by JA Huss
“What island? I need to make arrangements.”
“Well, you can’t take the jet, it’s float plane or boat access only. And the water is gonna be rough, so I doubt you’ll get a charter boat to take you.”
“Who fucking cares? Fuck the boat ride. I can get a float plane. Just tell me where I need to be.” Why is he dragging this shit out?
“Sandcastle Cay. The northern part of the Exuma Cays. It’s about fifty miles southeast of Nassau. He’s gonna be there tomorrow, but after that I have no clue where he’s going. I only got this tip after I threatened to expose a secret I’m holding for a friend of his.”
“Shit. How the fuck am I gonna get a private flight out there with half a day’s notice?”
“I got a guy if you need a reference.”
I almost don’t stop my eye roll. A reference. Jesus Christ. “Yes, Pax. I’d like a reference. Just get me to this guy tomorrow and I’ll knock off half a mil from that debt you owe me.”
“I pay my debts, Corporate. I don’t need your charity.” He laughs hard as he tries to take a sip of his girly drink, and doesn’t quite succeed without dribbling it down his chin.
I can’t even with this guy.
“Here,” he says, pulling a business card out of his wallet. “Give my friend a call this afternoon and tell him Mysterious gave you his number. He’ll take care of you.”
I take it and stand up, ready to get the fuck away from him. “OK, well, thanks. And hey, if you’d like to pay that debt off, it’s seven point five million now. With the interest.”
Mysterious sends me a wide grin and shoots me with his finger. Something that reminds me a little too much of the equally cocky Mr. Match. They have been spending far too much time together if he’s picking up his mannerisms.
“See ya around,” Pax calls, after I’m already walking away. “And don’t fuck this up. We can’t afford any more mistakes.”
I’m not the fuckup. What kind of drugs is he on? He’s the fuckup. But I don’t stop. He’s crazy. We all know he’s crazy. I got what I needed and I’m gonna nail down Wallace Arlington tomorrow. This whole deal will be one and done and then I can get back to building my global empire.
Chapter Five - Victoria
I met Weston Conrad the night before the night before the big night. You’d think that it might get lost in the hustle and bustle of what happened over the next two days, but it didn’t. Because the night before the night before the big night was the best one of my life.
Even up to this very moment.
No other night, before or since, will ever be able to compare.
He wasn’t Mr. Corporate when we met. He was just Mr. Conrad.
He wasn’t sweet, he wasn’t particularly smart—I mean, everyone at Brown was smart, so I’m just saying he didn’t stand out—and he wasn’t particularly motivated.
But he was very drunk.
I found him sitting under a tree in front of the administration building holding a bottle of whiskey wrapped up in a paper bag. He was wearing a suit, was covered in leaves, and he was singing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. His voice was deep, mimicking the Johnny Cash version perfectly.
He was a cliché of desperation and defeat.
I joined in from a tree nearby and we sang that song together.
That’s how I met Weston Conrad. The night his world really fell apart, although I still don’t really understand what all that melancholy was about. That was forty-eight hours before he was accused of a crime that would test my limits and my faith.
I always knew he was innocent. It was not me who questioned his morality and virtues. It was him.
We talked all night long. I never once joined him under his tree, just kept my distance about twenty feet away from under mine. And I didn’t even know who he was until daylight broke and he was almost sober.
“Let me walk you home,” he said. “It’s an ugly, fucked-up world out there and I’d kill myself if anything happened to you on your way home.” He said it like it was fact. And looking back, it sounds a little bit like a premonition.
I said yes, of course. By this time, I knew he was handsome. I knew something had gone terribly wrong with his life, and I knew that he was planning something and my appearance several hours before had interrupted those plans.
But I still don’t quite comprehend his desperate situation that night. Why he was sitting under the tree in front of administration. And why his world was falling apart even before that girl accused him of that crime.
He said he was broke, now that I think back. Hmmm. Funny how I never thought about that little detail ever again. Or maybe not so funny. Life got weird, and complicated, and messy.
Well, he isn’t broke now, so I guess prosperity begets prosperity. Isn’t that what they say? Money makes money? Power gains power? It’s a never-ending cycle of predetermination.
When we got to the house I shared with my roommates he leaned against the porch railing and looked at me.
I was waiting for him to try something. Kiss me or grope me like most men did at the end of a first date.
But he didn’t. He just looked. Not leered, which again was atypical.
And I told myself that he was hungover and it really wasn’t a date. Because it made me feel… a little… insecure, I guess.
I have been beautiful all my life. I expect men to treat me a certain way. So when Weston Conrad didn’t meet those expectations I was thrown.
Instead, he said, “Thank you.”
And I said, my heart beating faster than it should, “For what?”
“Saving me.” Then he turned away and walked off.
“What’s your name?” I called after him.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, never looking back. “I know yours.”
He was waiting for me after my four o’clock class that afternoon, looking more handsome and more put-together.
“Miss Arias,” he said, when I noticed him leaning against the wall as the people poured out of the auditorium. “Can I interest you in a coffee?”
