His Flight Plan by Yvette Hines Page A

were clashing. On one hand he was finally going to be his own boss, doing what he loved alongside his older brother. Things could not have been better. However, there was a large shadow that loomed over those emotions like the sky before a tornado—dark and ominous.
    “Kiera Stanfield.” He said her name aloud. He had to. Maybe for the last time.
    She was the daughter of Richard Branson. It was a situation he never saw coming. It was one thing when her powerful father was an abstract figure. Now that he knew her father was Branson, a man he would not only be working with, but one he admired.
    The elevator buzzed, reminding him that he had not pushed the button to select a destination.
    With a heavy heart he selected the lobby floor.
    By the time the doors opened one level up from the underground garage and he walked out he knew what he had to do. Stay away from Kiera.
    Just like him, his brother had used most of his saving and acquired a large loan to buy the airport. He couldn’t risk affecting that.
    No. There wasn’t a way he could jeopardize losing Branson Management and hindering their airport business before they even got started.
    * * * *
    “Kiera, what’s up with you? I thought you would be full of smiles and cheers that the fundraiser is going so well.” Brigitte moved next to her, speaking loud enough to be heard over the music.
    “I’m very excited.” Kiera forced a smile on her face as she stared around the ballroom filled with over two hundred people.
    The guests were mingling around the large pictures of the center and youth caught in the act of various activities. Those who were not walking the border of the room were eating at tall, round tables or placing bids on the donated silent auction items. Soon they would begin to file onto the dance floor. She and her father had opened up the event with a short speech of thanks, telling them about the center.
    Her father had gone over the amount she had told him, but she couldn’t complain because the money companies and individuals were donating would make a lot of difference for the things she could install and provide for the youth. They would be able to take more educational and fun trips during the summer, as well as bring in computers and sports equipment.
    Catching a glimpse of her mother linked arm-in-arm with her father made Kiera smile a little more, Lola Branson was in her element.
    “Hm. I’m not fooled.” Her friend pursed her lips. “What gives?”
    Draining the last of her champagne, Kiera tried to come up with something to tell her friend that would get Brigitte off the scent.
    “Delaying is not going to detour me.” Brigitte bumped her shoulder against hers. “Talk to me.”
    Letting out a heavy sigh, Kiera wished she had more champagne. She couldn’t afford to get drunk at the event, since she was the host with her father, but she wanted to clear her mind of the depressing thoughts.
    “It’s male problems. Something I should have steered clear of as I had been for a couple years.” Kiera stared down into her empty glass.
    Brigitte brow creased. “How can you be having troubles when we just spoke a few weeks ago after you and the mechanic tangled sheets ?”
    She recalled going to her best friend’s house for lunch in the middle of both of their workdays, specifically to share about Drake. After spending the entire night and early morning with him, she was walking across tulips. She knew when he kissed her at her car before she drove to work that she was head over heels for the man. Never before had she fallen so fast and so sure. Fate had brought him back into her life, and she couldn’t conceive of anything going wrong.
    Forcing air out of her mouth, puffing her cheeks, Kiera glanced over at her friend. “That was the start and end of it I guess.” Her throat began to burn. She swallowed to rid herself of the tension made up of both anger and disappointment.
    Stepping before her and cutting off her view of the room,