Page 43 of Nothing to Do

“By the balls,” Roxie said. “Just how they love it.”

“You don’t mean… No, Zane and I, we’re not, I—we never—”

“We don’t define our relationships by sex, if that’s what you’re talking about,” Roxie said. “Not until after we’ve surrendered to it, the love, not the sex. You did a number on him though, that whole Roman thing, man, was he pissed.”

“Zane was pissed?”

“Yeah, damn right. He didn’t just give up the island for nothing. All through Roman’s time in rehab, Magnus tried to persuade Dyce to let Roman use it. His reputation was trashed, seriously trashed, and he needed something big to pull him out. This is only a step on the path, was supposed to be a step on the path.”

“I don’t understand.”

“People, women, might like the man, but they might not enter a contest just to have dinner with him or meet him at some hotel.” Didn’t that sound seedy. “But a tropical island, a private tropical island, all expenses paid, all-inclusive. I bet some people entered for that more than Roman.”

Not if what she’d seen in the dining room every morning was accurate.

“And he gave in?”

“Family’s important to Dyce. And I shouldn’t say it, but Roman’s probably his least favorite cousin. He did it for Struan, and maybe too soon.”

“Lola!”

Roxie’s back arched as she rose to sit up and call into the house. “We’re out front!” Roxie put her glass down. “If he asks, you’ve been here the whole time.”

Now she was confused again. “I’ve been…?”

“With me the whole time.”

“Oh… kay.”

Was he likely to ask? Whoever he was? What crime were they concealing?

“Welcome to the rabbit hole, Thea,” Roxie said, wearing a proud grin. “Keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle at all times.”

SIXTEEN

BEFORE SHE COULD ask any questions, or even attempt escape, a tall, dark-haired guy swaggered on out. He noticed her and raised his sunglasses to his head but kept on walking.

“Thea,” he said. “Hello. Welcome.”

“You say hello to the guest before you say hello to me?” Roxie asked but angled her chin to accept his kiss.

“It’s the only way I can judge how much damage you’ve done.”

“I haven’t done damage,” Roxie said, catching his hand. “I’ve been filling her in.”

“On?”

“Everything, everyone, getting her up to speed on… the Roxiverse.”

“Where did you get to?”

“What do you care? It’s nothing to you, you know the stories. It was nice she showed up, given you abandoned me for golf.” Roxie shifted to peek around him at her. “He abandoned me to go play golf with your guy. Golf!” She sank back to talk up at her man again. “Do you know how long it’s been since I was alone, Casanova? Like completely alone?”

“Probably a while.”

“Alongwhile. Think of the damage she prevented me from doing by keeping me entertained.”

“Now that you mention it, I should ask, how much do psych ward vacations run for these days?”

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