Page 52 of Shattered Sinner
"Can I get you anything to drink?" Her soft voice was in slight contrast to the hushed sounds that were present in the cabin.
"Um, sure," I said, caught slightly off guard even though I shouldn’t have been. "What do you have?”
“Just about anything you can think of, if I’m being honest.”
I chuckled at her statement. “How about champagne?” I waited for her to ask for my ID to check my age.
"Of course," she said, nodding. "I'll be right back with that."
As she disappeared down the aisle, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the moment.
About five minutes later, I took a sip of champagne and felt the bubbles tickle my tongue. It was a wonderful feeling. The glass was cool against my fingers. I took my index finger of my other hand and ran it across the rim of my glass absentmindedly.
The peacefulness of the airplane cabin wrapped around me like a warm blanket. It was a welcomed sanctuary from the world outside, much like my father’s office had been for him. The low, persistent hum of the jet engines was the only audible interruption that I could hear, a reminder of everything and everyone that I was leaving behind as I shifted to a now unpredictable and bumpy path ahead.
This was really happening, and I was mostly at peace with it.
I took another sip of my champagne before setting down my glass and pulling out my phone. I logged into my new bank account and saw the $50,000 deposit from Tristan. It was my safety net to spend how I wished while I was away. Seeing it there was just a reminder about what I did and how I needed to escape the scandal that was now surrounding my father.
My stomach was queasy, not from the alcohol, but from the uncertainty of what lay ahead. I’d fucking done it. I destroyed everything my family had built, and now I was on a plane out of there. I didn’t know how long I was going to be gone, but I wanted to be away long enough to let the dust settle a bit before I returned.
Then again, I probably wouldn’t be welcomed into my family’s arms again, so maybe I’d never go back.
I leaned back and sank into the plush leather seat. Then I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the feeling in my stomach. The one thing I felt guilty about was leaving Iris with Soren if that was who she was indeed with. But me taking on the Chevaliers alone would more than likely lead to both of our deaths. Hell, maybe me being gone was best for both of us.
However, something else was bugging me. There was something I needed to know. I opened my eyes and turned on the large screen television in front of me, shattering the silence in the cabin.
"Breaking news in Brentson, New York, tonight," the newscaster said, her voice echoing through the cabin. “Mayor Van Henson has been reported to be a client of Diamond Nights, an escort service, for years, according to an anonymous source, who has provided video evidence."
My heart dropped to my stomach as the video clip played, showing my father exiting a seedy motel with a woman on his arm. My mind raced as I tried to make sense of it all. I didn’t provide any video evidence, so how did Tristan get it?
Had he been holding on to this information all this time and decided that now was the best time to share it? Had the statements I’d seen just been supplemental evidence to the information he already had?
The news anchor's voice echoed through the luxurious cabin of Tristan's private plane, but I barely paid attention to the rest of what she was saying.
Watching this all unfold was almost an out-of-body experience. My whole life, I'd been groomed to uphold my family's image and reputation. Now, I was part of the reason it was being torn to shreds.
As the plane left New York behind, I couldn't help but feel like I was leaving a part of myself there too. A part that was now tainted by my father’s scandal.
I was glad that I hadn’t been at the party when all of this had gone down. It would have been nice to see the looks on both of my parents' faces, but for my own safety, it was probably best that I not be there.
Part of me had wanted to tell Easton what I had planned, but I knew I needed to do this for myself, alone. Maybe now I could find a way to redefine myself and my future.
Right now, in this moment, despite all the other emotions running through me, at the center of everything I was feeling, I was happy. Happy just to live in this moment of not knowing what would happen next.
* * *
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IRIS
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