“You got anything to eat in your kitchen? I spent most of my afternoon at the police station and then hit the ground running. I just realized that I’m starving.”
“Sure. Help yourself. I’ll have to get rid of most of it anyway if I’m running away from home.”
She watched as he climbed out of the bed and pulled on his own clothes. She was already pulling suitcases out of her closet when he came up behind her and put his arms around her waist, kissing her softly on the neck.
“Not now, mister. I’ve got to get my life packed up.”
“Aye. I’ll forage for food and then see if I can get you a ticket. The flight was pretty empty when I booked mine, so hopefully, we’ll not have any problems. I assume you have a passport?”
“Aye. It’s in the small drawer of the table beside the sofa.”
“Good. I’ll get it so I have the info for the ticket.”
“Thanks.”
Ronan disappeared into the kitchen and she looked around wildly. Her heart was thumping so loudly she could almost hear it unaided by a stethoscope. She supposed it was lucky she’d not had many things to begin with. Almost everything she’d owned had been at the compound before it was destroyed.
She’d managed to get out with only some clothes and what personal items she’d been able to grab when they’d gotten word of the attack. Luckily, she’d had foresight enough to grab the small envelope that held her personal papers, including her passport.
As she packed, she called Rebekah and told her what was happening. She didn’t go into too much detail, but then again, she didn’t have too much detail to give. All she really knew was that she was running away with the Alpha she was beginning to realize she might already be in love with.
“You can have the apartment. I’ll make the arrangements for you to take it over so you have your own space. There’s food in the fridge, and I’ll leave you the cash for the clan to finish the new compound. I’ll let the Omega council sort out who will replace me as your leader.”
Rebekah was livid, not fully understanding why she was so impetuous, but Maeve didn’t have time right now to convince her that she was doing the right thing. She wasn’t sure she was doing the right thing herself.
When she was finished, she stepped into the living room to find Ronan eating a bowl of leftover spaghetti and drinking a beer while he typed on his phone. She assumed it was for her ticket since he was looking at her passport as he typed.
“All set then?” he asked as she came in.
“I think so. I need to do a once over around the place to make sure I’m not forgetting anything, but I’ve planned for my friend Rebekah to take over the apartment, so it’ll be in safe hands even if I do. She’s on her way to pick up the keys from me.”
“Does she have a car?”
“She does if that’s what you want to call it. It’s more of a death trap, but it gets from one place to the next.”
“She can use mine while we’re gone if she wants,” he offered.
“What? I thought your car was a rental and, um, kinda in pieces now.”
“No. I was going to pick up my new car when that happened. The rental company was picking theirs up.”
“Oh, God. That’s how you escaped getting . . . oh, God.”
“Exactly,” he laughed. “Anyway. I have a brand-new Mercedes sitting outside that I’m not hauling back to the States in my suitcase. If she’ll take us to the airport, then she can keep the car until we come back.”
“What if we don’t come back?”
“Then I guess I bought your friend a Mercedes.”
“Mercedes? She’ll not know how to act.”
“Hopefully, she’ll act like a responsible driver.”
“She is that.”
“Good.”
Maeve grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat down beside him as he finished up her ticket. She felt excited about this. Maybe it would be the beginning of a fairy tale or it could be a train wreck, but either way, she felt like a hobbit going on an adventure.
“Should we get a shower or just fly to America smelling like sex?” she asked.
“Sex. Let’s always smell like sex, from now on.”
“I can live with that,” she laughed.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Ronan
It felt like he’d only left this airport a few days ago as they touched down in New York from Dublin. Maeve had fallen asleep about halfway into the six-hour flight but was now wide awake and looking like she was about to bound out of the plane the moment the doors opened.
“We have another flight into Boston after this?” she asked.
“No. We’re not going into Boston just yet. Right now, we’re going up to a family cabin until I have a chance to do some digging and make sure we’re safe over here.”