Dante’s Girl (The Paradise Diaries #1)(6)
Author: Courtney Cole

Chapter Three

“Why did you bring her in the first place?” Buzz Cut demands of Dante.

They are standing approximately five paces from the SUV as we wait for the helicopter to prepare for our flight.  They must think that I can’t hear them over the whir of the helicopter’s engine.  I want to tell them that I’m not deaf, but instead I cringe from the agitation in Russell’s voice.

“Because I couldn’t leave her there,” Dante answers icily. “And I don’t answer to you, Russell.  I do as I please and you will do as I say.”

The bodyguard glares at Dante for one long moment before he pivots on his heel and stalks over to speak with the crew chief of the helicopter.

Honestly, I’m impressed with how quickly the flight crew had reached us.

We’d only driven for a half an hour before the helicopter met us on the road, touching down in a field next to us.  We’d pulled over and now, ten minutes later, we are about to board. It’s surreal.  Larger than life.

And if my mother knew this, that I am about to travel to an island nation with someone I’ve never met before, or in fact, about any of it, she’d have a heart attack.  As it is, I still don’t have a cell signal so I’m safe for the time being.  I’m with the son of a Prime Minister, after all.

Dante strolls back to where I am leaning against the car, his shoulders all wide and strong and distracting.  He smiles casually and you’d never know from his face that he had just gotten into a little verbal altercation with his massive bodyguard.

“Are you alright?” he asks politely. “Do you need anything?”

I shake my head. “I need to call my parents before they kill me.  But other than that, I’m fine.”

Dante nods.  “The cellular circuits are jammed because everyone is on their cell phone in this area, trying to check on their loved ones.  When we reach Caberra, I’m sure it will be clear.  You can call them then.”

“Okay,” I answer, fiddling with the strap of my purse.  Dante’s casual good looks aren’t something I have gotten used to yet.  He still causes my tongue to tie in knots. Actually, I don’t foresee that dissipating anytime soon.

“Are you upset that I brought you with me?” Dante asks, his forehead wrinkling in concern.  “I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble with your parents.  It’s just that we didn’t know at the airport what the problem might be. I thought it was terrorists and something inside of me said that I couldn’t leave you there.”

“You thought it was terrorists,” I repeat in confusion.  “It wasn’t?”

Dante shakes his blond head.  “The helicopter pilot tells me that a volcano erupted in Greenland.  The ash has carried in the air and it is wreaking havoc on airplanes.  It gets sucked into their engines and clogs them up.  Airports all over Europe are closed down.”

“Will a helicopter be safe?” I ask nervously, mentally picturing a fiery crash.  Perhaps I’m going to die after all.  My pulse speeds up.

Dante smiles reassuringly. “Yes.  It’s safe. Helicopters don’t have jet engines to clog, so we’ll be fine.”  He glances at me. “I promise.”

At precisely that moment, the pilot motions to us that he’s ready and we quickly move to board.  Dante lifts my hand and helps me step into the craft, like a prince and a princess.  His manners are perfect.  His mother should be proud.

“It will be fine,” Dante repeats to me, patting my shoulder.

I’m such a baby. I know that.  But in the face of what we’d just seen a couple of hours ago, I’m 99.999% sure that my terror is justified.

The co-pilot hands us headphones, which we all put on and settle into our seats.  This is the biggest helicopter that I’ve ever seen, large enough to seat everyone in Dante’s security detail.

That thought makes me gulp again.  Dante has a security detail.  He is my complete and polar opposite on the life-importance-meter.

I fasten my seatbelt and close my eyes.  All of a sudden, I feel his breath on my cheek and his mouth next to my ear.

“I promise, it will be fine.”

Everyone in the helicopter can hear, because mouthpieces are attached to our headphones.  My cheeks burst into flame.  Now everyone is well aware that I’m a big baby.  Perfect.

“The people on that plane.  Are they all dead?”

It is completely silent around me as I ask the question.  No one wants to answer and that is answer enough.  Dante’s face is grave as he leans toward me.

“Yes. They are.”

The breath freezes in my throat as I remember the grotesque popping sound as the plane had burned. And the doll with no face.

I close my eyes but I still see the visions.

Dante reaches over and squeezes my hand.

Perfect.

For real, this time.

I feel my heart flutter a little at his nearness and at the way his cool hand feels within mine. And then I instantly feel silly.  Just because I’m a small-town farm girl does not mean that I should make a fool of myself over this boy.  I have to have some self-respect.  I am not going to fawn all over him.  He’s a billionaire. And beautiful.  He’s probably used to ‘those’ girls being at his beck and call.  And I am bound and determined not to be one.

I pull my hand out of his and lean my head against the window.  I’m determined not to look at his reflection, particularly because I can feel him staring at me.

I squeeze my eyes shut as the engine roars and we lift off the ground, shakily at first and then we soar across the sky like a motorized bird.

I think I might have a heart attack and this time, when Dante reaches over and squeezes my hand, I squeeze it back.  To hell with trying to seem guarded.  That had lasted all of three minutes.  I’m a girl who wears her emotions on her sleeve. I’m not going to change that just to look cool. 

Not for any boy, not for any reason.

The drone of the helicopter fades into my subconscious as I close my eyes and try to imagine that I am anywhere but 15,000 feet in the air.

I focus on my favorite daydream, the one where I return from London at the end of the summer and am all glamorous and drop-dead gorgeous and every girl in my school is completely jealous when Quinn McKeyan asks me to Fall Homecoming because he can’t resist my charm.