grocery stores and everything an inhabited island is supposed to have.”
“What?” I blinked. “No way. Who lives here?”
“People.”
I searched his eyes. He stared right back. It made sense. His staff had to come from somewhere. It was just that I always associated Dolos Island with the Caliban Manor and nothing else.
“How big is the house?”
“About fifteen thousand square feet.”
“Wow,” I whispered, stepping away, a little further now.
My feet wouldn’t keep walking though, not even halfway to the black iron gates. Maybe it was because now I knew I’d have to go down that gravelly, winding road to get there, or because I was half expecting the water to flood back up. And what if it did and I was standing at the edge here? Worry rendered me motionless. What if the water came back? What if it covered us and we drowned here? I swallowed hard. What if that was my penance for my wish, for my success?
“You worry too much,” River said, startling me.
“What?” I met his gaze.
“The water won’t come. That’s what you’re worried about, isn’t it?”
“How do you know it won’t? How do you know a wave won’t hit us and drown us?”
“Because I’ve stood here countless times and I’ve taken the drive to and from the house every year this week.”
“And you just . . . trust that it won’t happen?” I eyed his profile.
“I don’t trust that it won’t happen.” River glanced over at me, a small smile tugging the side of his mouth.
My heart beat so quickly, I couldn’t remember what it was I was worried about a second ago. I blinked away from his gaze and looked back again, toward where I knew the gates were; an expanse of nothingness covered it.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked after a moment.
“Yes.” I followed him to the dark gray R8 that awaited us at the side of the house. “Why do you have such nice cars if you have nowhere to really drive them?”
“Who says I have nowhere to drive them?” He glanced at me once we were inside the car. I pulled my seatbelt on. He didn’t.
“I don’t know. I mean, I guess you can drive it around Dolos if it’s such a developed island like you say it is.” I shrugged.
“I drive in many places.”
“Do you look forward to the party every year?”
“Not really. I’m not a fan of having strangers in my home.” He shot me a look. “You’re an exception.”
I didn’t want that statement to make me smile, but I couldn’t help that it did. “You’re about to let a lot of strangers into your house if you’re serious about selling it.”
“Nope.”
“What do you mean nope?” I let out a laugh. “People will want to tour.”
“People will do virtual tours. That’s what you’re here for.”
“This isn’t a video camera.” I waved my camera.
“Photos will be enough.”
“Not . . . that’s not how this works, not for a house listed at fifteen million dollars.”
“It’ll have to be enough and because I’m sure you want this deal to go through as much as I do, I’m assuming you’ll clean up the photographs and make them work. Surely you’ll get a cut out of that as well.”
I stared at him for a second, jaw twitching. He stared right back. For someone touting the whole it’s all in the past thing, he sure had a sour attitude. A sour attitude that for some crazy reason I wanted to right. I didn’t want him to see me the way he saw them. I wasn’t like them.
“Look.” I took a deep breath and tried again. “I know our families have a long history of . . . disdain.”
“Disdain?” He scoffed. “Your family started a rumor that we were devil worshippers.”
“And on behalf of them, I apologize for the inconvenience, but you don’t seem to be doing badly. I mean, you own so much land outside of this one island. What more could you possibly want?”
“You’d be surprised at the things I want.” His expression darkened when he said those words.
My heart dipped into my stomach. The dream flashed in my head again and I seemed to lose my train of thought for a moment. I blinked away from him and shook my head for good measure.
“What I’m saying is that I can’t imagine being called names was that much of an inconvenience to a family like yours.”
“It certainly wasn’t an inconvenience to the Guzmans to have our name tarnished. Your family employs most of the island.”
“Yours