“You got part of that sentence wrong.”
“What?” I frowned.
“You should have said innocent kidnapped man who is trapped on an island with a psycho man and woman.”
“Whatever, asshole.”
“You really like my ass, don’t you.” His hands fell to the top of his briefs. “I can show it to you if you want.”
“No!” I exclaimed a little louder than expected. However, my gaze didn’t falter. If he wanted to show me, I wasn’t going to miss it.
“Let’s fish.” He suddenly released his waistband and grabbed my hand, and I jumped.
“What?” I looked at him in confusion and disappointment.
“We’re both hungry. And it’s raining. It’ll be easier to catch fish if it’s raining.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. They will be jumping more and they’ll be closer to the shore.”
“I guess.” I bit my lower lip. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to catch them with my hands. They seem like they can swim fast.”
“Catch them with your hands?” His lips trembled.
“I don’t see any rods or bait. Do you?” I snapped at him.
“Nope.” His eyes were laughing at me.
“What’s so funny?”
“Grab your branches and follow me.”
“Where are we going?”
“To catch our dinner.”
“More like breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
“Would you like fries with that whine?”
“Funny joke—not. I used to say that when I was a kid.”
“Last year, then?”
“I’m twenty-five, ass.”
“You’re a twenty-five-year-old ass?” He seemed to be in good spirits now as we walked back to the sand with our arms full.
“I’m going to have so many muscles by the end of this trip.” I stopped then and made a face. “Well, I guess this isn’t a trip, but you know what I mean.”
“I know what you mean.”
“So we’re going to fish instead of building the shelter?”
“If you don’t mind getting wet.” He nodded. “We can build the shelter later.”
“I don’t mind.”
“So tell me more about you. Do you have any brothers and sisters? Do you often compare your life to movies?”
“No brothers and sisters, no.” My voice trembled slightly as I thought about my parents. “My dad told me that he and my mom wanted more kids, but it never happened, and then she died.”
“How did she die, again?” His voice was soft, and I kept my eyes ahead.
“Car accident.” My words were short. “What about you? Any siblings?”
“I grew up as an only child with my mom.” His voice seemed to turn emotional. “She was a great mom. She did everything she could to give me the best life she could.”
“She was a single mom?” I looked at him in surprise.
“Yes.” His voice was curt. “She was a poor single mother, and I was her life.”
“So you didn’t grow up rich?”
“No, I didn’t. I was around rich people due to my mother’s work. She was a maid, but we weren’t rich. I got to where I am by my own blood, sweat, and toil.”
“Sounds ominous.”
“Maybe because it is.” He shrugged. “You don’t become a billionaire by being gentle.”
“You’ve done bad things?” My eyes narrowed, and my breath quickened as I thought about his acknowledging that he would kill someone if he had to.
“Let’s just say I’m loyal to those I think I should be loyal to.”
“How do you make that decision?”
“Family, business, life.” He shrugged. “My mom always told me it was important to hold off judgment until I knew someone personally. Though, of course it’s hard in certain circumstances.”
“Why is it hard?”
“Because sometimes loyalties are so strong they can’t be broken.” He paused. “And then there are people who can break loyalties in a second, if the price is right.”
“Is that why you fired Bridgette?” I interjected smoothly. “Was she disloyal?”
“Bridgette liked to carry information, yes.” He nodded. “Once someone shows me who they are, I don’t give them a second chance to break my trust.”
“What did she do?”
“She valued her relationship with David more than she valued her job.” His eyes grew distant, and he didn’t notice my sudden intake of breath. So he did know David.
“You didn’t like that?”
“It was a stupid game for someone in her position to play. She thought she bet on the right brother. She had no idea.”
“What do you mean?” My voice was sharp, and I watched his face change into an impenetrable mask.
“Nothing.” He shook his head. “Bridgette is one of those women I’ve been telling you about. She’s nothing but a gold digger. She decided to betray me because David is a fool.”
“She played you?”
“She was just looking for someone to marry her.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t about to marry her.”
“You slept with her?” I felt my stomach tense up as I thought about Jakob being intimate with Bridgette.
“She meant nothing to me. I would never marry someone like her. I think the bond of marriage should be sacred. I don’t think it is for many people. I don’t find that people go into marriage for the right reasons anymore.”
“Oh.”
“So to answer your earlier question, my loyalties are related to blood, duty, and trust.”
“It’s hard to know when to trust people.” I dropped the branches on the ground, grateful that we’d finally arrived back at our spot. I wanted to confront him. I wanted to tell him I didn’t trust him, but I didn’t know how that would help. I didn’t think that confronting him would lead me to any new answers related to the kidnapping. However, I was starting to wonder if perhaps he couldn’t provide other answers. He obviously had access to Bradley Inc. in some capacity. Perhaps I’d be able to use him to gain access to the corporation when we got back to the States. Whenever that was.
“Yes. Sometimes it’s easy to be deceived.” He looked up at the sky and then back at me. “It’s about to start pouring. We should gather some leaves and tie them together, see if we can weave some sort of bowls. That way we can catch some of the rainwater. Are you prepared to get wet?”