“I’m going for a run—I’ll do some thinking while I’m at it.”
Daniel nods. “Okay, I have some calls to make and,” he checks his watch, “a Web conference in forty-five minutes. I should prepare.”
“I’ll let you get to it, then.” Ian turns to head upstairs to his room to change clothes.
“Oh, Ian? I thought we’d go out for dinner tonight since Olivia will be downtown and I’m going to pick her up. Would you care to join us?”
“Thanks for the invite but I think I’ll grab something while I’m out and retire early tonight. My pilot filed an early flight plan and I do need my beauty sleep.”
“Don’t we all?” Daniel grins. “Let me know what you decide, post-run.”
“Will do.”
As Ian sits in his jet the next morning, waiting for clearance for takeoff, he tries to get some work done, answering emails, and sending texts. Since it is still too early for business in Portland, his responses won’t be received right away but it will be out of the way on his end. After he finishes, with still two planes ahead of his in the queue, he reclines back and mulls over this whole sorry affair. Is it really over? He wonders.
Natasha seemed so horrified that he’d even consider so drastic a measure. He shakes his head. She has to be insane by any standard. She threatened his business, hell, she sabotaged it for years, planned revenge on his family for over a decade, threatened Ella with kidnapping and rape… and was surprised he wanted her dead?
Now a dilemma is in front of him: should he tell Ella the truth and risk her rejection? Or should he lie to her and have that hanging between them forever? In one stroke, Natasha managed to fuck him but good without even trying.
Last night, after it happened, he’d decided to come clean with Ella, tell her everything as it occurred. This morning he wasn’t so sure. What if she decided she couldn’t marry a man who could make a decision like that? In trying to protect her from harm, he may have pushed her away permanently. He rubs his face with both hands, wishing he knew which path was the right one.
What would Ella do in his position? She would never have ordered the hit in the first place. But what if his life hung in the balance and that was the only surefire way to save him? Would she do it then? Assuming she would and she found herself in the same position in which he currently sat, then what? His heart knew the answer even before his mind recognized it: she would tell him the truth. Ella might be many things, but deceitful is not one of them. His mind made up, he tries to relax enough to take a nap.
The Gulfstream lands at 9:37 at the private airfield just outside the city. At the sound of the metallic groan of the landing gear’s descent, he checks his watch, adjusts the time to Pacific, and shoves his electronics and paperwork into his briefcase. Picking up the iPad, he smiles, thinking about Ella’s novel. He’d really missed her when he was reading it, really missed her.
His mind begins to drift away from all the ugliness with the Russians and back to important things… like his dungeon. Would Ella consider going in there again? If she did, how far would she agree to go? He doesn’t think he’ll ever try using a whip on her again, but there are plenty of other milder implements. As for the heavier ones, the whips and canes, he knows how to use them so as not to break skin or cause any scars. Still, if she doesn’t want to play with them, then he doesn’t either. He would never force anything on her again, never. Honestly, he wasn’t sure he had it in him to ever pick up a whip again, after losing her the way he did. Saying goodbye to the whips really wasn’t much of a loss. The dungeon, however, well, that was a different story.
We’ll have to play it by ear, he thinks, grinning wickedly to himself as he imagines Ella tautly stretched out on the St. Andrew’s cross. If we get past today, that subject will be next up. He looks down at his pants and shakes his head. Hopeless.
His next thought sours his good mood: he has to meet with Natasha this afternoon, after spending a few hours catching up at the office. What he’d really like to do is to go straight home to Ella, but her safety must be ensured first and foremost. As for work, he’d been away too much lately and his absence caused problems. He needed to meet with his staff, sign a few documents and stock transfers, have Claudia catch him up on details and then he’d meet with the viper. Afterward, he’d race back to his pretty woman.
His eyes glowing in anticipation at the mere thought of ravishing that pretty woman, he drums his fingers impatiently on the armrest, waiting for the pilot to bring the plane to a stop.