“Yeah, we’re all packed up and ready to go. I can’t wait to leave these walls behind and get some fresh air. Where are we going? He told me to pack warm clothes, and it’s still warm in most places.” She leaned against the wall, nonchalant and careful to try to put the man at ease.
He actually shuffled his foot on the carpet before he looked up quickly, then right back down. “I guess you are ready for some fresh air. About where we’re going. It’s a place up in Montana. Up in the mountains. It can be pretty cold at night up there, but not so bad during the day. Um…”
He’d stopped to take a deep breath and Marie figured he was trying to think of something to say. Matteo saved him from having to talk to Marie by coming out of the bedroom with several pieces of their luggage. “Hi, Anton, what do you know?”
“Flight’s in two hours, private plane, paid for with cash. I’ve rented a car, so we’ll have transport once we get there.”
“Good, good.”
Marie didn’t really pay much attention after that, she was too busy staring at the door. The door that was about to open and take her to fresh air and freedom. The men didn’t waste too much time and Matteo soon ushered her out of the building and down to the car Anton had chosen to drive them to the airport.
She could feel the heat in the parking garage, despite the green maxi dress she wore, so when she got in the car to find it was a bit warm, she cracked the window a fraction of an inch. She held her face up to the tinted window and let the tiny crack of air blow over her hair and face as the air conditioner started to work. It was so good to feel that air, to breathe it in, and Marie felt relief as an almost physical sensation on her skin and in her brain.
Freedom, even if she was in a car. She was free of that penthouse, free of the overwhelming oppression of being locked away again. She remembered not that long ago she’d decided to have it out with Matteo, to demand he take her outside somewhere. She would have to show him she was his match, she’d decided. But between the moment of that decision and the point where he came home, her mind had shut down those thoughts.
She’d spent so much of her life being in someone’s prison, first her mother’s and then Matteo’s, that she’d learned to just deal with the moments as they came along. He hadn’t kept her in to control her, that was the difference now, she thought as the car pulled into the airport. He’d kept her in to keep her safe. The thing he didn’t seem to understand was that she only felt safe when she was with him.
Even with those guards outside the door, she felt unsafe every moment of the day until Matteo came home. That’s when she came back to life. Even when Trina came to visit her, she was still on autopilot, just taking one breath at a time until that moment when he walked through the door.
“Keep your eyes peeled, Anton,” she heard Matteo mutter and looked at him more closely as they walked to the jet that waited for them.
“Always, boss,” Anton replied.
Marie didn’t really pay too much attention to that, though, she was finally looking at her husband and saw that tension drew fine lines around his eyes, and pulled at his lips. He was also hyper-vigilant, with one hand on her elbow as he looked around with every step they took.
She knew he’d been rattled by that attempt on her life, so rattled he’d locked her away. But the police were handling it, surely? That was the moment when she was forced to admit that she might be a little naïve about the world. She’d lived a sheltered life, locked away with her mother. She’d seen movies and television shows that portrayed good cops and bad, and seen the nightly news. So she wasn’t completely innocent of the world, but was she putting too much faith in the police?
Matteo wasn’t a stupid man, he was quite intelligent, and if he was worried then it was for a reason. She put those thoughts away the moment she stepped onto the plane. White leather seats that looked like they were made from clouds beckoned to her. She’d had a lot of trouble sleeping lately, and she knew they’d be on the plane for a while. Maybe she could catch a nap while they were in the air.
She blamed her injuries from the attack and the lack of sleep for her inability to remember words over the last few weeks. She blamed her inability to sleep on the fact that she’d been attacked. It was a circle of blame that kept her from panic. If she was honest with herself, she’d admit that she recognized those symptoms from her mother’s illness. She couldn’t do that, though. Not yet. She’d had one scare before the attack, that was enough for now.
“Are you alright, darling?” he asked her an hour later. She’d almost drifted off as the sun went down behind the clouds, but turned her head to face him now.
“I’m great. I’m not stuck at home anymore. And we’re going on an adventure.” She took his right hand in her left one and brought it to her lips. “Thank you.”
“Ah, don’t thank me too much. I have a feeling this is going to be nothing but wilderness and trees.”
“That’s fine, as long as I can go out in it. Can I?” She felt her heart catch while she waited, hoping that he’d say yes.
“Let us check it out, but yeah, I think you can.” He gave her a tentative smile, the edges of his lips curled up as if unsure he should smile at that point.
“Oh, that will be wonderful.” She sighed happily as her heart began to beat normally again. “I can’t wait.”
Anton snored softly behind her and she giggled quietly enough that it wouldn’t wake him.
“Does he have a partner?” she asked Matteo in a whisper, her face close to his ear.
“Anton? I don’t know. You mean a significant other, right?” He turned his head to ask.
“Yeah, does he have a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend? I’m assuming he’s not married, he doesn’t have a ring on.”
“Not that I know of. Either one. But, we don’t have those kinds of talks. Maybe he does? I don’t know. Why?” His eyes narrowed with playful suspicion. “Do I have a reason to be worried?”
“Not at all. I just know someone that might be perfect for him.”
“Oh, fuck no. Don’t go playing matchmaker.” He laughed to smooth over the harshness of his words. “Besides, the only person you know to fix him up with is Trina, and she’d eat him for breakfast.”
“You think so?” She tilted her head to the side quizzically, her eyes amused. “I have a feeling she’d bring out exactly what she wanted to in him.”
“Maybe, but I don’t need my cousin dating my employee. That could get awkward.”
“Perhaps so.” She tilted her head back now, looking at him with amusement. “We’ll see.”
“Oh, brother.” He slid down in his seat and closed his eyes. “You’re a handful, do you know that?”
“I know something you can fill your hands with if that’s what you mean.” She whispered it directly into his ear, delighted at the way the silky skin of his earlobe tickled her lips. “And a few other things too.”
“Mm, I know you do.” He shifted around in his seat again, but this time she could tell it was to ease the way his pants stretched over his hips. Had that aroused him?
She was fascinated with the way he responded to her, even now, after they’d been together so long. All she had to do was whisper to him and he would respond as if she’d just done a strip show for only him, the best strip show ever performed. She loved that small amount of power she had over him.