Page 84 of Possessive Mafia Vows

A body.

And it isn’t moving.

I fixate on it until the plane leans the other way, and I lose sight of it.

My opportunity to call Kyle has passed now that we’re in the air. I can’t ask him if Nick is telling the truth, but I don’t really need to.

“Sienna, is everything okay?” Nick’s voice jolts me back to the present.

His eyes search mine, his expression unreadable. He’s waiting for me to tell him what I’ve seen on the ground. But then what? Will he tell me that I’m being paranoid, imagining things because his presence came as a bit of a shock? Or maybe he’ll laugh and tell me that I’ve spent too much time in the company of a mafia member and am turning shadows into corpses.

“Why didn’t Seamus come and tell me himself?”

“There was no time. The plane would’ve missed its time slot.”

“Would that have been such a bad thing?”

He smiles. His smile has always been so dazzling, so practiced, that it draws the eye to his perfect teeth, but now, I notice for the first time that it doesn’t reach his eyes. Sure, smile lines appear at the corners, but his eyes remain cold. Untouched.

“I guess not. But, well…” He presses his hands together as if in prayer and gazes at them, pensive. “I was worried that Kyle Murray would change his mind at the last minute and spoil everything again.”

“Again?” I can’t keep the revulsion from my voice, but if he notices, he covers it well.

“I’ve waited almost six years to tell you how I feel about you, Sienna, and now that I’ve plucked up the courage, he’s hanging around like a bad smell.”

He leans forward and reaches for my hand. I don’t stop him.

Being trapped mid-air with a man I don’t trust isn’t exactly ideal. I don’t want to antagonize him. I have no choice but to play along, for now, and pray that Kyle will know what’s happened when he gets to the airport and discovers that the flight has taken off without him, and Seamus.

Perhaps he’ll find a way to turn the aircraft around.

Will Nick even notice if we start heading back towards the city?

I force my lips to move. It’s the best I can hope for. “Well, he’s not here now.”

His smile stretches. Looking at him now, I can’t believe that I ever found Nick Morris attractive. The smile is slimy, like a serpent who knows how poisonous he is and feels absolutely no remorse about attacking his prey.

“You didn’t give me an answer, Sienna.” He sighs. Everything that he does, every word spoken, every action, is rehearsed, delivered for effect. “I know I told you to take your time, but?—”

“Why don’t you ask me again?” I feel nauseous saying the words out loud.

He fumbles in his coat pocket and drops the tiny jewelry box, which rolls under his seat. He unbuckles himself and drops onto his knees to retrieve it, then, perfectly placed, he swivels around and holds my left hand.

His fingers are trembling. There are tears in his eyes.

But I feel nothing but repugnance, knowing that this is all an act.

I swallow painfully. My heart is throwing itself against my ribcage as if screaming at me to get away from this man, to say no, to yell at him that he’ll never be Kyle. But I suck on my bottom lip and breathe deeply.

“Sienna, will you marry me?”

It’s laughable. Hysteria is bubbling inside my chest, and I know that if I acknowledge it, the plane will be filled to bursting with my messy, choking sobs. Where’s the declaration of love? Whereare the terms of endearment or the well-chosen words that express his feelings for me? Where is the gleam in his eyes?

“Yes.” I squeeze it out, a brittle sound like a dry twig being snapped.

He slides the ring onto my finger. It feels cold, heavy, unnatural. The diamond winks at me in the overhead lighting, and all I see is a tiny rock with the power to crush my future.

“Do you like it? Does it fit? I guessed your ring size, but I can have it made smaller if it’s too large.”

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