“Are you kidding me?”
“No. It’s a very comfortable way to travel. We have a personal chef along with a masseuse for the long hauls. Our meals are somewhat limited to what is stocked before takeoff, so if you have personal requests, let me know so I can phone it in. We should be at the hangar in about twenty minutes.” I stretch out my legs, pleased at how smoothly everything has gone. I should’ve kidnapped her before, but I was trying to be considerate of her feelings. I reach in between us and pull out the chilled bottle of champagne from the refrigerated console. “Why don’t we toast to our new—”
“Do you know who I am? I’m Mackenzie Ward. My dad ran the vilest, most disgusting human trafficking ring in this country, and I ran the books.” She jabs a thumb at her chest. “I washed his dirty money through restaurant fronts and dry -cleaning businesses and auto repair shops. We bought land and buildings in other countries in dirty cash and then sold them for shiny deposits in real bank accounts. I did that.”
“Did you know what your father was doing?” I pour the champagne into a flute and hand the glass to her.
She takes it, confusion pulling the corners of her pretty mouth down. “I knew it wasn’t legal.”
“It’s not the same, and you know it. Everyone’s got a few skeletons. I don’t care what yours are. Cheers.” I tap my glass against hers and take a sip of the Veuve Clicquot.
Mackenzie is flummoxed. With a small sigh, I set down my champagne, take her glass and put it into the console holder, and then gather her small hands in mine.
“I do not care who your family is or what they have done in the past. I do not care what you did in the past. I care who you are today and who your family will be. Today, you are Mackenzie, a Vieth ward. The Vieth Orphans are known for con games, swindles, and the occasional murder, although I think Karin would call it culling the herd. Karin Vieth gave her daughter to Aidon, a man who feeds his enemies his own shit and then burns them alive in the furnaces of the basement of his headquarters. No one in this game has clean hands. Not even the Charmonts.” I bring her lovely fingers to my lips. “And as for your family, it will be mine. Yours and mine, the family we create together.”
“You’re supposed to be a king someday. It matters who you marry.”
I laugh. “Darling, I’m not that kind of aristocracy. The Charmonts rule the west. Our kingdom is more theoretical than physical. We have the money of royalty, and my family’s line can be traced to a royal family tree in Europe, but I could marry a pigeon, and no one would bat an eye.”
She sags against the leather seat. “I think marrying birds is against the law.”
I laugh again. “Which is why I’m marrying you.”
“Are you really unconcerned about my past? Your parents won’t care?”
“My parents will be delighted at gaining a daughter, and my mother has high hopes you are pregnant already.” I retrieve her champagne glass and am about to hand it over when she bolts upright.
“You’ve told your parents about me?”
I swallow a sigh and return the champagne to the holder. I don’t think we’ll be getting a pre-flight cocktail in until we reach the jet. “Of course. I explained I was bringing my bride back from the Vieth celebration and to expect us for breakfast.”
“I can’t meet your mother like this.” Mackenzie pats her beautiful hair. “Oh God, this is terrible. I haven’t packed anything. I have some CC cream in my purse and a bad lipstick color. I’m not getting on the plane. Take me back to my apartment.”
She folds her arms across her chest and glares.
“She’ll love you just as I do.” I drain my glass of champagne and lean against the headrest. The silence in the car grows deafening. I tilt my head to peer at Mackenzie, whose jaw has dropped. “Yes?”
“You love me?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Chapter Twenty-Two Mackenzie
I burst into tears, no longer able to control my emotions. I’ve missed him so much, and I don’t want to spend another minute without him. Sov unclicks my seatbelt, pulling me into his lap. I snuggle into him, breathing him in.
I feel at home whenever I’m with him. I want to burrow inside of him forever and let him take care of me. Karin takes care of all of us to a degree, but there were never any soft cuddles or words of love. It was the same way for me growing up, so I honestly didn’t know what I was missing until Sov.
Karin cares for all of us, but I always longed to have her look at me the way she looked at her daughter. There was no missing the love in her eyes. My whole life I’ve wanted someone to look at me that way.
“Did my words of love make you cry, darling?” He cups my face in his hands, not letting me hide from him anymore. I can see the love he has for me in his eyes. I think it’s been there from the moment I ran into him that first day. Maybe I was too scared to see it. To believe that I’d found someone that would love me the way I’d always wished for.
“Yes, they make me cry.” I sniffle, wishing I could stop blubbering already. It's not as if I’m a cute crier. My face gets red and blotchy. “No one has ever said them to me.” I watch as anger flashes across his face for a moment. It’s not directed at me but at the fact that I’d never been told I was loved. He really does love me.
“Then I will tell you until you’re sick of hearing it. I
