Taking Flight (A Devereux Novel) (29 page)

I
slowly came to consciousness and stretched, careful not to
hit Stephen where he lay still asleep beside me.

The sheets on his bed were luxurious,
velvety smooth against my skin—a stark contrast to the subpar linens I
used in my small apartment.

I
could get used to sleeping here.

Naked from our activities the night
before, I rolled out of bed and padded toward the kitchen. It was massive, and
I was eager to persuade Stephen to let me cook dinner for him soon. I loved to
cook, and after a few months in a studio apartment with only a single hot plate
and a microwave at my disposal I was way past due to try out some new recipes.

On my third try I found the glasses in
a dark red cabinet next to the fridge. I filled one with water from the faucet
and
swiveled
to look out the windows while I took a
drink.

There was a man standing there, looking
at me.

I almost choked on the water,
sputtering and spilling it down my front as I tried to figure out what to do. I
couldn’t yell for help through the coughing fit that racked my body.

The entire time I couldn’t take my eyes
away from the man. A sharp suit clad his lean frame, an impish smile on his
face as he watched me try to gather myself.

With a final hard cough I cleared my
throat and put the glass of water down. “Who the hell are you?”

“I see Stephen is having a grand old
time here in New York. And he always said he wasn’t into models.” He raised an
eyebrow and looked down my body.

Only then did I remember I was fully
nude. “Hey!” I said as I crossed my arms over my breasts and moved behind the
island to hide my bottom half from his sight. Despite the looks, I didn’t get a
dangerous vibe from him. In fact, he looked familiar. “What are you doing
here?”

“Relax. I’m just here to have a chat
with my little brother. Been waiting a while, I take it you two made a late
night of it last night?”

I blushed—the clock on the stove
said quarter past noon. Stephen and I had gone to see a show the night before,
and when we got back to his penthouse we’d taken sexy photos together until the
sunrise reddened the horizon.

“You’re one of Stephen’s brothers?”
He’d told me about them. Two older and one younger, but I couldn’t remember the
names. Now he’d said it the resemblance was uncanny. “Which one?”

“Derek Devereux, at your service.”

He held out his hand to shake mine. I
looked at it but didn’t shake it. If I did then I wouldn’t be able to keep my
breasts contained.

“Right,” he said smoothly. “Wouldn’t
want to expose yourself to your lover’s brother. That would be awkward.” He
winked and took his hand back.

I smiled despite myself. “Don’t pretend
like you weren’t after another eyeful. I may have only just started dating
Stephen, but I can already tell how you Devereux brothers work.”

“We are big fans of beautiful women,
there’s no mistake there. Forgive me if I push a little too hard, Stephen and I
have a long and storied history of teasing each other. And as the older
brother, I always win.”

“Is that right?” Stephen said. He
leaned against the doorway into the kitchen, wrapped in a thin silk robe. “I
seem to remember a certain time with a big stick by the ravine where you didn’t
fare so well.”

“That wasn’t teasing, you threw that
thing like a javelin and hit me square in the ear, you idiot. It took years
before my hearing was back to normal.”

Stephen came into the room and he and
Derek embraced.

“Whatever. I still won. This is
Liberty. I hope you weren’t giving her too much trouble.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. I was the
perfect gentleman, at least as much as I could be with a naked
hottie
running around the place.”

I blushed and refolded my arms. “Derek
was fine, Stephen, he just caught me by surprise. It’s my fault for running out
with no clothes on, I didn’t know anyone else had access to your place.”

Stephen shook his head. “No, I should
have told you, but didn’t think it would be an issue.” He turned to stare at
Derek. “Since he hadn’t seen the apartment yet I thought he would tell me when
he’d be in town for a visit. What do you think of the place?”

Derek looked around. The kitchen was
open to the living room as one big open concept space. Windows filled the
exterior walls from the floor to the double high ceilings, opening onto a
fantastic view of Manhattan. “It’s a little ostentatious, isn’t it?”

“Ostentatious?” Stephen sputtered.
“That’s a bold statement coming from the guy who bought a massive Hollywood
mansion so he can rub elbows with the rich and famous.”

“Yeah, well, luckily I fit right in
there,” Derek grinned. Now I had the chance to see the two of them side by
side, it became even more clear how unnaturally lucky their family genetics
were. Stephen’s handsomeness wasn’t a fluke—if anything, Derek was a
little more refined from the extra few years he had on his little brother.

“Not that I don’t like seeing you,”
Stephen said, “but what are you doing here? You know you can always call if you
want to talk about something.”

