Page 36 of Submit

“Yeah, that’s what Casper said too.” It’s out before I realize my mistake.

Her eyes grow wide. “Casper is the one who told you all of this? So, heisjealous of your fiancé. What did he do, run a background-check on him? That seems a little extreme.”

I can see her trying to connect the dots. And what the hell, I need a friend. “Sort of. Will and I had dinner at the governor’s house last week. Casper was working there that night. It was the first time he saw Will’s face and Cas recognized him immediately. Apparently, Will’s family and their company aren’t always on the right side of the moral line when it comes to business matters and have been in contact with the governor before. Casper warned me that I need to be careful because Will’s family is powerful, but I had no idea.”

Johanna goes back inside and I hear her call, “Did you by chance bring a laptop? Mine’s dead.”

“In my bag next to the couch.”

She plops it in front of me on the little bistro table on the balcony so I can enter my password.

“Okay, so we need some research of our own. If Cas says they’re powerful and that you need to be careful, I believe him.” Almost as an afterthought she says, “Just something about the man, you know?”

I nod my head.Oh, I know.

Johanna has changed out of her bathing suit and shorts to a light, pale green dress. She’s petite, around 5’3” and about as big around as my index finger. It’s amazing how well she can control her board for someone so small despite the fact that she’s all toned muscle. She has her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and she’s chewing on the end of a pen as she watches me start typing.

“Okay, where should we start?”

We spend the next two hours confirming everything Casper said. V&V Industries is owned by Marcus and Vivienne Van den Tweel but they use a holding company as the official owner. So, finding out who was behind the holding company took some extra time. The company is worth an estimated $14.7 billion. There were a couple of articles that painted them in a negative light, but overall, it was pretty tame which explains why I’ve never heard of them. Their names aren’t splashed across news sites like some…like the Hielos for instance.

Johanna echoes my thoughts. “That’s what happens when you can pay people to have stuff forgotten or erased.”

“This iscrazy,Jo!” The nickname just flies out of my mouth like I’ve known her my whole life. She doesn’t correct me or say anything, so I let it stick. “This is myfiancéwe’re talking about. I’ve lived with him for over two years. I moved toArubawith him! I’m supposed to marry this guy and I don’t even know him.” I drop my head in my hands as my disbelief mounts.

“And you’ve never met his parents, he never told you they own the company he works for, he never mentioned thathewill own that company one day, and he puts down everything you do.” She ticks the negatives off on her fingers one by one.

I huff a sigh. “That last part is a recent development though.” I tell her in a little more detail about the downward trend of Will and I’s relationship over the past eight months.

“Is that why you kissed Casper?” she asks so nonchalantly I’m caught off guard, feeling my eyes widen.

“How’d you know we kissed?”

Then I seehereyes go wide and I realize I just fell into her trap.

“Iknewit! I knew you had make-out hair when I caught you in the closet! Tell meeverything.”

Sneaky bitch. Giggling, I proceed to tell her about the kiss, just the one in the closet. I’m not quite ready for my new bestie to know the extent of my cheating-ho activities.

By the end, Johanna is completely on board the Casper and Libby Train.

“I need to end things with Will. Honestly, it’s been a long time coming but I really thought this move would save us. It obviously hasn’t. But after learning all of this, now I’m scared.”

She takes my hand and tells me that I need to get my passport back and take my ass back home, far away from Will.

When I open my mouth, a shocking truth comes out. One I think I knew but haven’t had time or space to process in the last week. “I want to stay, Jo. I don’t want to be with Will, but the governor’s wife and I have a great project planned for the CAC that I’d like to see through. I’ve met some great people,” I squeeze her hand for emphasis, “I love my routine, and kite surfing…” I let my voice trail off and Johanna finishes my sentence for me.

“And you don’t want to leave Casper.”

“That’s crazy though, right?” I feel the anguish in my features. The scent of her jasmine candle mixed with the salty air fills my nose and lungs and brings a small amount of calm.

She gives me a warm smile. “To some, maybe. But Lib, you’ve been in a loveless relationship for a while now. Casper is a closed-off, heavily guarded man, but he let that guard down for you, so obviously he feels something. It may be crazy, but don’t you owe it to yourself to see ifcrazyeventually translates intoperfect? What if you’re what each other has been missing all along?”

“How’d you get so wise? And why are you still single?” I laugh as I pull her across the table for a hug.

“Who said I’m single?” she says as she winks.

Feeling much better than I did a few hours ago, we stretch our legs and decide to go for a walk on the beach where I learn all about Johanna and her boyfriend, Oscar - who happens to be an Aruban native, her family back home, why she came here, and her future plans.

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