Once upon a time, Willow thought she understood a man like Sebastian. But every time he did something she did not believe was in his nature, she had to redefine her beliefs about him. When his luxury car drove through the gates of a privately-owned air strip and approached a parked Bombardier Challenger 850, she was forced to redefine her beliefs once more. He eased the vehicle to a stop close to the hangar. Willow sat in the passenger’s seat, staring out through the windshield while attempting to remain neutral even though she was entrapped in a sense of awe.

“Where are you taking me in that?”

“Far away,” he replied.

Willow looked over at him and queried, “Where is ‘far away’?”

“Do you trust me?”

“No,” she replied. She loved him, but she didn’t trust him. Under normal circumstances, the facts were known to contradict each other. However, due to the nature of the situation the married couple were currently in, the facts co-existed harmoniously.

“Then I suppose I have to regain your trust,” Sebastian said as he turned off the ignition before he got out of the car.

Willow watched him with careful eyes as he rounded the vehicle’s front and ended up at the front passenger door—her door. He opened it like the gentleman he pretended to me and offered her his hand. Willow looked at his hand for a long moment. If she took it then in a small way that meant she accepted and forgave a piece of him—a tiny piece of him. Not wanting to risk such an interpretation, she got out of the car on her own. Hereby rejecting his offering of peace.

He closed the passenger door as she began to walk towards the jet. He lingered a few steps behind her as they approached the private jet with the descending set of stars. A flight attendant appeared at the mouth of the entrance.

“Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” the middle-aged brunette greeted with a warm smile as the couple ascended the flight of stairs. Willow acknowledged the woman with a weak smile and a nod, unsure of what to say as she had never endured such a situation.

It was absolutely beautiful on the inside. Polished wood fixtures and furniture, comfortable cream leather seats and couches, a kitchen, and a separate section for lounging and sleeping. She stood in the middle of the aisle completely floored while looking like a sore thumb. She still wore her gigantic t-shirt that she had went to sleep in, but she also wore some dark skinny jeans and gym shoes.

She nearly jumped out of her skin as she felt two large calloused hands grasp carefully her forearms from behind.

“You can sit anywhere you want,” Sebastian said before he released her.

Willow looked at him over her shoulder, her face dripping in hesitation before she proceeded to walk through the private jet afraid to touch anything as if she were in a museum. She finally settled on a leather recliner and sat down. Her weary body sunk into the plush leather seat, immediately her muscles and bones melted into a mode of relaxation. Sebastian seated himself two rows behind her on the opposite side of the aisle.

The flight attendant closed the jet’s doors before disappearing into the cockpit. Within twenty minutes, the jet zoomed down the air strip and made a slanted ascension into the early morning sky. Willow looked down the aisle, biting down on her bottom lip as she caught sight of her husband’s intense green eyes that stared at her. She snapped her attention back ahead of her.

A resounding sense of regret clenched her by the throat.

This was a mistake, she shouted inside of her brain.

This was all a big mistake. Why was she was damn stupid to agree to this?

To agree to go away with him.

To be imprisoned somewhere with him at her side like a guard.

None of this would dissolve her guilt. None of this would raise the dead—bring back Simon.

She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head resigning to the harsh reality that it was too late to go back now.

Willow slumped in her seat, a shaky sigh tumbling from her lips. She sat there, listening to the rush of wind and the jet’s rumbling engines. Soon, she drifted off to deep dreamless slumber.

When she awoke much later, she felt physically and mentally exhausted. Her eyes slid open, her sight blurry at first but sharped after a few lingering moments. She stretched and yawned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Only then, she noticed that she was covered in a blanket she hadn’t gone to sleep with and her seat—upright when she was awake—was reclined.

She used the recliner’s lever to return to an upright position.

The flight attendant approached her, asking her if she were interested in a meal.

Willow politely declined.

The woman nodded with a smile before saying, “We’re about thirty minutes out from scheduled destination.”

“And what exactly is our destination,” Willow asked softly, her voice still dripping with sleep.

The flight attendant’s eyebrows shot upward at the question, surprised that Willow didn’t know the answer herself. She opened her mouth and began, “Um…”

“Thank you, Yvonne,” Sebastian stated as he approached them, thereby ending their short-lived conversation. “That will be all.”

Yvonne nodded her head respectfully before she turned on her heels, departing towards the jet’s kitchen. Willow stood up and gripped the seat for support, her legs weak and wobbly for some reason.

“Where are we going,” Willow wanted to know, a frown etched across her lips.

“To a place with all the time we need,” he answered.

She scoffed. “That doesn’t help me. I need a proper noun.”

A silence drifted between them.

