Illusion (Swept Away 1)

“You have a very bad opinion of someone you’ve never met.” His voice was grim, as he stared at me. I could feel the tension in the air.

“I don’t know him. I’ve never met him before. But David told me things.” I stepped forward and touched his chest lightly. “He’s not a good guy. I don’t think he’s any better than his father. Don’t lie to me, Jakob. Do you know Mattias as well?”

There was silence after I spoke. His eyes went blank, and I could see him thinking hard as we stared at each other. I could hear my heart thumping, and my body was shivering as I waited for him to answer me.

“I do.” He nodded after a minute.

“So we have another connection, then.” My words sounded accusatory as I tried to joke. “So is he capable of kidnapping?”

“Yes, I suppose he is. I didn’t know . . .” His voice trailed off.

“You didn’t know what?”

“I think we’re in danger.” He changed the subject.

“How do you know the Bradley brothers, Jakob?” My fingertips squeezed his arms tightly, and his fingers reached up to mine. He was silent for a moment, and I could feel his heart pounding through our embraced fingers.

“I don’t know them well, I’m afraid.” He shook his head and stepped back. “Let’s gather the wood.” He walked away from me and I felt my heart thudding in my stomach. This man that I’d given myself to was still hiding something from me. I was sure of that. Why would he be hiding something from me? Would I ever be able to fully trust him?

We gathered the wood in silence and then walked back to the beach. “I’ll be right back. I dropped some branches.” Jakob called out to me as he turned around and walked toward to the jungle.

“Okay,” I mumbled, and watched him hurry away. I jumped as Steve appeared next to me. “You scared me.” I took a step away from him, suddenly feeling apprehensive of him.

“Sorry, it wasn’t my intention to scare you.”

“It’s okay.” I shrugged. “Just try to make a bit of noise when you approach someone. I didn’t even hear you.”

“Sorry, I’m used to having to be quiet in my line of work.” He smiled with a wry look on his face.

“It’s fine.” I wanted to ask him what line of work he was in, but I was pretty sure he wouldn’t be honest about it anyway.

“Would you like to go for a walk, Bianca?” Steve offered me his arm, and I tried to think of a reason to decline.

“That sounds good, but let’s wait for Jakob. Maybe he’ll want to come with us.”

“I was rather hoping that we could take a walk without him.” Steve’s eyes narrowed. “There are some things I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Things like what?”

“Forgive me if this is an intrusion into your private life, but I can’t help but think that you and Jakob aren’t really boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“Why would you say that?”

“I don’t see any sexual chemistry between you. You seem awkward around him.” He shrugged. “You know you can tell me anything, Bianca. I will protect you if you need me to.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Is Jakob your master?” He took a step toward me, and I frowned at him.

“My master? What do you mean?”

“Are you a slave, Bianca?” His voice lowered. “I remember you talking about trafficking on the first night, and I wonder now if you were giving me a clue.”

“Do I look like I’m a slave?” I shook my head. Was Steve crazy?

“Like I said before, appearances can be deceiving.” He grabbed my arm. “If you come with me, I can take care of you.”

“I don’t need you to take care of me.” I shook my arm and his hand fell to the side. “Thanks for your concern, Steve, but I’m fine.” I looked up the beach hoping I would see Jakob walking back toward us.

“Can I tell you something, Bianca?” He spoke urgently, and I looked at him in surprise at his tone.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Those who watch are the watched, those who listen are never heard, those who love are bound for heartache, and those who seek the truth are always lied to.”

“Okay.” I frowned at him. “What does that mean?”

“It means, my dear, that you’re in danger.” His eyes widened and he stepped away from me. My heart started racing, and I wanted to call out to him to ask him what he meant. There was something so off about him. He was starting to remind me of a wizard.

“Everything okay?” Jakob’s voice carried down the beach, and I stood there unsure of what to do. As I watched him approaching us, I could see the distrust and anger in his eyes as he stared at Steve. He looked at me searchingly for a few seconds to make sure I was okay, and I nodded quickly. His expression changed to one of satisfaction, and I ran toward him, knowing that someone who wanted to harm me wouldn’t be worried about my safety.

“Do you need any help carrying those?” I gave him a short smile and offered to take some of the branches from his hands.

“No, I’m fine.” He frowned at me. “Your forehead is sweating. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It must be the sun,” I lied, not wanting to tell him what Steve had said and the fleeting doubts I’d had about him.