“You already apologized. I am not angry either. What I have with you beats that, right? It beats everything. These feelings, they’re new for you too? Like you said in the car?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Then I have nothing to worry about. You are an exception for me, as you’ve implied that I am, also, for you.”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
He kissed me again, and I sank into it. His body called to mine, and I answered with my heart and my body… but my mind…
My mind was speaking a different language.
I was digging an even bigger hole for myself. I had falleninto this hole, but for some reason, I was still digging, falling deeper into my own pit, but it didn’t matter… the space around me felt good; it felt different, and I felt free.
But for how long?
How long can I keep digging?
How long can I keep lying?
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Zahra
I could feel eyes on me. Watching and waiting. Trying to listen, decipher, and decode me.
The annoyance that swirled inside me and the urge to turn and meet the person’s gaze was strong. Still, I held firm, twirling the wineglass in my grip softly, as the transparent white scarf I’d tied over the bikini thong I wore blew this way and that with the evening breeze, the same as the unbuttoned, almost translucent white shirt over my bikini bra.
I’d tied my hair into two scattered buns on my head so that nothing would touch my skin; maybe that was why I felt the stalker’s stern gaze on me.
“Yeah, I’ll let you know,” I said to Daiyu at the other end of the line before taking the phone from my ear and ending the call. I slipped the device into the breast pocket of my shirt and brought the wineglass to my lips as I turned.
The cold wind hit me first, accompanied by the smell of sea salt. The ocean was glistening with the setting sun, and the beautiful view had me feeling at peace until my gaze settled on the person staring at me.
I allowed an easy smile to stretch against my lips as I watched him casually standing there, one hand inside his pants pocket, not even hiding the fact that he was suspiciously looking.
With a sigh, I made my way toward him near the railing, a dangerous place to stand with the one person who had taken a dislike to me upon first glance. People were here and there, though, soaking up the evening sun and enjoying the last hours of the day.
When I reached him, I gave a toothy grin, and he frowned. “Casmiro!” I hailed. “It’s a little pathetic that you choose to spend the remaining time on the cruise stalking me.”
“Who were you on the phone with?”
I huffed out a laugh. “My lawyer, we were discussing putting a restraining order on your ass. You’ve been following me like a hawk from the fucking medieval times; don’t you ever take a break?”
“I will take a break when I prove to everyone that you tried to kill me.”
My smile remained as I tilted my head to the side. “Oh wow, that’s a new one. Are you done trying to prove to everyone that I have other motives and I’m not who I say I am?”
His jaw clenched as he shook his head slowly, eyes filled with distrust and irritation. “I don’t know why no one else sees it.”
“Maybe because there’s nothing to see?” I told him. “Cassie, you need to relax, smile more, be open and free, and while you’re at it, pull out the fucking stick from your ass; not everyone who comes around your boss has ulterior motives.”
He straightened, hard eyes pinning me with a stare that would have made me cower if I hadn’t been in total control of the situation. “You have ulterior motives.”
“And do you have proof to back your claim?”
His jaw locked.
“Good, you don’t. Sometimes it pays to stay out of other people’s business,” I said, my eyes searching the piercing golden-hour blue of his as I took a step closer to him, curling my lips farther up when I spoke my next words quietly. “Maybe when you do, you might be able to avoid… unforeseen circumstances.”
