TWELVE
HIS GENIUS PLAN was sort of genius. On their return to their first date cabana, she was dubious. But the bed was gone, completely. In its place was a table and two chairs. They ate the food waiting under silver and then he led her to the beach… to two hammocks set up side by side. They each had a little table attached to the wooden frames, space for their drinks. Virgin. Always.
Zane said the next time she offered herself to him, he wouldn’t be a gentleman, so he wanted to be sure she was sure.
For the next seven nights, they did the same thing, and Thea managed to contain herself enough to stick to kissing… and maybe a little stray petting in their cart.
Days were spent in the office. Evenings on the beach. Life was almost perfect.
“A long list,” Thea said, gazing up into the stars, her fingers lost in her hair. “There are a million places I want to go.”
“Give me an example.”
Their hammocks were staggered so they lay face to face, just a foot between them.
“Italy, I always wanted to go there.”
“So why don’t you?” he asked.
She laughed. “You think I have the time or money to fly halfway around the globe?” With a lazy nod, she highlighted the exception. “Present situation excluded.”
“I think—” a buzz cut him off.
When she twisted to see what it was, he was checking his watch.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. Alarm crossed his expression. “Zane?”
He rolled out of his hammock and sprang to his feet. “I’m sorry, babe.”
“Sorry?”
He came around to her side. “I have to take you home.”
“What?” she asked, surprised by the sudden shift. “What happened?”
Bending over to put his arms around her, Zane helped her to stand in the sand. “I’m sorry.”
Apologies weren’t necessary. His urgency to get her away from the beach and back to the cart scared her a little. Not scared for her life, but scared he was going through something bad.
On the road to the hotel his focus was intense. She didn’t get it or like it. Something had happened and she wanted to support him. Were they there yet? Involved enough to share burdens and confide in each other.
They pulled into the side parking lot where the carts lined up.
“I’m sorry,” Zane said once again, grabbing her hand to pull her across the front seat of the cart and onto the asphalt.
“Zane,” she said, hurrying to catch up when he dragged her to the door and unlocked it with his thumbprint.
The door popped and he held it open. “Babe,” he said, bowing to kiss her. “I’m sorry, but I’ll see you in the morning, okay? Go to your room, stay inside. Don’t come out again.”
With a hand on her back, he pushed her into the corridor. Before she could say a word, the door closed.
For a few seconds, she stood there dumbfounded. What a way to end a date? What the hell was going on? She wasn’t pissed, or angry, or upset, she was worried. Had something dangerous happened? Something that might threaten life and limb? A natural disaster? A terrorist parachuted in? All kinds of horror scenarios lit her mind. Good thing she trusted Zane. Whatever it was, he’d fix it. He’d never leave her, or anyone, in danger.
Figuring out what his watch alerted him to was impossible, and following him would be ridiculous. If he wanted her to know, he’d have told her. If it was some internal thing, he’d tell her tomorrow, or Alessia would come back with gossip after her excursion the next day.
She went to her room, using her thumbprint to get inside.
“Alessia,” Thea called out, expecting all kinds of tales from her electrified sister. The excitement about their host hadn’t calmed down a jot since they got there. “I’m back.”
Taking out her earrings, Thea slipped her shoes off under the vanity and tossed her jewelry on the surface.
No response. Maybe the excitement had been too much for her sister and she’d passed out already.
She finished removing the pins from her hair and checked how her makeup held up.
Not bad.
“Alessia,” she called again.
Still, no response. Usually, after an evening with her friends and their gracious host, her sister wouldn’t shut up. Sleep had to be the answer. She went around to check, but Alessia’s bed was made, flat, no sign of anyone. Crossing her sister’s room to check for light under the bathroom door, she found none but knocked anyway.
Did they have candles on the island? Most likely. Her sister lit them at home sometimes when soaking in the tub. Except, wouldn’t there still be some flicker of light?
“Alessia, are you in there?”
No, opening the door revealed…nothing, no one inside. The closet was empty too. Okay, now all bets were off; distress blasted in Technicolor. If there was some drama and her sister was safe, fair enough, she’d let it be. But her sister was out there, and with Zane running off the way he had, trouble, of some kind, lurked. She went back to grab her shoes and put them on while leaving the bedroom.
Drinks in the main dining room, that’s what Alessia said, right? Yes, because she’d been ecstatic Roman was hosting a Q&A session. Drinks, conversation, like they were just hanging out, that’s what Alessia said. It was only supposed to last a couple of hours. Roman wouldn’t want to answer questions all night. Maybe it had run over. That was possible. These things weren’t set in stone. Even if Roman had gone, her sister sometimes stayed out with friends. Except usually there would be some sign in the room she’d been back to change her shoes or grab something.