“I got word from Evan that someone’s
been poking around, asking questions. From what he could find out it sounded
like it all started when you made a wager in a bar.”

Stephen tapped his chin with a finger
as if he was trying to recall a distant memory. “Wager in a bar… wager in a bar…
doesn’t sound like me.”

“Really. It doesn’t?” Derek’s voice was
flat. “Does four hundred million dollars ring a bell?”

My breath caught in my throat. Derek
looked at me, then back at his brother, eyebrow raised.

“Fine,” Stephen rolled his eyes. “I may
have bet this jackass four hundred million dollars I would cut a higher card
from a deck than him.”

“Jesus, Stephen, why the hell would you
do that!”

“He was being an absolute prick to
Liberty. And he kept bragging about how he was worth four hundred million
dollars.”

Derek choked back a laugh and put a
stern face on. Tried to, at least—he didn’t succeed very well. “I wish I
could have seen the look on his face when that went down. Still though,
Stephen, you know what we agreed on and you’ve got to show a little more tact.”

Stephen shrugged and took my glass of
water off the counter. He gulped it down until it was empty. “Whatever, Derek.
You would have done the same thing, even if you won’t admit it. The cat’s bound
to come out of the bag, unless you want to go back to living like you were
before.”

“Stephen,” Derek said, warning in his
voice. “This isn’t how people were supposed to find out about us.”

“Who cares, Derek? What’s the worst
that could happen? I bet no one will figure it out even if they knew how much
money we have.” Stephen glanced at me. “You know how much certain people want
things under wraps.”

Derek scratched his head. “That’s
true.”

I couldn’t take it any longer. “Okay,
seriously, what the hell are you two talking about? Why is it a big secret how
you came into your money? What’s the big deal?”

Stephen and Derek shared a look I
couldn’t decipher.

“Liberty, why don’t you get dressed, it
looks like Derek and I have family business to discuss.” Stephen came over and
leaned down for a kiss.

The familiar, heady sensation of being
swept away in his arms almost overcame the frustration I felt at him for
keeping secrets from me and treating me like a child that couldn’t be trusted
with the truth.

I walked away without looking back. The
silence behind me was deafening, and I could almost see the way both brothers
stared at my naked body as I strutted back to the bedroom.

“
Where
are you taking me this time?”

Stephen smiled and squeezed my hand.
“Just wait and see.”

It had become a game between us. Every
time we went out on a date, the goal was to surprise the other. Stephen had the
money so his tended to be grander in scale, but I did everything I could to
keep the tables even as far as novelty went.

When Stephen brought me to the opera, I
took him to an open yoga practice in Central Park. After he treated me to
dinner at
Atera
, I convinced him we were going to a
comedy show on Broadway but instead took him to see the
Sleep No More
.

The car rolled up to an open gate. I
craned my neck around trying to spot a sign that would give me a clue where we
were going, but found my efforts frustrated—the only sign said
Pier 6
.

Past the gate, there was a small
parking lot in front of a squat building perched on the pier.

“Where are we?” I asked Stephen. He
winked without answering and got out of the car as the driver opened my door
and gave me a hand up.

Stephen put his arm around me and we
walked around the building until the pier appeared behind it.

A few helicopters sat like mechanical
dragonflies resting in the sun.

“Is this what I think?” I asked.

Stephen’s eyes crinkled as he nodded.
“Have you ever been up in a helicopter?”

“No!” My heart jumped into my throat.
“I’ve never even flown in a plane before, I took the bus to the city when I
moved here. Are you serious, we’re flying around?”

“You got it. I’ve heard the city is
incredible from the sky, it gives you an appreciation for the accomplishments
of man when you are up among the gigantic skyscrapers.”

A short safety talk later, and I
settled into the rear seat of a chopper next to Stephen, fitted with a helmet
that had speakers built in and a microphone sticking in front of my mouth.

“Are you ready?” he asked. The sound
came in loud and clear through the helmet’s speakers.

I laced my fingers through his the way
I’d grown to love. “Of course.”

At Stephen’s signal the pilot started
the rotors and moments later the ground fell away. Cars became smaller and
seemed to move much slower, and the buildings shrank until they were toys on
the ground.

The pilot turned the craft toward
Manhattan, flying over the Hudson. The skyscrapers reached skyward like fingers
of metal and glass clustered together.

“This is incredible,” I said, my voice
crackling in my own ears over the sound of the engine and rotors.

“Look at that,” Stephen said. He
pointed to the west, where the sun perched on the horizon and turned a reddish
hue. Long shadows stretched over the city, cast from the behemoths downtown.

