I wake up on a surprisingly comfortable bed, feeling lightheaded, with an odd, sweet taste in my mouth. I have to blink a few times to remove the blur from my vision. It takes me another moment to realize it’s gone and that I’m actually staring up at the fogged glass of a skylight, the kind found in old industrial warehouses by the docks.
“You’re awake.” Bain’s voice from somewhere beside me. I turn and see him sitting on a chair beside my cot. He places a hand on mine and smiles. “Sorry about chloroforming you. It just…it had to be done.”
I grimace, shaking the fog from my mind. “You couldn’t have just whispered and told me to come with you?”
“I couldn’t have risked you making a scene,” he replies, shaking his head. “I’ve got every cop in the state looking for me right now.”
Slowly, I prop myself up on an elbow and look around. We seem to be in a typical warehouse filled with empty shelving, a few old, stripped cars, and some boats.
“Where are we?” I ask.
“An old safehouse,” Bain replies. “Not sure if it’s in use anymore, to be honest, but we won’t be here long.”
I rub my eyes and give him a hard look. “You look…different.”
He chuckles, points up. “Hair dye. You like it?”
I realize he’s dyed his hair blond and trimmed it shorter. I would have noticed instantly if I wasn’t so foggy from being knocked out earlier.
“You look like a Lannister,” I tease. Bain raises one eyebrow, clearly not getting the references. “What, they didn’t get Game of Thrones in lockup?”
“No, we missed that one.” He shakes his head.
“Well, it’ll work for now.” I smile, leaning close and running a hand down his chiseled jawline. “But I like my classic Bain.”
Bain chuckles and pulls me in for a kiss. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m just coming to my senses and my walls are down, but as our lips meet, and he threads his fingers through my hair, there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that I’ve fallen deeply in love with this man.
“What are we going to do?” I ask him. “Every cop in the state is going to be after you. It’s only a matter of time before they find this place – before they find you.”
“We won’t be staying here long.” He smiles.
“W-we?”
Bain nods, brushes my hair back, and looks at me with eyes so filled with love and care that I can barely remember what my life was like before he came into it. I can’t even imagine what a life without him in it would be now. Even seeing him twice a week was enough to form a bedrock for the rest of my life to rest on. I realize now just how intertwined our existences have become.
“That’s right,” he purrs, his voice steady and strong. “It’s all been arranged.”
“What’s been arranged?” I ask as my heart rate picks up and my hands begin to tremble.
“An old buddy of mine is coming to pick us up and bring us to a private airstrip,” he says. “From there we fly to Maine, cross the border into Canada, then fly to Thailand.”
“Thailand!”
“The dollar goes a long way there.” He grins. “Between what you’ve got and what I’ve got stashed from when they put me away, we’ll live like kings and queens.”
“Thailand…” I mutter, thinking back to our conversation six weeks ago and the offhand joke he made. “I thought you were just kidding!”
“Sort of.” He smirks. “But not really. I knew I had to be with you, Elena. I knew I needed more, and I knew I’d never be able to do that from prison. I also knew they’d never let me out for the things I’d done, so there was only one way I could make the two of us happen, and this is it.”
My chest tightens as he stares at me with those gorgeous, intense eyes that seem to pierce straight into my soul. I wasn’t ready for this. I’m barely coming to grips with my own feelings, and he’s asking me to flee the country and live the rest of my life in Thailand with him.
“What about Kelly?” I ask. “My parents…”
“You can always come back and visit,” he replies. “You aren’t a criminal. You haven’t done anything wrong. Hell, tons of people retire to Thailand. Maybe your folks will want to come too!”
I shrug. He actually has a point there. I’ve heard lots of people like to retire to Thailand because the dollar is worth a lot more there, because the weather is great, the people are nice, and it’s just an all-around beautiful country. And I did just quit my job, didn’t I?
“What do you say, baby?” Bain asks. “You going to come with me, or are you going to make me be a lonely bachelor the rest of my life?”
“I…”
“Or force me to get myself a Thai girlfriend—”
“Okay, fuck you, I’m coming!” I blurt out, hurling myself into his arms. Bain explodes with laughter, his chest heaving up and down as he pulls me tight.
“That’s my girl. Come on, I had my guy pack us both bags. We’re already set to go.”
We kiss again and stare into each other’s eyes. Something comes over me, and I just can’t stop myself.
“I love you,” I say, unable to hold back any longer. “I don’t care what happened in your past. I know you’re not that man any longer, and I love you.”
Bain’s lips twist into the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen from him. He’s looked at me with such passion so many times before, but the way he looks at me now is different; it’s like I’ve finally said something he’s been waiting for me to say but wasn’t sure I ever would.
“You don’t know how much it means to me to hear you say that,” he replies. “Or how much I love you, Elena. I’d go to the ends of the Earth for you and back again.”
I reach up and cup his face – his rough, handsome face.
“Well, it looks like we’re going halfway around the world for each other,” I giggle. “Hopefully that’s good enough.”
