Bound By Her Ring by Nicole Flockton Read Free Book Online Page B

extremely long.”
    She flipped the magazine shut. “What? You think, after the way you virtually forced me into taking this trip, I’d be all sweetness and light? Think again, I’m here for my father and that’s all.”
    “Everything always comes back to your father doesn’t it?” he said acid dripping from every word. “So tell me, how does he feel about you travelling with me? Is he happy?”
    This was the last question she wanted Luciano to ask her. After more years than she could remember, her father had decided to take a vacation. Which annoyed and disappointed her, with Luciano’s appearance in her life, she needed her father now more than ever.
    Something didn’t feel right though. Whenever he’d gone away before he’d always given her details in case of an emergency and she needed to get in touch with him. Now, the one time she might need him, he was unreachable. It was like she’d entered a different reality the moment Luciano turned up in her life again. There was something at the back of her mind, she could feel it but the thought couldn’t break through the blackness that still engulfed a part of her mind. Why couldn’t she remember? Why had her father disappeared the moment Luciano turned up?
    “I didn’t realise it was such a difficult question to answer.”
    Should she say she didn’t know where her father was, or should she lie? It went against her grain to lie but she had no other choice. She instinctively knew if she told Luciano she had no idea where her father was, it would only complicate the trip. In this case, lying was the lesser of two evils.
    “He wasn’t happy, of course,” she conceded. “But I’m a grown woman and stopped answering to my father years ago.”
    There was no chance for Luciano to make any further comment as a very attractive stewardess came down the aisle and informed them they would be taking off shortly. Jasmine watched as the stewardess chatted with Luciano. He threw her a smile she’d never seen before, both of them all but ignoring her.
    Her fingers curled into her palm, her nails digging into the soft flesh, leaving multiple crescent shapes on her white skin. Her mouth curved sardonically and her eyes darted from the stewardess to the bedroom, wondering if her job description included providing Luciano with some form of distraction on long flights.
    “I wouldn’t go there if I were you.” His tone so quiet it took a moment for her to make out exactly what he’d said.
    “Go where?”
    “You know where, Jasmine. Your face is giving your thoughts away.”
    It took all her power not to cringe from the look he fired her way. The dark sphere of his eyes glittered dangerously. She’d pushed him just about as far as he would let anyone push.
    Remorse flooded through Jasmine. Her petty jealousy wasn’t the stewardess’s fault but her own. “Sorry.”
    He inclined his head, acknowledging her apology.
    She turned away from his penetrating glare and gazed out the window, rubbing at the scar on her forehead. She wished she could understand what was happening to her. She never acted like a jealous shrew, but when it came to Luciano, a possessiveness she never knew existed within her, came to the surface and overtook her sensibilities.
    Was this the reason Luciano hadn’t searched for her after the accident? Was it possible they may have been splitting up because of her irrational jealousy?
    Could she ask him those questions?
    The feeling of the earth moving evaporated any thoughts to ask questions.
    She hated flying.
    She closed her eyes against the vision of the landscape whizzing by. The force of the plane ascending into the air pushed her back in her chair. Her nails dug into the soft leather. Her breath whooshed out and her fingers relaxed their death grip upon hearing the reassuring bump of the landing gear locking safely back into the holding area. She counted backwards from ten, imagining her feet safely on the ground and not floating in the