He genuinely seemed to be giving me the choice. If I wanted to push the issue and insist on being a part of his discussion with his team, then he’d let me. It was… oddly endearing. Guilt was such a powerful motivator in falling for a ruse.
“Sure,” I muttered, turning my gaze back out the window. Night had fallen already, but the faint glow of a city in the distance held me captivated. What city could it be? Judging by the packaging in the kitchen, I had to assume it was somewhere in Italy.
Kai stayed a moment longer, staring at me with a worried frown. Then he sighed and left the room. He didn’t lock the door—he never did anymore—but I had no intention of making a break for it. Even if the team was all back, along with their jet, I couldn’t escape that way. As much as I now regretted it, I’d only ever learned to fly helicopters, not jets.
I’d have to rectify that gap in my skill set when I got off this island and back to my real life.
Alone again, I stood from the comfy chair and stretched out my back on the way to the bathroom. I paused briefly as I stepped inside, finding Kai had lit the room with a dozen lightly-scented pillar candles. The bubbles overflowed the tub, just the way I liked them, and a strange sensation warmed my chest. The whole scene was… romantic .
Shaking my head at that wildly out of place idea, I turned on the sound system to drown out my own turbulent thoughts. Kai would probably be ages, so I may as well relax and prepare myself for my escape. If all went to plan, I’d be gone from the island by dawn.
I stripped out of my clothes—Kai had somehow filled a whole dresser with brand new outfits in my size that first day—and stepped into the near scalding bath water. Perfect.
I’d taken the dressings off my foot a few days ago, and it was so nice not to need to stick my foot out of the water while I bathed. Mo had been diligent about making me apply arnica cream twice a day, too, and my bruises had all faded to just a faint brownish yellow.
At some stage while I was in the tub, I dozed off. When I woke up, the water was significantly cooler and my fingertips were wrinkled. Yuck. I hated that feeling.
Groaning, I pulled the plug and climbed out of the water with loose, relaxed muscles throughout my whole body. I dried off and wrapped my towel around my body before wandering out to the bedroom in search of pajamas.
I made it halfway across to my dresser before I spotted Kai sitting in my armchair, dead still and looking at something in his hand.
“Holy shit, you scared me,” I admitted with a small laugh. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
He looked up at me with an odd expression, then the corners of his full lips curled up. “Because you were asleep. I was just debating whether I should wake you up so you didn’t drown.”
I gave a short laugh. “It’d take more than a bath to get the better of me.”
I was still waking up, and he genuinely had surprised me. So I wasn’t fully in character. Parts of me were bleeding through, but if I were totally honest, it’d been happening more often than I’d have liked. How the hell Sabine had survived almost three years in disguise, I had no idea. But I suddenly had newfound respect for my friend.
Kai didn’t seem to notice, though. Or if he did, he didn’t show it. Instead, he just peered up at me in the low light from our bedside lamps and gave a lopsided smile. “I’d believe that.”
There was still something off about him, though. Something pensive. Maybe to do with his chat with his team?
“Are you… okay?” I asked with a frown, folding my arms over my towel. “You seem like you have something on your mind.”
He grunted a soft sound of agreement, looking back down at whatever was in his hand. Then he sighed and met my gaze once more. “I sent the team away. It was ignorant of me, not to think about what seeing Cyryl or Sam might do to you. You’ve seemed so well adjusted this week, it was easy to forget what we’ve put you through, but that’s no excuse. I’m…” He trailed off, his gaze flicking to the ceiling for a moment as he seemed to roll the apology over on his tongue. Then he shrugged. “I should have been more sensitive to your trauma, Danielle. Trauma that we caused.”
I frowned down at him, biting the inside of my cheek. He sounded so sincere, it was really messing with my head. “So… you’re sending them away?”
Kai gave a small nod. “They’re already gone. All of them, including Eli and Mo. I thought… I dunno. I thought maybe you could benefit from some breathing room while you get used to living here.”
Well, that was an unexpected but happy turn of events. It also gave me a solid reason not to kill Moana when I made my escape, and I was shockingly pleased for that.
His gaze dropped to his hands again, and curiosity got the better of me. “What’s that?”
When he looked back up at me, it was from beneath his inky lashes. “Something for you,” he said after a beat. When he didn’t elaborate, I stepped closer to get a better look as he opened his palm out.
Surprise jolted through me. “My grandmother’s watch.”
He silently held it out, and I took it like it was the precious family heirloom I’d told him it was. Part of me wondered if he’d found the dormant tracker buried within the mechanics of it… but I didn’t get the impression he was building up to killing me. If anything, he was apologizing. In his own stubborn, arrogant way.
I slid it over my wrist, clicking the band shut, then hugging it to my chest. Swallowing hard, I summoned up a bit of moisture for my eyes. Just enough to look misty as I whispered, “Thank you. This means so much to me.”
“I’ve taken your freedom and your future,” Kai said softly, “the least I can do is return your watch.”
Oof, that hit me right in the feels. I actually felt bad for him and for how guilt-ridden he sounded. It was an insanely sweet gesture, even if the bottom line message was still that I was his prisoner for life. Why the fuck did that still turn me on, though? If I wasn’t playing a part, I’d say I’d developed a touch of Stockholm syndrome myself.
So I did the only thing I could think of. To protect myself from emotions that were beginning to feel far too real. I lashed out.
“So, how’s this supposed to play out? You give me my own watch back, then I’m supposed to be so overcome with thanks that I immediately drop to my knees and suck your dick?” I twisted my expression to show anger and resentment. Disgust.
Kai jerked slightly, taken back. “What? No, I—”
“That’s why you sent your team away, isn’t it? So you didn’t need to worry about them interrupting or coming to my rescue if I screamed? Or were you worried I would prefer to share a bed with one of them instead?” I took a large step backward, away from him as my chin tilted up defiantly.
I watched the switch flick in his eyes, and he drew a deep breath as he rose from the armchair.
“I fully understand the fact that I’ve trapped you here,” he said in a low, dangerous voice, taking a step forward as I took a step back. “Believe me, I know . But you need to get one very important thing clear in your head, Danielle.”
He stepped closer, and the backs of my legs touched the bed. He had me trapped, and a ripple of excitement tingled across my skin. “Oh, yeah?” I tipped my chin up higher so I could hold his gaze. “What’s that?”