“Or at least they became history,” I said, the words just fell out of my mouth. I decided not to reach for the last wine as Henry flinched.
“I can’t argue with that,” he said, “because you’re right, they did. I was minding my own business, getting ready to take a hike to the waterfall one afternoon when the three women were sitting on the back deck, enjoying a drink. They called me over and at first the conversation started off lovely. They thanked me for their time here, told me that they had made some significant processes. And then that’s when Rayna took it too far. I knew from the start that she might have had a crush on me. But I always kept it professional and never entertained the idea. But she began talking to her two new business partners as though we were together. A couple, and that was the reason that they had this place to have their strategic meetings. She stood up and wrapped her arms around me and began speaking about how long that she had known me, and how long she had been waiting for this moment, the moment that I let her into my life. I tried to pull away, but she placed a kiss on my lips.” He shook his head. “I know it sounds stupid. To be a grown man and to have been taken advantage of bya woman. But I didn’t know what to do, I froze for the time being," he sighed. “She called her friends to join in, and before you know it, I had three women pinning me to the wall of my building. If I told any man this story, they would laugh at me and tell me that I should have made the most of it. But that was the last thing that I wanted to do. It’s far from my style and far from what I wanted. I knew deep down none of them wanted me either. They just loved the idea of me, they loved what I had, they loved my bank account and the very lifestyle that they thought that I could give them. I knew their type.” His voice scowled on the last two words. I had no doubt that Henry would have faced a lot of that in his life, I saw it and felt it every single time that I was out with him in public back in the city. The beading eyes of other women, looking me up and down. And Henry was right, they thought they wanted him, but they knew nothing about who he really was. No one did. Well, almost no one.
“Like I said, I really can’t believe that I’m saying this, but it’s the truth. I was then attacked by three women,” he said. The words feel out of his mouth so seriously, with no emotion. It was the same way he spoke when he had first told me about how his parents died. It was like he was frozen still. Still in shock from the situation, the real emotions from the event were locked dormant inside of him, in a place that he couldn’t quite reach.
“I froze, I was still. None of my staff were anywhere to be seen, I told them to stop, but there was three of them againstme, and still I didn’t want to hurt anyone. So, it really was like I was a little kid again, I stood still, letting them undress me, kiss me, giggle and whisper bullshit in my ear as I stared up at the clouds, wishing that the stars were out to comfort me… But I also knew that it was that very thought that switched something in me. It was the moment when I was looking up at the sky, aching for some comfort, when one of them took it too far, pulling my pants completely down, not just exposing me but touching me. And that was it, it was a single second where a part of me that I really hoped didn’t exist took over. It was like I realized that I wasn’t a kid anymore, and I finally had the power to take over, to fight back. I don’t want to go into the details and to be honest, I can’t remember too much about it myself. It was all just a blur. All I can say is that I am glad that it was Jackie that found me first. She found me in the pool surrounded by their bodies.”
“Henry, I am so sorry that, that happened to you,” I said, my heart sunk deeper into my stomach.
“No, don’t be. I’m sorry for what I did. I’m sorry that I have to sit here and tell you about all of the most horrific things that I have done.” Done, done, does that mean that this was past tense for him? That it was something that once existed in his life, but not anymore.
“And then each of those women became a vision on your AI system?”
Henry shook his head, “No, not at all. I knew what I did to them was much worse, but after what they did to me, there was no way that I ever wanted to see their faces again.”
“And then there were four,” I said. I had killed. I had killed once. I knew how easily it was to do it once. One single intrusive thought that never left your mind, never left your life once you acted on it. But this… this was so much more. I may have been a killer in my past life. But he was a murderer.
“And then there were four,” he repeated, leaning back, he released my knees from his hold as he reached for the glass of sparkling on his side of the table. “Are you hungry?” he said. And I instantly shook my head. I could have easily downed another whole bottle of wine, but the idea of food after everything he had just told me made me want to be sick. And I already felt sick. I already felt, sick, confused, unsure, mad. Mad at myself for seeing what I did, for asking too many questions. Mad at myself for wanting the truth because right now, I would do anything to go back to the moments before I knew all of this.
“No, I just want to know the end of this story. I need to know about the other girl underwater, and I need to know about the blonde. Then I want the truth and nothing but the truth of why I am here!”
