Page 13 of Bound in Paradise
Dani's heart raced at the thought. Was there even the smallest chance he could say something that would change anything?
No. Absolutely not. Dani refused to let him drag her back into the past. She'd spent too long rebuilding herself, her life, her career. Herbeliefs!She wouldn't let him destroy it all again with pretty words and false promises.
Steeling herself against the part of her that wanted to concede, she pushed away from the desk. "It doesn't matter now, Zack. What's done is done. We both need to focus on the present - on our jobs here at the resort.”
She gestured around her office, desperate to change the subject. "Speaking of which, I have a lot of work to do. When can I expect the system to be back online?"
Zack's eyes narrowed slightly, clearly frustrated by her deflection. But after a moment, he seemed to accept it, his shoulders dropping as he finally moved out of her way, suddenly all business. "I should have everything up and running in a few days. I'll need access to the server room and your office computer to complete the installation. Then it’s just a question of finalizing the data transfers. That could take a while. Luca says you have a back-up system you can use in the interim. We’ll keep that completely separate until the new system is up and running. But once we know everything is working properly on the mainframe, I’ll move on to that."
Dani nodded, annoyed with herself for the sudden loss she felt at his change in demeanor. This was what she’d wanted. Wasn’t it? "Fine. I'll make sure you have the necessary clearances.”
“Natalie…” She called in her assistant from the outer office. “Can you show Mr. Kincaid to the server room, please?”
“Of course,” Natalie responded with a bright smile, her interest in Zack clear as she looked him up and down before leading him away.
One of the downsides of living in such a confined environment; everyone knew your business. And Natalie was her friend - as good as family, since Luca was the father of Natalie’s half-brother - and in a moment of frustration Dani had admitted her previous relationship with Zack to her friend group.
Collapsing back into her office chair, Dani slumped in defeat. How was it Zack still had this effect on her? She’d thought circumstance had cured her of that particular infatuation.
It had been years. Longer than the time they’d spent together. Surely, she should be over him by now. Never mind that he wasn’t the man she’d thought him to be.
Shewas the one who’d walked away. And hindsight had shown her how Zack had always deliberately held her at arm’s length. She just hadn’t wanted to see it at the time.
But somehow, there was still some dratted kernel of conjecture that had her wondering if there was really anything he could say to make things right. Jeez! What was wrong with her?
Sex, she decided. That’s all it was. She hadn’t trusted any man since coming to Elysium, burying herself in her work, instead. Her neglected libido simply recognized the source that had once given her unimaginable pleasure. There was nothing more to it than a primal, animalistic response. One that could be controlled.
7
Zack contained his disappointment behind a veneer of professionalism. He’d always known getting Dani to listen to him would be an uphill struggle. She’d made up her mind, but he’d hoped the passing of time would have softened her stance a little.
He’d been angry himself, after all, at her complete and utter refusal to let him explain, but that had diminished into an abiding sadness over the time they’d been apart. A longer time, by far, than they’d even been together.
Not that they’d ever really been together. Not in the true sense.
But in all that time, the memory of Daniella Moreno had never left him. It was like she’d infected his blood.
Zack had truly thought he would mark what had happened between them up to experience and move on. Find another play partner and learn from his mistakes with Dani.
Truth was, he’d become even more of a recluse in the past four years than he had been before. And that was saying something.
Oh, he’d tried all right. But somehow, whenever he went to a club, he just couldn’t bring himself to scene with anyone else. Hecouldn’t imagine another woman bound in his ropes. There had been the odd vanilla hook-up along the way, just to slake a need, but they’d always proved unsatisfying. The women got off, he made sure of that, but Zack himself was always left with a deep sense of disappointment, so in the end he’d stopped bothering altogether.
He’d wondered if being here on Elysium, so close to Iniquity, the kink club the island was built around, would whet his appetite again. That seeing Dani would prove his feelings for her were simply rooted in memories which had long since lost their power, and he’d be able to look at her like any other woman. That maybe he could move on with his life.
Instead, it had just cemented his resolve. No way could he even consider playing with anyone else. Not with Dani so close, and yet so far away. That was something he needed to ruminate on, but not even a night tossing and turning with her on his mind had brought him to any clear conclusion.
He sighed, looking out the window at the lush tropical landscape. Somehow, the beauty only emphasized his melancholy. Four years of regret and what-ifs had led him back here, though not for the reasons he'd always imagined.
Zack forced himself to focus. He had a job to do. Saul’s identity had been compromised and now his life depended on Zack pinpointing the information that would keep him alive while he hid out in the sanctuary of this island. Although seeing her again had been what tipped the balance when he’d agreed to come, his own drama with Dani couldn't interfere with that. Even so, speaking to her face to face yesterday, had reopened old wounds he'd thought long healed. He recognized that much, at least.
The way she'd looked at him - with that mixture of shock, anger and something else he couldn't quite define - played on repeat in his mind. There was still a spark there, he was sureof it. But Dani clearly had no interest in exploring it. Plus, he was lying to her again, something he hadn’t properly considered when he accepted Luca’s plea to help Saul. And even though the first time hadn’t been intentional, he doubted she’d see things that way. She hadn’t then, and he suspected she’d be even worse now. Things with Dani were always so cut and dried, there was no room for any shades of grey in how she thought. It was all or nothing. If he tried to mend things and she found out he was here under false pretenses, not running security on the mainframe computer at all, but using it to scour the dark web at her cousin’s request, he doubted she’d give him the time of day ever again.
He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t wanted to test the waters. To see if her harsh opinion of him had lessened over the years. See if there was still anything between them.
But so far anything positive was in short supply.
No. It was a mistake to approach her. Better for everyone involved to keep things strictly professional. He'd tread carefully, get the work done and get out. No matter how much it killed him to be so close to her and yet unable to bridge the chasm between them.
