Dawson reached out and grabbed my phone, typing in the notes again.
I know you’re upset. Please give me a chance to explain before you say anything to anyone.
I didn’t understand why he didn’t just text it. More secret spy―or secret villain―bullshit. I glowered at him but gave a curt nod before following Jada off the yacht. I glanced back at the two gorgeous, dark-haired men standing at the helm, and my heart flipped in my chest. What would I do if Dawson was the villain of the story?
My pleasure at seeing the name of the ship when I’d arrived had disappeared. I’d forgotten to ask him about it. Was it random, or did he really remember that Ada Lovelace and Mae Jemison were two of my favorite female scientists?
When I turned away, my eyes caught on a vessel opposite the Ada Mae. An enormous man watched me from the stern. There was something authoritative about him that had me thinking federal agent. I wondered if Dawson would be arrested and if it was my words below deck that would be the catalyst. I wondered what I’d tell Truck and Jersey about it.
I joined Jada at the front of the yacht club. She went inside, sitting on a velvet-and-gold couch in the lobby while we waited for her driver to show up in the bulletproof SUV she’d been driving us around in for two days.
“What happened?” Jada asked.
I shrugged.
“He kissed you. Dax said you were otherwise occupied, which means kissing or more. I leave you alone for two minutes, and you can’t keep your hands off each other,” Jada teased.
It brought back the feel of Dawson’s lips and hands on my body, his tongue seeking the depths of me. My body filled with heat, tingling bubbles of longing. I’d had a taste of something I’d wanted for years, and now I wasn’t sure if it was good or bad, because that one little taste would never be enough. But I was also furious with him. I didn’t know how to keep the anger from entwining in with the other emotions.
“Was it that bad?” she asked.
I laughed. “It was that good.”
She smiled. “That makes no sense, Baioretto.”
“Exactly. Nothing makes sense.” I stared at her. “Tell me again why you spend so much time with each other.”
She rolled her eyes. “If you insinuate one more time that there is―”
“That’s not what I mean. I get there’s nothing romantic going on between you, but it isn’t just friendship either, is it?” I demanded.
She looked down at her phone, flipping it over and over as she did so often. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”
“Tell me about your dad’s business.”
She froze, eyes seeking mine with fear coasting over her face. It took a long time for her to reply. “Otōsan has a hand in a bunch of industries. He’s like an entrepreneurial guru of sorts. Why?”
“Does Dawson work for him?”
She stared, eyes growing larger, darting around the club.
“What did Dawson say about it?” she asked.
“I’m asking you.”
She shook her head, stood, and went to the door where the SUV had pulled up.
“I don’t keep tabs on it all. If you want to know, you’ll have to ask him,” she said, eyes shifting in a way that told me she knew exactly what I meant but, like Dawson, wasn’t going to talk about it.
I followed her into the back seat of the vehicle, my brain turning. She was tangled up in this as much as Dawson.
I wished I hadn’t come to New York. I wished I had never found out any of it.
Then, the feel of Dawson’s body tight up against mine returned, and I knew it wasn’t the truth. I’d wanted to be a part of his world, and this was the price. Secrets unraveling around him. Around them both.
♫ ♫ ♫
Jada and I had spent the afternoon at the boutiques she loved. While Yuriko designed the largest part of the clothes in her closet, Jada never really stopped shopping. The salespeople knew her by name, and as soon as we walked in, they pulled out a dozen things that would fit her style. My brain was still filled with all the puzzle pieces and imaginative stories it could concoct. It made me distant, and Jada felt it.
She compensated in the only way Jada knew how—by throwing money at things. By trying to buy me a dress for dinner that I refused. Not only because she was already paying for the costume