THE CRAZY GOOD SERIES - Rachel Robinson Page 0,310

the room, I try to think of the last time I heard of his whereabouts. The mere mention of his name and I can’t think clearly.

When I reach the end of the room I turn around. Cody’s on the opposite end, hands on his hips, waiting. “So this really is about me?” I say.

He shakes his head. “No. It’s about me.”

“Bullshit! How can you say that? I thought he was already six feet under.” That would have been too easy—too perfect to be true. I grab the ends of my robe ties self-consciously and pull it tighter, until the belt is cinching my skin. I squat down and put my head in my hands. My new bracelet slides from my forearm and tickles the side of my cheek. Fuck. I feel sick. Cody kneels in front of me.

A tear slides down my cheek when I look up at him. Cody brushes it away with his thumb. “You’re safe. He’ll never find you.” With us it’s never that simple.

I hold up my wrist to show him the bracelet I thought was a gift from him. Cody takes one of the diamonds in between his fingers and narrows his eyes at my piece of expensive jewelry. He pulls me against his warm chest and kisses my hair. I’m slacking. My A-game is officially F-game. The words on the notecard come to mind. Wear this so I’ll know…

“He already knows,” I whisper, ripping the motherfucking bracelet off.

_______________

We decided that staying in The Hamptons wasn’t the best idea anymore. A few calls and a light, albeit tense lunch and we were on our way to the airport. Molly deserves the world’s best assistant award. She wears many hats, but I’m sure finding information on how to dispose of and destroy a tracker placed in jewelry should garner her a pay raise. I told Cody so. He didn’t laugh. In fact, he hasn’t cracked a smile since I showed him the bracelet. I’m not nervous or scared anymore. That was a fleeting emotion caused by shock. I’m enlightened. The knowledge of Vadim’s presence in my life is something I can deal with. I can avoid him, be cautious, thoughtful, manipulative. I can be Lainey from my old, more sinister life. Everything will turn out fine in the end. Bad men don’t live very long in this world. Now, Cody took to this information a little more irrationally. Cold and distant are two words I’d use when I think about how he’s been looking at me.

We’re taking a private flight to Virginia Beach this time. I snap my fingers in front of his face. He’s sitting in a plush leather seat across from me. “Earth to killer. Earth to killer. You do realize everything will be okay? I can take care of myself. We’re finally together again. Nothing can stop us now.”

He looks from me back out the window next to him. Nothing but a small grin lets me know that he heard me. “Have you spoken to your mom recently?” he asks, tapping the side of his leg.

“Ew. Why are you asking about my mom right now? Did you hear what I said?”

He leans forward and grabs my hands in his. “I just think we should try to act like business as usual. You’re right. You can handle yourself. Vadim will be out of the picture and life can go on…more peacefully.” It works. Cody distracts me. First with a story Molly told him about Horse and then he pulls me onto his lap and kisses me senseless.

His hands are in my hair and his hard cock is nestled against my pussy. As I was hopeful to make myself a member of the mile high club, I wore a skirt and no panties. Something he’s currently figuring out.

“You always this naughty when you fly?” Cody asks. I remind him of the time we tried to have sex in the bathroom stall of a commercial airliner on our way to Paris, and he finally laughs. I had on impossibly tight jeans and that poor planning always haunts me. “I guess this needs to make up for that then,” he says. Distraction complete.

“Indeed,” I rasp.

“Sex won’t fix this fucking mess, Lainey,” he says.

I press my lips against his open mouth. He watches me warily through semi-closed eyes. I make a big show of sitting up and looking around the empty plane. We’re alone. I unbuckle his pants and pull out his hard cock. It’s warm in my