that,” he lies. Even if I did nothing wrong, I’m still the reason everything is happening. “I’ll go talk to Max and see what’s happening next.”
When I hear them talking in the other room, I stay still and lean with my ear in their direction. They’re too far away for me to make out the words. At the sound of their footsteps, I start messing with the dough again. They both walk in with serious expressions.
“Aspen, Ryker told me about your indiscretions. Mainly about them being dead.” I chew on my bottom lip. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t think there might be something to it.”
I peer at Ryker, and a pained expression mars his face. “Whiskey, I’m sorry. But with everything going on, I thought the more information he has, the better.” I flash a small smile. He’s probably right.
With a heavy sigh, I begin by telling him their names and their jobs. “After they left the island, I never heard from them again.”
“They were all married?”
Tears threaten and I whirl around to look outside the kitchen window, not wanting to see the judgments in their faces. My vision blurs. “I was stupid, young and so badly wanted to leave the island. Thought if they wanted me enough…” But they never did. I was used and tossed aside like a whore. It wasn’t until the third time that I felt like one.
“Aspen, I get it. Men know what to say to impressionable young women to get what they want. Did their wives know?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
Max types the names into his computer one by one, reading out loud how they died. They deemed two suicides, with the third being murdered.
“Did any of them hurt you?” he asks.
I rub my temples. I’m not proud of who I was in the past. The desperation is demeaning. “Not really. Chuck Adams was the last of the three. I realized that no matter what I did, these guys wouldn’t help me. He tried to get a little more physical with me. Wanted me to do things I wasn’t comfortable with.” I keep my gaze glued to the outside.
Ryker’s chair drags across the floor and I imagine him walking out of the room, not wanting to hear this, and a pain in my chest spikes. Instead, his arms wrap around my chest and he kisses the top of my head. “It’s okay,” he whispers.
He rotates me so our bodies are mashed together. I whisper, “Thank you.” When I pull back, Ryker wipes my tears away with his thumb. “I learned how to defend myself, so he didn’t hurt me. Rather, I left him with a broken nose.” He flashes an amused smirk.
That was the end of trusting men to help me. Determination to do it myself fueled the success of my business.
Max hums. “And he’s the one who was murdered.”
The guilt I was hoping he could ease, grows like a vine inside me. “Do you think that was because of me?”
He scratches his head. “I’m not sure how something that happened thousands of miles away and they left there like it never happened, had anything to do with their untimely deaths, but we can’t discount it.”
My prison kept me safe from the consequences of my actions. They are dead because of me. The gods righted the men's wrong. And now this… this is my punishment. I’m just uncertain what this is.
I rush out of the kitchen to the bathroom, locking the door behind me as bile from my stomach burns my throat.
“Can I stay in here with you?” Ryker asks later that evening, bringing my last bag into the bedroom. He stands and shoves his hands into his athletic pants. Today weighs on his body, making him appear smaller.
“You don’t have to. I’ll be fine.” I dig into my bag to find my toiletry bag. When I find it, I walk into the bathroom to avoid watching him leave.
The lights in the bedroom are dim and Ryker’s tucked into the bed, leaning against the headboard.
“But I want to,” he says when he meets my questioning glance.
With a quick snort, I reply, “So it seems.” I pick out a nightshirt, ignoring the heat coming from his side of the bed as he watches me change. “Ryker, I’m drama you don’t need. I’m giving you an out.” It’s my last attempt to make him leave. Except, the words sour on my lips as soon as they escape.
He yanks back the sheets and pats the space