Dropping his hand from my hair, he wiped his mouth and shook his head. Removing his hips from mine, he backed up until we stood on almost opposite sides of the orchid-lined path.
His chest rose and fell as shadows cast over his gaze. Finally, he nodded as if he’d come to terms with something he’d been deliberating. “You win, Jinx.”
I blinked, unable to move just yet. “Win? What did I win?”
He shrugged. “I’ll do what you ask.”
My forehead furrowed, rushing over my past requests.
The girls.
Their freedom.
I froze. “You’re…letting them go?”
Shoving his hands into his pockets, he turned, ready to leave. “Tomorrow, I’ll send them home. I’ll nullify our contract. I’ll accept a loss on my investments. I’ll do what you ask, all because the alternative is letting you go…and we both know I can’t do that.”
Chapter Fourteen
OUT OF THREE OPTIONS, I chose the one I least wanted to do.
Option one, take Eleanor back to my villa, have a swim in Nirvana, fuck her until we both fell asleep.
Option two, go to Eleanor’s villa, have a swim in the sea, fuck her until we both fell asleep.
Option three, keep my promise to a goddess who had me by the goddamn balls and announce the retirement of three immortals.
Striding through the darkness, I noticed Nathan Fisher lurking by a tiki torch, smoking a cigar and sipping a tumbler of liquor.
He nodded politely. “Mr. Sinclair, honour to see you again.” His arm spread in welcome.
I had no patience for small talk.
The man was leaving tomorrow, after an eventful night with Jupiter and his twisted fantasy of The Little Mermaid, and I had nothing to say to him. I’d taken his money. Now, I wanted him gone.
Just like Jupiter would be gone.
Little did anyone predict he would be her last guest.
“Evening.” I touched my temple as I continued past, not slowing and pretending I didn’t see his subtle invitation for me to stop and shoot the shit.
My bare feet dug into the sand, propelling me away from the civilised part of my island and toward the villa housing the torture equipment of my old labs. Calico had remained in the hospital ward with Dr Campbell as watchdog. He believed her injuries were worthy of overnight observation. However, the other two would’ve grown very familiar with each other in Ace’s old cage.
Bet the chimpanzee was watching from his grave, loving the cruel twist of fate that put humans in the trap that he’d called home for so long.
Pulling the key from my pocket, I unlocked the villa and strode in. Closing the door behind me, the rustle of bodies rousing from depression pricked my ears.
Moonlight shone through the windows, glinting off the many bars and cages, twinkling like their own morbid stars.
“Sullivan…oh, thank God.” Jupiter struggled to her feet, using Neptune’s knee as support. “Thank you for not leaving us in here all night. We’ve learned our lesson.” Her hands wrapped around the metal, her face optimistic despite the bruises of my fingers around her throat.
Neptune wasn’t so trusting. She stayed where she was, the wire floor biting into her blue bikini-covered ass. I kept her stare as I murmured, “I’m not here to let you out.”
Neptune nodded glumly, twisting to look away from me. To stare at the wispy silver clouds crossing the horizon.
Jupiter rattled the bars. “What? But…you have to. This cage isn’t big enough for two.”
“It’s better than a coffin, don’t you agree?” I smiled icily. “Because that was the first alternative, until Cal reminded me that wasted merchandise is wasted money.”
She winced, her cheeks pinking. “What do you intend to do with us then? Keep us in here forever?”
I strode around the cage, forcing Jupiter to follow me and Neptune to snag miserable glances in my direction. “Not forever…just until dawn.”
“Dawn?” Neptune whispered brokenly. “What happens at dawn?” She wrung her hands. “Are you…are you going to finish what you started?”
I closed the distance in one angry stride. My temper flared, remembering the scene Skittles had dragged me to. The painful witness of Eleanor being strangled by a scarf.
Both girls jumped as I snarled, “I would like to. I’m not going to lie.”
Jupiter made a feral noise in her chest. “What are you waiting for then? Just get it over with.”
I narrowed my gaze on her. She was a beautiful woman, but envy had pinched her lips and entrapment had sunken her cheeks. Her original price hadn’t been as much as Eleanor’s. I’d paid three-hundred-and-fifty thousand for her. At twenty-four, she’d never quite lost her hatred for me…even while professing her undying love.
In eighteen months, she’d slept with seventy-six guests (I’d given her two weeks to settle into her new employment), and charged fifty-thousand for her services. She’d padded my bank balance with close to four million dollars. Minus the four hundred thousand I would give her when she left and the purchase price, she’d been a worthwhile investment.
Neptune, too.
Younger than Jupiter, she’d served sixteen months and had seemed to embrace the lust of elixir. She wasn’t the instigator in this…Calico was. Neptune didn’t need to go. Without the ringleaders, she would fall back into place with the other goddesses on this island. She might even learn to like Jinx.
But…Eleanor had asked me to free them…and I fucking promised.
What the fuck made me do such a thing?
I didn’t know, but I wouldn’t go back on my word. Unlike other people I knew, I didn’t believe in betrayal.
