A Deal with the Devil by Amelia Wilde

Author:Amelia Wilde [Wilde, Amelia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-03-29T18:30:00+00:00

13

Poseidon

Ashley stands on deck, the sun highlighting her beautiful hair, shadows in her sad eyes. I’m never going to see her again. Never hold her again. That’s for the best. I know that. That’s why I’m sending her back, so she can live a normal life. Not chained to my bed. Not whipped by a pirate. No, she’ll find some clean-cut stockbroker to marry. He would never mar a single inch of her delicate skin. Even thinking about him hypothetically, I want to kill him.

There’s a sound to the ocean. A scent. I know it as well as I know myself. It’s home, but right now I don’t hear it. I don’t smell it. There’s only a sense of loss.

I can’t speak.

Ashley blinks, eyes shining, and she takes her hand from mine and grabs the railing of the boarding ramp. My lungs have been trapped in a vise, my ribs crushed by unseen fists. It hurts. Like a broken heart. I can’t feel that anymore. Never thought I would feel that again. Every cell screams to go with her. No—not to go with her. To take her. To keep her.

Whatever it costs.

I don’t even care about the fucking ransom money. That’s only for appearances. It would be bad if anyone else got the message that I cared about her. And maybe it’ll make Daddy think twice about letting her run around the open seas on her spring break.

How much am I worth, then?

That’s what she asked me. As if there is any dollar amount that could capture the sunshine in her eyes, the hope in her heart. She’s worth the entire world. If I could wrap it up and store it in the cargo of my ship, it still wouldn’t be enough.

She takes her first few steps, and I look across the water at Joseph Donnelly.

He’s smiling.

There’s something off about the smile.

Or maybe that’s what I want to think. Maybe I’m looking for signs that I shouldn’t send her away. Unease turns my stomach. I don’t want her to leave, so I’m inventing reasons why she shouldn’t.

Except he’s not watching his daughter approach.

He’s looking down at his phone. A second later, mine vibrates. He’s initiating a wire transfer. Soon, I’ll have an extra hundred million dollars. I don’t want it. Joseph turns his head and says something to the man at his side. Part of his skeleton crew.

He’ll need at least a few people to sail.

We should make the trade at the same moment—her stepping toward him, the money sailing digitally toward me. The bank account doesn’t change. No notifications. No incoming transfers. Is he trying to stiff me? That would bother me more in another situation. I wouldn’t let anyone renege on their word to me, as a matter of principle.

I could take Ashley back right now, demand he produce the money first.

I don’t, because this isn’t really about the money. It’s about sending Ashley back where she belongs. About keeping her safe, mostly from myself.

She takes another step, and my eyes lock on her.

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