Page 54 of The Virgin Clause (Caprice Langden)

“Can I get another Bloody Mary, without the shrimp this time?”

Lyle’s smile lit up his face. He was young, maybe early twenties, and easy on the eyes with his sandy blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes.

“One shrimpless cocktail coming up. Would you care for some dessert after dinner? We have a turtle cheesecake calling your name.”

I laughed, then quickly hid my chortling behind my hand. I didn’t want to wake Dante. “No, maybe later, but thank you.” I decided to take advantage of his friendly attitude.

“Lyle, do you fly with Mr. Delacroix very often?”

“Yes, ma’am. There are four stewards. Sylvia and I are on call this week.”

“Can you tell me, have you flown with Mr. Calegari before?”

“Yes, ma’am,” was his short answer as he smiled but didn’t reveal anything I hadn’t already guessed. “Let me get that drink for you, then if you’d like, I’ll show you how to use the movie system.”

Foiled. I was sure Mr. Delacroix paid his stewards exceptionally well to ensure their discretion. But I was determined. When Lyle reappeared with my drink, I continued to ply him with questions while he demonstrated the audio/visual system.

“I think I got it.” I took the remote he offered me. Aimlessly, I started flipping through options, deciding this was my opportunity to try to find out where we were going.

“I don’t want to start something I can’t finish,” I flipped through recorded episodes of some popular television series. “How long will it be before we land?”

“I think you’ll be okay with anything you find in this selection,” Lyle answered vaguely but with his white smile never faltering.

“Maybe something to put me in the mood to enjoy our destination. Uh, where is it we’re going again?’

“We have some new release movies.” Lyle took the remote from my hands and highlighted the new release column. He handed it back to me, those pearly whites still gleaming. “Ma’am, I’m sure Mr. Calegari will tell you anything you want to know when he awakens.”

“Chicken,” I grumbled under my breath when I selected the first movie I highlighted, not even caring what the title was.

“Yes, ma’am,” he laughed. “Mr. Delacroix employs a whole coop of us, and it is not worth our tip to make Mr. Calegari angry. Now, if you’d like, I’ll get you a blanket and dim the lights. I’m not sure if Sylvia pointed it out, but there’s a bedroom just on the other side of that divider. I’ll check on you in a bit, but you can press the service button on your armrest if you need anything before I return.”

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll be perfectly fine, sipping my Bloody Mary and enjoying my ignorance.” I believe the expression is “money talks”, but in this case it was very much the opposite. The implication of wealth bought silence.

Snuggling into the blanket Lyle miraculously produced from nowhere, I sipped my drink, watched the first half a spy thriller I’d never heard of, and listened to Dante’s faint snoring. I couldn’t see him as well as I could before since Lyle had dimmed the lights even further. The seats were in darkness, but there were a few overhead lights on the ceiling and some floor lights that glowed a soft pink and yellow.

A soft sigh escaped me. There I sat in an elegant, pristine private plane with a man I had known half my life. I offered him my body, he accepted, and I was on a plane ride to nowhere while he slept just a few feet away.

The absurdity wasn’t lost on me. Not finishing the movie, I pushed aside the blanket and found the bedroom Lyle had mentioned. If I was going to sleep alone, then I was going to do it in style. I had no idea how to turn the lights up, so I stripped down to my underwear, pulled back the covers on the bed and crawled in between the silk sheets that awaited me.

Silk sheets. On a plane. Who knew?

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