Page 60 of Savage Saint

I pause with suds running down my neck toward my chest, then down my flat stomach before disappearing between my thighs. It feels like a slow caress. Like something dirty and forbidden to want that scent instead of what I’ve been using since high school.

For one ridiculous second, I hate that I’m rinsing his scent off.

“What is wrong with me? He’s horrible.” I wash off faster, make it so clinical; I’m almost performing a decontamination protocol on myself. No paying extra attention to where I’m slick, and it’s not the soap or water. Not where my skin tightens and throbs. “Not going there.”

Won’t see a man that can’t even offer a thank you after kidnapping me.

A little disturbing? Yes.

Can I help how I feel? No.

Thirty minutes later, I’m dressed in cream wide-leg pants, a fitted vest top in the same shade, and gold embellished sandals. My curly hair stays loose around my shoulders, makeup minimal, and I head out the door with a wristlet large enough to fit my case-less phone, cards, ID, and lip gloss.

Tatiana and Katia are waiting for me in the resort reception area, each holding a finger to their watch. Brows raised, too. “You’re late,” they say in unison, a little loud, and a group of businessmen heading toward one of the conference rooms looks over, a few lingering longer than is polite.

I check my phone. Then hold it out toward the girls with the screen unlocked. “Four minutes early, to be precise.”

“For you, that’s late.”

Tatiana laughs and walks over, kissing my cheek before hooking her arm through mine. “Ignore her. She arrived fifteen minutes ago because she has no life.”

Katia smacks Tatiana in the arm before also greeting me with a kiss on the cheek. “I have a life. It’s called ‘perfectly spoiled,’ and Jose agrees. He’s the captain of that boat.”

“Good for Jose.” I tuck my phone into my wristlet before tossing my hair over my shoulder in a practiced move that should win me some shampoo commercial. “May he continue finding your delusions.”

“He vividly enjoys my delusions in 4K quality.”

“Of course he encourages them, you hoe,” Tatiana corrects, her lips twitching while Katia lifts her chin like she’s above it. Me? I giggle. Have to bite my bottom lip to try and control it, but soon Tati is right there with me.

“Can’t take you two anywhere.”

“You love it.” Linking my arm through Katia’s, I throw a wink at my other best friend and head toward the spa entrance. The resort is busier than I expected for the time of day, people moving through the lobby toward the restaurant, conference room, and the open terrace overlooking the warm Caribbean waters.

Somewhere nearby, glasses clink and soft music plays beneath the constant hum of conversation.

Normal. Exactly what I need.

“So,” Katia says, drawing the word out so I’d look over at her. “Before we get distracted by polish colors and mimosas, are we discussing why you disappeared on us yesterday?”

My steps falter for half a second.

Tati notices. Her brows furrow. “What just happened⁠—”

“What do you mean disappeared?” I cut her off, my heart racing for some reason. Do they know? Did they keep it from my family? “Explain.”

“Chill, Geni. Just mean that you never answered the group chat until after eight.” Katia shrugs, not noticing my reaction while another pair of eyes sees more than she should. “You’re usually up by three after a shift.”

“I was tired.” Both women stare, and I stare back. Give nothing away. “Dead to the world kind of tired.”

“Is that the story?” Tatiana asks, head tilted to the side as she gives me an appraising look. “Positive?”

They don’t know. No one seems to have noticed I’d been taken and held for hours.

Saint threatened the guard. Would’ve killed him.

“It’s the truth.” Technically. “I was out like a light.”

“Lucky bitch,” Tatiana mutters under her breath. “I got four hours last night because Emilio decided calling me at midnight from Santo Domingo was romantic.”