Page 52 of The Irish Redemption

“You lost your job.” Cormac watches me steadily over the lip of his glass. “Hardly tying you down.”

I pause with the glass halfway to my lips. “How do you know I lost my job?”

For the first time since we met, Cormac almost looks embarrassed. His eyes flicker and then the faintest hint of a smile crosses his lips. “I kept an eye on you.”

“Clearly,” I scoff. “Some people would call that stalking.”

“Is that what you would call it?”

“I dunno.” Even the water is the freshest, crispest water I’ve ever drunk in my life, and two sips become several gulps as if I’ve just stumbled in from the desert.

“I did tell you I was keeping an eye on you, so it shouldn’t be a shock.”

“Dale outside my apartment, you mean?”

“Among other things.”

“Other?” I shift in my seat, drawing one leg up to my chest. “Did you bug my phone like in the movies?”

Cormac doesn’t reply.

“Holy shit, you did!”

Again, that faint hint of a smile appears on his lips. I’ve never seen him smile. Even his laugh is like a bark of air rather than real softness. “I protect my assets.”

“This is insane. I shouldn’t be on the plane,” I joke. “I need a new phone.”

“You’ll have to wait until we land.”

During our conversation, somehow, the jet took off without my noticing. I turn to stare out the window and am greeted with fluffy white clouds, an infinite blue sky, and the city stretching out like a toy model. It’s stunning and my stomach lurches faintly. Maybe I should have told him I’ve never actually flown before. It speaks to the luxury of the jet that the engines are so quiet and I never even felt us leave the tarmac.

“Holy shit,” I breathe out in a whisper. “This can’t be real.”

“The plane? The view?”

“All of it,” I say softly. “How is this my life?”

“Worth getting stabbed for?”

I turn back to Cormac and laugh. “How many times before you just give me the jet?”

The flight is smooth, and after I finish my water, I’m confident enough to get up and walk around. It’s surreal to be moving about while being thousands of miles up in the sky. The rest of the jet is just as phenomenal as the front, and Dale shows me the entire drinks cabinet, a fridge stocked with food, and even an entertainment system with every game or movie I could possibly think of. Dale tells me he’ll warn me before we land, and I find myself half-hoping that we will never do so.

This little bubble of luxury gives me the same high as spending obscenely on my credit cards with the bonus of knowing I don’t have to pay anything at the end of it. After exploring, I return to my seat and find Cormac buried in his laptop. There’s a strange pull of yearning in my chest as I stare at him, wanting him to look at me and give me attention. Unfortunately, he’s completely drawn into whatever he’s looking at so I boldly try a new tactic.

“Dale?”

“Yes Ma’am?”

“You make me feel so old saying that.”

“It’s only in respect, I promise.”

“Can you make yourself scarce?”

Dale looks at me with confusion in his eyes, but when I waggle my brows, he seems to get the hint immediately. With a small smile and a nod, he stands. “I should check on the pilot.”

“Good idea.”

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