“I took the liberty of packing up your gifts,” Sebastian says to me coyly. He hands me the cuddly black dragon. “I found this on the bed. Thought you might like to keep it with you.”
“Thank you,” I say, taking it from him and holding it close to me. Cole is suspicious but doesn’t say anything, thankfully.
Downstairs, we all gratefully head out to the cars idling at the sidewalk. The valet reluctantly opens the door for me to jump into my car, sad to see it go.
Cole leans down and kisses me. “You sure about this?” he asks, meaning Jess.
I nod and he closes the door. “See you in a few,” I say as I spy Jess hovering on the passenger side, Devon having already abandoned her for the limo.
“Get in,” I say, irate, and she does as bid. She buckles up silently and I wonder where to start. I have some more things to say to her. I pull away from the curb. She twiddles with her thumbs.
“I’m sorry,” she says hesitantly. I’m surprised she spoke first. “I just wanted to be like you. Like Devon. I love him.”
“Then you should have honored his decision not to turn you. You have pushed him away. You would have been better off leaving things as they were.”
“I know,” she whispers tearfully. “When he told me about you. Him and you and the bond that you have, I wanted that with him. I thought he would be with me like he is with you, but he won’t even look at me.”
“Every bond is different. Ours is special. Don’t expect it to be like that because it won’t be, ever.” I don’t mean to be cruel but it’s the truth. “Give him time. He is still in shock. Don’t push him.”
She nods. “Okay.”
After that, I have nothing to say to her, so we spend the rest of the drive in silence. She breathes in the fresh air deeply and sighs when we pull up outside the jet.
“We have a few minutes if you want to stay out here for a bit.”
“No, I’ll be okay.” She waits patiently by my side as I wait for the limo. I move forward as it comes to a stop and she follows me. Closely. Oh, great. Seems she is now my little shadow. Cole climbs out and takes my hand. I grip it tightly and turn towards the jet. Jess follows me again, choosing to stay by my side and heeds my warning of not pushing Devon. He looks
mildly surprised and also relieved, but he steps up and takes her arm. Throwing her a very small smile. She tries not to beam back at him, and I’m glad that she at least listened to me. We climb on board, with everyone following, and Scott asks if he can go sit with Captain Jim again.
“Of course. The G6 is technically now yours, my dear. You do whatever you like.”
He looks startled. “Mine?” he says in wonder as he goes off in search of Jim.
“It’s sweet,” Lincoln chuckles at me. “You did a good thing.”
“It’s well deserved,” I say in return and flop down into a seat and everyone follows suit. Devon and Jess on the sofas with Sebastian and Xane opposite and me, Cole and Lincoln at the table. Nico sees CK on board, who has turned up finally, and with a wave, he darts back down the stairs with joy, to fire up my pride and joy.
“Nice of you to join us,” I murmur at him. He pointedly ignores Cole as he kisses me on the forehead as if nothing had ever happened.
“I had something to attend to,” he says and sits opposite me.
“I wonder if I might have a word with you in private once we are in the air… about…” I point subtly to Devon and Jess. They are not even looking at each other, never mind holding a conversation.
He flicks his eyes over briefly and frowns. “Of course.”
Everyone sits in silence as we take off and as soon as we are in the air, I kiss Cole and head for the back of the jet, followed closely by CK.
“What is it?” he asks.
“Do you not find it odd? The way he is treating her?”
“Yes,” he says straight away.
Oh, good, so it’s not just me then. “Why is he doing it?”
“You should ask him,” he says.
I roll my eyes at him and pop my head out of the bedroom, “Dev. A word please?”