Red Leather (Book 2)

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

I've always wanted to see Brazil.

I giggled my way into security, smiling and doing my best to charm the pants off of the airport personnel. "My brother's a little tipsy. Still hasn't recovered from last night," I whispered to the Service Agent I had been having a friendly conversation with. Nate remained limp and lifeless against me, and whenever he grew too heavy Eli would harshly yank him off and drag him behind. I didn't like it when he did that.

The woman checked Nathan's faux passport, smiling knowingly and reminiscing the days when she herself had partied too hard and slept too little. "Must have been a fun birthday, huh?"

I beamed, sliding my credit card towards her. Despite my chattiness, I watched the clock from the corner of my eye, feeling a bead of sweat run down my back. All of my efforts, all this planning, would be for nothing if we missed Aurora's 'scheduled' flight. "It was magnificent."

She nudged her head towards Nate. "I can see."

She could have called security over had each of us detained. She could have pulled all three of us in to one of the rooms they held for interrogation, suspicious of our strange appearance and story. One of the security guards could have given Nathan a drug test simply by swabbing the inside of his mouth. Our cover would have been blown in an instant.

But she did none of those things. Whether it was because it was almost 2 am in the morning and she had been working an awfully long shift, or if she had genuinely liked me, the woman chose to turn a blind eye on how shady we must have seemed and let us pass through to security check. "Here are your tickets. One way to Salvador."

I smiled a smile so bright that it glittered underneath the fluorescent lights. "Thank you so much."

I marvelled at the stupidity of others. Sometimes it was almost too easy to do the things I did.

The guards must have been suspicious too. But after giving each of us a thorough body search and inspecting our bags for anything that didn't belong, we were free to move through the metal detectors and towards our intended gate. Nathan dragged us behind, but we made it with barely 2 minutes to spare.

Perfect.

First class was as comfortable and luxurious as I could have expected, especially after the night I just had. Staying cool under pressure was something I excelled at, and yet it felt as if everything had sped by too quickly for me to comprehend. I closed my eyes and finally relaxed for the first time, letting exhilaration and delight fill me like a balloon. With Eli on one side, an unconscious Nathan on the other, I wondered if life had ever been so sweet. So, so sweet.

I should have twisted her neck, was the first thing that came to my mind. A little smile came to my lips. Yes, that would have definitely been satisfying. But I felt confident in the fact that Jessabel was truly dead. I relived the fear in her eyes and the way they seemed to plead for mercy. A shiver ran through me.

I should have driven a knife into her chest, too, and seen how many pieces of her I could take apart. If I had more time, I might have done just that. Maybe I would've even sent the pieces back to Gwyneth, like a limited edition jigsaw puzzle. The thought made me laugh.

"Something to drink, miss?" asked a woman.

"No."

"Good. It wasn't for you."

I opened my eyes and jolted up as fast as I could, smoothing my hair into place to hide my embarrassment. The cabin had been very much empty when we seated. Aurora appeared seemingly out of thin air, crossing her legs oh so delicately and swirling the martini in her hand. She wore a look of great amusement.