Why in the world was my husband’s pain bothering me? He’d started this. As I watched him sitting in the chair, his head hung low, a dark circle forming under his eye where Max had hit him, I could tell he was hurting. But I could also tell that the pain inside him was much deeper than anything physical he might be feeling.
“So you actually had sex with someone else?” he finally whispered.
“Again, I told you that I didn’t.”
“Well, you were intimate with him.”
“You saw it for yourself—they set me up.”
“Why would they do that?”
“I don’t know, but it’s obvious it has something to do with this mess here.”
“Maybe so, but they didn’t put a gun to your head and make you sleep with someone. You did that all on your own,” he said, his voice ripe with pain.
I felt a flutter of shame. I couldn’t believe I’d fallen so easily for Ivan. But his attentiveness, smooth voice, sexy accent, and impeccable physique had sent my mind reeling. “I just needed someone to comfort me. I just wanted to be wanted,” I admitted. “You slept with me, then acted like it disgusted you.”
“It wasn’t that. I… I just didn’t want to make things any more complicated than they already were.”
“It just felt good to be wanted.”
The words looked like they hurt Jay almost as much as the blow to his eye. “I’m sorry,” he finally muttered.
I probably should’ve said, I am too, at that point, but I couldn’t bring the words to form in my mouth. While I took responsibility for my own actions, Jay had basically pushed me into the arms of another man.
Our conversation was interrupted as Ivan reentered the room. “Hello, princess,” he said, strolling over to me.
“Ivan, what kind of game is this?”
He pulled a chair up and sat in front of me. “It’s not a game.”
I studied him. He’d seemed so genuine. Never in a million years would I have guessed that it was an act. “Is Ivan even your real name?” I asked.
He nodded. “And in case you’re wondering, what we shared was very real too.”
“Obviously not, since you set me up.”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “It was business, not personal.”
“But why me?” I asked. I knew this conversation was paining Jay, but thankfully he remained quiet.
Ivan glared back over his shoulder at the door, then turned back to me. “They just wanted to find out what you knew, if you knew anything.”
“Well, you know I don’t know anything. I talked to you about what I was going through. If I remember, you even asked me if I knew anything about the other woman and I told you I didn’t.”
He nodded. “I know. I told them I didn’t think you knew anything. But the rest of my team doesn’t agree.”
Jay started rocking back and forth like he was trying to keep himself calm. I ignored him and continued talking to Ivan. “What are they going to do to us?” I asked.
Ivan shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, but I imagine it won’t be pretty.”
I decided to take a chance. “Ivan, you know I don’t know anything. I mean, we were just together that one time, but we talked and I was open with you. You know I was telling the truth.” I could feel the fury coming from my husband, but that couldn’t be my focus right now.
Ivan nodded. “I do believe that you don’t know anything. Not so sure about hubby over there.”
“He doesn’t know anything, so please just let us go,” I said. “Please.” I hesitated, then added, “We’ll pay you. Whatever they’re paying you, we’ll double it. I give you my word. You know how to find us, so you know that I’m not going to double-cross you.”
I had expected him to balk at the idea, but I saw a light go on in his eyes.
“My wife is right,” Jay added, seizing on Ivan’s hesitation. “Name your price.”
“One million,” Ivan said, like he was just throwing a number out.
“Done,” I said. That was almost all our savings, but it was better than being dead. “Our business manager, Quincy Haynes, will make sure you get the money.”
“Don’t play with me, because I will come find you,” Ivan warned. He had a shocked expression, like he hadn’t expected us to really offer him money.
“We have no doubt that you will,” I said. “So I assure you that you will get your money.”
He paused, like he was actually contemplating our offer. “Okay, I’m going to let you go.”
“Thank God,” I said, relief consuming me.
“Now, I’m going to untie you guys. Max and the other guys ran out for a few minutes. I’m supposed to be gone, too, but I doubled back. They’ll probably be gone for about twenty minutes or so,” Ivan said. “That’s enough time for you to get out of the building. You need to get as far away from the islands as you can. Go back to the States.”
