interior. I hid my cringe. The thought of sitting on a cured animal hide repulsed me. I’d much rather pineapple leather or any of the other alternatives available these days, but society were slow to accept change, and the rich didn’t give a fuck.
A hostess in a matching uniform approached with an icy hand towel and a dewy bottle of water. “Welcome aboard, Mr. Sinclair.”
“Thank you.” I pinned on a thin smile and sat in the oily embrace of a dead cow. Accepting the towel, I fanned it out and wiped my hands.
“We’re just waiting on final approval from the tower. Be ten to fifteen minutes before we can depart.” She bowed, her black hair tied neatly in a bun. “I apologise for the delay.”
“It’s fine.” Grabbing my laptop from my bag, I cracked open the screen, ready to draft an email giving the board one last chance. If they evicted my brother from my building, they could keep their jobs…and their heads. They had precisely three hours until I landed in Manila to comply. If they didn’t…well, I’d be in the market for a new board and possibly a burial site to farewell my brother.
I was no longer a runty kid who had no support or strength. Drake would no longer win against me. He hadn’t in a long time.
The helicopter co-pilot appeared with my duffel, smiling as he placed the bag on the chair next to me. “Safe travels, sir. We’ll look forward to your speedy return.”
“Appreciate the fast response getting me here.”
“Always.” His footsteps sounded on the aircraft steps as I returned my attention to a very strongly worded email. The hostess had vanished into the cockpit, and I soaked up the silence of being alone.
My thoughts left the realm of work and murder, settling back on my island, trespassing on a villa where a certain dangerous girl lay.
Eleanor would still be sleeping.
She would wake and wouldn’t be any wiser that I was no longer there to torment her.
The distance would be good for us. Cal would be there to keep any threats at bay. I could return to my life before she’d scrambled it.
She was due to serve in Euphoria in three days.
The travel alone would take me two days—there and back. That left me twenty-four hours to deal with this catastrophe and return. To interrogate the man who would be next to sample my greatest goddess. To slip elixir down her gorgeous throat and curse myself all over again.
Cal had strict instructions to watch her. To be gentle but firm.
I didn’t like it.
I hated the crawling sensation under my suit, whispering that I should’ve brought her with me. I should keep her close in case something happened. But that was fucking ridiculous. Jinx belonged to me just like the food prepared in my restaurants and the staff who cultivated my gardens.
I didn’t need to constantly monitor her existence.
She was mine.
Therefore, she was safe.
Cricking my neck, I scowled at the screen and a few measly lines of text. How the hell did I word an email that demanded my brother be evicted and any of his requests denied without sounding like a whingey kid with a bad case of sibling rivalry?
Shit.
Footsteps sounded on the aircraft steps again, wrenching my head up.
I’d hoped the arrival was the airplane pilot, given approval from the tower to taxi to our departure point.
My heart stopped.
Sub-zero temperatures turned my blood to ice. “Calvin.” My voice did nothing to show my seething displeasure. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I got a ride after you.” He lugged a bag over his shoulder, moving down the aisles to fall into a chair in front of mine, then turned to look over the headrest. “Not letting you deal with that cunt on your own.”
“I wanted you to take care of my investments.” My teeth ground together, turning my words to dust. “You can’t do that if you’re not there, dipshit.”
“Arbi has it under control. They’ll be fine. The girls know their schedule for Euphoria. Jealousy will help prepare them. You have a loyal, capable team, Sinclair. They can handle us gone for a few days.”
“That wasn’t the god. Damn. Point.”
Eleanor.
She was still too new. Too flighty. Too aware of her imprisonment.
Without a daily reminder that there was no chance of escape…it would become a temptation too great to ignore.
I’d give her forty-eight hours before she attempted a freedom expedition.