She closed her eyes and sighed softly, “How do you expect me to trust you again when I can’t get a straight answer out of you, Sebastian?”

“I need you to be patient and see what I have in store for us with your own two eyes,” he stated as he closed in her on, caressing her right cheek with the crook of his finger. “Can you do that for me?”

Willow shuddered at his touch. It was warm, calloused, and addictive. She missed it—wanted more of it.

No.

She took a step back, plopping back down into her seat.

Since he wouldn’t give her a straight answer, she decided to be petty and not give him one either.

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As the jet descended through a patch of clouds, Willow stared out the window with squinted eyes as she observed the world below. There were glorious waterways, spectacular views of a glistening ocean, vibrant green forests, patches of towns, dotting islands, lush hills and mountains, and sandy beaches. Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion as she attempted to analyze the geographical clues below to piece together a puzzle that Sebastian refused to help with her.

The jet’s tires screeched as they touched down a runway of an isolated airport.

Once it halted to a stop, it wasn’t long before the flight attendant released the stairs thereby opening the door into the world of the living. Willow crossed her arms over her chest and marched down the stairs. A glistening red convertible awaited. She walked over to it, examining it until she found the clue she was looking for. A front car tag of a bright green variety with dark blue circle inside of a yellow rhombus. White stars dotted the bottom half of the circle. A curved white band stretched across the blue circle with green writing that read, “ORDEM E PROGRESSO.”

It took a long moment for her to register why the tag looked so familiar. When the realization hit her, her eyes widened in shock and a loud gasp tumbled from her lips.

BRAZIL?!

They—SHE—was in goddamn Brazil?!

It wasn’t as if she hated Brazil. She thought the country, its people, and culture were amazing. Farrah had gone to Brazil a few times in her old modeling days and had taken a lot of photos and videos about her adventures there. Once upon a time, a young and insecure Willow obsessed over those photos and videos with a wish of one day going there…when she was much skinnier and prettier like her older sister.

Now she was much older, much fatter, and still not pretty like Farrah.

She blinked in surprise when she realized that Sebastian was holding the passenger door open for her, waiting for her to come out of her thoughts.

She went to him, avoiding any opportunities of skin touch as she slid into the car. The crisp ‘new car’ scent engulfed her senses. Everything was so new and shiny that she was afraid to touch anything. A habit she had begun to form on this trip. First, the jet and now the car. She felt like she didn’t fit. She felt like this was a secret slither of Sebastian’s life that she didn’t belong in. Maybe, that was why he hid it from her.

Sebastian had never been a flashy type. Sure, he drove luxury cars and loved in a beautiful converted warehouse home, but he didn’t flaunt his wealth or shove it in her face. He pampered her with his attention, not with expensive things.

Their attraction—at least in the beginning—had a rawness to it that gave her a tunnel vision of only him in the flesh, so she wouldn’t have cared anyway. Now that she could see clearly now, she realized that she couldn’t fit into this lifestyle she only saw glimpses of. Though she didn’t grow up poor, her upper-class lifestyle her mother and sister thrived in did not mesh well with her.

The sportscar race out away, skillfully maneuvering every tricky twist and turn as they sped through winding roads with lush forest jungles whipping by. Eventually, they made it into a small but colorful town nestled by a waterway. Sebastian eased his foot off the gas pedal as they cruised through the streets. Willow gazed out of the window, absorbing the sight of all walks of life that came into her view. Soon, they arrived at the docks and got out of the car.

She followed Sebastian to a parked speedboat. A sunglasses-wearing dark-skinned man with short curly hair sat on a lawn chair on the wooden dock beside the boat, tanning in the sun. He got up from his seat, situating his sunglasses to the top of his head.

“It’s good to see you again, Mr. Smith,” the man stated with a grin and a thick accent.

“It’s good to see you too, Claudio,” Sebastian said. He gestured towards Willow. “This is my wife.”

Claudio gave her a polite nod, a grin widening. “I knew one day a beautiful woman would finally tame you.”

“He lowered his expectations just enough to catch me,” Willow said, shooting her husband a sharp smile. A bitter dig at Sebastian and most importantly, herself. The man’s smile lessened at her words. An awkward silence lingering between them all.

Claudio nodded, gesturing to the inside of the boat. “Shall we go?”

They climbed onto the speedboat, Willow wobbled at first on the rocking boat, but managed to sit down on a built-in bench. Sebastian settled himself beside her and she scooted away from him, a physical rift between them.

She crossed her arms over her chest tightly and made a successful effort at paying attention to everything in her surrounding expect her husband. The speedboat backed out of the dock slot and turned before swiftly gliding northbound down the waterway, living a trail of upturned white water in its wake. Her heart was in her throat and adrenaline pumped through her veins, but a bright smile on her face as Claudio occasionally whipping the speedboat into fun circles that made her squeal and laugh in excitement.

