The helicopter ride over New York lasts just over thirty-five minutes, all of which was done with both Fredrick and Luca sitting smugly to themselves while Jade and I sat awestruck at the views. I was surprised with Jade's reaction to seeing the city from above considering the fact that she's lived here all her life and she's been used to luxurious things like this since she and Fredrick came into money.
Clearly, Fredrick isn't much of a romantic at times and hasn't once thought about doing something like this until now.
"So, ours for drinks?" Fredrick asks as we make our way back to the cars.
"I don't know," Luca responds. His hold on my hand tightens and I look at him. "I've got Louisa and my parents are only staying at mine until we finish this. Plus, Kaylee has Allison back at the hotel . . . I think we'll pass this time."
"That's fine." Fredrick smiles. "Next time we're in London together, drinks at ours. No getting out of that one."
"Deal."
We come to a stop next to the cars. Jade steps away from her husband and hugs me tightly. I hug her back with my free hand before she pulls away.
"I guess the next time I'll see you will be next week at some time," she sighs.
My eyes widen in surprise. "Are you coming to London?"
"I should hope so. I've got the new and first café outside America opening soon and I've got a grand opening party to plan."
"Oh." I look at Luca briefly. "Luca did mention something about that but-"
"Ideally, I would have had you be the event planner for it but when I contacted your company, they put me in line with someone else in your company. An Oscar someone. I don't know. He seems nice enough."
"He is," I agree. "He's always first to offer a helping hand to any of us if we need it. He's great to chat to and has a good eye for details in specific sized spaces."
"As long as he doesn't try it on with my wife, that's fine by me." Fredrick comments.
"He wouldn't," I defend quickly. "He's been in a happy committed relationship for about five years or so. I think you're safe."
"That's good, then."
Jade playfully hits Fredrick on the chest. "I don't know why you're even saying that. You'll be with me most of the time, anyway."
"Will I?" Fredrick shrugs. "Here I thought I was going to be meeting the interior designer for the restaurant we're opening in Paris."
"I did say most of the time," Jade reminds.
"So now I'm doing both?" Jade nods which has Fredrick turning his attention to Luca, a smug look on his face. "I'll be needing the company plane for that, then."
"We will be taking that, anyway, seeing as my father will have the jet for taking Kaylee and Allison back to London before we leave." Luca tells him.
"Plus, we have the hotel to check on in Spain, too."
"Same with the one in Paris."
Jade's heavy sigh has the business talk between Luca and Fredrick coming to an abrupt end and their attention turning to her. "Can we stop with the business talk already? That's all we seem to hear whenever we get together for some downtime."
"Do they always do that?" I query.
"Every bloody time!" Jade screeches. "Business talk should be left in the office and not on a so-called date night."
I press my lips tightly together and look away from the couple in front of me who are border lining the move into an argument. I can feel Luca's fingers drum on the back of my hand and I look up at him. He raises his brows and slides his free hand into his jeans pocket. I lean further into his side, my gaze drifting to Fredrick to see what he's going to do next.
"I'm sorry, honey." Fredrick pulls Jade into his side and places a chaste kiss on the side of her head. She shoves at him to move and gets into the back of their car, slamming the car door shut which causes her husband jump at the sound. Fredrick takes a deep breath and moves to the opened car door. "I'm in deep shit now."
Luca smirks. "Rather you than me."
"Verdict isn't out on that one just yet," I comment.
Fredrick's brows rise and fall quickly, his gaze turning to see what he's doing while getting into the back of the car. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you then."
Luca opens the back door of our car for me to get in and I do so without saying a thing to him. The door closes and Luca moves around the back of the car and gets in at the other side, Carlo closing his door for him before settling in behind the wheel. We put our seatbelts on and both cars take off one after the other on our way back to our separate destinations.
The drive to the hotel is done in the same manner as to what the drive to the heliport was done in – Carlo driving quickly and swerving in and out of traffic like it didn't matter. When he pulls up at the entrance of the hotel, I give Luca a quick kiss and get out the car before he has a chance to get out and walk me up to my room.
I don't need a chaperone when I know where I'm going.
I smile at the doorman who opens the door for me and greets me a swift 'Good Evening, Miss.' as I pass over the threshold. I walk to the lifts and stand behind a waiting group of smartly dressed men who don't batter an eyelid at me until they step into the lift before me and I turn my back to them as I enter the same space. The doors close and I press the button for the forty-third floor which lights up above the one for the forty-fourth floor which seems to be the floor the group of men are heading to.
The men don't enter a conversation or continue the one they were having before they stepped into the lift on the ground floor. They say nothing and my guard goes up, expecting something to happen or for one of them to say something to me which doesn't take long despite the digital numbers above the doors going from G to twenty in a matter of seconds.
"You ask," one urges.
"Why me? You do it," another responds.
"I'm not doing it. Let him do it," the first fires back.
"I'm not doing it," a third retorts. "He should do it."
"Someone just fucking do it." A forth hisses.
I roll my eyes and wait for one of the four guys to say something to me. I know it's coming and I have a good response to whatever any of them have to say to me.
One of the men clears their throat that's followed by a small tap on my right shoulder. I turn my head and look at the male that's found the courage to speak up and try it on with me.
"Yes?" I ask, fluttering my lashes as innocently as I can like I don't know what's about to come out his mouth.
