Illusion (Swept Away Book 1) (11 page)

“Sorry, princess. There won’t be any eight-hundred-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets.”

“I don’t care about luxurious sheets. I don’t even have luxurious sheets at home.” I ignored his surprised expression and continued. “What if a wild hog comes and tries to attack us?”

“Wild boar.”

“What?” I looked around.

“A wild boar might attack us. Not a wild hog.”

“Do you think I really care about the semantics of the situation?!” My voice rose, and he laughed gently. I watched as his face transformed from its more natural mature look into a lighter, more boyish expression. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling back at him. “It’s really not that funny,” I continued softly.

“Don’t worry, Bianca. I’ll protect you.”

“Uh-huh.” I stared at his bare chest and bulging biceps and then looked away. “How do you intend to do that?”

“I’ll watch out for you”—he shrugged—“in case anything tries to attack.”

“Thanks,” I muttered softly, then sat down on the sand, lay back, and closed my eyes. I heard Jakob lie down as well, and we drifted off to our own thoughts.

T
he sound of silence is deafening, especially to someone like me, who’d grown up with the constant buzz of traffic and sirens in New York City. The sand was coarse and hard, and I was incredibly aware of how close Jakob and I were to each other. I shifted in the sand a few times and sighed.

“You can’t sleep either?” he whispered, and I considered pretending I was asleep. He didn’t wait for me to respond but continued talking. “When I was younger, all I wanted was silence. Now I wonder why.”

“I used to want silence as well. Silence made me feel safe. I mean, yes, sometimes, the silence makes you feel all alone,” I responded, and stared at the clear, dark sky. “But sometimes you want that quiet space to just be with your thoughts. Other times—times like this—well, you don’t really want to be alone with your thoughts, do you?” I paused and then attempted to change the direction the conversation had taken. “I’ve never seen so many stars before.”

“Neither have I.” His voice was gruff. “The sky is beautiful tonight.”

“I feel like we’re in a whole new world.” I nodded as I stared up. “A whole new beautiful but completely desolate world.”

“Why didn’t you read to me everything that was in the note?” His tone changed, and I froze.

“What note?” My breath caught.

“The note you read earlier.”

“I don’t understand,” I mumbled, as he sat up and looked down at me with questioning eyes. How could he know there was another line? I’d watched as the note had blown down the beach.

“You didn’t read all of it, did you.”

“How did you know?”

“I didn’t until just now.” He leaned back. “I had a feeling that there was more to what you read. It was the way you read it and then paused and said that was it. I was pretty sure that that wasn’t all there was.”

“Yeah.” I made a face. “Sorry.”

“So what did it say?”

“Something about our two bodies being one, but we might not always be so united.”

“You didn’t have to hide that from me.” He shifted closer to me and ran a finger down my cheek. “I want you to trust me, Bianca.”

“I want to trust you, too.” I stilled as his fingers brushed my lips gently, and then he withdrew his hand and ran his fingers through his hair. I wanted to reach over and touch his lips and see if they were as soft as they looked.

“You have a thing about intimacy, don’t you.” He changed his line of questioning, and I looked away from him and frowned. “Humans are such funny creatures.” His voice was soft.

I looked back toward him. His face was illuminated by the moon, and there was something inscrutable about his expression.

“I’m not sure what you mean.” I shivered.

“In the trunk, you made a comment about us being intimate. Then you were so agitated by us being tied together.”

“Who wouldn’t be agitated?”

“I’m just saying that I noticed. You have intimacy issues.”

“I don’t have any issues.” My voice dropped, and my hands lay like wooden blocks at my side.

All of a sudden, I became aware of just how little I had on—and how little he did. I wanted to cover myself but didn’t want to prove his point any further. I knew that part of this game we were playing was mental as well as physical. He was trying to test me and push me, to see if he could break me by making me uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure if he could trust me either. I wasn’t going to let him see any weakness. I couldn’t. Not when I didn’t know what his agenda was. I was attracted to him in a way that I’d never been attracted to another man. The animal magnetism I felt toward him made me want to push him down on the sand and kiss him. I had to keep reminding myself that I didn’t know why he had been put on the island with me. If the reasons were nefarious, I was going to have to be on high alert. I couldn’t allow my body to fool me into trusting him too much. Not yet.

“You look naked.” His voice grew husky as he gazed down at me. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were a siren trying to seduce me.” His voice drifted as he looked out to the water. “Or a nymph. You could be a water nymph.”

“I’m not trying to seduce you.”

“I know.” He scratched his chest. “What would you say if I touched you right now?”

“I wouldn’t say anything.” I moved away from him slightly. “I would slap your hand away.” I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.

“There’s no need to be scared.” His voice dropped. “I only touch women who want me to.”

“That’s good.”

“Do you find me attractive, Bianca?”

“I haven’t thought about it.”

“They say the devil dresses in leather and his mistresses dress in satin. . . .” His voice trailed off. “It’s a strange thing, the two of us being here.”

“It is indeed.” I sighed, my head spinning and my eyes drowsy. I wanted to sleep so badly, but I didn’t want to let my guard down around him. Not now that he was acting all funny.

Silence befell us again, and he stood and stretched. His stomach muscles rippled as he flexed, and I watched him carefully. I felt an odd thrill as I stared at him. Part of me was scared by his obvious strength, and another part of me was turned on by how hot he was. I was disappointed in myself for my base attraction to him. He was sexy, and my body was
taking notice even though my brain was screaming out that it didn’t trust him. I wanted to feel the strength of his body holding me down as he kissed me all over. I wanted to feel the touch of his tongue on my already ultra-sensitive skin. My head felt hot with fever, at the memory of his body pressed against mine in the water. All he had to do was reach down and grab my arms, and I would be like putty in his hands.

