by Quin Zayne
“Damon, I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. Take your time. You’ve been through a horrific ordeal.”
“Yes.”
She took a bite of the eggs. Her favorite cheddar from California with mushrooms and spinach. She was hungrier than she thought.
He nodded. “Enjoy.”
She swallowed. “Don’t go.” She gestured to the bed. “Sit down.” Mm. She liked telling him what to do.
He sat.
They remained that way, in companionable silence, with the unspoken future between them. She savored her breakfast and polished off another cup of coffee.
“There. I feel better.”
“Good.” He rose and removed the tray, set it on the dresser. “Time for your bath. Are you ready for me to prepare it for you?”
This humble Damon was quite a change, yet no less masculine. She enjoyed being queen for a day. Why not go with it?
“Yes.” Shaking her head at the change in him, she watched him stride to the bathroom. He’d hidden this nurturing, attentive man.
The sound of the water flowing into the tub reached her along with the scent of a rich vanilla bath oil.
He came to the bed and held out his arms. “This is for you. No scene, nothing sexual, just a bath. I’d like to carry you, if that’s alright.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
He scooped her into his arms and carried her into the steamy room. He undressed her gently. His touch was as neutral as a nurse’s. He didn’t focus on her body, simply supported her arm as she stepped into the deep tub.
Being in his arms took her to the freedom she’d felt with him, the sense of flying.
Once she was seated, he smiled and made a massaging gesture with his hands.
She nodded, feeling like Cleopatra. This might not be a scene, but it was working for her. Clouds of steam softened the crinkles around his eyes, the fatigue showing around his mouth.
He knelt behind her and rubbed her shoulders. “Is that alright?”
“Yes, it’s good.”
The pampering eased her stress. As his strong hands worked her muscles with gentle care, she let go, her mind and body drifting.
She trusted him, she still trusted him, after all this. And she didn’t want to let him go.
A soft tap at the door took her out of dark thoughts. Leaving the zone where nothing ever worked out for her, she tucked the robe so her breasts didn’t show.
“Yes?”
“It’s Damon. May I come in?”
“Okay.” She didn’t feel like seeing anyone, but she didn’t feel like being alone, either.
Damon entered with something bulging under his pale gold linen jacket. It wriggled as he approached the bed.
A moist black snout poked out and sniffed.
“Oh, a puppy!” Mandy leaned toward the baby dog face. The bright dark eyes looked right at her.
The world didn’t look so bad with a little dog in it.
Damon revealed his furry passenger. The puppy rested comfortably on his arm and grinned at her. The small tan and white tail wagged. The puppy’s mouth was open in a full doggy grin.
“I wanted to surprise you. Look at her paws. She’s going to grow into quite the watch dog. She’s for you, if you want her.”
The puppy bounded onto her lap.
There wasn’t much she could say with Kia licking her face. She recognized the blaze on her chest, the fearless puppy who licked her hand in the village.
“Want her? Oh, yes.” Her heart sank. There was no studio where she’d be allowed a dog. It was difficult enough to find a cheap place to live alone. And she wouldn’t will that life on any animal, cooped up like that. She hated it herself. “I’m sorry, girl.” She shook her head. “I can’t.”
“Listen, Mandy, you’re home here for as long as you like. The offer is open for a home in the village or on the mainland, or—if you really want, we can settle up your payment right now. I can wire it right to your bank, so you can get a place in San Francisco.” His face clouded. He took her hand, the one not occupied with wriggling puppy. “The million is yours, you earned it.”
“That’s good of you, but I don’t know—.”
“I hope you’ll stay here.”
Damon’s gold eyes looked different to her, kinder. Why did he hide this side of himself so much?
“The dogs. You’ve been feeding them,” she breathed. The piece fit. That’s what he was doing in the village.
Damon looked sheepish. “There are a lot of things I can stand as a rich bastard, but seeing anyone go hungry isn’t one of them. On this island, no one goes hungry. Yeah, I feed the dogs myself, and find them homes. I brought in a vet who does the spaying and neutering, shots, all their health care. I was overcome at the condition of the dogs when I first arrived. I had to do something.” He gave her a crooked half smile. “I cover the clinic costs for people, too.”
“I followed you a couple times. I thought there might be other—.” She stopped and buried her face in Kia’s fur. She smelled good. She was a cared-for puppy.
“Other what?”
“Um.”
“You thought—there were other women?”
“Thought crossed my mind,” she murmured and scratched Kia’s ears. “Those are big paws, girl.”
“Paying attention to you was all I could handle!” He gave her a crooked grin, as though aware he’d revealed more than he intended.
“You’re hard to figure.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what, Damon Karl?” She wasn’t inclined to take any orders.
“Don’t figure me.” He took a step closer and held her hand to his lips. “Mandy, let’s start over. I’m not any good at this, but I don’t want it to be over. I want you to stay, but only if you want to stay. Kia’s yours no matter what. This isn’t a puppy bribe.” He waggled his eyebrows.
She giggled. “That’s good. A puppy bribe would be low, and even billionaires shouldn’t be that dirty.”
“I agree. I’d like to do some reputation repair for billionaires.” His lip quirked.
