Goddammit.
That thought blew another hole in my chest.
My hands itched to grab the spoon by my coffee to scoop out his eyes. To remove all his memories of the girl who belonged to me in every fucking way.
“For Jinx.” He swallowed hard. “I want to…eh, buy her. To request a trade.”
I stiffened in my chair. “A trade?”
“Cash for your goddess.” He nodded. “I give you my word I’ll look after her. I’ll respect her. I would never share her, and she’d be given a life fit for any princess.” His voice lowered with need. “I want to look after her. To love her.”
Ah, Christ.
Men were so goddamn predictable.
This wasn’t the first time a guest had asked to take a girl home, and I’m sure it wouldn’t be the last. I never said yes. Ever. I could never be sure of the girl’s well-being or trust the word of a gentleman who came to my shores.
But…
Ever since standing over Eleanor while she slept, I’d done my best to fix my problem. I wanted her gone but didn’t necessarily know how. If I just let her go…she could tell anyone about my little operation here. If I killed her, she’d haunt me for the rest of my fucking days.
But…if I sold her…
My heart crashed and collided with my ribs, but I yanked hard on its leash, making it cower in the corner.
Something had to be done.
I couldn’t keep this up.
I couldn’t keep avoiding her.
I couldn’t pretend she didn’t exist or ignore that something bound us together.
The only way to be free of her awful curse would be to get her off my island.
For good.
And a solution had just fallen serendipitously into my lap.
Chapter Thirty-Two
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AFTER Roy Slater accosted me on the path, I received a summons.
For a full rotation of earth, I’d existed in a heightened sense of fear. Last night, I’d tried to find Jupiter, Calico, and Neptune to eat dinner with them but only found an empty dining room. Jealousy wasn’t there, either, and I’d returned to eat the food waiting on my deck, then sat up for most of the night watching the moon track its way through stars.
This morning, I’d chosen to say in my villa. I didn’t want to run into Roy Slater again, or any other man for that matter. My ability to converse had been well and truly stripped away.
Breakfast had been delivered by a usual pretty staff member, a few new clothes arrived to replace the ones I’d lost, and I tried to lose myself in a book loaded on an e-reader that I’d found in the bedside drawer.
It didn’t work.
My eyes skimmed words, but my brain remained firmly fixated on Sully. On what he was doing, why hadn’t he come to check on me, how could I stop the complex mix of dislike and desire.
So when the summons came at twilight, I was almost glad.
I was ready to face anything if it meant it gave me something other than him to focus on. Something to endure rather than being forced to relax on a perfect island with unlimited delicious food and every wish I ever wanted.
It was the blissful existence between serving in Euphoria that ruined me. How could I lay on a lounger, dressed in expensive bikinis, eating ripe organic fruit, and reading a simple romance like I was on holiday, when none of that daydream was real? How could I forget that I paid for such luxury with my body?
Re-reading the note that Arbi had personally delivered, goosebumps darted down my spine.
Come to my office at ten a.m.
Such a simple sentence.
A collection of words that gave nothing away to Sully’s intentions or requirements of our meeting. So why did utmost dread slip like cyanide through my veins? Why did Roy Slater come to mind and his parting words that’d chased me down the path echo like a drumbeat for an execution?
“I love you, and I’m going to find a way for us to be together.”
My legs gave out, crumpling me to the floor.
No.
I scrunched up the note, tighter and tighter, then threw it into the corner of the room. It bounced off the driftwood couch, smashing into a potted fern. Skittles chirped indignantly from her chosen spot on the side table lamp. She’d taken up residency on the shade, her daily preening interrupted by my terror.
An awful premonition filled me.
Could Roy Slater have asked to claim me? Had he approached Sully with an offer he couldn’t refuse?
But he wouldn’t…would he?
He won’t sell me.
Why would Sully sell something that he’d only just bought? Something that was still new and valuable to his empire?
I buried my face in my hands, unable to lie. Skittles winged her way to perch on my shoulder, tweeting worriedly into my ear.
I couldn’t respond, too frozen with horror.