“How limber are you, Bianca?” His voice was suddenly above me, and I blinked up at him and swallowed hard.

“Why?”

“I have an idea.”

“What’s your idea?”

“Do you trust me?” He kneeled down and looked me in the eyes. “It won’t work unless you trust me.”

“I don’t know.” I stared into his clear, open eyes, and I could feel a part of me weakening. “What’s the idea?”

“I need to know that you trust me first.” He spoke lightly, but his stare was intense.

“I trust you,” I whispered back, lying, and then yawned.

“You’re tired. You should sleep. We’ll talk again in the morning.”

“I’m okay.” I shook my head. “Tell me.”

“Your safety is my concern, Bianca. I want the truth as much as you do.”

My body stilled at his words. What did he know about the truth? What truth was he talking about? The truth of why we were on the island, or the truth of my mother’s death? I knew all my thoughts were rambling together incoherently and that
I had no real reason to believe he knew anything about my mother. I closed my eyes for a second and tried to calm down. I didn’t want to say anything that would arouse any suspicion in him, if he was here for nefarious reasons. I had to remember that I was the only one who knew what my father suspected. Not even David knew the full truth. I had to be very careful with what I said.

“I want us both to remain safe,” I said as I opened my eyes and sat up. I attempted to brush my hair back as I looked at him,

“So you’re very rich, aren’t you?”

“I have money, yes.” He nodded, his eyes watching me like a hawk. “Why?”

“Just curious. I’m trying to figure out if you were kidnapped because of me or because they wanted you for another reason.”

“That would be helpful to know. At first, before I saw you and you reminded me of who you were, I assumed it was because I had money.”

“Yeah, it would make more sense for you to be kidnapped for money. I just don’t know why the same kidnapper would take both of us. I don’t have any money.”

“Unless it’s some sort of Kidnappers-R-Us sort of scenario.
We’ll kidnap whoever you like, for a fee
,” he said jokingly, and then gave me a wry smile. “Sorry, that wasn’t funny, was it.”

“Not really.” I gave him a short smile and then spoke again. “How important is your money to you?”

“Not as important as the truth.”

“What about life?”

“Do I think money is more important than life? Is that what you’re asking me?” He cocked his head and surveyed my face.

“Yes. What would you give up for money?”

“I wouldn’t give up my chance at true happiness.” His tone was tight. “I wouldn’t give up my life.”

“Would you give up love?”

“Would I give up love for money?” His face distorted. “What sort of questions are these?”

“I was just curious.” I shrugged. “I was just wondering how important money is to someone who’s rich.”

“I see. Isn’t money important to everyone? To me, it’s not more important than life. And I don’t know about love. Is it more important than love? I don’t think so. But then, what is the cost of love?” His tone changed. “How much is a broken heart worth?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged.

“Is it worth a life?”

“I don’t think—”

“How far would you go for revenge? Do you think we should be responsible for the sins of our fathers?” His voice held a hint of anger.

“I do.” I nodded, my voice earnest. “At this point in my life, I do.”

“I agree. Though, I don’t know that it’s really a black-and-white matter, is it?”

“I don’t know.” I swallowed hard as I realized that Jakob’s eyes had glazed over. Suddenly the night air felt very cool against my skin.

“But I’m getting too serious, aren’t I.” He gave me a short smile. “I should let you sleep.”

“It’s fine. I’m just confused. You were going to tell me something and then you just changed the subject. Why did you ask me if I trusted you?”

“I think you’re holding something back, and I’m confused myself. I don’t understand why someone was following you. I don’t understand why a man came up to me and questioned me after I sat at a table with you for a few seconds, and I don’t understand why we’re both here. I was asking you if you trusted me because I think that’s going to be the only way we figure this out.”

“I don’t know what to think.” I replied honestly. His words made sense logically. And maybe it would be helpful in other ways for me to tell him what was going on. I just didn’t know what to do. How could I tell him that I suspected my mother had been murdered by my father’s former business partner? How could I tell him that a billion-dollar business was possibly mine? How could I tell him that my ex-boyfriend was the son of the man I thought had murdered my mother? How could I tell him that I’d been investigating one of the top corporations in the world for fraud and murder? How could I tell him, when nobody else knew? I thought about the patents and incorporation papers I’d put in Rosie’s bag the night I’d been kidnapped. I knew that whoever was after
me wanted those papers. They wanted to know what information I had. I’d made a mistake telling David that my father had worked for Bradley Corporation. I’d wanted more access into the company. I’d wanted a meeting with his brother, the elusive CEO, Mattias Bradley. All I’d gotten in return was a series of warnings to stay away. I’d been lucky and surprised when David had called me and told me Mattias’s plan. I’d gone along with it because I had no choice. I had to trust in David. However, I hadn’t expected this. I hadn’t expected Jakob.

“I just think that it’ll be better if we try to talk things out,” he said, and I stared at him trying to figure out who this man was and what role he played in everything. “But let’s leave it for the morning. We can talk more then. Let’s try to get some sleep.”

“It’s hard to sleep here,” I said, trying to talk my way out of my discomfort and confusion. “I thought New York was humid, but this air is so thick.”

“Yes, it is.” He nodded his agreement and sat back down next to me. “Tell me, Bianca. Do you think you could kill someone if you had to?”

“What?” I swallowed as my body froze. “What do you mean?”

He stared at me for a few seconds with hard, glittering eyes, and then he laughed.

“Nothing. I’m being too solemn.” He shook his head. “Let’s get some sleep.”

I lay back down on the sand and closed my eyes. Even
though my body was exhausted, my brain refused to let me sleep. Every hair on my body was on high alert as I lay there waiting to see what would happen. My skin tingled from awareness as I felt Jakob staring at me. I wanted to roll over or run away and hide.