We made the quick drive to the airport, with Kirill pulling up to a small private space close to a small white airplane. Standing next to the open staircase that led into the small plane was a man I didn’t know, though I guessed he was our pilot, judging by his black uniform.
Nikolay and Damien went out to meet the man while Mikhail stayed in the car with me.
I turned to the blue-eyed giant, only to find myself under his gaze.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
He didn’t answer me right away. I thought he wasn’t going to tell me at all. That was how it worked in our world. The women were all taught to be quiet and not ask questions, but something about me taking on that role with them didn’t feel right.
I might have been dubbed the Mute Princess, but I didn’t want to lose my voice in this relationship.
But then Mikhail spoke, and I didn’t even realize I had held my breath until I heard him.
“Las Vegas.”
“What’s in Las Vegas?”
“Sin,” he answered me, a small smile on his face. He pulled out a water bottle from his bag and handed it to me.
I grabbed it and looked at him questioningly.
“Drink up, sweetheart. Can’t have you dehydrated. You’re still recovering.”
I took a sip of the water, and when I opened my mouth to ask him the reason we were going, the door opened on my side, and Damien bent down.
“Let’s go, pet. The plane has been checked, and everything should be ready for takeoff soon.”
I placed my hand in his and let him pull me out. Mikhail followed us out. I looked back at him, but he wasn’t looking at me.
His eyes seemed to take on a distant look, and I wondered what was going on in his mind to make him look like that.
Damien led me into the small plane. I had expected to feel at least an ounce of excitement; after all, this was the first time I got to travel without my father. We weren’t going to an unknown place where I would be paraded around like a good little doll, doing what was expected of me.
We were going on a little trip.
I didn’t know the purpose of the trip, but I knew they weren’t taking me around just to show me off as their trophy.
At least, I didn’t think so.
I should be excited about getting out of the house, doing something besides being holed up in the room all day. But my mood was off.
Guilt sat uncomfortably heavy on my chest, and I quickly sat down on the plush white corner chair Damien showed me to. I directed my attention out the window and ignored everything that went on around me on the plane.
The section I was in, held four chairs facing each other. Each had its own space, enough for even Damien to stretch out his long legs, while the other side of the plane held three rows of two seats side by side. Kirill, Leo, Maxim, and Gleb took those seats.
I remembered Maxim from the hotel room before, when Nikolay took me with him while he spoke to the women and staff they were able to rescue from Alyosha Petrov’s house after they set the place on fire. Although they never said, I assumed they had killed Petrov, since he was a traitor.
I assumed Maxim was the one in charge of the group, because the other three seemed to defer to him.
They didn’t speak to each other. But their attention was on the surroundings.
Damien and Nikolay soon occupied the two seats across from me, and Mikhail took the one next to me.
I quickly averted my eyes back out the window.
Mikhail grabbed my hand, and I turned to take him in.
“What’s wrong, kotyonok?”