Page 94 of A Pawn in the Game
“Like what you see?” I taunt.
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“Too bad, because we have things to do.” I throw a shirt over my head, and she scoffs.
“If you want to take a shower before we land, now is the time,” I say before leaving the room to talk to the flight attendant.
I’d love to help her shower, but there’ll be plenty of time for that once that we get to our destination.
“Can you arrange some things for us? A car to wait for us at the airport? A few other things?” I ask the man preparing breakfast in the small kitchen.
“Yes, of course.”
“Great. I’ll give you a list. Also, we’ll need a vegan meal.” His eyes widen, but I leave before he’s able to ask questions.
The remote in my hand, I turn on the TV, clicking through channels. Sophie gets out, freshly showered and dressed in her favorite hoodie. She sits next to me, noticing the Seatbelt On sign, and quickly buckles it. I hear a loud exhale of relief from the kitchen, and I barely contain my laughter.
Kyle brings us breakfast, which consists of almost only fruit. I level him with a glare.
“Sorry, the kitchen isn’t stocked with a lot of vegan food,” he scrambles to say, his shoulders high.
A bubble of rage starts in my stomach. Rationally, I know it’s not his fault, but the rest of me doesn’t care. This is Sophie’s first meal in God knows how long and I don’t think fruit will be enough.
She places a hand on mine, softly squeezing. “This is perfect, Kyle. Thank you.” She offers him a soft smile, and he scatters to his seat.
“This is nothing. You’ll be hungry,” I grit out.
“If this is going to work, you need to be nice to people.”
I grunt.
“Ok, you need to tolerate people.”
Seeing I have no choice, I roll my eyes. “Fine.”
“Great.” She pops a grape into her mouth, her eyes wrinkledwith a smile and suddenly, the breakfast doesn’t matter. The flight attendant doesn’t matter. The family business doesn’t matter. Nothing matters other than seeing this expression on her face as much as possible.
Kyle’s voice booms through the intercom. “We are now starting to descend.”
Sophie grabs my arm, squeezing it harder this time, and I wrap it with both of mine.
Wanting to distract her, I remember what she said yesterday. “You said you wanted to find your father?”
“Yes.” She chews on her bottom lip.
“I’m sure the two of us will be able to do that,” I respond and watch her release the poor bottom lip from the clutches of her teeth.
Luckily, the landing is smooth, and Sophie visibly relaxes once the wheels hit the ground.
“Where are we?” she asks, staring through the tiny windows.
I flash a smirk. “Somewhere you won’t be needing that hoodie.”
CHAPTER 45
Luka
Amonth later…
