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“I’m falling in love with her.” My voice is a harsh whisper, barely audible. “I can’t help myself. My heart leaps whenever I see her. When we’re together, I feel satisfied. Happy and content. I know every day this goes on I’m just hurting myself more, but I can’t stop.”
Natalie stares at me for a few seconds, patting my hand.
“I’m so sorry, Jess.” She shakes her head in sympathy. “I think your situation might be worse than mine. I’ll keep your secret, okay? You don’t need to worry about that.”
“One less thing to worry about.” I mutter.
“Look.” Natalie tries a bright tone. “Why don’t we head to the pool to hang out? Maybe I’ll meet someone, and we can distract you for awhile.”
I can’t resist her grin. She has me grinning too in spite of myself.
“Okay. It sounds good.”
We get up and gather our stuff, heading towards the pool. When I feel my arm being roughly grabbed, I almost scream until I’m whirled around to face the accusing eyes of De Haverland.
Oh, shit.
“I heard every single word.” He hisses at me. His rage is barely controlled, and I can tell he wants to yell. Natalie stands beside me with wide eyes, lips pulled tight together.
“You get ahold of Ashley, right now.” His voice is evening out to an enraged whisper. “I’ve got a proposition for you.”
My guts start to churn. This is bad. What is Ashley going to say about this?
I stagger a few steps away from De Haverland, wondering if I can even remember how to use my phone. My fingers are numb. I don’t want to hear what Ashley will have to say about this.
I think I royally fucked up this time, and there’s no going back.
Twenty-Three
Ashley
”He knows everything.”
I hold the phone up to my ear, furrowing my brows as I hear Jess’ voice utter something incomprehensible. “Darling you’re going to have to repeat yourself.” I jest, but part of me knows exactly who and what she was talking about, and it makes me sick.
A single moment of silence passes by before Jess takes a deep breath on the other line. Her voice comes out as a whisper as she repeats herself with regret. “He knows about us.”
A chill runs through my spine, and I sink into complete denial. I decide that if I play dumb, she’ll tell me that De Haverland catching on to our lie is some sort of sick joke. “You can’t be serious, maybe you’re overreacting?”
I hear Jess sniff. She’s on the verge of tears and the panic in her voice lets me know that there’s no hope left. We’ve been found out.
The tensions are running high and I shut the book I was relaxing with just a moment ago. “Well what’s going on now, where are you?” I press.
“Just meet me at the bottom of the stairs by the clock. Please hurry.”
I hang up after assuring her I’m on my way. Out of anger and passion, I throw my book against the wall as I rush out of my room. How could he have found out?
The walk to the meeting place seems to last hours, though Jess and I have made this trek several times throughout our trip. Standing by the large grandfather clock and watching the cruise ship patrons live out their lives below became a sort of fun past time for Jess and I. But if what she implied turns out to be true, I may never be able to take long walks with her again.
I rudely push some people out of my way as I begin to jog. My mind drifts to dark places, telling me that Jess is in danger and that De Haverland must have her at gunpoint or something sinister. With a lump in my throat, I break into a run and hope that I can arrive on time.
“Ashley!” Jess squeaks when I finally arrive. She motions for me to follow her around the corner, and her face is as white as snow.
Before I can ask her if she’s okay, I am accosted by the sight of De Haverland’s ugly face leering from around the corner. His dark eyes shine maliciously and his angular jaw juts out into a menacing smile. This is it, he really has us both at his mercy.
“Nice to see you again Miss. Carmichael. I would address you by the name Ashley, but I hear you would rather go by Robyn these days.” The sheer pleasure on his face is making me want to throw up.
I don’t waste a second, impulsively standing between his disgusting form and Jess’ quivering body. “Shut the Hell up Francis. What price do I have to pay to get you to leave us alone?”