I'm looking at the man at eye level, making me suddenly grateful for wearing heels because I'd feel uncomfortable if I was wearing flats and he'd have his height over me as an advantage. The male exhales loudly and flashes me a rapid smile, hesitating to a point where he slides his hands into his jeans pockets and his green eyes move to look anywhere but me.
"I don't want to sound rude or intrusive," he begins, his words coming out with a slight quiver, "but my friends and I were wondering if you were the girl that's been picture online the last few days."
I say nothing and look round at the man's friends who are trying to look uninterested in what's happening. I look back at the man as the lift slows and comes to a stop on my floor.
"I don't mean to sound rude and I don't want to come across as offensive or intrusive but-"
My head tilts to the side and I take a deep breath.
"If I said I was then you'd know all too well to not even attempt to try it on with me because of who my boyfriend is." The lift doors slide open to reveal Jones standing patiently awaiting my arrival, hands clasped behind his back with a stern look on his face. I step out the lift and stand next to him. I smile smugly as I look back at the four men in the lift looking on edge at the sight of Jones standing doing nothing other than looking at them. "Plus, you would have to deal with him."
"If I were the four of you, I'd make sure to be out of this hotel by late morning tomorrow," Jones calmly advises. "Mr. Madden doesn't take too kindly of random men harassing his girlfriend. Especially when it happens inside his hotel."
"I . . . We . . ."
Jones takes a single step to the lift. "Reception will be awaiting your room cards by at least ten in the morning."
"And to answer your question," I start, my arms folding over my chest, "yes, I am the one who has been in the news recently."
The lift doors close and silence returns to the corridor once more.
I unfold my arms and reach into my bag for my room card. "Thank you, Jones"
"Just doing my job, Miss. Fletcher." Jones responds flatly, turning to face me.
Sure you are.
I walk towards my suite door and Jones follows closely. I unlock the door and open it. "You've been told to stand guard here overnight, haven't you?"
"Only until Mr. Madden sends someone to relieve me during the night," he answers, standing off to the side with his back to the wall.
"You don't think he's taking this a bit far, though?"
"I get paid regardless."
"He must pay you a lot to just stand there."
"I'm not at liberty to divulge that information."
I narrow my eyes at Jones but decide to leave the conversation as it is. He isn't going to talk anymore because it'd be a meaningless talk about something random.
I open the suite door wider. "Goodnight, Jones."
"Miss. Fletcher."
I step into the suite and close the door behind me. A wall light to my right is turned on and I slip my boots off. I step away from the door and look into the living room that's lit up by only the light from the television. I can dimly see Allison sitting on the couch with empty junk food wrappers scattered over the floor and coffee table, her eyes fixated on the horror film that's on the screen.
Since I've known her, she's never liked horror films so why she would put herself through the turmoil of watching one in the darkness all alone is mindboggling. I don't like them much myself but I'd never do what she's doing unless I had someone with me to watch them with. However, if either of us had any sense, we'd chose to not even attempt to watch a horror film regardless.
I turn back for my boots and carry them in one hand while carrying my bag in the other, and walk as silently as I can in the direction of the couch so Allison doesn't sense someone is here. I place my bag and boots down behind the couch, making sure to not make a sound and disturb Allison who is too immersed in watching the horror film. I stand watching her for a second as she hugs a cushion tightly to her chest, ready to cover her face when something scary is about to happen on the screen.
I wait a few more moments until something with suspense is about to happen on the screen before leaning over the back of the couch and close to her ear, saying loudly, "What's the plan for tomorrow?"
She screams and falls onto her side on the couch, throwing the cushion at me, which I catch while laughing. I throw the cushion onto the floor and climb over the back of the couch to sit next to her.
"I . . . I fucking hate you!" She pants, her hands clutching her chest as a way of trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. "Why would you do that to me? I could have had a legitimate heart attack there and you would only have yourself to blame."
"I'm not the one watching a horror film in the dark when you and I both know how much you hate them." I reach for the remote control on the coffee table and change the channel. "Why were you even watching A Nightmare on Elm Street?"
"There was nothing else on."
"So you settled on watching a horror film?"
"I know, bad choice." She sits up and makes herself comfortable. She glances at the television screen then back to me. "What time is it?" She squints her eyes as she tries to see the time on her watch. "Hmm, how did to go? You've been gone a long time."
I smile and lean forward on the couch. "It started as an innocent conversation that turned into dinner that turned into a double date with his best friend and his wife."
"Spontaneous much?"
I shake my head on a grin and get to my feet.
"Hey, what's with the grin? What happened? What did the date consist of?"
I walk round to the back of the couch and pick my bag and shoes back up. "Can't I just grin without it meaning anything?" I make my way to the staircase and begin walking up it. "Anyway, I'm surprised you never heard or saw the helicopter going over the sky considering the fact you've not closed the blinds or curtains."
"You were in a helicopter?" I laugh as Allison gets up and comes at me quickly. She pushes me up the stairs with both hands on the base of my back. "Tell me everything and I mean everything. Don't leave a single thing out."
"Allison, I'm tired." I moan in protest. "We can go over this tomorrow. I'm going to bed."
"Hey, I'm not sleeping alone after watching a horror film. I'm sleeping with you, so spill."
"Do I have a choice?"
"No! Spill."