I don’t have any bags with me, so as soon as I’m off the plane and through with customs, I escape into the London fog.
Rain drips steadily over me.
I raise my arms above my head and try to flag down a taxi. My movements are urgent, but none of the damn cars will stop for me. Ridiculous.
I thought it would be easy to catch a cab outside of an airport.
Apparently, not when it’s raining.
Finally, a taxi stops.
I wrench the door open and grunt out the name of the hotel nearest to the concert venue. Knowing dad’s habits, I’m certain he wouldn’t have housed his rock band—and Cadence—too far from the show.
Just as the taxi’s pulling out, I hear a car beeping behind us.
“You forget so’mim, mate?”
“What? No. Just drive,” I growl.
The car behind us blows its horn instantly, but I ignore it in favor of checking my DMs. I sent Cadey hundreds of messages, and I’m hoping she responds.
There’s nothing from her.
My taxi pulls into traffic.
Suddenly, a sleek black car speeds up, brushing against us and almost crashing into the taxi’s fender.
“Bloody hell.” The driver throws his door open and goes right up to the driver’s side of the black car. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Hey!” I yell at him. “I’ll pay for the damages. Let’s just—”
Knuckles ram against my window.
I whip my head back and see Hunter’s face behind the tinted glass. My eyes cut through him like a knife. In a second, I ram my door open.
He jumps back, narrowly missing a serious blow.
“Dutch, what are you doing here?” Hunter demands.
“Why the hell are you asking me that?” My fingers dig into his collar and I shove him up against the taxi. “Where’s Cadey?”
“Ey, ey, young man.” My taxi driver motions to Hunter. “This man is saying you told him to cut me off. What the bloody hell?”
I shake Hunter, slamming him harder against the car. “Where is she?”
His expression grim, Hunter pauses and looks up at me. “I really wish it wasn’t a rich prick like you.”
“Where?” I roar in his face.
“Ey, now. Calm down.” The driver puts a hand on my shoulder.
I wrench him off.
Hunter eyes me like my face makes him want to vomit. And then he growls, “She booked a flight back to the States… so she could see you.”
“What?” My fingers go lax. I drop his collar, taking a second to process the news. “How long ago?”
Hunter rubs his neck. He just stares at me, not answering.
“Dammit!” I spin around and race back into the airport. A sea of people press around me, all swirling in a pulse of movement, exhaustion, and excitement.
I didn’t think to get her flight information from Hunter before I barged in here. She could be anywhere.
It doesn’t matter.
I’d search the end of the world to find her because I can’t live without her. I’ve waited my whole life for Cadence Cooper.
I let her slip through my fingers once.
But it’s never going to happen again.
CADENCE
“Sorry.” I smile sheepishly at the man who just tapped my shoulder and told me the line moved.
I roll my suitcase forward, moving ever so closer to the jet entrance.
Through the rain-soaked window, I see giant jets coasting onto the runway. Red lights flash before my eyes.
When it first started raining, I was half-afraid my flight would be canceled. This was the earliest ticket I could book.
Every minute that I’ve been waiting felt like torture.
Hunter stayed with me until he got a call from Jarod Cross asking him to ‘report my location’. He’s going to say that I’m at the hotel and buy me more time, but our ruse will be exposed if I don’t get on this plane.
Three more people in front of me.
My knee bounces.
My throat is dry.
Come on. Come on.
There’s a sudden shriek from the PA system in the airport. The noise is followed by a male voice that sounds nothing like the calm, collected announcers who usually make these broadcasts.
My suspicions are amplified when the speaker clears his throat and mumbles, “Is it on?”
Chuckles erupt from the travelers around me.
I take a giant step forward. Shake my head. Tune out the announcer.
I’m almost there.
One more person before I can get on that plane.
“Brahms.” A dark, rough voice that I haven’t heard in far too long makes my muscles seize. “Brahms, it’s me.”
I freeze and glance up.
“If you’re still here, if you can hear my voice, I want you to know something…”
“Miss.” The flight attendant collecting the tickets gestures to me.
“The first time I felt regret…was after meeting you.”
A knife lodges under my ribs. He… regrets meeting me?
“Miss, your ticket.” The flight attendant frowns my way. “Do you have it?”
“Sh.” I lift a finger.
Her eyebrows twitch and she screws her lips in annoyance.
“I regret the way I hurt you. I regret every time I made you cry. I regret lying to you about that stupid will.”
“Is there a problem here?” A big, burly security officer arrives.
The people behind me are grumbling.
I’m holding up the line.
“Ma’am, step aside,” the security says.
I can’t feel my legs, so I honestly don’t know how I walk. The floor is gone. The ceiling blew off. I’m drifting, floating somewhere beyond this busy airport and the guards who are looking at me like I’m a criminal.
“In front of all these people, I want you to know that I’m sorry. I’m deeply, truly sorry.”
I lift a hand to cover my mouth.
My knees shake.
“Ma’am, are you on any drugs? LSD? Heroin?”
I’d laugh if I wasn’t so blown away. They have no idea who I am. Seeing the way drugs ripped mom’s life to shreds, I’d rather chew a bag of safety pins than get caught up in that life.
“And I love you,” Dutch says.
Gasps break out.
One woman groans, “That’s so romantic.”
“Ma’am, I need you to focus,” the security guard says.
“He’s talking about me,” I mumble.
“What?” He arches a bushy eyebrow.
“I’ll be waiting for you in front of the information desk on Floor 3. If you’re still in the airport, meet me there in five minutes.”
“Where is that? Where’s Floor 3?” I shriek.
The security guard finally seems to catch on and he motions to me. “This way.”
I scramble behind him as the giant man clears a path for me and squawks into his walkie. “Referring to the Code Adam, I have the target in custody. Repeat, I have the target in custody. We are en route. Hold the train.”
He tugs me through the crowd and I notice there’s a train waiting for me.
“Boyfriend?” The security asks as he helps me onto the carriage.
My heart races and I feel a zing of excitement. “Fiancée.”
The security winks. “Congratulations.”
I smile distractedly at him and grab the bar of the train as the doors close. The three minute travel between floors is the most nerve wracking of my life.
When I step off the train, I’m surprised at the sight of another security guard.
“Brahms?” She points to me.
I nod.
“Get in.” She motions to the golf cart waiting near the train.
My eyes double in size.
“Quickly.”
I jump on and my head snaps back immediately as she takes off like a race car driver. We weave through travelers, zipping across the airport.
Finally, she stops in front of the desk and juts her chin. “I love a good happily ever after.” She winks. “You kids be happy.”
I grin and glance toward the information desk.
My breath catches in my throat when I see him. Steel giant. Broad shoulders. Eyes like the setting son and a mouth that’s crafted for absolute bliss. A worried frown mars his handsome face but it disappears when he catches sight of me, replaced by gratitude, regret and wonder.
“Brahms.”
I hop out of the golf cart and start running.
