Page 8 of Blind Sin

A short while later, the car halts once more, and this time, Dacre takes my hand, assisting me as I step out. Grateful for the pills, the pain has receded, and the earlier dizziness has dissipated.

“Where are we?”

“Private airfield.” Dacre says as he guides me across what feels like tarmac. “Without a passport, driving you across the border is out of the question. I don't know how you managed to cross into Canada, but I'm guessing your father's money talked. Fortunately, Nix's friend Edward has money that speaks quite nicely too.”

I smell leather as Nix takes my other arm. “We owe him a beer, that’s for sure.” Gone is the cigarette smell I associate with him, but the feel of his hand wrapping round my back and the cadence of his breathing as the three of us climb a short set of stairs is all him.

As they guide me to the seat and secure the buckle around me, a wave of nerves and anticipation courses through my veins. Dacre settles into the seat beside me. “You’ve never flown before?”

“I’ve never done anything before,” I reply. Literally everything I do is a first. I know I shouldn’t, but I feel shame with every new thing that comes my way.

He leans in, a slow, deliberate movement, just as the hum of the plane's engines fills the air. The vibrations beneath us echo the beating of my own heart.

“Then it’s about time you did,” he whispers, his words carrying promise. As the aircraft starts to move, I feel a flutter in my stomach, a blend of excitement and nervousness. Dacre's proximity is unnerving, but as we pick up speed, I cling on to him.

“Are you ready to fly?”

I nod, determined to quell the rising anxiety within. I'll only truly soar when I return to Lucy.

5

LUCINDA

My heart is pounding as we wait for the small plane to land. I scan the skies, desperate to hear the hum of a small engine. Tweed airport is a tiny airport right on the New Haven Coast. The sea breeze tousles my hair, and as I push the strands away, I steal a glance at Nolan. He’s ridiculously hot. He’s not my type at all, but I can see that he’s attractive, if a little edgy. His shaved head and tattoos make him stand out, but it’s his piercing blue eyes that grab my attention. His intense gaze captures everything and even though I would never go for a man like Nolan Mercier, when his eyes finally settle on me for longer than a beat, I feel myself blushing. But almost as soon as I think he’s found something he actually wants to look at for more than a second, he’s tearing his eyes away, gazing at something else that’s captured his attention. He has the restless energy of a four year old child. He’s rough around the edges and hasn’t been able to sit still since the moment we got on the yacht back in Brooklyn. Even now, a couple of hours later, he’s pacing up and down like a caged animal. I feel his nerves as much as my own. My stomach is in knots, waiting for my father to figure out where we are. Nolan, with Edward’s help, pulled off a spectacular escape in Brooklyn, but my father seems to know everything before it happens.

Not that he figured this out. Nolan was one step ahead of my father’s men the whole time. Back on the yacht, two of Edward’s friends were waiting for us below deck. It only took a change of clothes and a long blonde wig to turn one of them into me. She didn’t look like me, but from a distance, as she climbed a ladder into an airborne helicopter, she could have been me. The guy played the part of Mercier, complete with the stupid blonde wig Nolan had been wearing when he came to pick me up. For all my father knew, I’d escaped with Charles Wentworth. After that, it was just a case of jumping in a car and having Nolan drive us here.

“Thank you for doing this.”

“I’m doing this for her,” he says simply, leaving me wondering once again exactly what happened between the three men and my sister.

“You hardly know her and yet you’re here, willing to risk your life for her.” I point out.

He runs his hand over his chin as he takes me in. I’ve had men staring at me the way Nolan is doing my whole life, but with him it’s different. It’s like he’s appraising me. “I can see Nix’s point of view now.”

The sudden mention of Josh sends a ripple of apprehension up my spine. The last time I saw him he made it very clear that he blames me for how shitty his life turned out and the last time I saw him before that I was breaking my own heart by walking away from him. I don’t think there’ll ever be a day that the mention of Joshua Nix doesn’t have my stomach in knots.

“What do you mean by that?”

“He knew Sinful wasn’t you right from the start,” Nolan replies, and a sinking feeling settles in my gut

“Sinful? That’s what you called Lauren?” I can’t think of a more innocent human on the planet. Sure, I could be called Sinful, but not Lauren.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch,” he says, then continues before I have chance to speak. “I said Nix had her figured out from the start. I thought she was you, remember?” He steps closer to me. Too close, as though I’m already familiar to him. “Don’t tell me that being called Sinful would bother you?”

I close my eyes and let out a low breath. I’ve spent the last three years having men think they know me because they’ve seen me on the big screen. I don’t think that’s why Nolan thinks he can invade my personal space. He’s already been personal with me, except it wasn’t me. It was Lauren. I take a step back. “You can call me Lucinda.”

He gives a slight nod of his head and raises one eyebrow in such a way I’m reminded of Nix again. Will I never be rid of the memory of him? I snort out a laugh. I’m literally going wherever he’s going as soon as he gets back with Lauren.

The last rays of sun dip over the horizon as the sound of a small plane cuts through the air. My heart almost bursts through my ribcage and my mouth is dry as the small plane comes into land.

From the moment the plane lands to the door opening seems to take an ice age, but when it does, it’s Lauren I see first. The initial thrill of excitement at the sight of her, however, curdles into a knot of apprehension as Alexander Dacre intertwines his fingers with hers, guiding her down the small set of stairs. They look so familiar with each other. I ignore the weird pain in my stomach I feel as I race across the small runway toward them. I almost knock Lauren over as I bring her into a hug. She lets out a small yelp and it’s then I notice the bruises covering her body.

“Fuck, Lauren. What did they do to you?”

“I’m fine, Lucy. It’s just some bruises.”

“He got what was coming to him.” Alexander gestures to the plane behind him. “Get in before they figure out where we are. I don’t want a repeat performance. He looks to Nolan. “Everything go alright at your end or are we to expect Waldgrave's men?”

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