Page 6 of Reign

I pull back from his neck and unwrap my legs from his torso.

“Princess, come back,” he pleads, able to tell I’m drifting away again. I wish I could come back to the present. Instead, my mind is a tornado of images that I’ve never seen in real life but are somehow a thousand times worse in my mind’s eye.

Camila on her knees. Dominic’s hand holding her head in place. Her looking up at him with her makeup running down her face. Him thrusting into her hungry mouth. The sounds they make. The words they speak. And finally, him spilling himself, sharing himself, with her. That part of him that I had stupidly come to believe was just for me.

“I need another shower.” The fight is gone out of my voice. Hell, all the emotion is gone out of my voice. A robot might as well have made the statement.

I turn to walk awkwardly out of the waves, picking my legs up high because going over the water with each step is easier than going through it.

Cas’s legs are longer and he keeps up easily. “I know it’s been a lot, Princess. I’m sorry for the things I fucked up but I can’t stand for you to stay mad at me any longer. I’m going to need your help with this. At least with finding Nikita. Once we do, I’ll take it from there. I just need to know you’re on my side.”

“You know I’ll help however I can.” After all, my freedom is on the line too.

“Say you forgive me,” he growls, catching my hand as we head up the sand.

“I can’t. Not yet.” I start to shiver despite the warm temperatures and the blazing sun straight overhead. Not a cloud in the sky today which is surprising since we’re in the middle of hurricane season and patchy storms are supposed to occur almost daily. The adrenaline and anger that have been providing my energy for the last week seems to be choosing now to abate, leaving me cold and feeling hollow.

Just like I was with Willem.

As we reach the back door, Dom grabs my waist and turns me to face him. The anguish in his eyes is clear and I hate this. I hate the distance between us and I hate hurting him. But I won’t lie to him. I won’t offer him false forgiveness.

I don’t trust him yet and if I don’t trust him, then I haven’t forgiven him.

~

FOR TWO DAYS, THERE’S been nothing out of the ordinary to draw our attention. Cas has been mulling over paperwork and is on the phone with Mateo trying to gain any knowledge he can.

The amount of information Mateo has to share is shockingly little considering the man seems to have eyes and ears everywhere. Cas has taken down every camera he can find and replaced all the light switches and smoke alarms just in case anything was left undetected, which Mateo wasnothappy about but Cas’s argument was simple: “I can’t work like this.”

Needing space from the house and its occupants, I go out for a run in the neighborhood – the view of the singular street not yet boring because the houses that line it are so incredible – when a car slows to a stop half in and half out of a driveway, blocking my path. Not just any car…the brightest yellow Lamborghini I’ve ever seen. I start to skirt around it until the passenger window rolls down and the woman behind it is looking straight at me, a smile on her heart-shaped face.

“I was hoping we’drunin to you soon,” she says, quietly chuckling at her lame joke. She appears in her late thirties but not because of lines around her eyes, or sagging skin – no, the woman is an impeccable beauty, very well put together – her sophistication and intelligence are what age her.

Seductive eyes stare at me from behind sleek, black rimmed glasses before she adds, “I’m Victoria. This is my husband, Max.” She waves her hand toward the driver but I can’t see his face. Normally, I would smile shyly, say hello, avoid giving my name and go back home, but we’re here for information so I dive right in.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Isabel. My husband, Casandro, and I just moved in a couple of days ago.”

“We’ve been dying to meet the new neighbors. You absolutely must join us tomorrow. We’re hosting a small get together – just drinks and hors d’oeuvres but the weather is supposed to be beautiful again and I couldn’t help myself.”

“You can never help yourself,” says a voice that is definitely male, but also higher pitched than I would have expected, from somewhere in the car.

“Oh, hush,” she says, turning her head to look at the driver before looking back at me. “Say you’ll come.”

“Of course, we’d love to.” And then I remember Camila and am not sure what the etiquette says about showing up with an extra guest when you just met the hosts so I add, “My husband’s cousin moved here with us. Would it be alright if she tagged along?”

Victoria doesn’t bat an eyelash. “The more the merrier! See you tomorrow at six!”

“See you then,” I reply with a smile on my face. She thinks it’s because of the invite but I know it’s because there’s hope that we’re finally getting somewhere.

I finish my run so I don’t look terribly conspicuous by running straight back to our house after talking to her but am glad when my phone clicks over the three-mile marker.

The heat here is oppressive in a way it wasn’t in Aruba and Venezuela. The humidity is much worse, making it feel like all your breaths are wet. When I step inside the massive foyer, the contrast of the air conditioning to the environment I just left has goosebumps breaking out on my skin. I pull my sweat-soaked tank top over my head to try and get a little warmer as I head to the kitchen for a drink. The house is quiet and it only takes me a second to figure out why. Cas and Camila are outside on the lounge chairs.

It's completely harmless. They aren’t touching. But they’re together. And it makes my blood boil. I try to calm myself down. I plead for rational thought to return to my brain, but it leaves me wanting.

I ask myself what I expect and the childish part of me answersfor them to stay out of each other’s orbit. To separate themselves.It’s not like this house isn’t fucking big enough. Forgetting all about the news I have to share, I take my water bottle and go upstairs to change into a bathing suit.

Ten minutes later, I open the French doors and step out ontomypool deck. Cas’s head snaps up in my direction and his look of guilt is quickly replaced by lust. I know how he feels about me in the color turquoise.

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