Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 99607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Gave me cover from what exactly? “Did it occur to you that he kept coming back because I wouldn’t give him what he wanted?”
My emotions ricocheted between panic and anger at being accused of something I hadn’t done, but mostly, I was so disappointed that Hayden would think I was capable of spying on anyone, let alone him.
“I’m showing you the photographs and asking you to explain them. I think I’m being more than reasonable.” His tone was flat and lifeless, as though he was the boss of an organization and I was some faceless employee he’d never met before who he was about to fire. He’d already made up his mind about what those photographs meant. It pierced me to my core that we’d spent so much time together and yet he still thought I was capable of betraying him.
I’d just have to explain. Surely when he heard what had happened, he’d chastise himself for being such an asshole.
“This one?” I said, turning the glossy print around so it faced him. “This was the first time I left the yacht. You can see he’s wearing a camera around his neck. He looks like he’s paparazzi. He asked me who was on the Athena.”
Hayden’s silence contained an unspoken question.
“No, I didn’t tell him anything. It’s not unusual to get approached, especially in Saint Tropez. All of us do, but we don’t say anything.” I wasn’t sure that was true of some of my colleagues, but I certainly hadn’t. “Unless the guest wants us to.”
“The guests want you to tell the press they’re on board?” Hayden asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
I shrugged, taking a seat opposite him. “Sometimes. I mean, this lifestyle is expensive. People like to show off.”
“So explain why you didn’t tell me you’d been approached?”
“This happens all the time. I’d forgotten it had even happened until I saw the photograph.”
“So what about this then?” he asked, tapping his finger on the middle image of the redhead. “That was the night after we stayed at the hotel. You can’t tell me that’s a coincidence.”
“What’s a coincidence?” I asked. I didn’t understand why he was being so cold and sharp with me.
“That was the night we first slept together. Had he been waiting for you to report back to him or—”
I held up my hand to stop him. He made me sound as if I’d slept with him for information or something. He wasn’t about to tell me what happened. I’d been there, and I’d told him about it. “He was on a bench. I was walking back to the tender in the morning and he was there. I told you all about it later that day after Skylar caught us. I was a little freaked out. He offered me money—five thousand dollars—to tell him what you were working on.” I winced as I remembered how he’d told me I’d confirmed that Hayden was on the boat.
“You made it sound like it was no big deal,” he said.
“Me? I couldn’t get you to focus on it. You said that you being on the Athena wasn’t a secret and then you kept asking about Skylar. Do you not remember this?”
“You never mentioned it again. And you conveniently forgot that he’d approached you before. Very convincing.”
I sighed. Jesus, why was he so ready to assume the worst of me? I couldn’t believe I was having this conversation with Hayden. Hadn’t he told me he’d never felt the way he did about me before? Didn’t that count for anything? Didn’t he trust me? “I even told you he convinced me that I’d given him some information that I shouldn’t have because he kept peppering me with questions and I was trying to dodge them. I told you he said I’d confirmed that you were on the yacht.”
“So you admit you told him? What other information did you give him?”
“No.” Had I? “I don’t think so, but it all happened so fast and my head was everywhere. If you remember, we hadn’t had much sleep the night before and the guy caught me off guard. Maybe I didn’t refute it or maybe by refuting it I confirmed it for him. I don’t know.”
Hayden shook his head. He clearly didn’t believe a word that came out of my mouth. “So this guy approached you a third time, even though he knew by then that it was futile? What happened the third time you met him?”
My heart sank and guilt crawled across my skin. I tipped my head back and stared at the ceiling. “That’s when he offered me a hundred and fifty grand to feed him information about the deal you were working on.”
“Wow,” Hayden said. “A hundred and fifty grand. Five thousand just wasn’t enough. I guess we know your price now.”
Anger pushed through my guilt and erupted. Why did he just assume I’d taken it? I hadn’t done anything. I’d been tempted for a second. I’d thought about it. That money would have meant as much physical therapy as my brother needed and it might have meant a different life for me. At the very least it would have meant breathing space, room to pause.