I was more put-together as well. The night before was one for the books in my little world too. I had just had a fight with an ex and I was questioning everything about my life when I stumbled upon Weston Conrad. I was angry that a man would make me question things that should be certain. I was angry that I had let myself be controlled and manipulated into being someone I wasn’t.
But West smoothed all those wrinkles over. He was like a balm on a burn or a soothing tea before bed.
We talked over coffee. I got his name, of course. He already knew mine. Coffee turned into dinner, turned into drinks.
And even though I should’ve felt dirty for moving on to another man so quickly, I didn’t. The whole thing felt like fate.
And then… everything fell apart. Again, and again, and again.
I pull myself out of the past with a shake of my head. Weston is walking down the beach of Virginia Key and I’m relaxing under an umbrella, a big straw hat giving me cover. He’s dressed for a business trip and I’m immediately grateful I didn’t opt for casual wear either. I can’t see his eyes because he’s wearing dark streamlined sunglasses.
His tan slacks are pressed and crisp, accentuated with a brown belt. The dress shirt is white, sleeves rolled up like he’s about to get his hands dirty, and the tie…
Well, my heart skips a beat when I see the tie. It’s a light purple. Lavender, actually. Which is my color and that tells me something.
He’s been thinking about me.
This morning. When he got dressed, he was thinking about me.
Get it together, Victoria.
I almost laugh. If Weston Conrad was thinking about me, it was not in a flattering way. It’s far more likely that he spent the night cursing my name and he reached for that tie unconsciously.
I’m going to steal this contract from him and he knows it.
Chapter Six - Weston
“Vlad?” I ask the pilot as I make my way onto the beach and towar
ds the sea plane. What kind of guy is called Vlad in Miami? Well, if he’s Pax’s friend, you never know. The guy is probably some international criminal. “Are you Vlad?” I call again when the guy ignores me.
He looks up from whatever he’s doing to his seaplane and squints his eyes. “That’s me,” he says, in a perfect American accent. He looks a little bit familiar.
Well, at least he’s not some displaced Romanian.
“I’m Weston Conrad. We spoke last night.” I pause to look him over. Why does he look so familiar? “Have I met you before?”
Vlad wipes his hand on his jeans and extends it. We shake as he says, “Nope, never seen you before in my life. Nice to meet you. We’ll get started as soon as the other guest arrives.”
“Other guest? This is a private charter, Mr.… Vlad.”
“I told Pax I’d take other clients since this was a favor. And I have one. Here she comes now.”
“She?” But I know who it is the moment before I turn and look in the direction he’s pointing.
Victoria Arias’ long dark hair is billowing out behind her, her heels clasped in her fingertips, swinging as she walks across the sand to meet us. She’s wearing a silk lavender shirt that ripples in the ocean breeze, giving me… and Vlad… a nice peek at her matching bra between the buttons.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I ask.
“This was the only Sandcastle Cay charter available, Weston. Do you really think I didn’t know where Wallace Arlington would be today?”
“You two know each other?” Vlad asks.
“Yes,” we say together, sneering the word with equal amounts of contempt.
God, just what the fuck?
“Back off, Victoria. This is my contract and you know it.”
“It’s not,” she says, flipping her hair in that way that drives me crazy. “We’re vying for it, Weston. The sooner you get that through your thick skull, the sooner you come to terms with the fact that I will be the one who gets this contract when this is all over.”
“Like hell.” Goddammit.
“Is there going to be a problem?” Vlad asks. “Because if so, one of you has to stay behind. Since this is a favor for your friend, Conrad, that would be you. Miss Arias paid me in cash last night.”
That bitch. “No,” I say, the word rumbling out like a growl. “Everything is fine.”
“Good,” he says. “Stow your… oh, you don’t have any gear.” Vlad turns to look at Victoria and notices she has no gear either. “You’re not staying overnight?”
“No,” we say together.
“Day trip only, I told you that last night,” I say. “It’s a one-day corporate event on Sandcastle Cay. I’ll only be an hour. You can just wait.”
“I’m not waiting,” Vlad says. “I have clients on another cay who need a ride back this afternoon. I’m gonna head over there, get lunch and a drink with them, then fly them back to Miami.”
“Pick me up on the way home,” Victoria says. “I’ll be ready.”
“I won’t have room, Miss Arias. This is a four-passenger plane and there are three of them plus luggage.”
“So we’re just going to be stuck out there?”
“I can come back. But it won’t be until late afternoon.”
“Fine, that will work,” I say.
“Good,” Vlad says. Then he winks at Victoria and points to the co-pilot seat. “You can sit next to me if this guy creeps you out. We’re gonna land during low tide today, so the beaches will be nice for whatever you have going on out there. Perfect, actually.”
Victoria smiles that beautiful smile and says, “Why, thank you, Vlad. I think I’ll take you up on that. And thanks for the tip about the tides.” She slips those high heels back on and makes a big show of getting in the plane and crossing her legs.
I get in the back and pretend that the blatant flirting going on up front isn’t pissing me off. She’s doing it on purpose. In fact, I think he’s doing it on purpose too.
It’s one day, Conrad. One day and then you’ll get the contract signed and never have to see Victoria Arias again.
“Are we stopping at customs?” I yell once we are taxiing on the water.
