drug that Peter Beck wanted to test on a trial of fifty willing and paid human guinea pigs, I studied Roy Slater.
He was due to fly off my island tomorrow morning. All his bills were settled. His signed NDA locked in my safe with copies lodged with my lawyer. He’d come to paradise, slept with a goddess, and now would return to his humdrum life and forever remember the experience that I’d given him.
I wanted to fucking kill him.
But…I wouldn’t.
Because that would be bad for business.
He ran a hand through his hair, looking dishevelled and rushed. A far sight from the man I’d met on the beach who’d negotiated for Eleanor’s company. “A million.”
I cocked my head, my silver aviators protecting my eyes from the tropical sun. The sun had reached a scorching thirty-eight degrees centigrade today, ensuring I wore a cream linen suit, rather than dark cashmere. Even with a white shirt and no tie, I still fought my body’s urge to sweat.
After work, I planned to vanish into the sea for the rest of the afternoon. To allow the ocean to wash away my heat and my constantly consuming hunger for Eleanor.
I could still taste her.
Her pussy on my tongue. Her release in my mouth.
Fuck.
I’d woken with my hand fisting my cock this morning and cum all over my stomach. Denying myself while awake ensured I’d started dreaming of her at night. Even with distance between us, I was slipping. Falling in ways I couldn’t fucking permit.
“A million for what precisely?” I asked softly, smoothing my lapel. A Hawk diamond flashed in my cufflinks.
I narrowed my eyes. Had Roy Slater bought her a diamond? Would Jinx earn another precious stone? If each guest fell in love with her, she’d have a fortune by the time I let her go.
Goddammit.
That thought blew another hole in my chest.
My hands itched to grab the spoon by my coffee to scoop out his eyes. To remove all his memories of the girl who belonged to me in every fucking way.
“For Jinx.” He swallowed hard. “I want to…eh, buy her. To request a trade.”
I stiffened in my chair. “A trade?”
“Cash for your goddess.” He nodded. “I give you my word I’ll look after her. I’ll respect her. I would never share her, and she’d be given a life fit for any princess.” His voice lowered with need. “I want to look after her. To love her.”
Ah, Christ.
Men were so goddamn predictable.
This wasn’t the first time a guest had asked to take a girl home, and I’m sure it wouldn't be the last. I never said yes. Ever. I could never be sure of the girl’s well-being or trust the word of a gentleman who came to my shores.
But…
Ever since standing over Eleanor while she slept, I’d done my best to fix my problem. I wanted her gone but didn’t necessarily know how. If I just let her go…she could tell anyone about my little operation here. If I killed her, she’d haunt me for the rest of my fucking days.
But…if I sold her…
My heart crashed and collided with my ribs, but I yanked hard on its leash, making it cower in the corner.
Something had to be done.
I couldn’t keep this up.
I couldn’t keep avoiding her.
I couldn’t pretend she didn’t exist or ignore that something bound us together.
The only way to be free of her awful curse would be to get her off my island.
For good.
And a solution had just fallen serendipitously into my lap.
Chapter Thirty-Two
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AFTER Roy Slater accosted me on the path, I received a summons.
For a full rotation of earth, I’d existed in a heightened sense of fear. Last night, I’d tried to find Jupiter, Calico, and Neptune to eat dinner with them but only found an empty dining room. Jealousy wasn’t there, either, and I’d returned to eat the food waiting on my deck, then sat up for most of the night watching the moon track its way through stars.
This morning, I’d chosen to say in my villa. I didn’t want to run into Roy Slater again, or any other man for that matter. My ability to converse had been well and truly stripped away.
Breakfast had been delivered by a usual pretty staff member, a few new clothes arrived to replace the ones I’d lost, and I tried to lose myself in a book loaded on an e-reader that I’d found in the bedside drawer.
It didn’t work.
My eyes skimmed words, but my brain remained firmly fixated on Sully. On