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Liar. Have you ever felt this way about another man before?

I refuse to answer. This can’t be anything more.

He’s my patient, even if we haven’t had a successful therapy session yet. And emotions cloud the mind, making it impossible to be logical.

I need to be logical to catch the signs, to fix him.

And shit. He just found me during a panic attack. What a great doctor you are.Embarrassment heats my skin.

Using the remnants of my willpower, I tear myself away from him and plaster my back against the wall.

“Was everyone worried or were you worried, Mr. Anderson?”

A lonely sunbeam catches his eyes, rendering them prismatic. He swallows.

“The guide mentioned we could swim, or were you not paying attention? Why are you so worried about me not being in my float?”

Nostrils flaring, Rex stares mutely at me. His troubled gaze tells me stories his voice refuses to. As the seconds pass, a thought tickles my mind.

Goosebumps bead on my neck.Yes. This has to be it.

“Did you lose someone? Someone you could’ve saved?”

He draws a sharp inhale. His throat ripples. He looks away.Bingo.

I’m hit with an urge to comfort him, to place my hand on his chest and tell him I’m here and I understand.

Instead, I curl my fingers inward, my nails digging into my palms, and wait for him to respond.

“Who hasn’t lost someone?” Deflection again. “All of us have—Mom, Grandma, the damn Anderson curse, which I’m sure Maxwell told you about.”

Maxwell did. When he sought therapy a few years ago, he thought the curse plaguing the Anderson family since the mid-eighteen hundreds was real. As the eldest son, which this curse supposedly fell on, he couldn’t fall in love with his wife, or she’d die an untimely death. Everyone in the family believed it. After all, the other Anderson wives to the eldest sons before him—his mom, grandma, grand aunt—all died young and in mysterious ways.

That fear, along with his anxiety, drove him away from Belle, but thankfully, the truth came to light later, and they uncovered a non-supernatural reason for all those deaths.

But losing a parent at a young age, no matter the reason, is a horrible trauma no kid should go through.

Is that really why Rex is spiraling…thirty years after his mom died?

It makes no sense. There has to be more to it.

“You know their deaths have nothing to do with you. The culprit was caught. The curse was dispelled.”

Rex’s nostrils flare and his lips twist in self-derision. “You knownothing, the truth of what happened. None of you do.” His gaze finally meets mine, and he flinches at what he apparently sees on my face. “Don’t you dare pity me.”

He swims toward the exit, pausing before the threshold.

His voice is empty, completely devoid of the earlier warmth. “This is my cruise and I’m the only Anderson on board right now. It’s my responsibility to make sure everyone is safe. Don’t endanger yourself again, Olivia, or I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

Without waiting for my response, he swims out of the cave.

My mind reels from his cryptic riddles, the half-sensible nonanswers.

What on earth is he talking about?

Chapter Fifteen

The good doctor stayedaway the past week, no doubt hiding in her office or dealing with other patients as we sailed to Santorini. It’s for the best. I wouldn’t be able to resist riling her up if she were close by. Plus, I was still reeling from my reaction that day when I thought she drowned.