Chapter Thirty-One
“The last one happened not too far after the three women. I really let what I had done haunt me. I was back in my apartment in New York for a while, just spiraling when I asked Jackie to help me sort out another situation. I felt like I really needed to get my fix again. Jackie helped and a lovely brunette, who I won’t name, but I’m more than happy to go into depth of each of these people and stories at a later date. She and I were having fun and she taught me a lot about how to express my needs in a safe way. We spent a night together, and well, I wanted more. I hadn’t had this safety before, but obviously, I wanted to keep things discrete and keeping someone around in New York, as you have witnessed is hard for me, without someone wanting to snap a picture of us or write about it. So, I invited her out here… we had another couple of fun nights until, I think the lure of this place, the lifestyle… well she got caught up in it. She began to have too much fun and although initially this was simply nothing but a paid agreement. As we went to leave, she gave me the ultimatum. She wanted more from me, or she was going to tell the whole world about the past couple of days… and she had proof. It was that one that I regret the most. It was that one that honestly felt like a cold-hearted murder to me. It was that one that well, still makes me question who I am and what I have been capable of,” he said. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from cry, from running. From jumping in the ocean right now even with my terrible swimming skills and hope that I could swim all the way back to the coast. But then I’d also be leaving him… us.
“I really thought that I was the only woman that you had bought here,” I said. Henry reached for my hands, squeezing him tight.
“You’re the only woman that I bought here that I’ve truly cared about Molly, and I mean that with my whole heart. You’re the only woman that I have said those three small words too, and you really are the only woman that I have ever loved.”
“And the blonde?” I said.
“The blonde, well, the blonde did happen very recently. It was while you were here in fact.” My body froze, I felt the blood drain from my face as Henry squeezed my hands tighter, leaning in closer, staring directly at me making sure that I was still here. I was, at least I think I was but taking on all of this information there was definitely a part of me that had checked out.
“But listen, there has been something that I have been dealing with behind the scenes that I once again haven’t told youabout, but it wasn’t to hide anything from you, it really was just to protect you.”
“You’re telling me that there was a woman. Here. While I was here. While you still proceeded to tell me that I was the only woman that you bought here.”
“The blonde that you saw was not invited here. She trespassed here. My security back home has had an eye on her for a while, she is a reporter that was following me. We still don’t exactly know what exact information that she had, but whatever it was, it’s safe now… at least I hope.”
“Do your security back home monitor this place?” I asked. I had seen security throughout Henry’s building in the city, but it had only just dawned on me now that I had never seen any security here.
“They don’t monitor it no. They can obviously come here if I ask them too, but I am lucky that I have not been in that position to need to yet. It was another reason why I created this AI system. It’s also been the very best security system that I have. It can sense everything that is going on, that is as long as it’s going on inside the island. Where we are situated, it’s just completely out of the way of well, everything. In the five years that I have owned this island, there has never been anyone in a fifty-mile radius. I guess that’s why I have been slack on building a stronger system to monitor the surrounds. But after this weekend it will definitely be something that I am focusing on. However, much time that you want to spendhere, whenever you want to come here, I want you to know that this is your absolute safe haven from now on.”
“How did she get here?”
“That is something I unfortunately still don’t have the answers to, however she got onto this island is something that I will need to try and figure out with my security team when they are back in the city. It was the AI, Ruth specifically, who spotted her on the outskirts of the property when she arrived. I hadn’t had much to do with her in the past, but I did know her face clearly. I had seen her watching me for years. When I saw her here, when she tried to act nice, like she had randomly found herself on this island and needed help. She wasn’t exactly a great investigative journalist to let that be her spill. Either way, as soon as I saw her here, I just saw red. Let’s just say that none of us will be dealing with her again.”
“So once again you knew that I would see that?”
Henry nodded. “I never meant to hurt you, I never meant to scar you from the image. I wanted you to see something. Something that would question me. I know it’s wrong and it’s so stupid now that I think of it. It’s not something that I planned, not on this trip originally. But I couldn’t help it. I had to. I’m falling too in love with you, and I needed you to know everything. All of it. I didn’t want to move any further into this relationship knowing that I had to keep any parts of me hidden. You’re the one, Miss Molly, I am sure of it. You’re my one, the one that I want to do life with and the one that knows all of me.”
“And you promise me, you swear on my life, on your life, on everything that you have that everything that you are saying to me is the truth and nothing but the complete truth,” I asked.
“At this point of our relationship, with everything that I have told you, with everything that you know about me. Do you really think that I would lie about this? You know that I’m not proud of this. You know I don’t want to be telling you this story right now.”
I shuddered, trying to take control of my breath. Deep inhale, deep exhale. He loved me, he loved me more than anyone. But love and hate obviously existed inside him simultaneously. He could tell me how much he wanted his life with me, and then end someone else’s in a single second. I struggled to see the other side of him. To imagine the very things that he has said he had done. I struggled to see it, because I didn’t want to. I didn’t want this to be anything than just words. But I had seen it, I had seen the very remains of all of it. I touched and held their hair.
“There’s still something else that you’re not telling me the whole truth about,” I said, choking on my words. Wondering if I really did want the truth. Because if the truth matched any of the scenarios that I had running on repeat in my head, maybe it would be better to float around in the unknown for a while longer. But then again, I really did know too much already.
