Chapter Nineteen
Raina POV
I watch my younger siblings sleep, their small bodies curled around our mother on the impossibly massive bed. Their faces are peaceful, unaware of the chaos that brought us here.
The engine hums beneath us, steady and low, as the private jet cuts across the sky en route to Alden Island. I'm still wrapped in a blanket, but it doesn't warm the nervous chill in my spine.
I sit across from them, barely blinking, eyes fixed on the dark sky outside the oval window of the plane. Stars wink like quiet witnesses.
I can't believe it. We're actually doing this.
We left everything behind. All of it. And now I'm flying into the heart of the most powerful family on the planet—with no real plan beyond survival.
My fingers drift to my stomach. It's still flat, no signs yet, but the weight is there. Heavy. Real.
Maybe once we land, the anxiety will ease.
---
Mirelle POV
"So," Adrian begins, voice suspiciously mild.
"Care to explain what's going on?"
I glance up from the folder I've been pretending to read. Raina's gone to the private suite at the back of the jet, thank the gods. If she heard this conversation, it'd just turn into another argument.
Jason chimes in from across the aisle. "Yeah, can you tell us why we just… y'know… kidnapped the niece and nephews of the president of the Hunter Association?"
Jamie, his twin, nods solemnly. "Feels like we should've had a meeting about this."
I close the folder with a quiet sigh and lean back into my seat, stretching my arms along the plush leather. They're not going to shut up until I talk. I might as well get it over with.
"That's my new family," I say calmly.
They all stare.
"I'm marrying Raina."
Adrian nearly drops the tablet in his hands. "You mean her?" he whisper-yells.
"You two argue at every summit. Literally. Geneva, Prague, Hong Kong—"
"She called you a narcissistic warmonger on national television," Jason adds helpfully.
"She's Jericho Langston's niece," Jamie mutters.
"And he—like—publicly said Alden Island should be quarantined."
I raise an eyebrow. "Yes. And I'm still marrying her."
The cabin falls into stunned silence.
Adrian leans in, eyes narrowed. "Is this one of those revenge-marriage things?"
"No."
"Political power move?" Jason offers.
"No."
"Blackmail?" Jamie whispers.
"I wish," I mutter, rubbing my temple.
"She's pregnant."
The air goes still.
"Wait what?!" Both twins say in unison.
"Yeah. I just found out yesterday."
"When did you…" Jason starts, then trails off.
I don't answer.
"You... and her... I thought you hated each other?" Jamie asks, completely dumbfounded.
I think of Raina. And yep. Still don't like her.
"Still do," I say casually.
"And you think getting married is smart?"
She's difficult. Raina is sharp-tongued, proud, stubborn, and haunted. And she's carrying my child. And she asked for help in the only way she knew how—by trying to control the situation. By proposing a contract marriage.
But I'm not doing a contract marriage. If we're doing this, we're doing it my way. Fully. Honestly.
Even if it scares the shit out of me. It's all moving too fast.
"Wow," Adrian mutters.
"After all that paranoia about gold diggers and sperm thieves, you were right to worry... I always thought you were being dramatic," he says with a smirk.
I flip him off and go back to staring out the window, tuning them out completely.