I spend the next hour chatting and shaking hands, the usual charity event bullshit. My mother returns about ten minutes after she left with Kylie and informs me that Kylie is held up with some distant relatives at the other bar, and she’ll be back soon.

But she doesn’t come back. Dinner is served and everyone is seated, but Kylie is still missing. My cousin and aunt are in their seats, looking content as always, and so she can’t still be talking to them.

I lean over toward my mother. “Where’s Kylie?” I ask her.

She shrugs, looking innocent. “I don’t have a clue.”

“What did you do?” I hiss at her.

She frowns at me. “Don’t talk to me that way. I’m still your mother.”

“You’re a spiteful old crone that wants to control everything I do. Where is Kylie?”

She stares at me, the shock evident on her face. I’ve never pushed back at her before and she obviously wasn’t prepared for this.

I know she’s been meddling in my life for years. The last woman I had something serious with disappeared fairly quickly after we began, and later told me that my mother paid her to leave me. That was a very long time ago, of course. I didn’t care much at the time, since I never thought I’d be with that person, but it did make me notice a pattern.

I know she’s been bribing women to leave me for years. It never mattered, although she clearly thought that it did. In fact, she was doing me a favor. I never wanted to settle down, and she was saving me from having to eventually break up with these women. As cowardly as it is, she was helping me, and so I didn’t stop her. The women got what they wanted, which was money, and I got what I wanted. We were all winners.

But now she’s gone too far.

“What did you offer her?” I ask.

“Nothing,” she says, playing innocent.

“Tell me, damn it,” I growl.

“Money,” she says. “And a plane ticket. If she leaves tonight.”

“Shit,” I grunt. “And?”

“She called ten minutes ago.” My mother gives me a horrible smile. “She’s already on her way to the airport.”

I stand up and quickly leave the banquet hall. My mother says something to me as I leave, but I don’t listen to her. I don’t care what she has to say.

I’m not letting Kylie go like this. I can’t believe she’d take my mother’s money and leave me. It’s not her, I know it’s not her. She’s not in this for the money and never was.

There has to be another reason, and I have to know why. Even if I can’t convince her to stay, I have to talk to her tonight.

When I get outside, I realize that she took the car. I consider calling the driver and ordering him to come back, but I’m not sure he will, and I don’t want to waste the time. Instead, I call for a taxi.

It comes five minutes later, which is lucky. We head out toward the airport, and I feel strangely nervous, which I didn’t expect.

I don’t know why she’s running away. Maybe she really is just leaving for the money and I misjudged her, but I don’t think that’s the case. My mother has scared away many women for me, but none of them have been like Kylie. We’ve already been through so much, and she’s already had so many chances to run. But she stayed.

I need to know why now, why this night. I need to know what my mother said to her that made her want to leave.

The taxi pulls up to the terminal and I hop out. I don’t know what flight she’s getting, so I head to the departures board and skim the listings. There are planes to Boston, Denver, Chicago, Detroit, Austin, and then I pause. There’s a flight leaving for Philadelphia in an hour, which triggers a memory. She mentioned that it was between Alaska and Philadelphia when she was first running away.

Maybe she finally chose Philadelphia.

I head up to the ticketing agent and buy a seat on that flight. It’s a long shot, but it’s the best I have. Getting through security doesn’t take long, though they do give me a second look because I’m wearing a tux, but that doesn’t matter. Once through, I head toward the gate, body roaring with nerves.

What the hell am I doing? I should just turn around and go. If Kylie wants to leave, that’s her business. I don’t own her. This daddy thing, it’s not real, it’s not actually binding or anything. It was just a sexy idea that made me excited, and I thought she liked it, too.

I should just let it go. I should just move on. I can spare myself this absurd scene in the airport, wearing a fucking tuxedo, and just go home. I can win the war against my brother and finish this once and for all.

Except I can’t. Because as soon as I reach the terminal, I see her, still wearing the dress. She has no bags and she’s staring out the window with a strange expression on her face.

I can’t turn away, not as soon as I see her. I know it, in this moment, that there’s something here I never felt before. I walk slowly over to her, and as I get closer, she turns and looks at me.

I expected her to be angry. I expected her to be confused, or upset, or afraid. Instead, she stands up and runs to me with the largest smile on her face.

She throws her arms around my neck and hugs me. I pull her close, feeling her body against mine.

“You came for me,” she says softly.

“Of course,” I reply. “I told you. I’m going to take care of you.”

She slowly moves back and I can tell that she’s blinking tears from her eyes.

“I don’t know why I’m here,” she says.

I sigh, holding her hands. “What did my mother say to you?”

It spills out of her in a torrent. She explains what happened with my mother at the bar, everything she said, and all of her fears. “I don’t want to hold you back,” she says. “I don’t want to be the reason you don’t get what you want.”

I sigh, shaking my head. “That’s not going to happen,” I say. “Elliot would find some other way to come after me if you weren’t here.”

“I know, I just... I’m making it harder, not easier. I shouldn’t be distracting you.”

“You’re a distraction, but it’s one that I want.”

“I didn’t take the money,” she says suddenly, eyes wide. “I just need you to know that. I didn’t take your mother’s money.”

I smile softly. I knew it wasn’t about that, deep down inside of me. I just knew it. “Come on,” I say. “Let’s go home.”

She hesitates. “I still don’t think I should come with you,” she says.

“You don’t have to. But I want you, Kylie, more than I’ve ever wanted someone before. I’ve never chased a woman to the airport and I don’t think I ever will again. We don’t have to be afraid. Come with me.”

She watches me and I’m afraid she’s going to say no. If she does, I don’t know what I’ll do. Probably go back to my life before her and keep on going, but nothing will feel the same, not after I’ve tasted this. I can’t keep being the way I was, not after I had something this intense.

“Okay,” she says finally. “Take me home.”

I take her hand and I lead her back through the airport. People are staring, but I don’t care. They don’t recognize me. We just look foolish all dressed in formal wear in the middle of an airport without any baggage.

It doesn’t matter if people stare. Let them stare. Kylie clings to my arm, walking close against me. That’s all that matters. My mother tried to scare another woman off, but this time I wouldn’t let her. I’m keeping Kylie for as long as I want her, and I want her for a long time.

Nothing’s going to change that.