Going up the hallway, confirming Alessia’s well-being was all that mattered. Okay, so, yeah, she was old enough to stay out late, but keeping her safe was the whole purpose of them traveling together. Checking was basically her job. And there was no need to panic. Not yet. Zane’s drama could be something in the kitchen or one of the rooms. Something with staff or another guest. Maybe there was a wild animal trapped…
Noise from the reception got louder the closer she got. A chill swept through her. Anxiety was warranted, she could feel it.
Striding on, she opened the door intending to find out what was happening. Except as soon as she stepped forward, someone got in her way. A man.
“Go back to your room.” The statement was such a surprise, all she could do was blink at the tall blond. “You’ll be safe there.”
Whoa, hey, concern became alarm in an instant.
“Safe?” she asked, stopping just short of shoving him. “I’ll be safe when I find my sister.”
Rather than get physical, she swerved around him, continuing on her way to the dining room.
“Wait,” he said, darting after her. “Don’t go in there now.”
“Why?”
“Thea,” he said, putting a hand over hers on the door handle. “You don’t want to go in there.”
She did and couldn’t believe the stranger would presume anything else. And how did he know her name? Did he memorize every guest?
“Excuse me,” she said, drawing her eyes off him and extracting her hand to grab the other door.
No one would stop her. She gave the door a confident push and marched inside.
The different air brought her to an abrupt halt.
Chairs were arranged around a central platform. The stool up there was empty, but the room wasn’t.
Guests crowded in the corner, Alessia included. All close together, no space between. A server on her knees a few feet in front of them sobbed. Something had happened, something shattered their excitement and replaced it with terror.
Zeroing in on what had the women scared, what they stared at wide-eyed, she didn’t linger on Zane. He was there, yes, with a couple of other guys, angled toward the man near the head of the room.
Roman.
Thea hadn’t met him in person, but she didn’t live under a rock. He was a famous actor, she recognized his face.
Though aware of the employee behind her, she didn’t pay him any attention either. Roman, the instigator, the man in the spotlight, noticed her. She interested him, or something interested him.
“Get her out of here, Tripp,” Zane said, slow and steady, without turning around.
One of the guys next to him glanced at her. “She won’t—”
“The elusive Thea,” Roman declared. “The woman too good for the masses. Damn, you must be special. Does your pussy sing?”
Who the fuck did he think…?
Anger and arrogance seeped out of him. Entitled didn’t do his aura justice.
“Watch yourself,” Zane warned in a startling tone.
An employee shouldn’t speak to his boss that way. The last thing she wanted was for him to lose his job sticking up for her.
Before she could say that, Roman laughed. “Oh, yeah, you’re perfect for each other, cuz. You jump in there and defend her, I’m sure she’ll drop to her knees in gratitude later. Gotta have some talent to captivate the Great and Powerful Oz.”
“Disrespect her again and you’ll be on a flight out before the sun rises.”
“You and your fucking island. He is God here,” Roman said, swaying back to grab for the bourbon bottle on the bar. “King and Emperor. That’s how you like it, isn’t it? You and your fucking brother, your fucking asshole friends.” He took a long drink from the bottle then swung it toward the guests in the corner. “You ladies haven’t had the pleasure of my cousin’s company yet. He’s not always the most social guy… does like to tell you everything you’re doing wrong at every opportunity though. He’s a fucking oracle. Invented that yet? Bet you fucking have.”
He started drinking again and wasn’t so quick to stop this time.
Cousin. Zane was Roman’s cousin? He’d never told her that. And the way Roman was talking… Emperor? King? The island was… She didn’t understand. No way it could belong to Zane. Not her Zane. Maybe he was the caretaker, the guy who’d promised his cousin’s fans wouldn’t cause a riot.
“Time to call it a night,” Zane said. “You’ve had enough… Mieux, take the women out of here.”
Thea heard the door behind her open and wanted Alessia and the others to rush out.
Roman lowered the bottle and staggered a few steps. “They stay! They’re my women… They’re all my women!”
“I can’t believe this shit,” Zane muttered.
The guy behind her strode past to go over to him. “What do you need, boss?”
“He’s the boss,” Roman exclaimed. “Boss. Boss. Boss! Always the boss. With his billions and billions. Company rules the globe. He just can’t do no wrong. Him and his best, best buds.”
