Page 67 of Just for a Taste

Pack lightly,Zeno had told me.I’ll buy you everything you need.

The roar of the private jet was starting up (who would have ever guessed I’d ride in one of those?), audible even through stone walls, and I could already imagine Zeno’s impatient huffing at my delay. I rolled my eyes at the thought and quickened my pace.

I passed by his desk, and my eyes lingered as they usually did. It was human nature, I hoped, to be nosy, especially when I was accustomed to seeing pages full of lyrics and sheet music. I hoped they could be some precursor to the wondrous documents I would uncover.

This time, however, the desk was covered in something entirely different. Rather than loosely scrawled script, there were pages full of typed-out charts. I saw names, dozens of names, many of which I recognized. I remembered, albeit vaguely, many of the nobles from the ball. All of these names were attached to faces that had whispered and pointed at me, even outright jeered. The columns next to the names contained addresses, names and ages of family members as young as six, and names of their businesses and frequented areas. Some of this information was underlined, starred, highlighted, or otherwise annotated.

I stopped at the desk and flipped through pages in a desperate attempt to find some information that could explain these lists in a normal way, but as the pit in my stomach told me, there was no normal explanation. More pages revealed more names and more intel. Secrets and scandals.

Blackmail material.

Behind me, Urbino’s familiar footsteps echoed through the halls, and before me, my shadow grew darker and shorter with the approaching light. Shit. I threw my head from left to right in the hopes that if I waited long enough, I would know what to do. The steps grew louder, and the light brightened. I was still shrouded in darkness, but only for a few more seconds.

In a panic, I clutched the papers close to my chest, then finally arranged them as closely to the position I’d found them in as possible.

Just as the footsteps were about to turn into the closest hallway, I managed to sneak off.

I rounded the corner, hugging the wall, then slid down until I was sitting. My ears pounded, and I closed my eyes as tightly as I could, forcefully suppressing gasps of air into shallow, quiet panting.

There is no normal explanation for those lists, I thought once more.There is no normal explanation.

Chapter 34: Ecco, ridente in cielo

The inside of the private jet was nothing like I had expected, though I wasn’t certain what those expectations had been. Its exterior was relatively straightforward—a white, striped plane that resembled most of the commercial airplanes I had seen. The inside, however, could have easily been mistaken for a business meeting area. Directly in the middle of the room was an oval-shaped coffee table, bound to a carpeted floor with a gold-plated base. The walls were paneled in wood, combined with gold accents and bejeweled lights overhead. A partition almost entirely obscured the inner workings of the cockpit, save a small window showing the back of his head.

Behind me, Zeno ducked into the jet and placed a hand on the small of my back. I jumped at his cool touch, as I had made the mistake of wearing an open-backed dress—or at least that was the excuse I planned on giving, anyway, when I saw the frown on Zeno’s face after he shed his balaclava.

I rushed to sit in one of the chairs and buckled myself in immediately. Unable to access the portside chair beside me, Zeno sat on the opposite side of me.

“Not fond of flying, I take it?” he asked, placing a hand on my whitened knuckles.

That’s what I’ll tell myself, I thought, nodding to us both.That’s the only reason I feel sick and jumpy right now.

Zeno scowled and grumbled to himself, “I knew I should have taken a larger jet for less turbulence.”

Despite myself, I laughed and turned my hand to grasp his fingers. “Pfft. Spoken like a true plutocrat. I’m pretty sure I would get lost on anything larger.”

He chuckled and gave me a sideways glance, a combination that never ceased to make my heart skip a beat, then rested his chin on his free hand and stared out the window. “We couldn’t have that, could we?” he mused.

“Yeah. If I went missing, you’d get even more mopey.”

“I amnotmopey,” he scoffed, tilting his head up with a grin. “I’ll have you know I’m delicate and refined.”

“Is that why—”

A harsh roar and an equally harsh motion cut off my words. My stomach lurched as we raced down the track and climbed into the air. I squeezed my eyes shut and hugged my arms to myself. Maybe if I shut them tightly enough, I could block out the blackness before it entered the periphery of my vision. Maybe if I grasped my arms closely enough, I could squeeze away the tingling before it pricked my fingers. But unfortunately, the ringing in my ears was audible above the rumbling of the jet, and I could sense the tightness deep beneath my skin.

Something bumpy and cold was pushed beneath my fingers. Opening my eyes, I ran the unknown object through my fingers. My bracelet.

I spun the beads slowly between my fingers, counting and breathing. My breath sounded loud in my ears, but as the ringing diminished and the spinning sensation stopped, I could notice changes. The engine reduced to a steady whir, and the plane itself was flying level.

My stomach churned once more, now from vague motion sickness rather than pure dread.

All this is worth it,I told myself.All this is worth it to see what my destination holds.

My shoulders fell away from my ears, and I forced out a shaky exhale. Though still slightly blurred, I could see Zeno still staring out the window, trying to look nonchalant. He usually did when panic attacks struck me, likely to not heighten my anxiety. Unbeknownst to him, the subtle quiver of his jaw, the irregularity of his breath, and the minuscule furrow of his brow brought me a strange comfort. He cared. Quietly, of course, but he cared.

I made the mistake of looking at him too long and glimpsed clouds rushing beside us. At the sight, I choked on nothing in particular and almost fell back into it.

---