I felt bad that I’d just come all over her and then turned and left. Perhaps she’d expected cuddling, but I wasn’t a cuddling kind of guy, but also, the moment I’d ejaculated, I realized something.

I was starting to like Jolie.

Loretta was right. I was getting soft for her—when my cock wasn’t getting hard—and that complicated things. It was easier to hate her.

I exited the elevator with my head down, so I didn’t notice Loretta in front of me until I’d almost slammed into her.

“What the—?”

My housekeeper stood with her arms folded and her lips pressed together. “What the fuck are you playing at?”

I reared back at her vehemence. “Sorry?”

“I know exactly what you were doing down there.”

I frowned and shook my head, but guilt flooded over me, and my face heated. “I wasn’t doing anything.”

“Bullshit. If I didn’t smell sex pouring off you, I’d have known anyway.” She gestured toward my office. “Did you forget that you have cameras down there?”

The blood drained from my face. “What are you talking about? You don’t have access to those screens. They’re protected by my computer password.”

“I’ve been working here long enough to see what that is, Hayden.” She spat my name, as though using it to spite me instead of calling me sir, as she was supposed to. “Do you think I’m stupid? How many times have I been cleaning the office while you’ve been working?”

My mouth dropped. “You used my password to get into my computer and you watched me and Jolie down there?”

“Yes, I saw everything, so don’t try to pretend like you feel nothing for her.”

I lifted my eyebrows, my eyes widening. “What the fuck, Loretta? You watched us have sex?” The idea of Loretta watching while I screwed Jolie made me sick to my stomach.

“I had to know for sure. You kept insisting there was nothing between you. If you hadn’t lied to me, I wouldn’t have been forced to watch. Believe me, it wasn’t something I enjoyed, seeing you all over that little tramp. I thought more of you, but it seems I was wrong.”

Anger burned away my embarrassment. “First of all, it’s none of your goddamned business who I have sex with. Secondly, it’s possible for a man to fuck a woman and not feel a single thing for her. Did it ever occur to you that maybe that’s how I’m keeping her in check? Thirdly, you finding out my password and going into my computer is way out of line, Loretta. I’ve fired employees for far less.”

She straightened her shoulders. “You think you’re going to fire me? And what happens then, Hayden? You’re an intelligent man. You must understand that I know far too much. I could have you locked up just like that.” To highlight her point, she snapped her thumb and fingers together.

I glared at her. “If you report me for anything, Patrick Dorman will stay alive. Is that what you want?”

Her eyes narrowed. “You know it isn’t.”

“Then I suggest you let me do things my way.”

Externally, I was playing it cool, but inside I was shaking and furious. I hated the idea of Loretta standing in my office, watching Jolie and me when we were in such an intimate situation, knowing she’d have been able to flick between the screens and see us from whichever angle she wanted. I was sickened at the possibility of her getting turned on by such a thing, getting a kick out of it. It also made me realize that perhaps I didn’t know this woman as well as I thought I did. It never occurred to me that she might break my trust and gain access to a computer she knew was out of bounds. I’d assumed that because we were united in our loss of our loved ones and our hatred of Patrick Dorman that I’d be able to trust her inside my home as well. I remembered being shocked and irritated by her quick use of the Taser on Jolie, but had blamed myself for giving it to her in the first place, but now I wondered if it had been the right thing to do. Because she was a woman and older, I’d wanted her to have something to both protect herself and to stop Jolie getting away. The Taser had achieved that, but had she been a little quick to use it—a little eager?

“I suggest you get out of my sight,” I told her. “I’ll decide what to do with you later.”

My housekeeper gave me one final scowl before she turned and stalked away. I exhaled an angry, frustrated breath and allowed my shoulders to relax. The buzz I’d experienced after fucking Jolie was long gone, and I was irritated at Loretta for tainting what had happened.

I didn’t know what I could do. I needed Loretta here, and she was right when she said she knew too much. It didn’t matter if she spilled her guts after I’d killed Jolie’s father, but I needed her to keep her mouth shut before then.

I didn’t think she’d actually say anything—not before our mission had been achieved, anyway. She had too much invested in this as well, and she wasn’t going to just throw it all away.

Besides, she was right when she said things were getting complicated between me and Jolie. I thought they were about as complicated as things could be between a man and a woman, but that didn’t mean I wanted anything to change. But change was probably the only thing I could rely on in this situation. I had the boat now, and I could take her off the island and onto the mainland, and then the next part of my plan could begin.

Our time together was limited, and right now all I wanted was to make the most of it. If that meant spending the rest of our time together with my cock buried in her pussy, mouth, or ass, then that was exactly what I planned on doing. Something tightened in my chest as I remembered how she had been worried about me. She’d been frightened that something had happened to me when I’d swum out to the boat. Did that mean she cared about me? Or was she just relieved I hadn’t left her in Loretta’s hands? I remembered how she’d felt pressed up against me, how her hair had smelled slightly musty when I’d buried my nose in it. I’d put my arms around her and I’d held her. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d hugged another person. And it had felt good. Addictively good.

I stopped by the downstairs bathroom to clean up, and then went to my office. I needed to change all my passwords, and not only those on my computer, but all the ones for the files on my computer, too. I knew now that I couldn’t trust Loretta, and who the hell knew what else she’d learned during her time here. The process was going to be dull and time consuming, but I didn’t have any choice. The possibility that she’d already meddled with things on the computer concerned me. I had my email accounts on there, and one badly sent email could mess up everything.

I fired up the PC and changed my password to something completely different, and then opened my email to change that as well.

