Page 41 of Dark Notes

I kiss her on the forehead while stroking her hair. “Shhh, you’re safe, McKinley. It’s just us. Go back to sleep.”

Her lashes flutter, and she looks at me with that expression that tells me she wants to bolt, so I hold her tighter against my chest. “Everything is okay. Go back to sleep, baby.”

I’ll never leave her, but I do wonder if I’m fighting a losing battle. How much she has endured, I don’t even know, and I’m not sure I ever will. This is the hardest fucking thing I’ve ever been through. Watching her in constant pain is hard as hell. I just want to make everything better for her, but I’m not sure I can.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

JAGGER

After falling asleep for a few hours, I open my eyes and glance at my phone, and realize we’ll be landing soon. I kiss McKinley on the neck. “We need to get dressed and get in our seats for landing.”

She smiles at me sleepily. “If you insist.”

We both get out of bed and get dressed, and make our way back to our seats. I belt her in before doing my own.

“Have you been to Italy before?”

I nod. “Not this specific area, but yes, I’ve toured here a few times.”

“Do you like traveling so much?”

I wrap my arm around her shoulder and hold her close to me. Kissing her on the head, I respond, “I do, when I have time to enjoy it, but normally we are there for a show, and out the same night or early the next morning. I’ve been to a lot of places that I feel like I haven’t really been to. An auditorium isn’t experiencing a place.”

Tilting her head back, she gazes at me, while she places her small hand on my cheek. “Thank you for this. This means more to me than I could ever express.”

I smirk at her. “Is that so?”

She arches an eyebrow. “Yes.”

“Hmm, is it worth a kiss to you?”

Giggling, McKinley purses her lips, and I chuckle as I press my lips to hers, while the plane makes its final descent.

I have arranged a house on the water, complete with a private beach, so she won’t be insecure about people seeing her, but also because the paparazzi are assholes, and tend to find me no matter how far I travel. Why those fuckers think it’s acceptable to take photographs of private moments, and splash them all over their bullshit magazines, because I’m a celebrity, I’ll never understand. If you took pictures of cashier Karen in her back yard swimming, that would be fucking stalking. As a celebrity, it’s acceptable. I suppose this is the price of fame, but it wasn’t fame I was after. I just wanted to make good music. I’m aware though that fame has given me the life I now live. The endorsements wouldn’t exist if the public didn’t know who I was, or didn’t give a fuck. I make a shit ton of money modeling underwear, and in addition to what I make with music, this is how I can pay for lavish trips like this. I haven’t done anything like this, since Jett insisted we all spend a week in London after a show a few years ago. While it’s for her, I’ll enjoy it immensely. It’s been a while since I had a break. We have toured nonstop for the last eighteen months.

“Are you ready, filthy girl?”

She giggles that fucking laugh that makes my chest squeeze.

“So ready.”

We get out of our seats and walk to the exit of the plane. An SUV waits for us, with our luggage that I arranged without her noticing, already inside. I frequently have a driver in the United States when traveling, but this time I’ve hired a company based out of Rome to drive us around as needed.

Stepping off the plane, she asks, “Where are we, exactly?”

“Naples Capodichino, as there is no airport in Salerno where the coast is.”

The sun is shining and, according to my phone, it’s seventy-six degrees currently.

A dark-haired Italian man gets out of the vehicle with a sign that says ‘Wild’ on it. I nod, because I was told on the phone, when I booked this car service, that our driver did not speak English. I don’t speak Italian, but he has the address to where we are going, so I’m not terribly worried about it.

I help McKinley get into the backseat before climbing in beside her. She takes my hand excitedly.

“This is going to be amazing.”

Her smile is nothing short of radiant; an ear to ear grin, with sparkling eyes and flushed cheeks. If I could make it so that the look on her face never fades, I would. This is hands down my favorite version of McKinley.

“What? You aren’t excited to see this beautiful place?”

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