The Billionaire and His Castaway

“Fuck,” I hear Kenton mumble.

“You got one minute,” Mark yells from outside the hut.

“Pretty sure I give the orders,” Kenton barks back, pulling me from the bed and grabbing my swimsuit.

“Not when it comes to our baby sister, you fucker,” Seth says.

I quickly pull on my swimsuit, and Kenton ties the back for me. Then he grabs a shirt from his bag and slides it over my head. The thing drops all the way to my knees, reminding me just how big he is compared to me.

“Thirty seconds,” Mark yells again, making Kenton let out a sting of his own curses while pulling on his swim trunks.

But before we exit, he cups my face and leans his forehead against mine. I can see panic in his eyes.

“It’s fine. They aren’t going to do anything. They’ll have to get through me first. I want this. I’m a grown woman, I can date whoever I choose.”

“God, you’re so sweet,” he says before pressing his lips to mine for a soft kiss. “I wanted you so much that I would have done anything to have you. Anything.”

“Well, you got me.” I reassure him, placing a quick kiss on his lips. I smile at him and almost forget that two of my brothers are outside, waiting to lose their shit on us.

“Promise?” he says as the door to the hut flies open again, making me jump.

“What fuck are you doing here with my little sister?” Mark yells, stepping into the cabin. I can feel the anger rolling off of him.

Kenton protectively stands in front of me, but I push him out of the way.

“Don’t talk to him like that,” I bite back in a tone I’ve never used with Mark before. His eyebrows rise. I point my finger right up at him. “I’m a grown woman and I can date or…” I throw my hands up in the air, not wanting to say “have sex.” “…Whatever I want,” I finally finish.

Mark's eyes lock on mine, then shoot over my head to Kenton, who places a possessive hold on my hips. I can feel the heat of his entire body behind me.

He looks to me and then says, “I want to talk to you alone.” His voice is calmer than it was before. I feel Kenton’s hands on my hips lock even tighter, making it clear he doesn’t want to let me go.

“You can say whatever it is in front of Kenton.”

Mark takes a deep breath, and I can tell he is trying to control his anger. “I’m asking my sister to talk to me alone for a minute,” he pushes, his eyes going soft, and I can feel my shoulders drop.

“Okay, fine.” I go to take a step towards him, but Kenton spins me around, one hand going to my hair to tilt my head back as his mouth lands on mine in a deep, hard kiss that leaves me breathless.

“You probably shouldn’t kiss me in front of them when they’re still so angry,” I tease, but he doesn’t smile at my joke.

“Now,” Mark demands, making me roll my eyes as I reluctantly pull away from Kenton.

“I’ll help Kenton here pack up,” Seth says with a smirk. I just narrow my eyes on him in a hard stare, and he drops his smirk. I’m not worried about Kenton. He’s just as big as Mark, who’s the biggest of all my brothers.

I don’t make it a few feet out of the hut and Mark has me by the wrist and is pulling me along. I have to half run to keep up. I try to jerk from his hold, but he keeps moving.

“We can talk here,” I say and jerk again but get nowhere.

“Not so sure we can,” he says and keeps moving, pushing through some trees until we are back on a beach where I see two boats.

“How’d you find us out here anyway? We got stranded.”

“Got stranded, you say? Can one get stranded on an island they own?” Mark says over his shoulder at me with a really? look on his face.

“What do you mean?” I shake my head, not understanding him.

“He owns the fucking island, Maddie.”

“No.” This time I really do stop when we get to the edge of the water. “He would have told me that. He…” I trail off. That doesn’t even make any sense. “Maybe he doesn't know he owns it or something. It could be…” I run out of steam, having no idea where I’m going with this.

“Just like you didn’t win a trip,” he adds, and I snap my head up.

“Madeline!” I hear Kenton yell my name, probably having realized Mark didn’t take me just outside the hut to talk.

“Get in the boat, Maddie.” Mark pulls me. I look back over my shoulder, torn. I have no freaking clue what is going on.

“He’s rich. I have no idea how much power he has down here, but it’s clear as fucking day he wants you and is willing to do anything to get that. Get on the goddamn boat so I can get you out of here. I need to get you back on some land that he doesn’t own. In a country where he doesn’t have a lot of pull.”

I nod, and Mark picks me up by the hips, places me into the boat, and jumps in after me. I watch the shore and see Kenton come running from the tree line, yelling my name. I turn my head and give him my back. I can’t look. The boat takes off across the water, leaving him and our island behind. Leaving so much more than that.

I sit and try to take in everything Mark said. I look over at him and his eyebrows are just furrowed together in an unreadable expression. It isn’t long until we’re back on the dock I’d left just the day before. The boat that had left us at the island is sitting there.

I see José look over at us, his eyes going wide when he sees me. His reaction solidifies my feeling that it was a set up. Everything. Then all the lies come crashing in, making me question everything he’s said to me in the past 24 hours. All of it.