Page 42 of The Last Love Story

At the word—and the way I brandish my fist—Hux’s eyes fall on my left hand. His smile turns wry as he gestures to my ring. “I saw that. Congratulations, by the way.”

My stomach swoops, and too late I realize the feeling tugging at me is the plane as it banks again. I stumble forward, knocking Hux with me. As one, we crash into the door, the plane’s movements pinning me to him. I hate the way my heart beats faster at the press of his body against mine.

The memory of our kiss flashes in my mind, unbidden, and I physically shake my head to clear it.

“If they catch you in here—” I start, but Hux cuts me off.

“—they’ll assume I’m doing a sweep, which is what I told them I was doing when I came in here.” He leans closer, his lips inches from my ear. I shiver, my eyes closing of their own volition. “Iknow what I’m doing, Ripley.”

My eyes fly open at that, and my anger isright there.Easy to grab.

It’s a subtle movement, so I can move my knee up, and catch him right in the groin before that supercilious smile even has a chance to drip from his face. The huffed groanas he doubles over and steps back makes my veins sing with victory.

“So do I. And I know what kind of ‘help’ you offer. I am going to handle this myself.”

Hux fumbles against my shoulder for a handhold to pull himself back to standing.

“You andCallum,you mean,” he grits out, his eyes narrowing.

I step closer. “Yes. Callum and me. While you’re too busy blowing things up,” I lower my voice to a soft whisper at those words, like they’re a dangerous thing themselves, “I’ve been learning about democracy and watching people work to change hearts and minds without violence. I have no idea how I wound up in this position, but I know that I’m going to make the best of it.”

The aircraft jumps with the wind; we’re getting closer to the ground. Running out of time. Soon, the flight attendants and the Hammers will be back to whisk me off who knows where. I can’t make out the look on Hux’s face, or discern the reason his gaze is locked on mine like he’s figuring something out. “You have no idea how you wound up here? Really?” he asks finally.

“Someone knew about our history.” A thought occurs to me, and I grit my teeth. “Another one of your incredible plans?”

Something shutters in Hux’s face, eyes unreadable as hetakes a slow breath, as if counting out the seconds. Then he shakes his head. “No, Ripley. I didn’t tell anyone that you had a... personal connection to the Graves family.”

My breath whooshes out of me, as relief and dread war in me. I haven’t had time to give it much thought, but it made sense that Hux said something to someone. But he didn’t. Which begs the question: If he didn’t, who did?

Hux presses his lips together and then nods to himself. “When we land, follow me. It’ll be tricky, but—”

I shake my head and take a step back. “What? No. I can’tleave. Not after the whole world just watched my engagement announcement.”

We dip even closer to the ground.

“Yes, you can,” he growls.

“No, I can’t. I won’t do that to Callum.”

“Do that toCallum.You have no idea what you’re about to step into, Ripley.”

He doesn’t know Callum. And he doesn’t know me, not if he thinks I can’t do this. Huxley Finn, always underestimating me. I’m not good enough—not good enough to be his rival in the classroom, the weapons room. Not even good enough to be his friend. “Maybe I don’t know as much as you do about what’s waiting for me on the ground,” I fire back, “but I do know that whatever I’m going to do, I can do it without spilling a drop of blood. Can you say the same?”

Outside the windows, tall buildings clip by, seeming to jump behind us. Moments, then, to finish this conversation.

When I turn back to him, I reach into my pocket for the one thing I was able to sneak from my old life, and fling it at him. The poker chip flips end over end. Hux snatches it from the air without even taking his eyes off of me.

“Keep it,” I say. “I’m done playing this little game with you.”

Chapter 11

When we land at dusk, the press is already there, their cameras popping off like sparklers.

I keep my eyes down on the tarmac, refusing to let myself play the shell game as Hux disappears into a mass of Hammers. But still, the second I look up, I can tell he is already gone, immediately certain none of the identical black-clad figures are him. He must have slipped away when everyone was exiting.

I hate that I don’t feel as relieved as I hoped I would.

A crowd has gathered, a sea of people who scream and cheer when I step off the plane.