I didn’t think Shawn would crack with just a little questioning from Quin.
And something inside me rebelled at the idea of one of ours beating answers out of her.
She would warm up to me and the impromptu vacation eventually. It was difficult to stay bitter and angry when surrounded by the unique turquoise waters and being waited on hand-and-foot. Even Miller couldn’t stay pissed at me for too long after she woke up to see what kind of adventure I was bringing her on.
I figured it would take Shawn one full day.
She was still going to be grumpy from the drugs for a bit.
Once she got some food and sleep, she would be feeling different.
At least that was what I thought.
She emerged from the bedroom sometime after we’d landed, bleary-eyed like she’d managed to catch some sleep, but was still shooting daggers at me as she passed with a fresh cup of coffee.
“Oh, come on, love. You can’t be scowling on vacation,” I said as I followed her onto the tarmac.
“The thing is, I’m not on vacation. I’m a victim of kidnapping and being held hostage by a psychotic multi-millionaire in a foreign country,” she shot back, glowering over at me as she came to a stop, not knowing where we were going.
“The boat should be here in a moment,” I told her, holding a hand out toward the dock.
“Where are we going?” she asked, looking out into the water.
“Have you ever been to the Maldives?” I asked.
“I have not,” she said, trying to sound apathetic, but I could see the surprise and pleasure in those hazel eyes of hers as she looked out at the atolls.
What she likely couldn’t see with the naked eye were the over-water villas, both privately-owned and resorts—that were further out on the water.
Most were connected to the mainland by long docks over the water.
She would likely get her hopes up when we went past those since the docks ran to each villa, which Shawn would think would give her a way to escape.
But then the boat would take us further out.
Sure, I had a dock around my villa. For evening strolls. For aesthetics. But there were no other villas attached. And the only way to the mainland was by boat or to swim. And the man who was bringing us out there was going to be leaving us there.
I’d had it all planned by the time I got Shawn on the plane. And my employees in the area would have jumped to getting everything in order within a few hours of the instructions getting to them.
We would be all set to settle down for the night there.
And then we could have a nice, long chat.
“Come on, you have to admit it’s beautiful.”
“It would be more beautiful if I came here of my own free will,” Shawn said, taking a long sip of her coffee.
“Would you?”
“Would I what?”
“Would you come here of your own free will?”
“Maybe. Eventually.”
“Do you travel?”
“Yes. Listen, Bellamy, we are not friends, okay? I don’t know what wires you have crossed up here,” she said, tapping her temple. “But you can’t forge a friendship by kidnapping someone.”
“Friendships can be forged in all different ways.”
“Not this one.”
“We’ll see about that,” I said, shrugging. “Where would you have rather traveled?”
“Taiwan was on my list. But that is not some sort of invitation for you to drug me again and drag me there,” she said, giving me a hard look.
“So, more the culture than the serenity.”
“What?”
“That’s the kind of traveler you are. You like being immersed in the cultures of new places rather than relaxing on the beach.”
“Everything has a time and place,” she told me, shrugging. “Is that the boat?” she asked, sounding dubious as Adnan came closer in the motorboat.
“Don’t tell me you get boat-sick.”
“I can’t imagine that if I did, you would give a shit,” Shawn said. “But no. Not normally, anyway. But with your drugs still making my stomach feel like it is flip-flopping around, who knows. If it happens, I really hope I ruin those fancy shoes of yours.”
I pressed a hand to my heart. And before her gaze could turn completely away, I was almost sure I saw a ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
Oh, this was going to be a lot of fun.
CHAPTER FIVE
Shawn
I didn’t want to be impressed by my kidnapper’s taste in vacation destinations. I mean, how fucked in the head was that?
But there was no denying that the Maldives was possibly the most beautiful water and islands that I’d ever seen.
And then there were the over-water villa villages. Each and every one of them was new and upscale, and breathtaking.
It was a rich person’s playground, or at least that was what I’d gleaned from the brochure I’d found on the boat.