Page 9 of Hate Wrecked

And the thought made me look away from Rowan. He was the kind of guy who treated you right, not the type to help you climb ladders.

I needed to focus.

Focus on the vultures hanging low.

My mouth had better plans. “Do you have a girlfriend, Rowan Finn?”

He turned around at my question, and the slight color of his cheeks was delicious. “No. And I have no plans for one.”

“Why?”

“I’m here to do a job, to learn a profession. I’m lucky to have the opportunity. I don’t want to mess it up. Iwon’tmess it up.”

His eyes locked on mine like he was trying to tell me something. But, instead, I took it as a dare.

I held his stare and, with a smile, said, “I hope it’s everything you want it to be.”

A CURSE AND A SHIELD

RILEY

You finally get to go.

My flight is departing soon, and I need to board. But it won’t leave me—Rowan’s words and his plan keep replaying in my mind—the way he can escape, find solitude. I don’t know what that is. My whole life has been about my parents’ fame, my sisters’ well-being, and my mistakes.

He’s probably already left. He’s probably gone, done with me and my mess, with the grey area of us. This morning was tense. Gone was the slight shift last night when we spoke in the bathroom. Gone was the softness. He let down his armor, and it was on again this morning.

I stare at the jetway and the slow-moving people as they board to their final destination. To the States—to reality. Maybe they don’t want to run away from their lives and likely would think I’m selfish and stupid to want to run away from my own.

I grip my carry-on, still, unmoving.

It doesn’t feel like my own body turning around. It doesn’t feel like my soul leaving my plans behind. I’ve been reckless and foolish, and everything in between. But when I have a flight, I catch it. When I have a meeting, I take it. When I have a deadline, I meet it.

I walk fast, my suitcase wheeling behind me, my purse bumping off my body as I leave the entrance of the jetway—the place I’m supposed to be.

I hurry through the airport, breathless and exhausted from my hangover.God, I’m so tired of being hungover.

As soon as I step out of the airport, I’m greeted by a rush of warm, humid air that smells of salt and palm trees. I take a deep breath, feeling the breeze brush against my skin. Rowan gets to stay in paradise, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The peacefulness and tranquility of the island are a stark contrast to the noise and chatter of the airport I just left behind. And he gets to sink even further into that peace when he steps foot on that atoll.

Rushing to the car park, I try to calm the beat of my heart.Please be there.

The black rental he dropped me off in sits on the edge of the car park still. And I want to cry out at his profile, so comforting. Rowan is staring ahead, hands on the wheel, as if he’s in a trance.

My movement catches his eyes and pulls him from wherever he was.

His blue eyes are wide. Worried. Always worried about me.

He unbuckles his seatbelt and opens the door, coming around the car just as I reach it, dropping my suitcase and purse. “I want to go with you,” I blurt out.

He stares at me, and I stare back. I won’t take it back, and I see the defeat on his face. “My last task was getting you on that flight,” he says, jaw tight, though his eyes tell a different story. “Nothing is going how I planned,” he mutters to himself.

“I know. And you got me here. I checked in. And you did all you could do. And now I want to do what Iwantto do. Not what my dad wants, or what my mother wants, or what’s best for my sisters. I want to go with you. Take me with you to the atoll. I need...I don’t know what I need, but I don’t want to go home right now.”

Rowan crosses his arms, looking up, away from me. “Riley... I can’t keep taking care of you if you won’t care for yourself.”

I step forward, nodding in agreement. “I know. It’s time for me to take control of my own life and my well-being. A fresh start, a reset, if you will,” I say. “And I’m willing to give my mother’s book a chance. I’ll read it with an open mind.” I don’t know if I’m being completely honest with myself, but I let Rowan hope.

There’s a strange feeling stirring inside me—a longing for my mother that has been dormant for years. I don’t know if it’s because of Rowan and how he makes me confront that she exists in his world, or if it’s something else entirely.

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