Chapter 47

**Blue**


Artemis and I try our best to leave the hospital without getting spotted, but a few people stayed long enough to get a shot of us as we leave. I pulled the sleeves of my sweatshirt over my hands to hide my ring and made sure the mark on my neck couldn’t be seen. Hopefully no one finds out what happened to me tonight other than someone breaking into our house. Although if I have to testify about the assault it’s only a matter of time before everyone will find out.

The police had made sure to take photos of me and my injuries after I had changed into the hospital gown. I also agreed to a pelvic exam just in case I black out during anything else. Thank god that was clear.

Artemis and I are taking his personal car to the airport now since I was discharged already. He still won’t confess to where he’s taking me, but he keeps calling it a honeymoon which is sort of cute. A honeymoon isn’t something I would think he would like. It sounds…romantic. Even that word sounds weird to me. Truthfully, I haven’t thought much about romance, so maybe this is normal and I’m making a big deal over nothing. Hell, if I know!

Once we make it to the airport I notice how small it is and that there aren’t any of those really huge planes. Instead, there are a few smaller planes and helicopters. Weird…

We drive through a gate and right onto what looks like a runway. There’s a building but again it’s sort of small. Artemis turns at the end of the building and slows down when a bigger plane comes into view. It’s still smaller than the big planes but way bigger than the others we saw when we first drove in.

“Wow!”

“It’s our private plane. So we won’t have to deal with all the usual discomforts of flying commercial.” He says.

“Well, I wouldn’t know how uncomfortable they are, so I’ll take your word for it.” I can imagine being crammed into a plane with a bunch of people could be uncomfortable.

Artemis slows the car and stops a few feet away from the plane. A man comes out from the door followed by two women dressed in blue skirts and white button up shirts with little matching scarfs. They all line up next to the plane and wait there with smiles on their faces. It’s a little creepy when people smile like that, like they don’t mean it. Artemis presses the button that turns the car and throws his door open. I reach for my doorknob, but he stops me.

“Don’t.” I drop my hand at the tight sound of his voice and wait nervously as he gets out and closes his door.

I watch him walk around the front of the car and stand next to my door. It’s then that it sinks in. He opens the door for me, and I look at him like I’ve never seen the man before.

“Are you coming Mrs. Rhodes or are you going to gawk all night?” He asks ruining the gentlemanly act in an instant.

Why is he like this?

Shaking my head, I turn and push myself out of the car. I move far enough away for Artemis to close the door, but I don’t walk to the plane yet. When he turns to me I hold out my hand and he hesitantly takes it. I guess there are some things he won’t be used to yet, but he’s getting better. We walk hand in hand to the plane and the pilot greets us and the girls do the same in unison, also very weird.

Artemis ignores them and leads me inside. I make sure to at least to them before we disappear inside. I swear my eyes come out of my head when I see the inside of this plane. Everything looks brand new and…shiny.

The seats are a cream-colored leather and looks so comfortable. The whole plane is cream colored with gold accents here and there. It’s gorgeous, and I can’t believe I get to ride in it! I’m so lost in awe that I let Artemis continue pulling me further into the plane until we reach the seats toward the back.

“Sit.” He points to the seat closest to the window and I hesitate.

“I don’t know if I want to see us flying in the air.”

“It’s usually the most coveted seat.” He says, but like hell I’m going to be looking out a window during all this.

“Just to be safe, this once I’ll take the seat away from the window. I’ve never flown before and I don’t know if I’ll get sick, and being next to the window only might make it worse.” I sound a little frantic now, but it’s enough to make Artemis concede.

He steps past me and takes a seat by the window, and I take the seat next to him. The anxiety of flying for the first time finally set in now, and I wonder if maybe we can cancel this whole trip and stay here. I have to remind myself that Artemis is doing something outside of his comfort zone for me, and I need to be appreciative of that. But why did we have to fly?

“Mr. Rhodes, we will be taking off in twenty minutes.” The pilot says, appearing suddenly.

I jump and let out a squeak of surprise, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

Artemis nods at him and the pilot must think that’s enough of an acknowledgement because he turns and walks off.

“Does everyone know your silent ways of communicating?” I ask Artemis.

He shrugs. “It isn’t hard to understand basic body language.”

“Okay, but isn’t it a little rude not to use actual words when you are being pulled into a conversation? A head nod doesn’t seem like enough.” I point out.

“As you can see it’s effective enough and I’ve never had a problem with it before. Why are you constantly pointing out how rude I am? I’m not rude to you, so why does it matter with everyone else?” He asks like he’s genuinely curious about that.

“It matters because they’re people who work for you. Don’t you worry that they’ll hate you so much that they’ll try poisoning your drink or something?”

He snorts. “I pay all my employees too well that they know killing me would only put them out of a job. They wouldn’t be able to find a job that pays half as much as I do. Why do you think they’re so willing to jump whenever I ask for something?”

Okay he has me there…

“I just don’t get how you can be somewhat nice to me and so harsh with everyone else. If you can manage it with me then it wouldn’t be so hard to try for others as well.”

He sighs and looks out of the window. “It isn’t easy for me to be kind to you either. As you know this isn’t normal for me, but I did some research and spoke to Max about how I should act-“

“You got advice from Max on how to act with me?” I ask.

I’m not sure if that’s sweet or…sad.

“He has a lot of experience, and my sister seems happy with him. So who would be better to get advice from?”

“Did you write it down and everything?” I ask teasing him.

“Of course.” He opens the coat he’s wearing and pulls out a small notebook.

I bite back a laugh when he hands it to me and I read through the list of things he wrote down. Oh, Artemis you sad little rich boy. He’s hit a few of the things on the list, but others he hasn’t gotten the hang of just yet. It’s okay though because it means something to me that he’s going through all the trouble to be more than a fake husband to me. It makes some of my doubts dwindle and I’m okay with letting myself enjoy this time. Who knows what things will be like when we come back to our real life and have to face the mess waiting for us.

We’re skipping our very expensive wedding after every bit of it was posted all over the internet. It will make his parents furious and who knows what they’ll do. Artemis has upheld his deal by marrying me, but his family is powerful. This could cause him problems in the future, so I hope he knows what he’s doing.

Once I’m settled into my seat my eyes start to feel heavy. Before I know it, I’ve fallen asleep and don’t notice when the plane takes off. I didn’t want to fall asleep yet because I didn’t want to be reminded of what happened to me today. That isn’t what happens though. When I start to dream, I see something completely new. I see me and Artemis in the future. We’re happy and have kids, a house, a dog and everything. It’s the picture perfect life and I get to live it for a short few hours until I hear Artemis calling my name and shaking me.

“Blue, we’re here.” He says when I finally open my eyes.

I’m lying on something hard and when I lift my head, I realize I’d fallen asleep on Artemis’s shoulder.

“Oh my god! I didn’t drool on you, did I?” I would be mortified!

He shakes his head. “No. You sleep with your mouth shut.”

Thank goodness.

“Good. So where are we?”

He has his window closed and when I look around the plane I notice all the windows are closed.

“I told you it’s a surprise.” He stands and slides past me.

The list he showed me mentioned surprise dates, but he’s really going all in for this. Once again he holds a hand out to me and I take it. He tugs slightly so that I’m forced to stand, and he leads me toward the now open plane door. When we reach it, I stop in my tracks and gasp at the sight in front of me.

Oh wow!