He didn't say anything, though, just smiling and asking if I was ready when I emerged with my bag.
We stopped at a drive thru, of all things, and ordered some quick dinner for the road, and Killian didn't even seem to care that I was eating a sloppy burger and tater tots in his car that cost more than everything I owned combined.
All in all, it was a good drive. Killian didn't talk much to me, anyway. He had a phone call that lasted longer than I could ever imagine talking to anyone about taxes, and I amused myself watching the trees whip by as we left the city.
I knew Killian only visited his mother every once in a while, fulfilling his ‘son’ duties by having lunch or dinner with her and getting his doses of her terrible personality before he could escape.
I wondered if it bothered him that his mother was less than warm and treated him poorly, but I wasn't going to ask. There wasn't anything I could do to help if he was upset about it, and since I had parents who were annoying but actually still good parents, it seemed like sort of a slap in the face for me to put my nose in his business like that.
So I kept my mouth shut and waited to get to where we were going.
It was only a little bit more than an hour from the city, but it was interesting to see the buildings and billboards of the city give way to trees and a lake and miles of road with nothing but greenery on either side.
It reminded me a little of the town I’d grown up in, with its rolling hills and little quiet streets, and I could feel myself starting to relax more and more the further we got from the city.
Finally, we pulled off onto a side street that wound its way up a hill and into a thicket of trees. Sitting up on the hill and back away from the road was a massive house made of wood and stone.
A ‘cabin’, Killian had called it, and I was pretty sure he had no idea what that word actually meant if he thought this was one.
It was bigger than my childhood home and Simon’s house put together, sprawling over several acres at the top of the hill. It was remote and beautiful, though, and I rolled down the window as we drove, letting the crisp spring air blow past my face as I looked up at it.
“That’s not a cabin,” I felt obliged to point out, just because I had to know if he knew that. “That’s a wooden mansion.”
He snorted, sounding amused. “It’s just what it was called in the deed when it was passed to me. The Abernathy Cabin Property.”
“You Abernathys need to learn to scale up when you’re naming things.”
Killian laughed softly at that and kept driving until we were pulling into the stone paved driveway.
I hopped out and stretched, shivering slightly in my thin jacket. The weather had swung back to being colder than before, and I was eager to get inside and maybe have a hot bath while Killian went to see his mother.
The two of them were going to have dinner together, and he was already dreading it, but I was looking forward to the time alone in a big ass place like this one.
The inside of the cabin was even nicer than the outside, with its dark wood and polished floors. Everything looked expensive, and aside from the fact that stuff was made of wood, there was nothing rustic about it.
Killian gave me a somewhat rushed version of the tour, pointing out bedrooms and the master bath with its deep, whirlpool tub.
“The kitchen is stocked with food already,” he told me. “So, help yourself if you want. I should be back in a couple of hours if she’s feeling benevolent.”
“And if she isn’t?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Then send a search party for me in the morning.”
“Grim.”
“You have no idea.”
And then he was gone, and I was alone in the house. I laughed softly as I walked the length of it, poking into the rooms Killian hadn’t shown me. There was an entertainment room with a large television and theater style seating, a sort of spa looking room with massage tables, a couple of storage rooms that were full of golf bags and other equipment for fancy outdoor sports, and even a room that looked like it could be used like a ballroom if the occasion called for it.
I couldn’t imagine having a ball all the way up there, but rich people planned for everything, apparently.
My attention was drawn by the whirlpool tub in the master bathroom, and I made my way back to it, taking a bit of time to figure out the taps and knobs before I started filling it with hot water.
The whole bathroom was beautiful. The tub was white marble, and it sat on a little platform in one corner of the bright bathroom. There was a mirror that ran the whole length of the opposite wall, and speakers built into the corners, clearly meant to pipe music from somewhere.
It was all done in pale colored marble and tile, a contrast from the dark colors of the rest of the house, and there were gold veins running through in eye catching glimmers.
While the tub filled, I went to the kitchen and hunted for some snacks that would be suitable for so fancy a soak. I settled on crackers and fruit and cheese, piling a tray up with them and even going so far as to take a whole bottle of wine and a glass with me.
It was decadent as hell, and I was very glad I’d agreed to come, just for this.
There had to be some perks to being married to an obscenely rich man, and aside from having my bills paid, I hadn’t really seen any of them yet. Although, financial