“And go where? How are we going to get off Saint Croix?” Jay asked. “And then how are we going to get on the plane in Saint Thomas? I’m sure the cops are looking for us by now. They probably think we had something to do with Vonda’s murder. We can’t chance the airport.”
I hadn’t even thought about that. I didn’t know how long we’d been here, but it had to have been at least five or six hours. We’d missed the first morning sessions and they had for sure found Vonda’s body by now. We probably were the talk of the island.
“You can leave here through that door,” Ivan said, standing and pointing to a door at the back of the room. “Right on the other side is a fire escape. Quietly take that down, make your way out to the main road, and have a cab take you to the port to catch a seaplane over to Saint Thomas. Go to the Virgin Airlines baggage counter and ask for a guy named Talib. I’ll let him know you’re coming. He’ll get you on board the flight.”
“This isn’t some trick, is it? I mean, how do we know we can trust you?” I asked.
“How do I know I can trust you to give me my money? Besides, do you have any other choice?” he replied.
I stared into his eyes and knew that he was my only hope. I said a little prayer that he was on the up-and-up as he began untying me.
“Why are you helping us?” I asked.
“Like I told you, this wasn’t personal. I was just doing my job. Business. And if you can offer me a better business deal, I’m rolling with it.” He stroked my cheek. “And truth be told, being with you is something I would’ve done for free. I hope we can one day reconnect and I can finish the job.”
“What the—?” Jay kicked violently at Ivan.
“Calm down, Jay,” I snapped. His jealousy was about to blow our chance at freedom.
“Yes, calm down, Jay.” Ivan smiled, licking his lips seductively as he stared at me. “Your woman just had an itch that was in dire need of scratching and I was happy to oblige. So while you were off taking care of someone else’s needs, I was taking care of hers.”
I wanted to give Ivan a piece of my mind for playing me, but since right now he was our only hope at freedom, I bit my tongue. “Can you just help us get out of here?”
“Look,” he said as he went back to untying the rope around my arms, “I’m going to help you, but honestly, they’re just going to find you again. These people don’t play.”
“But we don’t have anything to do with whatever they’re after,” I protested.
“Then you might want to find out who does. Just get them what they want. These people don’t play fair. And unless you want me after you as well, I suggest you call this Quincy dude and tell him I need my money.”
“I told you you’ll get it,” I said.
“Cool. And don’t let the sweetness fool you: I can be ruthless when someone screws me over. I’ll send info on how to reach me through your switchboard at the radio station.” Before Ivan finished untying the rope, he leaned in and kissed me so hard that it had Jay squirming in his chair again as he tried to break loose.
“Until we meet again,” Ivan said, untying the last cord, then standing and walking off.
He had just reached the door when I reached over to untie Jay. “You need to calm down,” I whispered, as I struggled with the rope.
“Calm down? That asshole kissed you right in front of me.”
“Like you told me the other day, now’s not the time.” I finally got the rope around his arms untied and he jerked free, then darted toward the door.
“He’s not going to just disrespect me like that!”
“Jay,” I whispered, “where are you going? Do you want Max and his thugs to catch us?”
Jay stopped at the door as if common sense were prevailing.
I came up behind him. “You can’t go after him. He’s helping us, remember? They’ll have us tied back up so fast, and who knows what else they’ll do.”
“Fine, whatever.” Jay took his anger out on the concrete floor, stomping to the back of the room and the door Ivan had told us to exit out of. “Let’s just go.” He led the way out the door. Just like Ivan had said, there was a fire escape, which we took all the way down.
Jay took my hand and we ran for what seemed like ten minutes without seeing a soul. I just knew that at any moment Max or Will or someone was going to come up and drag us back into the SUV. Finally, we spotted a cab. After getting the driver to pull over, we jumped in, praying that we could make it to the seaplane and off this island without being spotted.