“You’re off to a good start.” She squeezed his hand and nuzzled Kia, blushing.
“Good. Take your time. You don’t have to figure out anything today. If you feel like it, we can take a walk later, the three of us. Mandy.” He pressed her hand to his lips. The electricity was real.
“Alright, Damon.” She wasn’t sure where she was going with Damon, but she wanted to find out.
The three of us. Yes.
She stretched, hoping things could remain this good, but did they ever?
The Crux
The following days passed in a haze as he pampered her with delicious meals, spa treatments, and true to his word, a total freedom from cares. Mandy returned to helping with the children in the village—and with the dogs.
Soon, she no longer jumped at unexpected sounds and no longer needed the light off at night. Damon slept with her each night, always giving her the option to send him away.
His tenderness, and Kia’s wonderful antics and devotion lifted her heart and brought her back the parts of herself she lost in the mad scientist’s lab.
They walked every day, exploring parts of the island she’d never seen.
That afternoon, they hiked to the top of the volcano and stood arm and arm. The palms and jungle appeared to breathe in the breeze. Bottle glass sea foam waves lapped the white shores.
“Are you up for talking about what happened?” His golden eyes checked her face.
“Okay. I guess I am.”
“I haven’t wanted to dredge it all up. I figured giving you time might be the best thing, that and your sessions with Darlene, and your wonderful contributions to the happiness of the children and the dogs in the village.” His voice warmed with pride. “Now, if you’re ready to hear it, I want to apologize more fully for all that you’ve experienced as my guest here.”
“I’m ready.”
�
�I’m sorry, Mandy. I’m more sorry than I can say. I’d been uneasy, and had stray thoughts that my family might have someone on the island to sabotage me.” He shrugged, his face strained. “My Karl training doesn’t put stock in hunches—my father scoffed at ‘women’s intuition,’ and anything that couldn’t be quantified. He may feel differently now that he’s facing death, but he hasn’t said so.” He took her hand. “Listen, Mandy, I was wrong.”
“How did you,” she swallowed, tried again, “How did you get there in time, before he used the saw?”
“My concerns that Fabian might seek to attack me through you put me on alert. That’s why I reached your room so fast the night you screamed. I wish I could have prevented the ordeal you went through in his lab.” He grasped her hand. “I was so obsessed with making you mine, I didn’t see the danger right inside my walls.” He squeezed her fingers, pressed his lips to the back of her hand. “Can you forgive me, Mandy?”
“Maybe.” The word came out a croak.
“Look, I meant it about no strings now. I don’t want to lose you, Mandy. I’ve got a lot to make up to you for, and I want the time to do it right.” He drew a breath and made an effort to slow down. “I’ve got a crew removing every trace of Laszlo.” He rubbed his chin. “I shaved again, real close.”
“That’s a start.” It was hard to give him anything. He was the root of all that had happened. Because of him, she damned near got lobotomized. The horror of that wouldn’t leave in a hurry.
“I bought the lake.” His voice came out hushed. He glanced at her.
She froze, not sure he meant what she thought.
“It took a lot of string-pulling and favor-calling, but I kept at it and got it done. I’m turning it into a memorial to your family and a wildlife sanctuary. I set up scholarships at the college where your parents taught in their names. You’re welcome to help design the site marker. I figured as a historian and a literature professor your parents would appreciate being immortalized.”
“That’s, that’s amazing.”
“I’m installing a better guard rail, too. Your family wasn’t the first to have a tragedy on that road. I’m making sure it won’t happen again.” He squeezed her hand. “I should have done it sooner.”
“What about…” her voice squeaked. She hated how small the thought of it made her feel. “The gala? The whole showing off your bride to the Karl’s thing?”
“Fuck ‘em.”
She rocked back and stared at Damon Karl, eyes wide. “Do you mean that?”
“I mean it.” He sighed. “I shouldn’t have put you through any of this Mandy. I became obsessed.” He eased his grip on her hand, but continued to hold it. “I’m older than you might think. Forty-two. My father’s approaching death triggered—compulsion. I don’t know how else to put it. That’s not an excuse. I have enough holdings, investments, and treasures of my own to last my lifetime and my heirs’ lifetimes, even if I never gained another dollar, or I died tomorrow.” He lost color, clearly having a visceral awareness of how easily death can claim anyone at any time.
“Okay,” she said softly. “You really don’t mind letting your brother win?”
“He won’t win.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s say I have a different concept of winning. I’m in a better position to sabotage their global monopoly attempts from the outside. My father has nearly killed himself obsessing over increasing his wealth and power, trying to be the biggest at everything. Now Fabian can follow that path. Me, I’m going to love you all of my life. I win.” He kissed her.
“You’re certain about this?”
“We will still be outrageously wealthy, don’t fret.”
“I wasn’t fretting. It doesn’t seem possible, but I love you even more now. Following the Karl dictates was making you miserable.”
“You’re right, it was.” He kissed the tip of her nose, then her lips. His kiss became deeper and his hands took her hips.
“I’m shocked, Damon. I didn’t expect this.”
