Page 55 of Save Me
“Because you told me not to.”
“As if you give a shit what I want. I also told you to stay away from her, and you brought her here tonight, introducing her as your girlfriend.”
“That was Abbi, not me.” Not that I’m complaining. It has a nice ring to it.
“So why haven’t you told her yet?” he presses.
I sigh heavily. “Because she’ll be devastated. You’re taking away her home, her business. Her life. And she’llprobably end things with me because of my ties to this hotel.”
“Yeah, you’re right. She probably will. She seems like a spiteful person.” He finishes up and moves to the sink to wash his hands. “So, what, tonight’s just a ‘fuck you’ to me? To show me how much you don’t care about my opinion?”
I chuckle, but there’s no mirth in the sound. “Contrary to what you think, everything is not about you.”
“For that woman out there, it is all about me. Everything to do with Mermaid Beach is about me.” He lathers soap over his palms as he checks his reflection in the mirror. “You don’t fight a dying battle for five years without some level of obsession.”
He’s not wrong. Sloane has been fueled by rage and hatred for far too long. I saw it in the beginning, when she found out I worked here and dismissed me in her next breath. “What’s your point?”
“My point is you’re an idiot for getting involved with her because it won’t end well for you, but you knew that, didn’t you? That’s why you conned my wife into sitting in your corner for tonight. Don’t worry, she didn’t admit to anything, but I can see what’s going on, what your cute little cabana time earlier was really about.”
“You sound jealous.”
“Of you? What would I have to be jealous of?” Henry dries his hands with one of the high-end paper towels. “Abigail is my wife, and regardless of whatever twisted little bond you two forged, she’ll always choose me over you. You’ve known that, right from the start.”
“No one’s arguing that.” It used to burn, that knowledge, the wish that it could be different.
“So then what’s the point of all this? You brought Sloane here. What do you think’s gonna happen next? That I’ll abandon a multimillion-dollar plan to revitalize this area? For her? For you?”
That’s the problem with Henry; he’s too goddamn smart. One ofmanyproblems I have with him. “Mermaid Beach doesn’t need revitalizing. It’s perfect as it is.”
“That’s where you and I differ in our opinion. I see great potential, and given I’m the one with the fucking global hotel chain, I think I know what I’m talking about.” His polished dress shoes scrape across the marble floor as he saunters toward me. “It’s just business. It’s not personal.” A slow smile curves his lips. “Well, maybe a little personal.”
Who’s the spiteful one now?
“She’s gonna fight this in court, and she’ll drag it out for years. I’ll make sure of it.” I charge out, my body vibrating with rage.
He’s right on my heels, his hand like a vise on my forearm to stall me. “And what do you think fighting again will do to her?”
“Nothing worse than what you’re planning on doing to her life,” I spit back, yanking my arm from his grip. “Imagine if some rich cocksucker showed up and forced you out of Wolf Cove.”
He smirks. “That’s impossible. I’m always the richest cocksucker around.”
“Yeah, with the least amount of empathy, you callous prick.”
His smugness evaporates as his teeth clench. He opens his mouth to respond, but a bald man strolls past, on his way to the bathroom. Lena’s accountant husband, based on where he was seated during dinner.
It gives us a moment to calm down before we start shouting and cause a scene.
“My, they’re getting along well,” Henry murmurs.
Abbi and Sloane are huddled over their desserts, locked in a deep conversation, Abbi’s hand clamped over Sloane’s. While I’ve been assaulted by Margo’s incessant sexual innuendos and Henry’s silent glowers, those two have been chattering nonstop, Sloane peppering Abbi with questions about her pregnancy, Abbi getting all of Sloane’s family history here in Mermaid Beach.
“Good.” It’s what I wanted to happen. Part of it, anyway.
Henry harrumphs, watching them. “She may have been a royal pain in my ass, but she is beautiful. I can work with that.”
I frown. “What is that supposed to mean?”
He shrugs nonchalantly. “There’s more than one way to get a woman to bend to your will, right? Maybe I should fuck the resistance out of her.”
