Page 89 of Idaho

"Do what?" I asked.

"Try to get away from all this."

"Then why are you standing in my way?" I demanded. "I don't understand, Mama. Don't you want me to be happy?"

"Of course I do," she replied, tone fierce. "But most of all, I want you to be alive. And safe."

I pulled my hair up into a bun on the top of my head. "You don't understand. Those men you sent away last night? They wouldn't let anything happen to me."

"You don't know that," she argued.

"Yes, I do," I told her. "They're good men and they care about me."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "And what exactly does that mean?"

I looked away, unwilling to admit my feelings to her. She didn't deserve my secrets. Not anymore. "Nothing."

"I-I'll see if I can convince your father to give you a little more freedom," she told me. "But he's not letting you come back here. And until he confronts Richard, and you prove not to be an escape risk, he's not going to ease up."

"It doesn't matter," I told her. Having more freedom back home didn't mean going out on my own on occasion. It meant going out with bodyguards standing ten feet further back. That wasn't what I wanted. Getting up from the bed, I smoothed out the clothes I'd slept in, trying to force some of the wrinkles out. Ignoring my mother, I went out to the main area and sat at the table next to Father.

"Eat."

I ignored him and the food. I wasn't hungry. Silently, I stared down at the plate in front of me.

"Eva." My name was a sigh. "You know I can't-"

"Are you going to send someone to get my clothes?" I asked. "Or are we just abandoning them here?"

"Thomas will go."

"Can I go with him? I'd like to say goodbye to my friends."

Father looked over at me with a dour look on his face. "I'm not foolish enough to send you there. Your young man will never allow you to come back."

My heart jumped in my chest at his words. He was right. Idaho wouldn't let me go. Which was exactly what I wanted. But it wasn't what Father wanted. It wasn't what Mother wanted either. They were taking away everything I cared about and expected me to just be okay with it.

"I'll have Thomas get your clothes," Father said again, standing up from the table. "Though you'll have to change on the plane."

Our private jet had plenty of space for changing, even a bed if you needed to lay down. Crossing my arms over my chest, I fell back into silence as Mother joined us. They spoke together about the trip and upcoming appointments as they ate. I ignored them, staring out the window at the desert below.

When it was time to leave, I followed them out of the room and toward the elevator. The bodyguards were silent shadows around us as we walked through the lobby and got into the waiting car. As the driver brought us to the airport, I watched as all my dreams fell away.

The plane was ready when we arrived and we were quickly ushered inside. Father's pilot was standing near the front of the plane. "Your Highness," he greeted with a nod.

"Good morning, Jack," Father said as he moved past him.

I took the furthest seat from my parents and we all waited in silence for Thomas to return and the flight to begin. This was it. I was going to be taken back home and locked up in the palace. It was the end of my freedom. The last time I'd see Idaho. My heart broke in two as I curled up on the seat, staring out the window.

CHAPTER 30

Idaho

It had been two weeks. Two fucking weeks without my girl. Shit. I'd been without her now longer than I'd known her. Yet, my whole fucking world was flipped upside down. Who knew one doe-eyed, innocent, pain in my ass could fuck me up just by not being here?

That was all about to change.

Her being taken from me was all it took for me to realize the depths of my feelings for her. Her absence made me realize how cold my life would be without her. How much I wanted her by my side every day. That I loved her.