Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 112457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
“You can’t keep on circling in the Gulf,” Clelia said. “You have to admit this is pointless.”
“Not so pointless when it ensures our safety,” Maya said, obviously in her element in the water.
“Someone can shoot you even on a boat.”
Maya laughed. “That wasn’t the safety I was referring to.”
“What were you referring to?”
“We’re on water. It’s the best defense for fire.”
“You mean if someone sets the boat on fire,” Clelia said, anxiety tightening her stomach.
It would be better if they locked her in at night. What if she sleepwalked? What if she did things while sleepwalking, things like starting fires? Come to think of it, she hadn’t been dreaming since Joss had kidnapped her. No more fires had been started either.
She reflected on that. On the morning Joss had landed on the jetty in a helicopter and taken her hostage, Maya had said his presence was required at another fire on Île de la Jument. The island wasn’t that far. If she’d walked in her sleep that night, she could’ve taken the dinghy in the early morning hours, done it, and been back in her bed without even knowing. By the time she got to the harbor, the fire would’ve been discovered on the almost deserted island. It could’ve been her. Why did Erwan refuse to listen to her when she tried to warn him about her possible guilt?
The feelings she’d had when they’d left Joss’s house stirred inside her again, feelings of heightened senses and power. The salt in the air tasted stronger. If she strained her ears, she could hear the fish cut through the water as a school opened a path around the yacht. Changes were happening. Her confidence was growing, and it wasn’t just because she’d finally manage to lose her virginity. At the same time, she couldn’t shake a persistent feeling of frustration. It was as if something was stuck. That something fought to get out, and it scared her. Whatever it was, she had to believe it had nothing to do with a forbidden art. She didn’t want to be like her mother. She didn’t want to live with that kind of curse.
A speedboat pulling a skier cruised past them. The man on the skis waved. Maya lifted a graceful hand.
“Shouldn’t you avoid attracting attention?” Clelia asked as the speedboat turned and came back for another round.
Maya kept her eyes on the man in the wetsuit behind the boat. “I can’t help it if I’m noteworthy.”
The boat was making noisy circles close by. This could be her chance. With her heart beating in her throat, she bided her time. When the skier came past again, she jumped up and waved her arms in the air.
“Help!”
Instead of attacking her, Maya only snickered. To Clelia’s dismay, the skier blew her a kiss.
“Sit down,” Maya said, huffing. “He thinks you’re making a pass at him.”
Her hope fell. Maya was right. It was ridiculous to jump from a jacuzzi on the deck of a yacht and asked to be rescued. Of course the man thought she was coming on to him. Defeated, she sat down.
“Looks like Erwan abandoned you,” Maya said.
The mention of her grandfather’s name made her stomach clench. “What if he has?”
“That depends on Joss.”
“What depends on him?”
Maya smiled.
“I know you’re supposed to kill me,” Clelia said. “I heard Cain and Joss talk.”
“Don’t be so gloomy. Just enjoy the moment. Enjoy the sun. One minute at a time is a good motto for life.”
She imagined Joss with a gun in his hand aimed at her head. How would he kill her? Would he strangle her? Shoot her? Drown her? If it came down to that, would he let her choose like she’d asked? He said he wanted to help her, but would he have felt the same if they hadn’t had sex? If that forbidden night hadn’t happened, would he have executed the command without second thoughts? His sense of loyalty came from one physical encounter. It was safe to say the loyalty was misplaced. Then there was what Cain had said, that turning his back on his team and giving up on what he believed in would destroy him.
The noise of the speedboat zoomed in and out as it turned around them, but she wasn’t paying attention to the skier any longer.
Her thoughts were turning in circles. All she accomplished was giving herself a headache. “I want to go to the cabin.”
She had to work out a plan to keep herself and Erwan safe, and then figure out if she was indeed the person Joss was after, the firestarter he had to destroy.
Maya rested her elbows on the side of the tub. “We may as well catch some sun while I have to sit here and watch your ass.” Her red lips tilted. “Or would you rather be handcuffed to Joss’s bed?”