But it would be hard to say goodbye to assets that kept me rich. Not that their funds came close to what I earned from my pharmaceuticals and successful breakthroughs in the legal drug market. Then again, running Sinclair and Sinclair Group was nowhere near as much fun as being god on this island.
I’ll just have to source new goddesses to replace these.
Eleanor would most likely have an issue with that…but I stood by my beliefs. Black and white was the only way to view the world because it ensured all things were usable, killable, saveable. A stray dog’s life was worth more to me than a goddess’s because the dog had existed in suffering for far longer than my own species.
A stray dog’s life was worth even more than mine.
And that was the goddamn truth.
I didn’t twist my rules to benefit me. If an animal was at risk from my existence, I would put myself down…not them. They came first. Always.
Even over Jinx.
“Where’s Calico?” Jupiter asked, her dress unable to hide her goosebumps.
“She’s alive.”
“Why isn’t she with us?”
“Because I had other plans for her.”
Her eyes glistened with tears. “It wasn’t all her fault. I encouraged her. I know she’s become a little obsessed with you, but…Jinx had it coming.”
I went deathly still. “I suggest you tread lightly, Jupiter. My leash might snap at any moment.”
She gulped, ducking her head. “Just…Calico…she’s nice. Please, don’t hurt us. We promise we won’t—”
“Enough.” I sliced my hand through the air.
Nice or not, Calico had made me the most at almost seven million. Her contract was close to ending anyway. Her punishment wouldn’t be in a cage, but being kicked off my island without so much as a goodbye. I would not visit her. I would not give her the satisfaction of seeing my guilt over what I’d done.
How much I’d ruined her from the shy, skittish beauty when she first landed to the bitter, jealous thing she’d become.
In the morning, Cal would round them up, give them a bag packed full of clothes suitable to whatever climate home was, and an envelope with two things.
One, a thick pile of cash. Not a cheque or bank deposit. Just fresh, crisp four-hundred thousand dollars in American bills. The other
was a simple note. A threat, really. A reminder that if they spoke of what happened on my shores, the money in their greedy hands would vanish, their lives would be forfeit, and I would take no fucking mercy on their soul.
But stay silent and slip back into their world as if they’d been working for an exclusive hotelier who required utmost secrecy for his high-calibre guests, then they could keep every penny. They could live. They could resume their existence before I got in the way.
Clean and simple…for all of us.
That note never left the helicopter, burned to ash as the girls slipped onto a plane and went home.
So far, out of the few goddess that’d reached their four-year term and been released, not one had blabbed. Money was a powerful cage…better than any other trap or threat.
Jupiter puffed hair from her eyes impatiently. “Just tell us what you’re going to—”
“You’re going home.”
Both her and Nep jerked, making the cage clang. “We’re what?”
I paced around them again, needing to move as excess rage flowed down my legs. After what they’d done, I found it incredibly hard to reward such grotesque behaviour. But I was also the catalyst for such actions…so the joke was on me.
“You can thank Jinx for my leniency. She begged on your behalf.” I glowered at their shock and suspicion. The girl they’d tried to kill had proven to be above their pettiness in her selfless mercy. “Tomorrow, you will leave my shores. All of you. You will never see me or my islands again.”
I stopped and wrapped my fingers around the bars, making Jupiter slink to the other side. I yanked on the wire, jostling them. “You tell your families that you had an opportunity you couldn’t refuse. If they pry for information, blame no internet or phone coverage for your lack of communication. If they demand to know details, tell them you’ve orgasmed with princes, and fucked politicians, and sucked the cock of billionaires. Willingly.” I smirked. “Or don’t. The choice is up to you. You can tell them whatever you goddamn want, but if you mention my name, my islands, or the other girls in my employ, you won’t need to look over your shoulder for retribution—it will come swift and sharp and your parents will be grieving over your funeral rather than your disappearance, understand?”
Both goddesses nodded. “We understand.”
I let my hands drop from the cage. “Good.” Smoothing out my t-shirt, still smelling Eleanor on my fingers, I muttered, “In that case, I owe you an apology and a thank you. I’m sorry for taking so much from you—for destroying who you once were. I hope you take this experience and use it to improve your life, to know you were strong enough to endure me; therefore, you can conquer anything.” I backed toward the door. “Thank you for allowing me to use you.”
Turning around, I stalked toward the door.
Neptune’s voice halted me as I reached for the handle. “Sullivan?”
I raised an eyebrow, twisting to look over my shoulder, waiting for her to continue.
“Jinx…will you let her go, too? Eventually?”
“Why do you care? You just tried to murder her.”
Nep stood up, rubbing her arms. “I care because she’s not like us…not to you, anyway. We were safe in a way because…you barely noticed us.” She swallowed before adding breathlessly, “You’ve noticed her and I don’t know if that’s a good thing.”
Cracking open the door, I shrugged. “Perhaps she wouldn’t leave, even if I did set her free.”
Jupiter sneered, her anger not appeased with her upcoming demotion. “Keep telling yourself that, Sinclair. Convince yourself that someone could love you. That a woman trapped here wouldn’t use every trick and guile she has to get free.”
