“Fuck.” Running my hands through my hair, I sink down onto the messy bed and groan softly. With any luck, someone will come for me soon. Then I can fight them, disarm them, and do everything I can to get out of here and out to Cian before anything happens to him.
Several hours later, when the sun is turning the sky orange and sinking into the darkness of the water, someone finally comes. They knock on the door and I lift my head, staring and waiting for them to open it.
They don’t.
“Faina?” Hawk’s voice drifts through the door and my stomach plummets.
I remain silent.
“Faina, I can see you on the camera. There’s no use pretending not to be there.”
My gaze flicks up to the ceiling and I scan around for any hint of a camera, but nothing jumps out at me. Groaning softly, I stand and approach the door.
“What?”
“Is that any way to talk to your host?”
“Why not open the door and let me tell you how I really feel?”
“I’m not suicidal.” There’s a soft creak as Hawk presumably leans against the door. “I come to you with a proposal.”
“Hardly a fair conversation to present something while we’re sailing away from land.” I study the door, picturing Hawk in my mind and trying to plot his form against the door.
“I would be a fool to ignore my advantages.”
“Why are we still alive?” I ask while estimating the position of his head. “You have us right in your crosshairs and yet you choose to taunt us? Play with us?”
“Is a game of cat and mouse really that fun if the cat just eats the mouse in one bite?” Hawk drawls. “Not everything is black and white.”
“Some things are,” I reply. “You’ve killed too many people to get away with anything other than a clear-cut death.”
“I guess we’ll see.”
“Yes, we will.” With an estimation in mind, I slam my palm against the door where I think his head might be, eager to disorientate him. Pain smarts through my palm and then low laughter rises from the other side of the door.
“You’re quite the character, Faina. I can see why he likes you so much. Not to disappoint you, but your survival is tied to him. In the closet, you’ll find a dress I picked out just for you. Wear it to dinner or the next thing you’ll see is the bottom of the ocean.”
A dress?
Hawk’s footsteps gradually fall away from the door, so I move to the half-open closet and fully open the door. A sparkling, figure-hugging red dress hangs from a black hanger tucked into thefar corner, easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. Taking it out, I spread it out on the bed and step back to observe. With a plunging neckline and a sash around the waist, it is rather beautiful. There’s no way he picked this out himself.
I debate doing what I can to destroy the fabric, but I have no doubt Hawk will make good on his threat. Knowing he’s watching makes my stomach flip and after wrestling with myself, I snatch up the dress and disappear into the closet for privacy.
Fine. I’ll wear it.
But it won’t make a difference.
Later that evening, a guard knocks on my door and barks out instructions for me to step back from the door. Aware of the camera, I oblige and resist the urge to tackle him once he opens the door and whistles low when he sees me.
His gross comments about how hot I look are stored inside me to fester because I can’t risk messing up this opportunity to get out of that room and try to find Cian.
Not that I have to look very far.
The guard takes me down a long, winding corridor past an indoor pool, a cinema room playing a movie for several guards, and a noisy kitchen before leading me out onto the upper deck, where the air is much cooler. Stars twinkle in the sky above, and it’s a stunningly clear view I can’t appreciate because in front of me is a long table draped in a white tablecloth and laden down with food and crystal candlesticks.
Hawk sits at the far end of the table toying with a toothpick against his teeth and Cian sits two down from him on the right-hand side. He’s dressed in a tuxedo with a red bowtie that matches the shade of my dress, and he rises up in his seat the second he spots me. He shifts as if to run toward me, but Hawk quickly clears his throat and lazily picks up the handgun resting next to his plate.
“Faina, it’s so good of you to join us. Your accommodations are to your liking, I hope?” Hawk drawls lazily.
