Page 29 of Beautiful Vows

She smiles. "He's already texted me twelve times and tried to call me around the same amount. So I know he wants me."

"Ah. That's the Milly I love. The one who wants to do the hurting."

"Yep. That's the one. Anyway, what were you doing?"

I can't tell her I'm looking for an implant around the size of a grain of rice, so I say, "I feel like a spider or something has bitten me."

"Argh! No way. On this boat."

"It would be hard for a spider to get on a boat. It was probably a mosquito." I shouldn't have mentioned the spider when she can't even walk past a golden orb without shivering, thinking it's about to pounce. "Can you run your fingers down my back, each side of my spine, and tell me if you feel anything?"

Her eyes scan around my stateroom before she tentatively steps forward. "Start at my neck and run your hands down either side of my spine and stop if you feel anything different."

"There's no sign of a bite," she says.

"Good. It's definitely not a spider."

She visibly relaxes and finally does as I ask. "Nothing," she says when her finger reaches my waist.

"Press harder. There is something underneath the skin on my back. It feels weird." I lie.

"It's your imagination."

"Milly, just do it." I hardly get the last word out when she presses two fingers on either side of my spine, lowering slowly down the sides of my spine.

"Fuck, you're right. I think whatever bit you laid eggs. Ugh!"

"Keep your finger on the spot while I reach for the marker pen," I say, waiting for her to press, and I gently lower myself to grab the pen, handing it to her. "Squeeze it and mark the area, and tell me when you're done."

"Done." She steps back and grimaces. "You've got eggs in your body."

"Rub some of this cream over the spot." I hand her my numbing cream, and when she's done, I count to thirty before I take the knife from the cup of hot water I boiled to sterilize it and say, "Now squeeze the lump between your fingers so it's as close to the skin as possible and nick one end to pop it out."

She gags dramatically. "I can't. I might have baby spiders running over my hands."

I'm not listening to her balking or muttering about something growing inside me, not when I'm going to ask her to cut it out.

I turn and face her. She's pale and I think she'll faint. Sighing, I say, "It's a tracker, and I need it out of my body."

Her eyes widen with shock. "What the fuck? A tracker. Why?"

"I could make up a lie right now. Instead, I'm going to ask you to keep it a secret. Nobody can know about it. But it was placed there after I was sexually assaulted, because Dad thought I was in danger of being kidnapped."

It's a half truth, but enough for Milly to turn me around and stare at where she marked my back.

"Why do you want it out?" she asks. "I mean, if it's protecting you."

"Would you want to be tracked permanently?"

She sighs and shakes her head. "Okay, I can do it. Give me the knife."

"The smallest nick, Milly. A Band-Aid nick, not a hospital visit slash."

She laughs like an evil time lord.

Chapter 10

Cade

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