Page 54 of The Last Ultimatum: Part 1

“You'll see.”

Lachlan

Chapter 15

I already knew that Tilly had never really been in the city before, so instead of making this frightening and filled with paranoia, I was choosing to make it fun.

The odds of anyone following us were slim to none. We landed in a private airport and had a private car awaiting us. Most likely I could have given the driver the address and had him drop us off there. But that was never going to placate my dingo, and I would spend our upcoming days apart stressed and worried we'd somehow been followed or that our path was traceable.

Fortunately, my mate had packed light with only a backpack and one carry-on roller bag. I grabbed my own backpack and her bag as we exited the plane and met our driver.

Instinct had me sweeping the area looking for anything out of the ordinary. There was nothing. Yet this didn't relax me in the least. If anything, it made it worse. I didn't have my team with me to ensure I didn't miss something, and the stakes were far too high for any mistakes.

“Where to?” the driver asked.

“Sydney Opera House,” I said.

Tilly looked at me in confusion but was smart enough not to say anything.

“It's too early to check into our hotel, babe. I figured we'd get in a bit of sightseeing instead.”

It was all an act, and somehow she realized it enough to play along.

“I've always wanted to see the opera house.”

“I know.”

She shot me a side-eyed look but continued with the charade.

“Perhaps we'll venture over to the zoo later. Can you recommend a good place to eat? I'm starving,” I said to the driver.

He was relaxed as he drove, nothing alarming as he rattled off his favorite places to eat near our drop off point.

When the conversation came to a natural lull, I nuzzled my mate and whispered, “We can do whatever you want while we're here.” I made sure my voice was loud enough for him to hear me.

She giggled. “Anything?”

Her suggestive reply caught me off guard and I almost forgot we were putting on a show.

“You dirty girl,” I said before kissing her.

When I pulled back I caught the driver watching us through the rearview mirror with a smile on his face. Everything was going smoothly. If anyone were to try to interrogate him, he would simply say he picked up a couple in love here on vacation and dropped them off at the harbor to explore before checking into their hotel. Which hotel? How would he know, because we didn't go straight there and never mentioned it. End of story.

I tipped him well after the car came to a stop and we gathered our things to leave. I told myself that I reached for Tilly's hand as a continued show to our rouse. But in truth, I needed that contact to ground me and keep me from doing something stupid.

Having her in the city was harder than I thought. Everywhere I looked there were unmated men. Sure 99% of them were human, but that didn't seem to matter to my dingo.

“Are you okay?” she whispered after the driver pulled away.

“Fine,” I replied, a little too quickly.

“What's wrong?”

I gave her a sheepish look. “Nothing. We're good.”

“Are we really going to walk over to the Opera House?”

“Do you want to?”

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