Page 80 of Broken Princess
18
Logan
Willow snuggled against my chest,letting my warmth seep into her as I held her. “How long is the flight?” she asked before smothering a yawn.
I stroked her hair as I replied. “It’s twenty minutes to the mainland, and then an hour and a half to D.C. Two if the shitty weather keeps up, because the pilot will have to go slower.”
After disposing of Jamie’s pallid corpse yesterday afternoon, Willow and I stayed the night in the house—the seas were too rough to make it off his island on the boat—and returned to Fire Island first thing this morning when there was a brief break in the bad weather. The pilot I’d used to get to the island in the first place was still there, staying at the Order mansion, and I’d given him orders to fly Willow and me to a small, rarely-used airfield on the outskirts of D.C. before driving us to a nondescript motel, where we planned to meet up with Rowan.
The pilot didn’t actually know it was Willow with me, because I’d given him a fake name for the manifest and put her in big sunglasses and a hoodie to cover her thick auburn hair. Not the best disguise, but good enough for now. Even though the pilot was just a guy my father had contracted to fly our family around when necessary—with zero ties to my mother’s family, as far as I knew—I didn’t want to risk him inadvertently passing on information about Willow’s return to the city before we were ready. We wanted it to come as a shock to my mother.
Willow gave me a faint smile. “I might have a nap while we fly, if that’s okay.”
“Of course it’s okay.”
She let out a yawn and shifted on the seat so that her head was leaning against my shoulder. Her eyes closed, and I kept stroking her hair as I stared down at her.
I still couldn’t quite believe it. After all the shit I’d put her through, she’d forgiven me without reservation. She’d given me another chance; a chance I didn’t even deserve. A chance to be a real man instead of a monster. A chance to feel something other than blind hatred and wrath.
A chance to fall in love.
Before she came into my life and flipped everything around, my heart was like a black hole where light went to die. Not anymore. With Willow, I knew what it was like to feel again. Knew what it was like to be truly alive.
I turned and looked out the window as our plane glided off the runway at Fire Island, soaring into the gray skies. We were leaving at a good time. Trees and shrubs were bending under the battering winds as the churning ocean spat foam halfway up the island’s granite cliffs, and farther out, a squall was stirring the waves to great heights. If we’d stayed just an hour longer, we might’ve been trapped on the island for several days until the weather cleared up.
As much as I loved being alone out here with Willow, I didn’t want that to happen. I wanted to get the fuck back to the city and deal with my mother as soon as possible. She didn’t deserve to get away with any of her bullshit for even a second longer, let alone a week.
Willow stirred and let out a loud yawn about halfway into the flight. “I can’t sleep properly,” she mumbled, eyes fluttering open.
“It’s bumpy, I know.”
She sat up straight and stretched her arms. “It’s not that. I’m just worried about what’s going to happen.”
I rubbed her back. “You know I’ll protect you no matter what.”
She smiled weakly. “Yes. But I didn’t mean I’m worried about me or our plan. It’s you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, furrowing my brows. “Why would you be worried about me?”
“Because we need to deal with your mom,” she said, eyes widening slightly as she turned to look at me properly. “She was always the good one when you were a kid, wasn’t she? Compared to your dad, I mean.”
“Yes.” I flattened my lips. “You know she’s fucked up when we start thinking of my dad as the decent parent in the family, right?”
Willow nodded slowly. “Yeah. That’s kind of my point. Your mom was the one you turned to and trusted for years before now, and you have a lot of good memories of her. I’m just worried it’s going to mess with your head to deal with her now that you know the truth.”
“I’ll be fine,” I replied. “She has to go.”
“I know. But I thought you might need some space to mourn all the good that’s going to be lost. Do you know what I mean?”
I smiled thinly and ruffled her hair. “I do, and you’re sweet for even thinking of it. But it’s fine. All that ‘good’ stuff mom did when I was a kid was pure manipulation. It was never real. She’s only ever seen me and everyone else as puppets.”
“Yeah, I guess so. I just want to know that you’ll be okay, that’s all.”
My smile grew wider, and I pulled Willow closer to me. “As long as you’re with me, I’m more than okay. I’m fucking great.”
* * *
“Are you ready?”