“Wow.” I held onto Stephen’s arm as we
shared the view. Over the weeks we’d been dating I’d been able to see how much
he appreciated the little things in life, like a gorgeous sunset or a
well-cooked meal. It was one thing that had me falling for him.

The helicopter flew along the river,
showing us fantastic views of the city like I’d never seen it before. After an
hour and with the last traces of light fading from the sky, the helicopter
zeroed in on a helipad. It was on the opposite side of the river from where
we’d started.

“Stephen, are we going to somewhere in
particular? I thought we were just going to fly around and see the sights.”

He gave me his trademark grin. “I
thought while we were flying around we might as well grab dinner.”

He refused to say anything else except
to enjoy the view while we had it. Shadows drew longer and the land grew darker
as we came in to land on a platform.

“And we’re here,” Stephen announced as
the engine cut out and the rotors braked.

The pilot came around to open the hatch
and assist us out of the helicopter. I wouldn’t have been able to manage it on
my own—the tight dress and heels I wore weren’t cut out for clambering
over heavy machinery.

“Where are we going now?” I asked as
Stephen put his arm around me and we walked across the pier.

“Not far.”

He steered us toward a large boat
moored alongside the pier, and Stephen’s arm steadied me as we climbed the ramp
onto the vessel.

The back half of the boat was open to
the night air, and a table set for
two sat
square in
the center of the space. Glimmering flickers of candlelight shimmered against
the white linen as we approached. The majesty of the city lights on the horizon
spread out in front of us, a view unlike any other place on the planet.

A man dressed in fancy waiter attire
waited beside the table. “Please have a seat, sir and ma’am.” He pulled out a chair
and waited as I finished taking in the scene.

“I can’t believe you set this up,” I
said to Stephen. I wrapped my arms around his waist and looked up at him.
“Thank you.”

We kissed lightly, and as always I
fought an internal struggle to not let it go deeper. I always wanted more when
it came to Stephen.

I smiled at the waiter as I sat down
and he pushed the chair in behind me. He poured glasses of champagne and then
left the deck.

“This will take a hard brainstorming
session to top,” I said. “Don’t think I’ll let you get away with doing
something so outrageous without payback.”

Stephen laughed. He knew my feelings on
him spending more money on a date than I made in a year. “Come on Liberty, we
shouldn’t limit ourselves when we don’t have to. I like spending the money on
you, and it’s not a burden. I don’t feel you’re taking advantage of me.”

It was nothing we hadn’t discussed
before.

“It’s not that I think I’m taking
advantage of you,” I said. I hesitated. In an effort to shield him I’d hid some
of my true feelings so far in our budding relationship. “I don’t want to grow
accustomed to a decadent lifestyle and then find myself unable to cope when you
move on.”

“Move on?” His eyebrows narrowed. “What
do you mean by that?”

“I don’t know, not anything bad. We’re
both young, you’ve come into a life-changing amount of money, and relationships
are hard work.” I took a sip of champagne, more as an excuse to gather my
thoughts than because I was thirsty. “I’m just saying I can’t rely on us
staying together forever.”

“Liberty, come on,” he said. “Can’t we
enjoy the time we spend together without planning our entire futures around
what may or may not happen?”

I shook my head slowly. “It’s a lot
easier for you, Stephen. You have the money, and if something comes between us
you won’t lose anything except me. This is why I have to keep trying to break
into modeling and doing what I can to be successful. Not only to prove my worth
and to make a difference, but as protection just in case something ever
happens.”

He took a deep breath looked me in the
eyes.

“I completely get what you’re saying
Liberty. I understand. But we don’t have to pretend like we’re normal people. I
have a lot of money, and you’re an up and coming model. We should be able to
enjoy this. I don’t pretend to know what the future has in store, but I know
one thing.”

“What’s that?”

He reached across the table and took my
hand. His eyes burned into my own. “I think I’m falling in love with you,
Liberty.”

My heart jumped in my chest and skipped
a beat.

He
loves me?

I hadn’t let myself over think things
too much. I knew what we had might be a passing fling, a small albeit
interesting chapter in each of our lives. I hadn’t dared let myself think of
the L-word.

When he said it, I knew I’d been
feeling the same thing. We meshed too well not to.

“I love you,” I said.

We stood up from the table at the same
time and closed the distance for a fierce kiss. Any concern for whether the
waiter or boat crew might watch fled my
mind,
the only
thing that mattered was the man with his arms around me and mouth on mine.