Page 55 of On The Beach

I'd been caught, and I was angry, so I was lashing out at her. But itwasher fault. If she hadn't come looking for me, then I wouldn't be feeling like shit that she was leaving. I would….

She swallowed, and for a moment, I thought she might say something back to end this. But she didn't. She just turned, her shoulders hunched, as if the weight of everything I'd thrown at her had broken her.

Franco gave me a look of pure disgust, shaking his head, and even Cato, who'd always had my back, scowled at me. RiRi was glaring at me with a look that bordered on pity.

Belle walked into the night, leaving her suitcase and backpack behind. I watched her and every fiber of me ached with the things I hadn't said.

Don't leave the island.

Stay.

Say you love me.

But it was better this way. It had to be better this way. Because the truth was, if I'd let her stay, she'd keep looking for Dr. Augustus in me—and that was a man I'd left behind a long, long time ago.

CHAPTER 18

rock bottom

BELLE

Against the advice of RiRi, Franco, Cato, and even Nick with the missing teeth, I walked to Mick's hut, hoping he'd be there.

RiRi had offered me a room on top of the bar that she rented out during peak season for the night and told me that if I tried to pay, she'd be reallyhurt. Even if Mick wasn't, his friends were sorry that they'd not told me the truth about Mick's identity.

However, I had to try one more time to get what I needed from Dr. Augustus. So, I used RiRi's printer to put together a package I could leave with Mick and hope that he'd see that his signature would allow me to give two kids a chance—and if it worked so many, many others.

He was sitting on the stairs that went up to his porch, his bare feet in the sand. He looked up at me, and I gave him a crooked smile.

He'd hurt me more than anyone else ever had. Yet, I knew I had to play nice, push past the pain so I could convince him to sign those damned patent papers, and, in the process, probably also convince him that I was, only wantedthisfrom himand not arelationship, which I knew was a four lettered word for Mick.

"What the fuck do you want?" he asked rudely.

His forearms rested on his thighs. His hair was disheveled like he'd run his hands through them too many times. He wasnothappy.

My heart pounded, but I knew I had to make my case. "I know you don't want to help me, but this…this isn't just some career move, Mick. This is about saving lives. There are kids—two of them at Mass Gen right now—who are counting on this therapy. They have months, maybe a year, before Sanfilippo Syndrome takes everything from them. I need your help to get this approved. You're the only one who can release the patent."

He straightened, his face a mask of indifference. "I've heard it all before, Belle. The sob stories, the 'do it for the children' arguments. Emotional blackmail's not going to change anything."

I felt the wind knocked out of me; his cold words sank deep. "Youreallythink I'm here to manipulate you? That I'm career-hungry Lady Freeze, who'll say anything to get you to sign these documents?"

He shrugged his expression hard. "I told you more or less that I fucked you for fun, and here you are on your knees asking for help. Don't you have any pride?"

My heart twisted painfully. "No, Mick, I don't."

"Your career is that important?"

A humorless smile tugged at his lips, and he looked at me with a dismissive coldness I barely recognized. "Those children are. You know me, Mick."

"I don't know you at all, Belle. We had a few nights and a few laughs, and that's it. You were looking for a scientist, and you didn't find him. Now, go back to your world and leaveme to mine."

I stared at him, feeling like the ground had fallen away beneath me. "Mick.” I set the papers I had printed next to him. “These are the studies, everything we've put together over the years. Maybe it means nothing to you, butpleaseread them. Look at what's at stake. I just”—tears pricked my eyes—"I need your help."

He looked as cold and unmovable as a stone.

"Please."

His eyes changed and became heated. "Maybe if you'll fuck me one last time."

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