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“Well, she’s pretty awful at swimming,” Sylvia said with a laugh. “I tried to tell you, she’s a sinker.”
“A what now?”
Sylvia answered at length, quoting some sort of scientific journal she’d read that week, her voice filled with horrified fascination. Every word she said had my heart pounding faster.
When she finally finished explaining, Soleil had her head in her hands. “Miss Ennui, you can’t just tell people about that. Now he knows how to murder me and dispose of the body with no evidence.”
I took a long drink of water and realized my hand was trembling. “Do you mean to tell me, you came on board a yacht without knowing how to swim? What were you planning to do if you fell into the pool? Or god forbid, the ocean?”
She winked at me. “I suppose I’d either sink to the bottom of Davy Jones’s locker, or hope to be rescued by a tall, dark and handsome yachtsman?” Her hand landed on top of mine for a brief moment. “Grumpy, you’re shivering. Is it cold in here?” She leaned forward, her breasts practically spilling over her crossed arms.
“You’re cold,” I noted, trying not to stare at her hardened nipples. I didn’t wait for an answer, but called over a waiter, who immediately brought my suit jacket. Taking it from him, I wrapped it around her shoulders.
She buried her face in the sleeve, inhaling deeply. “I wasn’t cold,” she muttered, ignoring my snort.
Before I could calm down enough to ask more about Soleil’s genetic condition, my sister entered the room at last. She nodded to me, then crossed to Alphonse. They had a short, whispered conversation, before crossing to the door. I half-stood, but Lore shook her head at me.
I was not comfortable with that. I texted Captain Vance, telling him to assign a crew member to shadow them and make sure she got back to her room safely.
“You’ve turned her whole world upside down,” I told Soleil, when the children were starting to excuse themselves. Sylvia had organized some movie showing on deck with ice cream sundaes. I loved the way she was at the center of the group as they crowded out of the room. “The way she’s interacting with the other children. That confidence, that wit… She’s amazing.”
“I think so, too,” Soleil murmured.
“I never realized how much she was like her father,” I said, sipping my espresso. Another guest wandered close, and I shot him a glare. Soleil muffled a cough, then sipped her own.
“Simon Standish, yes? The actor.”
“He was a gifted actor, the life of every party. Not like Lorelei. Especially not like me. We may pay for every party, but no one would care if we didn’t show up for one. Or miss us if we stayed home.”
“I’d miss you,” Soleil said gently, then amended. “I mean, I’d miss your family. Sylvia.”
“But not me.”
“You said it yourself, Mr. Grantham,” she replied. “It’s better for us both if we aren’t around each other. Though I never would have said such a thing.” She rubbed at her face with the corner of her napkin. “I suppose it’s good to know where I stand.” She stood then. “For what it’s worth, I don’t agree with you. I think knowing you has made me stronger. And maybe knowing me will change you somehow.”
Change me somehow? Bitterness churned in my gut. She hadn’t changed me. She’d destroyed me, or at least the carefully constructed divide I’d placed between myself and the rest of the world.
She never would have said such a thing?I wished that were true.
But I wouldn’t bring up what I had overheard, her relief to be rid of me. She had a right to her feelings. And she wasn’t wrong. She was better off without me, and seeing her tonight had proved that. An entire ship full of the world’s most annoying, pretentious elites had been not fawning over her, but just falling in… falling in love.
Something about her made it impossible not to dream of a life with her, wrapped up in her smiles, standing between her and anything that might hurt her. Holding her every night as I fell asleep, waking to her beauty every morning…
Fuck. I was falling in love with her.
But I didn’t deserve her, even if I wished I were worthy of her love.
Chapter14
Sunshine
“Are you cold now?” Giovanni’s voice was almost covered by the sound of the wind rushing past as the yacht moved through the darkness.
“Not at all,” I replied, clutching his jacket tighter around me. I was glad he couldn't see me, or smell the rush of perfume that had permeated his coat.I wasn’t cold. But I also didn’t want to give the coat back, so I added, “Thank you again for your jacket.”
“It was nothing.” His normal, stern tone was the same as always, but the heat in his gaze told a different story. And the questions he’d been asking about my life, as if he truly cared, had revealed a new facet to this enigmatic man.
We stood next to the railing on the topmost observation deck, Giovanni staring at the side of my face, and me marveling at the glittering moonlight that reflected off the sea. Was it possible that the man I was crushing on had a split personality disorder? Only earlier that day, he’d been barking at me, demanding I stay in my room, and generally making me feel like he hated me. Sure, I’d masturbated at least a dozen times to the thought of that grumpy voice demanding that I come for him. But the way he spoke to me now was the opposite of that.
