Page 99 of The Last Man on Earth
“Myteam?” Vincent’s brows furrow as he considers this. “Andwhatmedia attention? I thought y’all were keeping this close!”
“We tried,” Rick says, holding his hands up in defense. “Someone—I’m not sure who—but someone tipped off a blog or two about you being found. The story broke last night.”
“Fuck!”
“Hey, hey. I get that this isn’t how you wanted it to come out, but we’re doing what we can to mitigate.”
Vincent’s voice comes out like a growl. “Who thefucksold my information?”
Rick flinches a bit. “I told you, I don’t know. But your people are insisting on a certain protocol for your protection. They don’t want you landing to chaos.”
Vincent shakes his head as his eyes shift over to me. “Ari’s coming with me.”
Rick looks at me like I can help. “Sir, they only booked accommodations for you.”
Vincent’s eyes narrow as he steps closer to Rick. “Lemme ask you something. Who do you think is running shit—them or me?”
There’s a long silence before Rick nods. “Understood.”
Satisfied, Vincent walks back toward me with a defiant swagger. “You’re leaving with me.”
Rick clears his throat. “You’ll be flying into Miami to meet your families. After that, your teams will handle the rest.”
“I don’t have a team,” I say softly.
Vincent puts his hand back on my belly. “Yes you do.”
Rick nods at me and leaves the room, leaving us alone. Like we’re used to. Come tomorrow, that will change.
“What about your fiancée?” I blurt out.
Vincent freezes. His eyes flicker away for a moment, then return to my face. “I’ll handle that. Don’t worry.”
I nod, but I can’t lie to myself.
I’m worried.
“What about Luca?”
I smile at the fact that he finally said his name right. “Luca won’t be there. He’s not family.”
That seems to land.Hard.
And it feels like something cold just slipped between us. I find myself waiting, hoping the next words out of his mouth arereassurances that he wants me, not her, words that prove to me that he’s no longer that spoiled, childish fuckboy that boarded the plane almost a year ago. I want him to say he still feels the way he did on that island.
He reaches for my hand, but even as his fingers lace around mine, I can’t shake the feeling that we’re already being pulled apart.
Chapter 51
Vincent
Another goddamn plane.
It’s a commercial jet with a full flight crew, but we’re the only passengers. How my team managed to swing that, I don’t know, but the first thing I do after I get Ari settled in her seat is demand to speak to the pilots.
The flight attendant takes me to the cockpit. Two pilots swing around in their chairs to greet me, one black, one white.
“Listen. I don’t know if y'all know this,” I say, “but me and my girl were in a crash earlier this year.”
