“The hell. What is wrong with that man? He’s a—”
“Monster.”
“Yes,” she said. “Of course you want to get her away from him.”
Our clasped hands shook. “Mom stood up to everything he threw at her to build her own life. Then we lost Dad and it flattened her. Grandma talked Mom into buying the beach house and taking a break till she got back on her feet. She moved in too and, for a while, it was okay with just the three of us. We had good times even though I thought those were over.
“They were,” I spat. “I just had to give it more time.”
Belle stroked my arm, comforting me. “Ask or distract?”
“Ask.”
“What happened, Nathan?”
I shut my eyes, seeing the moment that knocked over the first domino. “Grandma was feeling tired. Run-down. She went to the doctor for a checkup and walked out with a cancer diagnosis. After that, her vacation from the colonel was over. He had her brought home and Mom had to choose between following or never seeing her dying mother again.
“We moved into the mansion and that was that. The colonel kept Mom trapped in her grief, and when the first signs of her Alzheimer’s appeared, he had her declared mentally incompetent. Her medical care, the money Dad left her and her son transferred to him. Her only next of kin that wasn’t twelve.”
“Did he do the same to you? Hours at the piano? Math until the calculator bled?”
“Nah. Why put that much effort into someone who won’t amount to anything?”
“He said that to you?”
“Yep.”
Belle cursed. “Forget waiting. Hire a hitman and take him out now.”
“I’d need money for that too,” I said, chuckling. “The colonel keeps me on a strict stipend. He trades time with my mom for money to pay admission fees. If I don’t want to wear rags, I have to go home to the closet he stocked. Getting around means using his car and chauffeur. I’ve got the life of a wealthy heir without the money.”
“Which is what you need to make the case you’re the best person to care for your mother.” I watched the pieces click into place. “You’re going to marry someone you don’t love to rescue you both from that man.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
“You do have a choice,” she said, “and you choose your mom anyway. Damn it, Nathan! This is why I can’t stand you.”
I reeled back. “What’d I do now?”
“You flip between raging jackass and caring person so fast it makes my head spin around like a poltergeist.”
“Uhh. Sorry?”
“You should be sorry.” She dropped her head on my shoulder, further compounding my confusion. “Anyone in mind for the future Mrs. Nathan Prince?”
“Mom says it should be you.”
“Me? She remembers me?”
“Wild, right? You didn’t meet in person but you left an impression. She likes you.”
“She does?” Belle sounded genuinely happy. “I like her too. Just from what you told me about her, she’s got to be one of the bravest women I know. I would like to meet her if that’s okay.”
“It is. I’ll bring you around one day. After we move out,” I added. “As for the blushing bride who’ll help us do that, it’ll be whoever understands my situation and will marry me anyway. I won’t lie and drain some poor girl of her money. She takes me and Mom on, and in six years when I’m legally allowed to take over the shares Grandma left me from Steele Electrics, her investment will pay off.”
“You have more to offer than a pile of money. You can find someone who sees that, Nathan. Choosing your family doesn’t have to mean choosing unhappiness.”
“I’m not in love with anyone on this island, Belle, so what else could it mean?”
She didn’t have an answer for me.
The sun beat down our necks, pushing us toward the cool shuttle and separate seats redrawing the wall between us. Still, Belle’s temple rested on my shoulder.
She’s taking pity on me. After hearing just how much life has shat on me, she doesn’t have it in her to toss me over any more balconies. I’m so pathetic even the hitman the colonel sent to kill me would stop and take me for a drink first.
“Guys?”
We looked up. Zion and Mila waved us over.
“We’re leaving.”
“Coming.” Belle hopped off the bench, racing to join them.
She didn’t look back.
BELLE
I fussed with my phone. Taking the tiny little sim card out and putting in the new one. The discarded sim was flung at the trash bin and pinged off the side.
How Mal found my new numbers as quickly as I change them, I didn’t know. How he found us as quickly as we moved, I didn’t know. Why he couldn’t let me go, I would never know.
Nathan’s story of a young woman trapped in the grip of a man who’d do anything to possess her hit me harder than I expected. As we sat there holding hands, I had a crazy, wild thought that I should marry Nathan. That brief notion took hold of me, spinning out into a formed idea with accompanying visions of our future, and I hurried away from him before I said it out loud.
It wasn’t about Nathan.
It was about her.
Vanessa Prince. Trapped in that room. Recalling bits and pieces of her life and the majority of it misery at the hands of her father.
After everything she’d done to get away from him, he couldn’t win.
“He can’t have her.”
The six on the screen blurred through my tears, warping it into an eight.
Clearing my throat, I wiped a palm over my damp cheeks. Whether it was six or eight o’clock, I was late for dinner.
I changed out of my dress into jeans and a lace peasant top. Most people didn’t know I matched my clothes to my mood. Simple outfit = Serious Belle.
Considering marrying the ex-lover who shredded my heart in a blender was as serious as it gets.
Nathan is Nathan. Zion had it right that plenty of girls would marry him even if they had to wait fifty years for his inheritances to come through. I’ve heard said girls say much the same. It doesn’t have to be me.
There she went again. My voice of reason. Her logic was sound. Her points backed up by evidence. But all through her speech, all I pictured was that sweet woman I spoke to on the phone, listening to me drone on about fabric patterns and overcast stitching, and replying that I had talent for miles. It would take me wherever I wanted to go.
I saw Vanessa Prince... and over her shoulder stood Mal.
I could lay out terms, I told myself. We’d live apart like Carter kept suggesting.
Nathan would live with his mom in their own house and I’d ensure she had everything she needed. In the meantime, I’d be off at college and then moving on where life took me. We wouldn’t sleep together even if it is the only thing we’re good at. No kids even though little Jameson would be adorable.
Separate lives.
I could handle that and, most importantly, Vanessa would be free.
“She has to be free.”
I threw open my door and met with a raised fist.
“Good timing,” Preston said. “Going down to the dining hall?”