know.”
“But he figured it out? After all these years?” Cal stalked toward me, narrowing his eyes. “Does he have proof?”
I bristled. “Proof of what?”
“That you killed dear ‘ole Mum and Dad?”
My temper turned stealthy and silent, switching my voice into a snake. “No.”
“But could he?”
One second.
One moment to lie or confess.
My hands balled and I hissed, “Only you know how I did it. How I used the same drugs they tested on my strays. How I slipped a sedative into their drinks when they dined on food bought with wealth paid for by animal suffering. How I watched them drown in the very same ocean I now rule.” I closed the distance between us, begging him to pick a fight. Wanting bloodshed, needing it.
But Cal just smiled. “Good job I’m not one for telling secrets, sir.”
“Then he knows nothing and can prove nothing.”
“But he can follow through on his threat.”
I ripped off my blazer and yanked at my tie. “He can try.” Clawing at my cufflinks, I pulled up the sleeves of my shirt until muggy air caressed my forearms. “But I’ll be waiting for him, and the Java Sea can have another Sinclair to feast on.”
Chapter Nine
PERHAPS I DESERVED MY recent capture, trafficking, and messy existence. Maybe I was na?ve and stupid, after all.
How else could I explain why I attracted pain these days? How did I not see the repercussions for sleeping with Sully that came in the form of disgruntled goddesses and curse-dripping envy?
After Jealousy left me last night, I’d spent a sleepless evening going over every conversation Sully and I had shared. I permitted myself to be brave enough to admit that some confessions had seemed heartfelt and real, despite his almost immediate denial of such a thing.
But one question didn’t add up.
If Sully was the caveman and it was his diamond resting in my bedside table, then who was Roy Slater? Had it truly been him I slept with or was that Sully too? And if it wasn’t him…that was even worse than him not being the caveman because how could he experience that with me and then pass me over to someone else?
Those questions ensured I had no appetite when breakfast arrived and added to the uncomfortable obsession to confront him by afternoon. I was a shaky, jumpy mess, but I didn’t want to live in my nonsensical thoughts anymore.
This second-guesser wasn’t me.
This pining, whiny girl would not be tolerated anymore.
So that was how I found myself prowling the orchid-lined pathways, squinting in hot sunlight, wearing a white dress with silver pinstripes glittering in the material. I didn’t bother with shoes, and the sand did its best to burn my soles, even with hopscotching on the shadows.
I’d planned on heading to Sully’s office, to confront him, to demand to know if he was going to sell me or keep me. Either way, I needed to know so I could somehow find a way to accept my future.
But as I’d neared the fork leading to his workspace, he suddenly appeared, stalking with balled hands and rumpled shirt in the opposite direction. His hair was wild, his eyes blue fury, his blazer missing to reveal a white shirt slightly translucent with sweat.
Apart from yesterday with elixir running in his veins, I’d never seen him so unkempt, so volatile.
Pika shot after him a second later, a little tornado on grass-coloured wings.
Something commanded I stay silent and not call out. Instead, I followed him quietly, chasing his quick storm, hearing the faint rumble of his anger in the cloudless sky, until we reached the main beach.
Skittles appeared from wherever she’d been, flitting beside me like a moth searching for moonlight. I smiled at her, hanging back and choosing to voyeur from my protective bush as Sully continued his stalk to the podium overlooking the helipad. The same throne where he’d stood and welcomed me that first day.
Shoving his hands into his navy slacks pockets, he kept his eyes trained on the helicopter, his brow furrowed, his jaw set tight.
A few moments later, Roy Slater appeared from the laneway leading to guest accommodations, his shoulders slouched and a pissed-off expression on his handsome older face.
The second he appeared, Sully jolted as if he physically held himself back from launching from his royal ledge and smiting the poor guest into dust.
Roy looked around, flinching as Cal appeared and gestured cordially at the helicopter. As the two men headed down the jetty, Cal glanced up at Sully who vibrated above like