“Me, either. I didn’t expect you.” He fingered his hair back. “I got greedy, Mandy. I don’t need the entire Karl empire, and I sure as Hell don’t want to pay the price for it—being the family’s pawn and living under a microscope. That was never the life I wanted, not until recently, until I started wanting it all. I was like an aging teenager, acting out against my father and trying for his approval so hard I tied myself in knots, and almost lost the most important—.” He closed his eyes. “Mandy, I love you. You were right, there was no reason to pick someone I cared about to be a living doll. That was—crazy. That was because I’ve never—let myself go, let myself love. Growing up with constant criticism, constant control, left me messed up inside, always levering for the upper hand, never trusting anyone, keeping women at a distance. I never wanted the kind of women who wanted me for the life they saw me as the ticket to get.”
“I understand.” She searched his eyes, finding deep remorse there.
“I’m ashamed I treated you the same way. It’s a sucky feeling to have someone pay attention to you and be able to tell you’re only a means to an end, not a human being to that person. You deserved better. I’m sorry.”
She pinched his thigh and smiled at his grimace. “I’m glad you know how it feels.”
“What can I do for you? I mean it.”
She took a long breath. She couldn’t say, ‘kiss me like you mean it, make love to me, hold me and don’t let me go.’ Instead, she took in the heady rush of the genie coming out of the bottle. What did she want? Oh, yes.
“I want a live-aboard boat, and lessons in boating and navigation. I want a financial adviser to help me manage the million dollars so I can create financial security for life. And I want freaking phone and Internet access!”
“You got it. You can pick out the boat yourself. Get one with a queen size bed. I want to sleep close to you. If you’ll take me with you.”
“You mean it?”
“I mean it.”
“Mandy Stone, I don’t want anything to come between us ever again.”
“You are a devil of a man, Damon Karl.”
“I’m reformable.”
“You’ll have to prove that.”
He slipped down to one knee.
“Oh, hey, I didn’t mean…”
I mean it. Mandy, will you marry me? For real. No need to parade around and play perfect fiance. Wear sweats and slouch if you want. Say yes.”
“Oh, well, if sweats and slouching are allowed—let me think about it.” She stroked his freshly-shaved cheek. She’d leave him on tenterhooks for awhile. It seemed only fair.
“Mandy?”
“I want you to get help, Damon.”
“Help?”
“A therapist.”
“Oh, now—. “
She put her hand on his arm. “I didn’t think I would need to talk to one, but I was glad Darlene was available.” She leveled her eyes at him. “It’s time you take as much care of you as you took of me.”
“I see your point, but—.”
“Hear me out. You’re haunted, traumatized by your horrible family. You can be a good man. Burying the past isn’t going to cut it. Face your problems. That’s the only way you’ll grow into the father our children—if we were to marry.”
“Oh.” he swallowed and tugged at his shirt collar. “Well. Since you put it that way.” He spread his hands. “Alright.”
“That’s a start.”
“Mandy, I want a life with you, years of beautiful days to make it all up to you. What do you say?”
“Get up. Check the weather. I’m hoping it’s a good day for flying. I want to get out of here.” She shrugged. “About your proposal, I’ll think about it.”
He rose, bemused. “Where do you want to go?”
“Boat shopping.”
“Your wish is my command, Mandy.” He nuzzled the hollow below her ear.
Damn, the man did not play fair. She reached down and
pinched his ass cheek.
He hissed. So gratifying.
He’d kept her at arm’s length for a long time. He could wait for her answer.
In her suite after a chaste shared shower, they sat together playing with Kia. The sun made its fiery journey into the sea, turning the island golden.
He was so sweet and gentle with the baby dog, his big hands loving.
The beauty of them together filled her heart and it ached.
“Mandy, I got some news. I’m not sure if you’d be interested in hearing it. It’s about my sisters.”
“What is it?” She carefully discouraged Kia from chewing too hard on her pinkie.
“That packet you brought me from the boat when you came back from the village this morning. I opened it after our hike, because I didn’t want it to shadow our day.”
She sat up straighter and rested her hand on his hard thigh. “What was it?”
“The report from a private detective. He’s been watching Fabian for me since my sisters disappeared. He got the proof that Fabian murdered them and turned it over to the authorities. Fabian’s life is going to be as violated and ugly as he deserves. Because of you, I decided against personal revenge. I’ll let justice take him. He won’t get away.”
“You sound sure.” She searched his face, worried for him.
He’d had so much grief, it wouldn’t be surprising if his judgment about this was off. It was far from unusual for wealthy, powerful men to escape the consequences of murder in the US ‘justice’ system. She bit her lip against the urge to ask about the evidence. With no bodies, it would have to be conclusive for the prosecution to make an airtight case.
Kia gamboled across her lap, and Mandy squeezed her plush robe. If this report brought closure to his sister’s disappearances, it would help him heal.
“I’m certain. Fabian collected trophies. The detective found these. They belonged to my sisters, without a shadow of a doubt.” He reached into his front pocket and withdrew a locket and a charm bracelet.
“Oh.” Blinking against tears at the pain in his voice and his hand tender on the relics, she reached to Damon.
The lost expression on his face ripped her heart. The lost boy’s face she seldom saw showed through, his mouth trembling.
