Chapter 20

Of all the places in the world Lili could have asked me to take her, she chose a suburban home in upstate New York. She’s told me that, as much as she loves and appreciates her family, she’s envious of my normal upbringing.

I can’t even pretend to imagine what her childhood was like. Her family loves hard. That’s not an issue, but the element of danger that comes with what they do can’t be an easy thing to live with. The constant need to be on alert, never knowing what someone’s motives are… I’ve noticed the way Lili assesses every room she enters.

The only time she ever appears truly relaxed is when she’s with me, in my apartment, locked in our own little cocoon we’ve created. Which is why I can’t fucking wait to get her out of the city for a whole week. Just the two of us.

“How’d your parents take the news?” I ask her, dropping an affectionate hand to her thigh. I flick my eyes in her direction. She’s chewing on her bottom lip while looking across at me from the passenger seat of my car.

“I only told my mom, and she promised not to tell dad until after we left,” she says, and I laugh.

“Really, what’s he going to do, babe? Lock you in a dungeon?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him.” She shrugs. “But it’s not that. He’s just got a lot going on right now, and I don’t want to add to his stress.”

When Lili returned from Italy, she mentioned how her grandfather was retiring and her father was taking over. She was nervous as hell to bring it up. Like what her father does for a living has anything to do with whether or not I want to be with her. It doesn’t. I couldn’t care less if the man was the devil himself. I’d still want to be with his daughter. There is nothing that could make me not want her.

“I think his not knowing where you are is going to stress him out more than it would if he knew,” I tell her.

“Please, he’s going to know where I am within minutes of stopping to wonder why I’m not home.” Lili rolls her eyes. “But my mom will make sure he doesn’t come find us.”

“Okay.” I slide my hand up and take hold of her palm. “Are you ready to spend the next week in domesticated bliss with me?”

“I think I’m more excited about this trip than I was when I went to Disney as a kid,” Lili says with a huge smile on her face.

“I beat Disney? Shit, babe, way to boost my ego.”

“Your ego doesn’t need boosting. But you are way better than Disney,” she tells me. “Although this drive is going to take forever. We should have taken the jet.”

“It’s only three and a half hours. Besides, I like road-tripping with you.”

“Three and a half hours is a long-ass time. We could have been there by now.”

“Wanna play a game?” I suggest.

“Depends on what it is and if I’m likely to win.”

One thing I’ve learned about Lili is her competitive nature is stronger than mine. Don’t get me wrong… I fucking love to win. But Lili? She has to win. I’m assuming it has something to do with her parents letting her beat them at whatever she was playing as a child. My parents never let me win anything. If I won, it was because I was the better player.

“This isn’t the kind of game you win or lose, babe. It’s just… creative.”

“Okay, what’s the game?”

“What’s their story? My parents used to play it with me when we went on road trips together.”

“Explain it to me.”

“You look around at other cars and make up the story for the people inside,” I tell her. “Like there, that Beamer. Middle-aged guy. He’s on his way back from a boring day at a job he hates. He’s going home to an empty house. He chose a career over love and lives a sad, lonely life.”

“That’s horrible!” Lili gasps.

“It happens. It’s life. What do you think his story is?” I ask her.

“Mmm, let’s see.” She appears to consider her options for a minute. “I’ve got it. He’s a hitman, disguising himself as the average Joe, because that’s how they go undetected. He has the body of his target currently wrapped in plastic in the trunk of his car and he’s on his way to dispose of it. But not before he sends proof of his kill to whomever hired him. Then he’ll burn the Beamer in the woods somewhere and find his way back home to his loving wife and kids, who all have no idea what he really does for a living.”

I look over at my girlfriend, my eyes wide and my jaw slightly dropped. “You and I had very different upbringings, Lili.”

“What? My story was way more creative than yours. I win.” She smirks while crossing her arms over her chest.

“If there was a winner, you’d be it, babe. But there’s not. So, no, you don’t win.”

“What’s the point of playing a game if you can’t win?”

“For fun?”

“Travis, you’re a professional athlete. You’re literally paid millions of dollars to win.”

“Which is why I can play a game with my girlfriend without the need to win.” I shrug. “Besides, I won the fucking lottery of a lifetime the day I met you. I don’t think anything else can ever compare to that.”

“What about when you win the Stanley Cup?” She lifts a challenging brow in my direction. I like that she says when and not if. Her belief in me is unwavering. Lili is my biggest cheerleader, besides my mom.

“Well, when that happens, I imagine it still won’t compare to winning you,” I tell her.

“You’re a horrible liar, Travis.” Lili laughs.

“Okay, it’ll compare, but I’d still pick you over the Cup.”

An hour into the trip, Lili closed her eyes and finally fell asleep. A few more hours after that, I was killing the engine and jumping out of the car.

I slowly click the door shut, walk around to her side, open her door, unplug her belt, and scoop her up into my arms.

“What are you doing? Where are we?” Lili asks.

“We’re here, babe,” I tell her, kicking the car door shut and walking us towards the house.

Her head pops up, and her arms wrap around my neck as she looks around. “We’re here? Put me down. I can walk.”

“But I like carrying you.” Shifting her weight to one arm, I approach the keypad, type in the code I was given, and push the front door open.

“Wait,” Lili says before I can step foot inside.

“What?”

“I just want to tell you that I love this place and thank you.”

I lean in and kiss her. “You haven’t even seen it yet, babe.”

“I don’t need to. I already love it,” she says.

I set Lili on her feet once we’re inside the small entryway. It’s a quaint little cottage, advertised as a two-bedroom, two-bath house that backs onto a lake. Definitely not the kind of luxury Lili is accustomed to.

“It’s perfect, Travis,” she hums, spinning around while taking in the open living area. I follow her as she walks through to the kitchen and then continues down a little hallway to the bedrooms; she peeks inside both before heading back out again. “This is going to be the best week ever.”

“It is,” I agree, while wrapping my arms around her. I place a kiss on her forehead. “Let me go and get the bags from the car and then we can figure out what we want to do for dinner.”

“I can help,” she says.

“Nope, I got it. Sit your pretty ass down,” I tell her, slapping her ass before I walk back towards the door.

I grab our bags, slam the trunk shut, and turn around. The feeling I’m being watched has me scanning the street before a black sedan pulls away from the curb. I try to shake off my paranoia and slip inside the house, making sure to lock the door behind me just in case.

“You sure your father didn’t have you followed?” I call out to Lili.

She gets up from the sofa and turns to me. “I don’t think so. Why?”

“No reason.” I shrug.

“You wouldn’t have asked me that for no reason,” she says, walking past me to the front door. She peers out the small pane of glass on the side.

“I just had that feeling like I was being watched. It’s nothing.”

“Did you see anyone?”

“No, just a car that was parked two houses down. It drove off, though. I’m sure if it was your father’s men, they wouldn’t just drive off. They’d probably park their asses in the driveway.”

“They would,” she says.

“So what do you feel like having for dinner?” I ask while attempting to change the subject.

“Mmm, we’re going to have to get some supplies. But tonight, let’s go find a diner or something,” Lili suggests. “I’m just gonna check in with my mom first. I told her I’d call when we got here.”

“Okay, I’ll take these to the bedroom.” I gesture to the bags before carrying them down the hall.