Claudio, sometimes, glanced over his shoulder and gave a charming wink in her direction. Slowly, Willow started to love the man as his attempts to entertain her made her husband brew in a silent jealousy. She knew the man wasn’t interested in her by any means, but he only did it to brighten her otherwise dark sour mood. He succeeded.

The waterway widened as it spilled out into the coast—an ocean of clear turquoise water before them. They sped through scattered islands until they reached a lush island with a towering mountains and pearly white beaches. The boat circled around the island until glorious beach house against a forest backdrop came into view. Claudio parked the boat at the dock.

The estranged couple watched as the speedboat departed, leaving them behind.

Once the boat was nothing but a fuzzy dot in the distance, the two walked off the dock and onto solid but sandy ground. Making their way into the home, Willow was once again taken back by the luxuriousness of it all. The spacious crisp white kitchen equipped with the latest and most expensive items. The living room, dining room, and family room was filled with beautiful things she was too afraid to touch. Three bedrooms were upstairs and three bedrooms were downstairs. She had learned that every room had a view of the ocean after exploring the floor level and finding herself upstairs in the master bedroom with a translucent flowy turquois curtains surrounding a king-sized canopy bed. There were double doors that led into a balcony and a spectacular view of the ocean. She explored the room for a moment with Sebastian watching her carefully from the doorway.

The master bathroom had a stand-up shower with a large circular showerhead embedded into the ceiling. There was also a long white clawed bathtub situated right by a wide window facing the breathtaking beach and ocean. Back in the bedroom, the closet and dresser were filled with women’s clothes. Upon closer inspection, she realized that all the clothes were her size. Every type of clothing for any occasion were at her fingertips in her size. She took in the sight of undergarments, dresses, shirts, shorts, and bathing suits.

Willow grazed her fingers on a lacy royal purple bra laying in the dresser’s drawer before she swirled around on her heels to face her husband.

“So we’re here, now what,” she asked, arching an eyebrow. “Do you want to frolic in the sand? Walk along the beach hand-in-hand and watch the sunset? Take me into the forest and fuck me against a tree? And above all, pretend like we aren’t horrible people?”

“All I want is you,” he answered, “in every possible way.”

Willow shook her head. “You don’t just get to have me, Sebastian. Not after everything. You don’t have that right.”

“I’m your husband.”

“You’re my husband on paper,” she corrected him. “But once we get back on American soil, you won’t even be that.”

“If you knew that you were going to divorce me then why did you agree to come with me?”

“Do you know how exhausting it is to pretend to be okay when you’re not,” Willow said, a sharp bitter in her voice. “To smile and carry on around your family, friends, and co-workers even though you feel like you’re going to self-destruct at any moment? I can’t say what I want to say and do what I want to do that at my house or my parents’ house or work. So I’m going to do it here with you, so you can see what you’ve done to me. And when everything is said and done, we’ll go our separate ways for good.”

“You don’t mean that.”

A tiny part of her did—the wishful part. But the rest of her wanted him. She wanted him so badly that it hurt. She wanted his love, his touches, and his kisses. She wanted everything he had to give her, but did she need it? No is what she wanted to believe. Her needs and wants were two different things.

“If you don’t want to believe me then fine. You’ll be in a rude awakening soon enough,” she said, tilting her chin up stubbornly.

“The only one will be in for a rude awakening is you, Willow,” Sebastian said, making his way into the room—closing in on her like predator to prey. “You have no idea what I’m willing to do to bring you back to me.”

He practically sandwiched her against the dresser. There was barely a half-inch of space between them, but he was close enough to make her knees weak and her heart leap in her throat.

He picked her up and placed her on top of the low dresser, her back smacking against the vanity mirror. He smashed his mouth against hers, thrusting his tongue into her mouth. His mouth and tongue worked at her in a hunger feverish dance that hindered from thinking and breathing properly. He gripped of her head possessively, deepening the profound statement of a kiss that she was drowning in. She feel all his pent-up emotions with every thrust and twirl of his mouth. She felt the anger, frustration, and pining. It seeped into her until it matched her own, note for note.

Sebastian broke the kiss by pulling away, wiping the glistening moisture from his bottom lip with a swipe of his thumb. He panted lightly while Willow fought for breath as if she had ran a marathon. She put a shaky hand to her panting mouth, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Dinner will be ready in hour and a half,” he stated before he stalked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

She was hungry, but the last thing on her mind was food.  

After a kiss like that, Willow worried dinner would be nothing but an opportunity for her husband to devour her alive.