“I know.”
“Do you, eh…want friends to come and visit?”
He looked so earnest and sweet, he broke my heart. “No.” I shook my head, jostling Skittles as she bobbed with tiredness. “I’ll tell you if—”
The phone suddenly vibrated and trilled in my hands.
An image of my dad’s profile popped up.
“Oh, no…he’s trying to video call me.”
Sully sat straighter on his lounger, rolling his eyes as Pika flew to his head and nestled in his midnight strands. “What’s wrong with that? He’ll be worried about you. I know I’d be fucking losing it if I were him.”
“But…we’re not dressed.” I eyed Sully’s lack of shirt. Tonight, the humidity levels had stayed far too high for clothing inside the villa. Sully had slipped off his t-shirt and shorts and stayed in black boxer-briefs while eating dinner, and I’d slipped into a copper bikini with tassels dangling off the top. My hair was wild with island waves, and Sully looked positively sinful.
He smirked. “Better answer it. He knows you’re online.”
“I’ll just go put some clothes on—”
Sully reached across and in a move too fast to stop, swiped accept. He gave me a quick wink. “It’s time I met your father, don’t you think?”
The screen loaded an image of my dad, his greying hair spiked from his hands, bags heavy under his eyes. He’d aged and guilt squeezed me for being the reason.
“Hey, Dad. I’m so sorry I’ve been an awful daughter. I should’ve called you weeks ago. It’s not fair at all.”
He cleared his throat, his eyes casting over me in my state of undress. “You finally answered. I’ve been calling this damn thing since you left that terrifying message on my voicemail.”
“I know. I have no excuse. I’m unbelievably sorry.”
“You, um, have a parrot on your shoulder.”
I rubbed my cheek against Skittles, earning a quick beak kiss. “I do.”
“Why do you have a parrot on your shoulder?”
I smiled. “Because she adopted me, and I stole her from Sully.”
“Sully being the man who caused all this mess. The man who I read very disturbing things about online. The man many are calling a heinous murderer and a psychopath.”
“A man who has a past but isn’t a psychopath. A man I fell for.” I winced, wanting to ignore the fact that he’d read the articles I had online, not sure how to brush such things away.
He scrubbed his face before muttering, “I think you have some explaining to do, young lady.”
I smiled wider, hearing the switch in his tone from angry to miffed. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
He huffed. “Those allegations…are they real? He won’t hurt you?”
“He’d never hurt me in a million years, and as for the allegations, they’re in the past. He isn’t that same man anymore. You’ll just have to trust me on that and forget you read such things.”
“I expect a deeper explanation soon, Ellie, but right now, I’m just so glad you’re alive.” Peering around me, he asked, “Where are you?”
The outdoor lantern painted us in a romantic hazy illumination and the splash of Nirvana most likely distorted some of the sound but at least he could tell I was in one piece.
I was alive, and lucky enough to be sharing my world with someone I’d almost lost.
“I’m in the archipelago still, at the coordinates this phone gave you. It’s called Goddess Isles.”
“And that man who you assure me won’t hurt you? That pharmaceutical CEO who ought to be in prison if the newspapers have a shred of truth—”
“Sully, sir.” Sully leaned forward, crowding into the screen. His naked chest probably gave my father incorrect conclusions of what we’d been up to. “And your daughter is quite right, I would never hurt her and those allegations online are no longer who I am. However, I will admit that I would hurt any man or woman who dare put Eleanor in danger. She’s changed me in many ways, but I would still make others bleed if they put her life in jeopardy.”
“Sully,” I hissed. “Stop it.”
He just shrugged and raised an eyebrow. “You have my word, Mr. Grace, that you have nothing to worry about from me. I love your daughter more than I’ve loved anyone.”
“Eh…” My dad’s wrinkled cheeks pinked as Sully nodded respectfully all while Pika stayed dozing on his head and Sully’s eyes flashed with violence. “I don’t know what to say to that.”
Sully smiled, doing his best to shed his aggression and be magnanimous. “Let’s just focus on the here and now. It’s an honour to finally meet you.”
“Eh…likewise, I suppose.” My father swallowed, eyeing up Pika but deciding not to ask. “Um…you look different to your company photograph online. Clothing is preferable.”
“Suits have a tendency to hide the real man, sir.” Sully grinned. “And we’re currently in the tropics, so excuse my lack of attire.”