Page 86 of Hunter's Revenge

With that vibrant red hair, she could be Princess Ariel.

She does a few laps, and I can’t help but watch her because I can't swim. I grew up in a beach town, yet I can just about float around in a pool and splash about in the sea.

About ten minutes go by, and to my surprise, Malik walks up to the poolside.

I didn’t think he was still here, but then again, I wasn't told that he'd left. I just assumed he'd gone because he said he had a busy day and looked like he was heading out to work.

Kelly swims up to him; a bright smile lights up her face.

I can't hear what they're saying, but when he returns her smile with equal vibrancy, it pulls at my insides with that envy I experienced earlier.

They talk with the casual ease of lovers who’ve known each other for a lifetime, and I note the way he looks down at her with fascination. The easy laid-back vibe he’s giving off reminds me of how he was back in Wilmington when he came to see me at the restaurant for lunch. That was an act. This isn’t.

As if he can feel my eyes on him, he straightens and looks straight at me.

Suddenly, we're staring at each other, eye to eye. Kelly continues talking to him, oblivious to me, while he’s looking at me. He stares for a few beats, then switches his focus back to her, and even that annoys me.

Was it because he told me what he showed me in Wilmington was real why I feel like this?

Or is it because I’m wearing his engagement ring and marrying him in three days?

Does it matter?

Does what I feel matter if I get a billion-dollar fortune at the end of this?

It shouldn’t, and maybe it wouldn’t if part of me wasn’t still stuck on the guy I thought I met in Wilmington.

I liked him.

He made me feel, and I never expected to have any such feelings after the entire ordeal with Gage.

He made me feel and now I don’t trust him. Or know him.

No matter what he says to me, Wilmington wasn’t real.

The door behind me opening pulls me back to the present. I look around to see Jeanne coming toward me. She’s dressed in casual clothes, which look good outside her maid’s uniform.

“Ready to go?” The sunlight touches her eyes, highlighting the friendliness in her expression.

“Yeah, sure. I’m ready.” I stand and give her a little smile just to be polite.

“Great. I think we’ll be away for most of the day.”

“It will be nice to get out.”

“I thought so too. As we have free rein of what we do, I thought I’d take you to some of my favorite places in Boston.”

My smile brightens upon hearing that. “I’d like that. I’ve never been here before.”

“I think you’ll love it.”

Love might be a stretch for me right now, but I need to adapt to this thing I’m doing. “Me too.”

Instinctively, I glance back at Malik and Kelly. When I look at Jeanne again, I notice her looking at them too, before she returns her focus to me and sympathy washes over her face.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.”

I follow her out and try to steady my mind, reminding myself that this is only business.

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