What was foremost was much worse, and I didn’t know quite how to say it. I swallowed, then rushed through. “What if that article wasn’t the only way he handled it? What if getting rid of Chris was the favor that Michelis referred to doing for Reeve?
“Or what if Michelis had nothing to do with it and Reeve wanted Chris to stop blabbing because of the risk it put me in? What if killing him was how he thought he could keep me safe?”
Joe pressed his lips together in a way that suggested he’d already been through these scenarios in his mind. “Do you believe that Reeve is behind it?”
I didn’t want to believe that Reeve had killed my friend. But there was a sliver of a part of me that could believe that he was capable of a myriad of horrible things, including this. He’d even told me once that he could take someone’s life, if it were the right life. He didn’t go so far as to explain what would make a life “right.” Could jealousy be enough of a reason for him to commit murder?
“I don’t know what I believe,” I admitted. “I guess I’m surprised that you’re so sure I’d be safer with Reeve when you know he could be behind Chris’s death.”
“Honestly? If he’s the type of guy who would kill because of you, then that’s exactly who you’ll be safest with.”
Less than thirty minutes later, Joe drove away from the ranch without me. I stood on the porch and waved and watched after him until he was only a speck on the road.
When I went back into the house, my luggage was missing from the hall. Presumably, it had been returned to my room for me. It pissed me off. Wasn’t it enough that I’d stayed? Reeve had to rub it in that he’d known all along that I would?
As if to further gloat, Reeve was standing at the top of the stairs when I climbed up.
“Congratulations,” I said before he could speak. “Looks like you succeeded in ‘keeping’ me too.”
I stomped off to my room before he could respond, and shut the door behind me, leaving him to stand in the hall alone for once.
CHAPTER 17
It took three days to prepare to leave for the island. There were all sorts of arrangements to be made. The compound house had to be opened and the kitchen needed to be stocked. Clothes were an issue. Amber had been sharing my clothing since she’d returned to the ranch, and neither of us had anything that would be suitable for wearing on a beach in the South Pacific. Reeve didn’t allow us to leave the ranch to shop, and even if he had, Jackson, Wyoming, in the spring wasn’t likely to have the items we needed. We resorted to choosing items over the Internet and giving our lists to one of Reeve’s men in LA, who picked them up and met us at the airport there when we stopped to refuel.
I spent more time with Amber in those three days than I had since she’d returned, and almost no time at all with Reeve. When I wasn’t with him, my emotions were manageable. If I didn’t have to engage with him, I could stay numb and resigned. Without his eyes on me, I could hold on to my resolve to let him go.
Fortunately, he made it easy to avoid him. He locked himself away in his office from the time he woke until the time he went to bed, taking meals on his own. Whether he was too busy with his planning and organizing or staying clear of me, I didn’t know. I supposed it was a bit of both, but I tried not to let myself spend much time thinking about it. Or him.
The morning we were set to take off, we loaded up the Escalade and made our good-byes before the sun came up. Two of Reeve’s security men were appointed to accompany us and another two drove in a separate car. Anatolios, Reeve’s main henchman, stayed behind.
When I mentioned it to Amber, she said, “He’s going to handle negotiations with Michelis.”
She had to have learned that from Reeve. Then it was only me he was avoiding. I wondered if my face gave away how much that bothered me.
“What exactly is he going to negotiate? Shouldn’t Reeve just negotiate?”
“Reeve will never talk to Micha,” she said with certainty. “He’d have him killed before that happened.” She climbed into the back of the car, sliding to the middle, where she would be seated between Reeve and me.
I hung behind until I could convince myself that her last statement sounded more like supposition than wishful thinking. Michelis scared me, and I’d shed no tears if he ended up dead. And, truth be told, if it were Reeve who made the order, I could likely handle that too – Michelis was a bad man and deserved the worst.
But there was something manipulative about Amber’s presentation of the idea. And that bothered me more than I wanted to admit.
Since we were flying to the island on a private jet, checking in at the airport was quick. After making it through security, Reeve stopped at a gift shop to get a paper.
“Do we have gum?” Amber asked as we stood waiting with the security men.
“No. I’ll grab some.”
I met Reeve at the counter and handed him a pack of Trident. “We need Dramamine too. Amber gets airsick.”
He held up a tube of pills. “Already got them.”
“Of course you know her needs. I don’t know what I was thinking.” My voice was thick despite my smile. I turned away and headed back to Amber, ignoring him when he called after me. Ignoring him again when he joined us a minute later, his searing gaze on me as he handed the bag of purchases to Amber.
When he finally moved his attention to his men, I let out a sigh of relief. Was this what the next few weeks held in store for me? Constantly avoiding and ignoring? All the while, pretending I wasn’t miserable?