I smiled until my cheeks threatened to split. “You didn’t try to get free.”
“No, because I wanted this. I wanted your island…not you.”
My fingers clutched the handle. “Even monsters sometimes find their missing pieces, Lucy.”
She twitched at her real name. She’d have to get used to it again.
“Monsters are the ones who die, not the ones who end up happily ever after.” She crossed her arms. “Stop fooling yourself. We never loved you. We despised you. And now that you’re letting us go…I can be honest with myself about that. Whatever I felt for you. Whatever your bloody elixir made me do…I hate you.”
I bowed, low and mocking. “I don’t care what you think of me, Lucy Hall. Just remember to keep your thoughts hidden from your family. Otherwise, your freedom will be very short-lived.”
I left before I could wrap my fingers around her throat and finish what I started. Maybe Jupiter would be the first to be exterminated after her freedom had been granted. I didn’t trust her. Then again, I didn’t trust any of the girls I released. I kept them under strict surveillance after they went home. Just like I kept surveillance on all the families who adopted the rescued animals I’d nursed back to health.
My mother had taught me that lesson.
Pretend you trust them…but never ever be so fucking stupid.
“Goodbye, Sullivan…and thank you,” Neptune murmured just as the door closed on two girls who were no longer my elixir impassioned goddesses.
Thank you?
What a sad, misplaced phrase.
I didn’t deserve thank you.
I didn’t deserve anything, and that was why it hurt so fucking much wanting Eleanor.
I wanted her…but in my heart, I knew I couldn’t have her.
How could I?
When I revelled in the misery of others.
When I put creatures above humans.
When I refused to change who I was.
* * * * *
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Three staff required
Hello,
I seem to require more housekeepers due to a restructure in my property portfolio. All I ask is they’re young enough to work hard, diligent, and obedient. At your soonest convenience.
Hitting the enter button, I dug my elbows into the desk. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I tried to squeeze out the headache I’d had since draining my system dry thanks to elixir. My lungs still felt odd from inhaling so much water. I overall needed a reboot from the shit in my system.
I meant to email Peter Beck and his team of scientists to potentially scale back its potency. It was never meant to be a date rape drug on steroids. More like better stimulation than Viagra. To make the user beg to be fucked but not be so out of their mind they’d literally choose death if it meant the nightmare could be over.
I’d almost drowned thanks to its obsession.
If Jinx hadn’t pulled me from the bottom of Nirvana, I would be dead, and she’d be free.
And what had I done?
Stuck my cock inside her the moment I could breathe again.
Goddammit.
Raking both hands through my hair, I peeked at my overcrowded inbox. One a.m. and I’d done my best to clear new bookings for guest stays, read complicated in-depth text on another scientific recipe Beck wanted to try, and go over invoices for the copious amount of animal feed I brought in each week for Serigala.
The words blurred.
I’d done my best to stay busy, so I didn’t find myself at Jinx’s door, ignoring the fact that she was sore, I was sore, and stuffing my body back inside hers before we were fully healed was not recommended.
But I’d gone past sex and become delirious with exhaustion.
Pika zipped into my office, his black eyes beady with temper.
The second he landed on my keyboard, he stomped around like the mini dictator he was, cawing and carrying on like a madman. “Sleep. Tired, Pika!”
I groaned, scratching at my longer chin-stubble from not trimming for a few days. “Came to get me, huh? Don’t like sleeping alone?”
He puffed up, eyeing the letter Z and launching at it with his sharp beak.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Picking him up like a fuzzy tennis ball
, I kept him cupped in my hand, letting him grumble and growl. “Fine. I’m tired too. We’ll go.”
With my free hand, I went to turn off my laptop.
A reply arrived from my goddess request.
Huh, that’s strange.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Three staff required
Your email has bounced due to an incorrect address.
Please check and try again.
First, they advised their operation was on hold.
Now, their address was no longer operational?
Chills darted down my spine.
Either they’d had a complete change of ethics…or they’d been caught. By the police? By a disgruntled client?
Either way, my encrypted internet would protect my location, but I wouldn’t take any chances.
Doing a search on their email address, I deleted every single trace of communication.
My supermarket of endless goddesses had seemingly shut down.
Now, where would I hunt?
Chapter Fifteen
FOR THE FIRST TIME since arriving, I ate breakfast in a different location to the room-delivered feast on my deck.
As dawn sent eager fingers of light through the sky, I gave up the pretence of sleep and headed for a long shower. I shared the cascading water with two frogs, courting each other on the rocks, catching doomed flies and the odd mosquito with their sticky tongues.
While I shampooed and conditioned, I did my best not to think about Sully. To wonder what he did last night. To try to find him this morning and spend more time with him.
Simple time.
I wanted simple.
I wanted to be two people talking about mundane, normal things…if that’s even possible.
After I rinsed, I stepped from the shower and turned my back on my reflection. I flatly ignored the purple slashes on my throat from a scarf pulled far too tight, and I didn’t bother drying my hair, preferring to leave it loose and long, draped down the back of a simple cotton maxi dress.
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