The Ending I Want

I stare up at the ceiling. “When I was sixteen, I had a brain tumor. It was…aggressive. There was a point when I wasn’t sure I was going to survive. So, I wrote the list with all the things I’d never done with the hope that I’d survive and be able to do them.”

And, now, all I want is to die. Ironic, huh?

“And here you are.” His hand touches mine.

I move my eyes back to him. “Yeah,” I exhale. But I shouldn’t be here. I should have died then. If I had, then they would still be here, living and breathing.

One life for four. I would trade mine in a heartbeat.

“Why wait so long to do the things on the list?”

I look away again. “Some things…happened. There was just never a right time.” I lift a shoulder to downplay my words.

But there’s nothing to downplay the fact that my family died because of me.

He brushes my hair off my face with his hand, bringing my eyes back to his. “Why is now the right time?”

Because the tumor is back, and I’m ready to die. I’m ready to join my family. I just want to do a few things before I go.

He’s staring at me, curious and tender, and I really need him to stop.

My eyes go back to the ceiling. “Because…it’s just time.”

I know his eyes are still on me. I feel exposed. And I don’t like it at all. Liam’s a smart man. He’ll know there’s more to it than what I’m saying. But, right now, I need him to be smart enough to realize that I don’t want to talk about me.

So, I fake a smile on my face and go to change the subject, hoping he goes along with it. The art of deflection—I’ve gotten pretty good at it over the years. “So, Mr. Mega-Rich Businessman, tell me how you became so successful.” I slide a glance at him, that forced smile still on my face.

I know what’s in the public domain about Liam. I knew a little about him already—he’s a name people know—but I wanted to know more, so I Googled him earlier. Call me nosy, but I was curious about the man who was about to come and stick his dick in me for the second time.

Liam Hunter made his money in airplanes after setting up a small private chartered airplane company that flew rich business people all over the world.

Soon after, he expanded, investing in larger airplanes and moving into the travel industry—vacations, long-haul flights, that kind of thing. A few years later, he bought out a failing hotel chain, rebranded it, and turned it around, making it a big success. Those hotels of his are all over the world.

A few years after buying the hotel chain, he went in a different direction and set up Hunter Finance—credit cards, loans, mortgages—and from there, he built a financial empire.

Liam has the Midas touch in business—not my words. It was a quote from an article I read about him.

I really don’t know how the guy has time to sleep.

His expression doesn’t change. He just shrugs and says, “Because I’m awesome. And because I treat business like I treat fucking.”

I turn on my side, so I’m facing him, putting my hands under my cheek. “And how’s that?”

A smile slides onto his lips. “A mutually beneficial transaction where I make the other party feel good about what they’re getting. They leave with a smile on their face, and I still come out on top.”

That makes me laugh.

“Why airplanes?” I ask, intrigued. Honestly, if I were to set up a business, that would be the last thing I would think of going into.

“Because I love to fly. There’s nothing more freeing than being in the air.”

“There’s nothing more likely to kill you than plummeting from thirty-thousand feet.” Well, except for a growing tumor in your brain.

He gives me a disapproving look. “Babe, you’re statistically more likely to die in a car crash on the way to the airport than you are in an airplane.”

“Still, I’ll take my chances in a car. At least I’d be on the ground.”

“Crushed and mangled in a car wreck.”

Laughter bursts from me. “Quite a picture you paint.”

He grins at me. It’s such a boyish grin, making him look years younger than the thirty-two I know him to be.

“Boston, I’ll have you loving flying before you head back home to Boston.”

“That was a lot of Bostons for one sentence. And, as for the flying, I highly doubt it, but thanks.” Smiling, I free a hand from under my cheek and run it through his thick hair.

“Is that your family?” He nods at something over my shoulder.

The smile on my face freezes because I know what he’s looking at.

I have a framed photo of my family on the nightstand. It’s all I have left of them, except for my memories.

I put the picture up last night when I got here after being at his place. It’s the only thing I unpacked.

When I put it up, I didn’t expect Liam to come over here and start asking questions. I should have taken it down before he arrived. I should have thought about it. But I was too worried about what to wear for his imminent arrival.

I wasn’t thinking.

That’s my problem though. I never think.

“Yes, it’s my family.” Turning from him, I get out of bed. I pick the picture up and put it facedown. Moving across the room, I get the hotel-supplied robe from the hook on the back of the door and pull it on.

When I turn back, Liam is sitting up in bed, his back resting against the headboard, sheet pooling around his waist.

“And your family doesn’t mind you jetting halfway across the world on your own?”