“Jack, it’s Quinn. I need you to keep a look out for someone getting on the next ferry to the mainland. Male, thirties, American, dressed in an expensive suit—aye, that’s the one. He came in yesterday, did he? Well, I need you to let me know as soon as he’s dropped off on the mainland … Aye … okay … thanks, Jack.” He hung up, looking from me to Ramsay. “We’ll know as soon as he’s gone.”
Ramsay nodded grimly, turning to me.
“What happened to Michelle?” I asked immediately.
She and I weren’t close, but we’d partied a few times together. I knew she and Hugh had a thing before she overdosed. I’d always liked Michelle. People thought she was a vapid party girl. But I was one of the few people who knew her IQ was off the charts, courtesy of her genius father who owned one of the biggest tech companies in the world. I’d never heard Michelle say a bad word about anyone. Yet, I’d also thought she was broken somehow. She held a pain within, and I figured that’s why she partied so much. It was her escape from whatever demons chased her, but we hadn’t been close enough for me to find out more.
I remembered being at work the day the news broke. I’d only just returned from my South American jungle experience with London, and I’d started as GM at the hotel. The staff were gossiping about Michelle. I’d hid myself in a janitor’s closet so I could cry without any of them seeing me. I’d been unsurprised by the news of Michelle’s overdose, but I’d wished I’d tried harder to be her friend.
Now Ramsay had alluded that there was more to her death than meets the eye and that Hugh had something to do with it.
“I can’t tell you that.” He took a step toward me and even annoyed, I found myself wanting to lean into him. “Is Hugh the threat or is it something else?”
“I can’t tell you that. You’ll know the truth soon enough.” Perri called yesterday afternoon. As per the legal process, they’d contacted the Silver Group to explain what story they’d be printing and ask for comment, and the company was scrambling their lawyers. It might delay the story going to print until all the legal stuff was signed off. “How did you know about Hugh and Michelle? Does it have something to do with your military background?”
Ramsay turned to Quinn. Whatever passed between them, I was aware of Quinn departing, but I kept my gaze fixed firmly on the man I’d recently shared a bed with.
“Well?”
“Will you tell me if Hugh is the threat?”
“He’s not the threat.”
“Who is the threat?”
I clenched my jaw. “So you’re saying if I don’t tell you, you won’t tell me how you got Hugh the narcissist to back off?”
“Is that your answer?”
“Ramsay …”
He shook his head with an exasperated sigh. “You keep your secrets, Silver, and I’ll keep mine.” With that he gestured toward the house. “I want you inside where we can keep an eye on you until that bastard is off the island.”
“Seriously? That’s it?”
“It’s your decision. You trust me to fuck you but not to protect you, that’s entirely your prerogative. As it is mine to keep information to myself.”
I huffed and strode past him toward the house. “Bullshit. You wouldn’t tell me even if I told you who was behind the threats.”
“Wrong. I would tell you.”
I spun back around to face him as we reached the front entrance. “Would you tell me how you came by the information?”
He studied me carefully and then answered flatly, “No.”
Hurt I wasn’t sure I was allowed to feel rippled through me unpleasantly. I shrugged, hiding the emotion from him. “Then I guess I don’t feel bad about keeping secrets.” I turned and marched into the noisy house, intent on finding the farthest place in there to be from Ramsay right now.
Yet, that damned sense of gratitude my parents had instilled in me stopped me. I whirled around to find Ramsay in the messy large entrance that would become my reception, staring after me.
I shivered at the unguarded look on his face.
A worried expression he quickly blanked.
“Thank you,” I gritted out. “For getting rid of him.”
His mouth curled ever so slightly. “You can thank me later on your hands and knees.”
The words echoed around the space and anyone who was close enough to hear over the noise would’ve heard him.
