The thought of him spending days like this with his past lovers and doing so again with other women in the future almost brought me to my knees. My head swiveled and I caught sight of a cab at the end of the bridge, a couple exiting it hand in hand. I didn’t give myself time to reconsider as I turned on my heel and raced for the cab.
“Madeleine!” Caleb roared behind me.
I heard the sound of his footsteps getting closer as his longer stride began to eat up the distance between us. The woman who’d just left the cab turned at the sound of Caleb’s yell. Her eyes locked with mine before jerking to look over my shoulder. She muttered something to the man standing with her and he stepped to the side as she held the door open, her head dipped low as she spoke to the cab driver. When I dove into the back seat, the door slammed behind me and the cab raced off. Through the rear window, I saw the stranger holding Caleb back. Tears tracked down my cheeks as I watched until I could no longer see him in the distance.
I heard the cab driver’s voice and realized he was asking me a question. I’d never learned more than a few passing phrases in French and couldn’t understand what he was saying.
“Parlez-vous Anglais?”
“Yes, English,” he replied, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Where would you like to go?”
“The airport, please,” I whispered, and then dug into my purse to make sure Caleb had returned my passport. My fingers clenched around it when I found it. “How long will it take to get there?”
“If traffic is light, less than an hour.”
I pulled my cell phone from my purse, turning off the ringer as it started to chime. Caleb’s name flashed on the screen and a part of me was tempted to take the call and listen to whatever explanation he would give, but I ruthlessly reached for the colder side of my personality and jabbed the red button to decline the call. I needed time to think and I couldn’t do that anywhere near Caleb. Being around him made me lose my mind and act completely out of character. I couldn’t afford to do that right now. Not when my father’s company was on the line...and my heart. If I were one hundred percent honest with myself, I wasn’t sure which I was more scared of losing.
***
By the time I’d arrived at the airport, I was already booked on a flight. The power of technology, since I’d been able to book it on my phone during the drive. It was a good thing, too. It had been departing in a little more than an hour and I’d only managed to make the plane because I’d pled a family emergency. My lack of luggage and a short time in the country had supported my claim. One of the security guards had called for a cart to take me to the gate. French men were so gallant. If I’d been in the states, I would have never made the flight because nobody would have offered to help.
I didn’t wait for takeoff to ask the flight attendant for a glass of champagne. She wasn’t supposed to serve me yet, but being in first class had its perks. That, and the sympathetic look in her eye, which told me I looked like I’d been through the mill. And I had—an emotional one. Three hours and a bottle later, we were over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and all the other first class passengers were sound asleep.
“Can I get you anything?” the flight attendant asked. “Maybe some water or coffee?”
“How about a lobotomy? Or a time machine?” I quipped. “Or maybe you can talk the pilot into turning the plane around?”
She glanced around the cabin and then sat down in the seat next to me. “That bad, huh?”
“Epically awful,” I sighed.
She patted my hand gently. “The way you were gulping down champagne while crying, I figured it wasn’t good. Man trouble?”
“How’d you guess?” I asked, eyeing her blearily.
“What other kind of trouble is there? What did he do to make you go running from Paris?”
I chuckled darkly before a sob erupted from my chest. “He gave me the best sex of my entire life before taking me sightseeing to all the places I’ve ever wanted to see. And then he tried to give me a Cartier bracelet.”
“Yeah, I hate when that happens.” Sarcasm was thick in her tone.
“Did I forget to mention he’s a gorgeous billionaire who saved my family’s company? And that he flew me to Paris on his private jet?”
“You skipped a part, right? Is he horribly abusive? Stinks to high heaven? Wants you to suck his toes?” she asked. “Because the guy you just described sounds like every woman’s dream man. Hell, now I want to ask the pilot to turn the plane around so I can go find him and mend his broken heart.”