seeing her men…
“Princess? If you’ll take your seat, we’ll be taxiing in just a moment.” The hostess gestured to one of the eight executive-style seats. “The pilot has brought you a bottle of wine from his homeland. He is so very proud to be flying for you today.”
Alea sighed inwardly. She wasn’t much of a drinker, but she would have to try the wine to be polite. It was expected as part of the Bezakistani royal family. Then once she hit Sydney, she could just blend in, be anyone, while she thought things through.
She picked a seat near the window and glanced out. She could see the palace from here. It looked like home, and something inside told her not to leave. But if she went back, she would be forced to deal with them—and she wasn’t thinking about her cousins. She just couldn’t face her gorgeous guards again so soon after making a complete ass of herself.
“Thank you and I would love to thank the pilot personally.”
A little jolt told her the aircraft was moving. She would have to thank the pilot later.
“I’m sure he’d like that after we’re in flight. I’ll serve the wine with lunch, if that’s to your liking, Your Highness.” At Alea’s nod, she smiled. “I had to scramble, but I think I have enough food for everyone. This is a very long flight. We’ll be in the air for almost fifteen hours. Those men look like they’ll eat a lot, but I’ll ensure you have all you need.” The hostess patted her arm. “I will serve coffee and tea as soon as we’re level. Please don’t hesitate to ask for me if you need anything. Gentlemen, you really must take your seats now.”
As the flight attendant found her own jump seat in the back, a chill iced Alea’s body. Gentlemen? Large men who needed a lot of food? Oliver better have found a small rugby team to send to Sydney because it couldn’t be who she feared. They couldn’t know about this trip. She’d been careful and kept her mouth completely shut. She’d gotten up at an unholy hour and packed fairly light. No. She closed her eyes and drew in a long breath. She was supposed to be alone. Please let these be a few hangers-on who wouldn’t be anything like…
“Do you think she’s going to keep her eyes closed the whole trip, Dane?” Cooper asked from the back of the plane.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! She shook her head, praying that she was just having a dream. No, a nightmare.
“I think eventually she’ll come to the conclusion that this is reality, and she’ll open those gorgeous brown eyes. Then she’ll probably start spewing more bile at us. Or at the very least objecting that we’re crashing her clandestine solo holiday. Either way, she’s going to be pissed off. So just sit back, relax, and wait for it. After the pointless argument is over, we’ll have hours to hash out how everything between us is going to work from now on.” Dane’s voice reeked of self-satisfied authority. And sex. After last night and coming so close to discovering firsthand the whole big deal about consensual sex for pleasure, she really didn’t know how to cope with how hot he sounded.
Alea gritted her teeth. It didn’t matter. In theory, she was the princess, and they were paid employees. She’d be well served to remind them of that and establish firm boundaries.
The seats beside, behind, and in front of her all jostled. She opened her eyes, and sure enough, she was surrounded by miles of gorgeous man flesh. Sure, all three of them were wearing clothes, but she could guess what sort of hard muscle was under those T-shirts. Still, that didn’t mean a thing because they weren’t welcome on her vacation.
“Get off this plane.”
Landon’s clear blue eyes widened innocently. “How—jump? Gosh, Lea. It’s moving. I don’t think now is a good time to do that.”
“Here comes the bile-spewing portion of the day, my brothers,” Dane said with a smirk that really should have crawled under her skin. But his almost obnoxious confidence was somehow sexy. “Watch. She’s going to go through a bunch of steps of the grieving process. She’s already been through denial.”
Two weeks of this—of them—and she’d be no closer to finding peace than she had been last night.
“You have to get off this plane,” Alea said, her voice tight. “Please. I need time alone to think, so you can’t go with me. After last night, you shouldn’t want to be with me. Just tell Tal I skipped out on you. I promise I’ll come back safely if you’ll just give me some space.”
“I think she’s a little bit afraid, Dane,” Cooper suggested.
Dane shrugged. “She’s bargaining now. Only because she doesn’t understand yet and doesn’t trust that we mean business. She will soon enough.”