I began to stammer, my brain searching for words to ease the tension when I felt a light push against my back. “Get up, Vix,” Nixon ordered, edgily, “and go to Flynn.”
What?
I looked back at him in shock, but there was an ease in his expression now as he looked back at me. “Go on,” he said, gesturing with his chin to get off him.
I got up from his lap and took a few uncertain steps in Flynn’s direction. I looked back at Nixon, trying to determine what the fuck he was doing. He was relaxed though, his hands folded over his chest as he watched me walk away from him.
Hobbs appeared uncertain. “Vix –”
“Shut up,” Nixon interrupted, sharply. “Leave her alone, Hobbs. She can go to Flynn. Let him take her back down to that bakery. Let him feed her again from the palm of his hand. Go on, then.”
I stopped moving and looked back at him again. Tears pricked at my eyes. He was pissed. So pissed. “Nixon –”
“If you don’t leave with Flynn, I will shoot him in the fucking head, Vixen,” he cut in, and he looked dead serious. “I will not hesitate to do it, either, and it will be your fault.”
Before I could respond, I felt a hand grip my arm. Flynn dragged me across the room, his pace brisk. I dragged my feet, resisting. “Let me go, Flynn.”
But Flynn didn’t. I started to flip out. I smacked at his arm, pleading.
“Nixon,” I shouted, panicked. “Nixon!”
Hobbs immediately covered the door before we got to it, locking it behind him. “She doesn’t want to go, Flynn,” he told him.
Flynn looked at me, pissed. “Admit you do, Vixen. Tell him you want to get out.”
I shook my head, glancing behind me as Nixon sat in the chair, watching the scene unfold with that blank expression. “Flynn,” I whimpered, “you have to stop this.”
“You’re just scared,” Flynn said. “Because he forced you here. Because you have no other choice.”
I shook my head, even though my eyes spoke the truth, and Flynn saw it. He read my face and tugged harder on my arm, making me wince.
“Are you hurting my girl, Flynn?” Nixon’s voice boomed edgily from behind us.
Flynn glared at him. “Not trying to hurt her.”
“I threatened her I’d blow your head off if she didn’t leave with you, and she’s still here, begging to stay,” he replied sharply. “Does that sound like she’s forced to be here, Flynn?”
Flynn shook his head, snarling, “You use everyone’s fear like a weapon. She’s terrified of you.”
“Is that true, baby?” Nixon asked me, swinging his frosty gaze to me.
My shoulders fell. I looked back at Flynn and slowly shook my head. “I’m not afraid of Nixon.”
“Tell Flynn what you’re afraid of.”
My eyes burned with unshed tears as I looked at Flynn and said, “I’m afraid he will kill you.”
“And I will,” Nixon growled with conviction, “if you don’t leave with the boy in ten seconds.”
My insides seized as I stared at Nixon in horror.
“Time it, Hobbs,” he said, staring straight at me. “10, 9…”
Flynn dragged me to the door and this time Hobbs moved, looking equally shocked. Flynn unlocked the door just as I heard the number 5 and swung it open.
My body went slack as Flynn hurried us out.
Still trying to squirm away, I desperately tried to reason with Flynn. “You don’t know what you’re doing. You have to stop this!”
He hurried us across the hotel, skirting past a group of guests. At the foyer, the girls at the front desk looked alarmed. Jenny immediately left her station and rushed in our direction, shouting at Nixon’s men to stop us.
But Nixon’s men weren’t budging. They exchanged looks with one another, hesitating. One of them was on the phone and had a hand up, stopping the men from advancing to us.
Nixon had talked them down.
Oh, my God.
This was worse than I thought.
Flynn swung the doors open and we walked outside. He took only a few steps before stopping and letting me go. He turned around to look at me, watching as I shut my eyes and felt the fresh wind against my cheeks.
The sun was out, for once. It was not gloomy, the clouds weren’t dimming the skies. Autumn was on the horizon, and with it the air had turned cool. Soon, the ocean would get worse. The brutal storms would come, and with it there would be strong winds and daring waves. The guests would be few, the seaplanes would slow, and the island would go quiet. It was a tough time of the year for me because Nixon took a lot of jobs in the winter, and I would be left to submerge myself in books, in pointless lessons, in the company of myself.
This, being out here under the warmth of the sun, felt good.
When I finally opened my eyes, Flynn was staring at me, his eyes soft. I frowned at him, bitter from what he’d just done. “Why did you do that?”
He didn’t take his eyes off me. “Because I wanted to give you this moment.”
“You’re going to get hurt.”
He shrugged, uncaring. “Then I’ll get hurt. At least you got to let the sun kiss you.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, attempting to understand him. I was at a loss. I didn’t need to tell him he fucked up, because I knew he wouldn’t think so. I didn’t know what Nixon would do, if the progress we’d made with each other would come undone, and what that would mean for me.
I studied Flynn now, confused by his behaviour and wondering… “What’s your agenda, Flynn?” I asked on a shrug. “What do you think you’ve accomplished by doing this?”
Flynn didn’t skip a beat. “I got to defy him, let him realize he isn’t so godly after all, not even on his island.”
The passionate way he said that surprised me. Nixon had never met Flynn before he’d come to the island, but the burning rage that emanated from Flynn felt like it’d been simmering for a while.
How was that possible?
“You could have defied him by not dragging me into your hate,” I said, trying to figure him out. “I’m not a prop to be used. This is my life you’re messing with.”
“You’re not a prop,” he replied, gently.
“That’s not how I feel.”
“Everyone orbits that man, afraid to cross him, and you’re this ethereal creature he possesses like a trophy. You’re so beautiful, but you’re dead inside because he’s ruining you. Who gets to stick up for you, Vixen?”
It was harder to breathe now. His words felt like a noose around my throat. I couldn’t even swallow. My eyes hurt, they were so raw. I sniffed and turned away from him.
“I don’t think I need saving, Flynn,” I forced out. “My relationship with Nixon is…complicated.”
“What’s so complicated about it?” he pressed, impatiently. “He’s caged you in this place.”
“It’s not that black and white.”
“Would you rather be here then?”
“There isn’t a straightforward answer to that.”
“But there should be,” he argued, letting out a long breath. “I told you I could take you off this island, and he would never find you.”