Vlad shoots me a grin over his shoulder as he pulls back on the control wheel and we take flight. “What do you think, Mr. Corporate?”
I’m going to kill Mr. Mysterious for this. Kill that crazy motherfucker. Why does he have to live on the edge all the time? Why does he have to court disaster and jail time? Does he regret that we were never found guilty for the rape accusation back in college? Does he want to go to prison? Sometimes I wonder. Sometimes I think that guy has ‘suicide mission’ listed as his main goal in life. That’s his five-year plan. Get arrested for the stupid fucked-up shit he does to earn money in the world.
I should never call him again. I should forget I ever met the guy. I should cut ties with all of the Misters, now that I think about it.
Weird shit is happening. Weird shit that makes me think way too much of the past.
And the fact that Victoria Arias has suddenly appeared back in my life isn’t making things look any better.
In fact, it looks a lot like a setup. It looks a lot like someone really is fucking with us again. It looks a lot like a mistake.
And if I get arrested because Paxton Vance’s pilot is some kind of international criminal, I’m definitely taking him down with me.
Victoria and Vlad chat back and forth on headsets after that. I stew in the back wondering just exactly what brought her back in my life. It’s suspicious. I know what’s going on with the rest of the Misters. Match filled me in about Nolan’s whole trainwreck of a night a few weeks ago and that alone is enough to make me suspicious.
But add in Perfect’s drama and we are starting to see a pattern. People have been appearing from the past and starting shit. Some of it, like the stuff with Perfect, was fairly benign. But the Romantic stuff wasn’t benign at all.
So… Victoria.
We dated for a long time if you add up all the weeks and months consecutively. Not so long if you don’t. We broke up a lot. She is wild, and arrogant, and hot-tempered. She’s a control freak, and a workaholic, and self-righteous.
She always has a reason for her behavior, too. She’s always painting herself as reasonable.
I can’t even muster up a laugh at that idea. Reasonable. Please.
The two of them up front laugh about something and when Victoria leans over and puts her hand on his shoulder, I grit my teeth and try to stay focused on the job as I look out the windows.
The Exuma Cays is an archipelago of mostly uninhabited islands just east of the Bahamas and they are breathtakingly beautiful. Especially now, in late summer when the temperatures are just thinking about cooling down, but winter isn’t yet here.
I vacation here often. In fact, the first time I ever came to the Exumas was with Victoria.
Is that a coincidence? Is anything a coincidence these days?
Vlad yells over his shoulder, startling me out of my mood. “We’re landing.”
And just as I look out the window and get a glimpse of the neighboring islands, he drops altitude and my stomach sinks.
Victoria laughs, and her fucking hand is back on his shoulder.
I grit my teeth again just as we touch down on the water and he makes for the beach.
Calm, Weston. Be calm, dude.
I know Victoria is doing everything she can to push my buttons, but Wallace is here. I’m going to get to him first. I don’t care what kind of crush he had on my girlfriend back in college, he has to know I’m the more legitimate business.
I’ve heard the rumors about Victoria’s company. I’ve heard that she’s laid off her entire office staff to make the bills. I’ve heard she’s about to lose everything. I’ve heard that she’s been placing people in jobs that don’t even make a hundred grand a year.
I can’t imagine how little she makes off those kinds of contracts. I’ve been making seven-plus-fi
gure deals since I was twenty-three. I’d retire if I had to go back to that kind of hustle again. That would be my signal to call it quits. Get a new five-year plan.
Their laughing continues as the door is opened and Victoria makes a show of slipping off her shoes before jumping down onto the pontoon and splashing into the clear, knee-deep water. It’s not just turquoise. This water is so many shades of blue and green, it makes me lift my sunglasses up so I can see it without the filter.
I roll my pants up to my knees and slip my shoes and socks off, holding them in my hand as I jump down and walk up to the beach where Vlad and Victoria seem to be having regrets about parting.
“So,” I say, bringing Vlad’s attention back to me. “I think I’ll be done here in an hour. Can’t you just wait?”
“Wait?” Vlad laughs. “No. I already told you. If you want a ride back, I’ll be here late afternoon.”
“That’s no problem, Vlad,” Victoria says, blinking her eyes at him. “I’m sure I’ll have this contract wrapped up in no time and then I’ll just work on my tan for the rest of the day.”
“Sounds good, sweetheart. Then we can get that drink when we get back to Miami.”
“Sounds like a great time,” Victoria purrs. I wait for her to grab his shirt collar and pull him in for a dramatic goodbye kiss. But she doesn’t, just turns away, looking back over her shoulder with a smile.
Vlad and I both watch her make her way towards a track in the sand that leads up a dune and then he turns to me.
“So you don’t have a problem with that, do you? Us having drinks later? I mean, she said you two were never serious and you broke up years ago.”
“Did she?” Bitch. “Well, don’t worry about me. I’m immune to her charms. But you, buddy, I worry about. She’s got you wrapped around her pinky finger.”
“Hey.” Vlad smiles as he walks off into the water, ignoring the fact that his pants are soaking wet up to the knees. “Don’t you worry about me, man. I can handle anything.”
He gives me a little salute and slams his door closed as he starts the engine.
