Leave Me Breathless

She shows no willingness to uncurl her wrapped body from around me, leaving me to dip with her secured to my front to collect our clothes. I hold her under her thighs and walk back to the cabin, feeling the cool air settling across our bare skin. She’s starting to shiver.

When I get us inside, I drop our clothes in a pile by the door and carry her over to the fire, lighting it and pulling a throw down from the couch. It takes some negotiating and effort, since she’s not helping, but I eventually get her on her back, half cover her naked body with mine, and pull the blanket over us. ‘Pillow?’

She shakes her head and undoes all my effort to get her comfortable, pushing me to my back and resting her head on my chest. I go about rearranging the blanket again, getting us covered as the fire builds and starts to chase away the chills.

‘Ryan?’

I peek down at the back of her head, humming my acknowledgment.

‘I promise I’ll always love you.’ She moves her head so her chin sinks into my chest and she’s looking at me. ‘I want you to know that.’

I comb my fingers through her wet hair as she rests her head back down and her eyes flutter closed. She’s breathing lightly soon after, fast asleep. ‘I already knew,’ I say quietly. But what I wanted to hear is that she’ll never leave me. Because I’m still not certain of that.

I don’t sleep. Get nowhere close. My thoughts haven’t stopped spinning.

Being as careful as I can, I lift Hannah’s palm from my chest and inch out from under her, settling her on the rug. She stirs but drifts back off once I’ve tucked the blankets back in around her.

I pull on my jeans, grab my phone, and let myself out, set on calling Lucinda and telling her to abandon her search. I promised Hannah I’d love her. Her past doesn’t matter. I need to let it go.

The phone rings once and Lucinda answers, but before I have the chance to give her my instruction, she hits me with a statement that has the potential to change my mind. ‘You heard that saying opening a can of worms?’ she asks, halting me mid-stride down the steps to the lawn.

Say the words, Ryan. Call her off. Oh, fuck. I take hold of a wooden post and search desperately for the reason I found earlier. ‘Tell me,’ I demand. Reason is gone. Sense is gone. Or is it found?

‘Philippa Maxwell is thirty-five years old, married with a little girl. Lives in Highspeck about sixty miles from Hampton. Dolly Blake is her mother. She lived alone for a few years after the death of her husband but dementia set in and she became progressively worse until she was moved into the care home six years ago by her daughters.’

‘Luce, what does this have to do with Hannah?’

‘Dolly’s other daughter, Katrina, died five years ago. Tragic death in the Bahamas. Body never found.’

‘Five years ago,’ I whisper, ice creeping into my veins.

‘Yes. She was married to tech giant Jarrad Knight.’

‘Fucking hell,’ I breathe, putting Lucinda on loudspeaker and walking away from the cabin. I pull up Google and search for the article Jake found the other day, but this time I read it. And there it is. Reference to the tragic loss of his first wife five years ago. ‘Jesus.’

Lucinda hums her agreement to my shock. ‘I’ve just texted you a picture of Knight and his first wife.’

My phone dings, and I open Lucinda’s message. My knees instantly give, and I grab the side of my truck to hold myself up, the ground feeling like it’s disappeared from under me. The woman in the picture is beautiful. Long, dark hair. Perfectly flawless skin. Curves any man would kill to stroke. She’s expensive, dressed completely in black, jewels dripping from every part of her. She’s on a red carpet with Jarrad Knight, their arms linked, both of them smiling for the camera. But it’s not a genuine smile. It’s a smile for show.

‘Do you recognize her?’ Lucinda asks.

‘You could say that,’ I murmur, resting against the door of my truck, unable to rip my eyes away from the woman staring back at me. ‘I’m in love with her.’Chapter 24FIVE YEARS AGO

Oh my God, I’ve never seen anything like it.’ Katrina was absolutely mesmerized by the crystal waters before her. The hidden rock pool they’d discovered was beyond the realms of beauty.

‘Well, now you have.’ Jarrad swooped in behind her and circled her waist with his arms. ‘Isn’t your husband the most amazing man alive for bringing you to these places?’

‘Truly amazing,’ she said mindlessly, unable to comprehend the sheer magnificence. ‘I wish I had my paints with me.’ She could lose herself for hours bringing this to life in watercolours.