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“I’ll take a bit more,” Kai mumbled, his dislike of flying evident even after all those hours in the air.
Mylee cast him a sympathetic look.
“Why don’t you take a sleeping pill when you travel?” she asked, and I grunted.
“Don’t even start with him and big pharma,” I insisted as Paxton nodded in agreement.
“Yes, please don’t.”
“What? Really?” Mylee settled back against the partially reclined sleeper seat and crossed her slender ankles. “You’re against modern medicine, Kai?”
“No, of course not,” Kai grumbled, shooting his partners a nasty gaze. “I just don’t believe in taking a pill for every little thing.”
“That’s fair,” Mylee said honestly. “Things are overprescribed all the time. Look at the opioid crisis.”
“We will not,” I interjected, sensing that the conversation was about to take a heavy turn, and I looked at Kai warningly. “Not today, anyway.”
Mylee’s lower lip jutted out, and I leaned forward to take her hand. “This weekend is about you and thanking you for everything you did on the Celestial Vista project. We’re not going to talk about work or world issues. We’re going to drink wine and bathe in the hot springs at my villa. This weekend, we’re going to live like gods and goddesses and forget the harsh realities of life, if only for a little while.”
Her eyes grew with interest.
“You have a hot spring?” she asked.
“He has everything there,” Paxton said. “Movie theater, bowling alley—you won’t need to leave the place for entertainment if you don’t want to.”
“But we’re going to show you Turin,” I jumped in. “Because it’s one of my favorite places in the world.”
“Really?” Her inky eyes grew larger. “That must be some feat, considering how much you’ve traveled.”
“It is beautiful,” Paxton agreed, a contented grin on his face. “Even I like this villa.”
“I can’t wait,” Mylee breathed, her smile returning.
“Me neither,” Kai groaned. “When is this damn plane going to land?”
* * *
A sleek limo waited for us on the platform as soon as we descended, and when our bags were piled into the back of the car, we immediately headed out as Mylee gawked at the informality.
“I haven’t been out of Chicago much,” she admitted. “And when I say I’ve been out of Chicago, I mean, I went to Milwaukee once.” She tittered embarrassedly. “But I imagined traveling on a plane to be way more complicated than this.”
“It can be,” I promised her, nodding out the window for her to look. “But it won’t ever be for you, not while you’re with us.”
Mylee’s stare popped as the majestic backdrop of Mount Musine appeared on the horizon.
“Oh my,” she breathed, her hands splayed over the window. “Is that… is that a mountain, Linc?”
“It’s Mount Musine. You’ll see it from the villa.”
She whipped her head back around. “You remembered!”
I shrugged and grinned at her.
“Remembered what?” Paxton asked.
“I’ve always wanted to see a mountain,” Mylee explained, emotion choking her voice. “I-I think I told him that once… like when we first met.”
“That’s one of the many reasons I thought you might like the villa,” I informed her.
