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“No weird shit, and no last fling, Ed.”
He looks me straight in the eye and I already know what’s coming. “So why are you here, Josh? Really? Don’t bullshit me.”
I came here to get away from Mercier and Dacre for a night and to have her all to myself with thoughts of revenge, but now, standing here in the stare of Edward’s question, I find that I don’t know what to do with her. I brought her to a fucking party, for fuck's sake. What exactly was I planning? I wasn’t. I only wanted to breathe. “I brought her here to have a good time. Isn’t that what parties are all about?”
Ed shakes his head. “Do what you want, but don’t do anything you’re going to regret in the morning. We have food, drink and after, you can take the guest suite. You know where it is.”
He knows me better than I know myself. This is the reason I really came here. I knew from the second the invite reminder popped up on my watch that Ed would give me a private room. A private room where I could finally get Sin alone. I’m buzzing with anticipation at the thought of it, and yet I still don’t know what I plan on doing with her when I do get her alone. I don’t know whether to hurt her and watch all the pain she caused me burn in her eyes or finally make her mine and do the one thing I’ve spent the latter part of my life dreaming about. Finally fucking Sin Waldgrave. It shouldn’t excite me the way it does. She’s been passed around men like a filthy whore for years, but she was mine first. Before the fame, she belonged to me. Tonight, one way or another, she will again.
“Thanks Ed.” I hear the audible tsk as I walk away. I don’t really care what Ed thinks any more than I care what anyone else thinks. Not tonight, at least. I don’t even care about the fall out with Mercier and Dacre. They’ll come around once I hand them their share of the two million dollar reward.
Sin is standing, practically staring at the wall. I thought she’d stand out a mile in the dress Mercier bought her, but from the back, she could be anyone. I study her, trailing my eyes up the back of her long legs and resting them on her perfect ass. I’m wrong. She couldn’t be anyone. No one, besides top models, has a figure quite so fucking perfect. Someone comes to talk to her. I recognize him as a two bit character actor that seems to have been in every movie, but hasn’t quite got the looks for the male lead. It doesn’t stop the overly confidant asshole thinking he’s good enough to talk to Sin though. I stride toward them, cutting between him and her. I can see by his expression that I’m about as wanted as a turd in a hot tub.
“Darling, let’s go outside and grab some air.” I steer her away from him and through the door to the outer part of the yacht. At the front, those not in the inner circle are partying hard. I’ve not seen them, but I’ve been to enough of Ed’s parties to know that the glitterati will be drinking, smoking and snorting anything they can get their hands on, and if I know Ed, there will be plenty of everyone’s drug of choice to go round. His parties are legendary. The police won’t come near this yacht. Ed practically owns them. Which means that the select, privileged few can get away with anything for one night. I can get away with anything. I’m salivating with all the dark thoughts running through my head. Tonight, one way or another, Sin will finally be mine.
35
LUCINDA
I was in love with Joshua Nix once. A long time ago, I dreamed about a night like this. Being in his arms at some swanky party was all I wanted, but now I’m here, everything about it feels ominous. The gentle sway of the boat has me unsure of myself and one wrong step could find me in the river. I can’t swim. One of the many things that I’m sure people will expect me to be able to do, but I can’t. The night air is cold as Josh leads me outside. Maybe wearing Mercier’s dress wasn’t the best idea after all. A revenge dress is no good as a floatation device and there’s barely enough fabric in it to stop the wind howling around my bare thighs.
“Where are we going?” I’ve never been on a yacht. Another expectation of me that isn’t real. Every step feels like I’m going to tip right over the side. Or maybe I’m just scared that Josh will push me. He’s been acting strange and aloof all night, not that I know any other behavior from him.
“I’m taking you to the back of the boat, where it’s quieter.”
A frisson of fear jangles my nerves. I don’t want to go somewhere quieter. I want to be around people. Witnesses. He’s already pissed with me because of the thirty million. Hell, he was pissed at me before he knew there was no ransom. Will two million dollars be enough to keep me alive? I don’t know. I keep trying to guess what he and the others will do, but so far they’ve taken all my expectations and twisted them. I let my free hand trace the railing, ready to grab it if Josh makes any sudden move to throw me over. Then we’re moving away from it and the only thing I have to hold on to is Josh.
The music seems so far away now and the lapping of the water is louder. Beneath my feet, the deck hums with the purring of the engines. It’s almost ironic that I’m on a boat because I’ve never felt more adrift.
“Why did you bring me here, Josh?”
He doesn’t answer. For a second I wonder if he’s left me alone, and this was his master plan all along, but then I hear his breathing.
“Are you going to kill me?” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I regret them.
He moves closer to me, pinning my back against a wall, his body thrust against mine. I don’t know if he’s trying to scare me or intimidate me or if he’s going to kiss me. All I can think is that I won’t fall over the side like this. It’s of little consequence.
“I should kill you,” he snarls, taking my arm and raising above my head, pinning it to the wall like he’s done with the rest of his body. “After what you did to me.”
“I still don’t know what you are talking about,” I whimper as his fingers dig into my wrist. I feel his erection pressing up into my stomach and it horrifies me that this is turning him on.
“Of course. Why would you remember something as insignificant as telling all my family’s secrets to your daddy, so he could take my parents' company effectively leaving me penniless?”
My mouth falls open. “I don’t know what you are talking about. She... I didn’t do that. I wouldn’t.”
My mind goes back to when I was fifteen. The weeks of tears and pain. Hearing about Josh’s parent’s deaths, my father taking his company. “How could you think I’d do something like that? I loved you.”
His grip tightens on my wrist. I want to cry out. but I promised I’d show him no more of my tears. I wasn’t expecting this, though. Of all the things I expected tonight would bring, this is far from anything I imagined.
“What the fuck do you know about love? You dumped me. You threw me away like fucking trash.” He’s so close to my ear that I have to twist my head away from him. “Conveniently right before your father swooped in and took everything I had.”
I shake my head. He’s so wrong. That wasn’t what happened. Not in the way he thinks.
“I stopped seeing you because I wanted to protect you,” I murmur.
He snorts, clearly not believing a word I’m saying. “Protect me?” His voice is dripping in anger and if it wasn’t for the party being so far away and the music so loud, I’d be worried that someone would hear us. It’s obviously not a concern of his as his voice gets louder with each syllable until he’s shouting in my ear. “Protect me from what, Sin? Protect me from you? From kissing you?”
My heart pounds as he kisses my neck. It’s not gentle like the way he caressed my face in the apartment. It’s harsh and hard. “Protect me from touching you?” his hand slips down the top of my dress and finds a nipple. He squeezes it so hard I have to bite my lip to stop from crying out. “Stop me from fucking you?”