“You’re supposed to be through with this crap,” the guy they’d called Tripp said. “You got access to the island because you swore you were through with bullshit like this.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Roman drawled.
“Struan left this afternoon,” Tripp muttered to Zane.
“Who the fuck authorized that?”
“Man’s allowed to live his life.”
“Sure about that?” Zane asked. “You seeing this shit? This is what happens.”
“Stop fucking whispering! Stop fucking talking. Goddamn!” Anger seized Roman. “She’s gonna fucking marry him! Who the fuck is he?”
“Enough!” Zane exclaimed. “You’re done. Thea, take the women out of here.”
“No!” Roman shouted. “No! They fucking stay!”
Uh huh, like she cared for his opinion.
Turning to the huddle of women, Thea made eye contact with Alessia and gestured her over. Hesitant, her sister paused to reassure her friends before they’d let her go.
Alessia rushed over and hugged her fast. “Hold the door and get everyone back to their rooms,” she said to her sister. “Safe.”
Her sister nodded and got to work.
“No,” Roman said, starting her way. “Who do you think you are?”
Zane and Tripp crossed the room fast to block his route.
While Alessia ushered everyone to the exit, encouraging them on the way. Thea wouldn’t back down. Until the others were safe, she’d happily be the focus of this asshole’s whatever.
“Who do you think you are?” she retorted. “Because you’ve made a couple of movies, you think you can imprison and terrorize women?”
“You don’t know shit,” Roman spat, swaying forward.
Zane slapped a hand to his shoulder to push him back. “You’re too close to the line.”
“Fuck the line,” Roman said, throwing up his arms to push Zane off as he backed away. “Fuck you, your island, your woman—”
“That’s right,” Zane snapped. “My island, my woman, remember that when your sorry ass is dragging next time the media tears you apart. I won’t be standing there, I won’t be propping you up. Me or my best, best buds. I’m done.”
Thea glanced back just as the last of the women went past Alessia and out. At least, who she thought was the last until her sister nodded at the other side of the room. The server remained crumpled there, sobbing.
“Get back to the room,” Thea said. “I’ll look after her. Don’t open the door to anyone except me. Lock the slider too. Tell everyone to lock their doors.”
Alessia left and the door swung shut. As she headed for the server, Roman noticed he’d lost his flock.
“What the hell!”
Sensing how thin his patience was, Thea hurried to the server and crouched with her. “Honey,” she said, stroking her hair from her face. “Honey, we have to get out of here.”
Through her swollen, wet eyes, the server tried to focus. “Wh… what?”
“We have to go.”
There wasn’t time to process her own feelings about the evening’s revelations or to tune in to Roman’s ramblings. The poor woman had to get out of there before she was subject to more of this insane man’s diatribe.
Putting an arm around the server, Thea helped her to her feet.
“She stays!” Roman demanded. “Both of them stay!”
Not a chance. A couple more guys came through the rear door behind Roman. Their entrance distracted him enough for Thea to get the employee out.
Once in reception, a gaggle of other staff members came rushing over to check their friend.
“Oh my God,” one of the other women said, embracing her blubbing colleague. “What happened?”
“He… he yelled at me… He… blamed me for everything. Screamed at me for ruining his life, his career… said I couldn’t get anything right… said I was worthless.”
The girl was a mess and Roman was an asshole, what a surprise. She didn’t need to bear witness to know that. Alessia was by the door to the corridor that led to their room. She went over and slid an arm around her waist.
“You should be in the room.”
“I waited for you.
And she could chastise her sister for that, except she understood the need. “Let’s get some sleep.”
Alessia didn’t say anything else until they got into the bedroom. They gave each other space to process. She had questions of her own and didn’t fire them at Alessia. Everything had happened so fast. How could so much change in such a short amount of time? She needed to breathe for a few minutes.
Her sister wasn’t of the same mind. As Thea went into her half of the room, Alessia stayed just inside the doorway.
“You’re sleeping with a billionaire?”
Her eyes closed slowly. Didn’t seem fair that Alessia knew the truth only minutes after first sharing a room with Zane. She wanted to scream at him. At least, she should. In truth, she was too stunned to make sense of… any of it. Sleep. Yes, that would help. Maybe she’d wake up and discover it had all been a bad dream.
Sensing Alessia’s approach, Thea opened her eyes. The sea was just visible through the doors to the deck, only just decipherable in the moonlight. She needed it to keep her centered and wished it was easier to hear.