Something stopped me.

There was an email from my contact back in the prison where Patrick Dorman was being held.

The cops showed him the letter. It’s had the desired effect. Time for the next move.

It was only a few sentences, but I knew exactly what it meant. So, Henry and Javier had managed to do their job before they’d been arrested. The police had shown Patrick Dorman the letter Jolie had written in the hope that he would be able to tell them something about its contents that they wouldn’t be able to derive without him. They clearly had no idea where Jolie was, no leads, or otherwise they’d never have shown him the letter. Jolie’s words in the note had upset her father, and that was a good thing. By the time we set the third act into motion, he’d be fully primed to make use of the opportunity I’d make sure one of the people I’d paid off laid open to him.

This meant I needed to get Jolie off the island sooner rather than later, and something inside me relaxed at the thought. I’d always thought of this place as my sanctuary, my home, but having Loretta invading my privacy like that had left me edgy. Fuck. What the hell was I going to do with her? I couldn’t just fire her and send her home, could I? What if she tried to cause problems for me? It would be easier to simply leave her here and take Jolie instead. It wasn’t as though I planned on coming back to the island. While I didn’t want to reward Loretta, she could make use of the place while I was inside, paying for Patrick Dorman’s murder, and it would be one less thing to worry about.

I’d spent so much time bringing people onboard and making sure I was surrounded by those I thought were loyal to my cause, but now I wondered if they were only loyal to my money. My driver and pilot had clearly had something extra running on the side that I didn’t know about, despite me paying them both a hefty wage. I was disappointed that they’d put everything I worked for in jeopardy purely to earn a little extra.

People weren’t loyal to other people, only what they could get out of them.

But the idea of it just being me and Jolie on the boat for twenty-four hours or more appealed. No one would be able to touch us there. It would just be the two of us. I was sure Loretta would give me grief about leaving her behind, but after what she’d done, there was no possibility of me taking her along. Of course, I also had to consider the possibility that Jolie was only using me, and that she had no intention of helping me kill her father, but there wasn’t much she’d be able to do on the boat, especially if I kept her hands cuffed. She wouldn’t be able to swim like that, and I was far stronger than she was, so she wouldn’t be able to push me overboard. In fact, I could keep her locked up in one of the cabins, and she wouldn’t be a threat to me down there.

I made up my mind. We’d leave first thing in the morning.

I finished up changing all my passwords then called Loretta into my office.

The moment she stepped through the door, I could tell she still had her back up about me and Jolie. The atmosphere crackled between us, and her mouth was a thin line, her dark eyes hard stones in her face.

“I’m going to take the boat first thing in the morning,” I told her, “and Jolie will be on board with me.”

She scowled. “What am I supposed to do?”

“You’ll stay here and take care of the house, like you’re supposed to.”

“How will I know what’s happening?”

“I’ll call you.”

Her jaw tightened. “I want to know that Patrick Dorman is dead. You promised me that.”

“I know, and I will.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t like the idea of you and that woman alone on the boat together. You might think you can trust her, but you can’t. She’ll do something to mess this whole thing up, I know she will.”

“No, she won’t. I’ll make sure of it. She’s handcuffed, and I won’t release her.”

“She’ll flutter those big blue eyes at you, and you’ll practically throw her the key.”

I slammed my hand down on the desk. “No, I won’t.” I almost said, ‘I learned my lesson after last time,’ but managed to keep my mouth shut. Loretta didn’t even know about that part of what had happened. I couldn’t imagine what her reaction would be if she knew Jolie had already almost escaped, and that she’d used the boat to try to get rid of me. There was no way Loretta would let me continue with the plan if she knew.

She sniffed, and anger rose inside me. I tried to hold it down—knowing what Loretta had already lost—but I wasn’t used to having people tell me what to do.

“Just do your job, Loretta, and let me do mine. Another few days, and this will all be over, and then you can go back to living your life.”

Her eyes narrowed. “My life was over the day my daughter died. I don’t care what happens to me after this. I only want to see that man dead.”

I softened my tone. “Then you and I want the same thing, so why are we arguing?”

“I want to come on the boat. I’ll watch over her, make sure she doesn’t try something stupid.”

The last thing I needed was Loretta watching over Jolie. She’d seen quite enough when she’d gotten access to my computer and watched us through the cameras.

“No, I need you here.”

“What for?”

Jesus Christ, talk about a dog with a bone. She wasn’t going to give up so easily.

“I need you here to coordinate things if something goes wrong. What if I need someone to call for help, and we’re all together? How is that going to work?”

Her lips thinned, and I clenched my fists to my sides. That disapproving expression made me want to wrap my hands around her throat. But I wasn’t a man who was violent toward women—at least I hadn’t been until I’d met Jolie, and that violence had been necessary.

But she exhaled a sigh, and her shoulders dropped. “Fine, if that’s what needs to be done. If you let down your guard and start to trust that little bitch, and it messes this whole thing up, don’t think for a minute that I won’t say I told you so.”

I could keep Jolie under control. Or at least I hoped I could.

“Good. I’m glad we’re agreed. And once this is all over, you can say whatever the hell you like.”

I figured it would hardly matter then. I’d be behind bars, Patrick Dorman would be dead, and Jolie would be... Fuck. I didn’t know what Jolie would be doing. I guessed I’d let her go, and she’d go back to living her life. I’d have to make sure she didn’t go down as being an accomplice, and while I’d always planned for Loretta to get through all of this without being affected, after her recent stunt, I was no longer so sure.