Page 39 of Kai
“Cece?” I firmed my voice. “How long were you on Misty Island?”
She plunked the glass on the table and drew a big inhale that lifted those tempting breasts of hers before she puffed out the air. “I was at the lighthouse for almost three years.”
“Where were you before then?” I asked, trying to keep my gaze on her face and my dick under control.
“Traveling the Pacific under a covert identity.”
I appraised her closely. “How did you get a different identity?”
“Same way you’d do it.” She shrugged. “I bought fake documents on the dark web, of course.”
“Of course.” This was a woman who always got what she wanted. “Why were you traveling the Pacific before you landed at Misty Island?”
“Oh, that.” The chair screeched on the deck when she pushed it out. She got to her feet and began to pace. “For the first year, I searched for a very rare, specific type of algae.”
“Turbinaria Pacifica Coronata,”I guessed.
She halted in her tracks and stared at me. “How do you know this?”
“I paid attention in class.” I smirked. “You mentioned Coronata over one hundred and ten times in your doctoral dissertation.”
“You counted?” She opened her mouth and closed it. “Youreadmy dissertation?”
“From cover to cover.”
She shook her head and frowned. “Why?”
“I wanted to know you, how your mind worked.” I recalled the important details. “Coronata offers a concentrated source of hexadecenoic acid, a key element to fight disease and inhibit the growth of HT-29 cancer cells. The algae are hard to find, and acid is difficult to distill into a stable compound, but you think it could work.”
She gasped. “Youdidread my dissertation!”
“Why are you so surprised?”
“I thought only my professors read it.” She paced the deck again. “Hell, my sisters tried. They gave up, unable to understand what Affie called ‘the densest, driest, most unintelligible but smart-sounding scientific shit she’d ever attempted to read.’”
“Perhaps it was a little dry for a non-scientist.” I trailed her with my gaze as she ambled from starboard to port side. “But once I got the hang of it, I found it fascinating.”
“Fascinating?”She whirled to face me, her eyes wide.
“Yeah.”
“So…” Her throat rippled with a swallow. “You understood what I wrote?”
I grinned. “There you go again, calling me a dumbass.”
A hint of embarrassment flushed her cheeks. “I didn’t mean—”
“Yeah, you did, but one of these days, I’m gonna prove you wrong.”
She bit down on her lower lip. “I’m sorry if I came across as an arrogant bitch.”
“No need to apologize, Sorceress. You’ve got the smarts that give you the right to brag. Here’s what I think. Based on your previous work, your current research aims to generate a reliable process to produce a stable compound to cure the disease that killed your mother.”
She studied me with those pale eyes of hers. “Where did you learn about that last part?”
“Thena and Missy. Remember? They mentioned you’re obsessed with finding a cure. You’ve been at it for most of your adult life. You’re very passionate about your work.”
She straightened her back and fisted her hands. “I’ll get it done.”