Alessia came right around in front of her. “Thea!”
She admitted her shame. “I didn’t know, okay?”
“You said an employee. Zane Dyce is not an employee!”
“Did you hear me?” Thea asked. “I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know?” Alessia said, folding her arms and leaning back. “Yeah, right. Who doesn’t know Zane Dyce?”
Calming herself, Thea licked her lips. “And you would’ve known it was him? I’ve heard the name in the past, I don’t go around assuming every Bill I meet is Bill Gates. Why should I assume every Zane is Zane Dyce?” Her sister faltered, a tiny bit. “I didn’t know what he looked like… And the guy I was seeing,” or the guy she’d thought she was seeing, “didn’t tell me he owned an island… or that he was Roman’s cousin.”
Her sister dialed her outrage down. “Roman told us.”
“You didn’t know they were family until after you were here either…” Alessia shook her head. “Did you know Zane was here?”
Alessia’s arms dropped to her sides. “No, he didn’t say that.”
Leaving her sheepish sister, Thea went to sit on the bed. “What happened tonight?”
Alessia sighed and came wandering over. “I don’t know. We thought maybe he’d had a drink when we started, but it was fine, you know?”
She wasn’t sure she did and raised her brows. “I thought he was an alcoholic?”
Alessia glared as she dropped down to sit beside her. “It was pain pills and he’s over all that.”
“Didn’t look that way tonight.”
“He didn’t take any pills,” Alessia said. Though she wasn’t entirely sure how her sister could know that for sure. “He had a drink… that’s no big deal. He’s allowed a drink.”
Thea didn’t like to judge. But if having a drink turned him into a guy who’d berate an innocent woman in public, and hold a bunch more hostage, she wasn’t sure he should be drinking either.
“He’s the host. He shouldn’t get into a state like that. And what did the poor server do to deserve what he did to her?”
“He’s stressed,” Alessia said, rubbing her thigh. “Sway got engaged.”
She frowned. “I thought they’d split up.”
Though, honestly? She hadn’t given Roman’s relationship a lot of thought.
“Doesn’t mean he stopped caring about her,” Alessia said. “How would you feel if Thom got engaged.” She gasped. “Oh my God, Thom! Does he know about you and Zane?”
“How would he know?” she asked. “I haven’t talked to anyone from home… except work emails from Anika.”
And, also, why would she start calling around telling people she was seeing someone? Anyone? Even if she’d known the truth of Zane’s means, she wouldn’t have done that. Seriously, who did that?
Solemn and wide-eyed, Alessia nodded slowly. “You should tell him. You should tell Thom before he reads it in the press.”
What the—press? Man, that was not what she’d signed on for. It wouldn’t be that big a deal… would it?
Thea tsked and got up to get her nightdress. “In the press?”
“Yeah, in the press,” Alessia asserted, unbuckling her heels to toss them away. “You date Zane Dyce, people will write about you… they’ll take your picture.”
The celebrity pages didn’t interest her. The business pages tended to be less about pictures. She didn’t spend any time perusing the society pages.
“Did you see Zane’s picture before we were here?”
“Oh, God, yeah. Not a whole lot, but some. He was with Arden Delgado forever.”
And her stomach flipped. Thea hadn’t known it. Really hadn’t. He’d talked to her about his ex and she’d just nodded along oblivious.
“But, I mean, obviously they weren’t suited to each other,” Alessia said, maybe reading her doubt. “They broke up, didn’t they?”
Yes, and she had some idea about that. Even being mad at Zane didn’t prompt her to spill his secrets.
“There’s nothing to tell Thom,” Thea said. “Whatever it was, it’s over.”
“Aww, why? I love you two together.”
Her sister’s exuberance was either endearing or incredibly na?ve. “You’ve never seen us together.”
Lunging down the bed, Alessia gripped the covers. “He owns everything. Like everything,” she said. “He owns these beds, the linens, the building…” She raised her arms up. “He owns the whole island.”
“Thanks, yeah, I got that,” Thea said and went over to capture her sister’s hands. Pulling her off the bed, she gave Alessia a hug. “Can we please go to bed? I need sleep.”
She needed space. With Alessia going on and on, forgetting about Zane’s deception wouldn’t be easy. Face it, forgetting wouldn’t be easy no matter what and sleep probably wouldn’t be easy to come by. Still, Thea tucked Alessia into bed, then went to hers to stare at the ceiling.
Zane. He was a stranger. Not who she’d believed him to be. What did the truth mean? What did it change?