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Bastian started to chuckle, which quickly crescendoed into the maniacal laughter Ismay had heard from him before. “You’re not fucking her?”
Bo pivoted to face his employer’s son. “I’m saying you’d better stay away from her.”
Bastian sobered instantly. “Or what? My caretaker’s going to beat me up?”
“Don’t cause a problem, Bastian,” Bo said.
“You’re sleeping with my brother’s fiancée on our property, and you think I’m the one causing a problem?” Bastian asked, then turned to Ismay. “Is Bo better in bed? Or is it just that you like to go slumming every once in a while?”
“Bastian, this is between me and Remy,” Ismay said.
“He’s definitely going to be interested.” Bastian pulled out his phone and began taking a video. “Look what I have here, Rem. Your girl’s just spent the night with our caretaker. That’s thanks for sending her to an island paradise for a few months, isn’t it?”
Ismay could tell Bo wanted to knock the phone from Bastian’s hand.
“I’m going to miss my flight if we don’t go,” Bo said, making an effort to remain calm. “I’ll text you that plumber’s number. Now, if you’ll excuse us...”
“Look at the two of them,” Bastian said. “Just like a little couple—already!”
Bo gestured for Ismay to get in, and she climbed behind the wheel as he slid into the passenger side. She had to pull out very slowly because Bastian wouldn’t stay far enough away from the vehicle.
Bo lowered his window. “You’re going to get yourself hurt if you don’t step back,” he said. But Bastian, who was still filming, just continued to laugh.
“I can’t wait for Remy to get here!” he yelled as they finally reached the road.
Ignoring this latest outburst, Ismay punched the gas.
Bastian watched Bo and Ismay disappear around the bend. Then he went to the cottage and got the key to the bungalow, which had always hung on the inside door of the pantry. Bo thought he could disrespect his employers? He was living in a housetheyprovided, driving a vehicletheyprovided, eating foodtheyprovided via his paycheck. Who the hell did he think he was?
Bastian sent Remy the video he’d taken of Ismay coming out of Bo’s house at the crack of dawn looking as though she’d just rolled out of bed. He didn’t caption it, didn’t explain. Remy would be able to see for himself what was going on.
Letting the screen door slam behind him, he gripped the handrail tightly as he descended the stairs. He was feeling a bit lightheaded from all he’d had to drink the night before and stumbled on the uneven ground as he took the path that led to the bungalow.
Birds were singing and flitting through the trees overhead, and the sun felt warm and mellow as it climbed higher in the sky. This was Mariners at its best. But he couldn’t enjoy it. He was dealing with one of the longest stretches of insomnia he’d ever experienced—since Lyssa’s death, anyway.
Anger helped override the disorientation he felt and kept him focused as he entered Bo’s house. He had no idea what he was looking for. Anything interesting, he supposed. Or he just wanted to satisfy his curiosity about someone whose quiet strength he longed to destroy—because he envied it so damn much. When Bo had come to get Ismay from the cottage, he’d felt no compunction about invadinghisprivacy, and Bastian was eager to return the favor.
He thumbed through the stack of books he found piled near the recliner and grimaced. Most were from the library, but there were plenty of others—books on carpentry, building, history, philosophy, even poetry. Apparently, their caretaker liked to read.
“I guess you have to dosomethingduring the long winter months,” Bastian mumbled.
His phone dinged. Pulling it out of his pocket, he squinted to be able to read words that suddenly looked blurry to him.
What the hell is this?
Remy. What was he doing up? It would be three thirty in the morning in California.Isn’t it clear?Bastian wrote back, which, fortunately, prompted Remy to call him, because texting was too cumbersome for Bastian at the moment.
“Ismay spent the night with Bo?” Remy demanded. “Is that what you’re saying?”
Remy sank into the recliner. “What does it look like?”
There was a long pause. “It’s bullshit. When did you take it?”
“Not very long ago. Maybe twenty minutes?”
“She’s leaving me for our maintenance man—who doesn’t have a fucking dime to his name?”
“She doesn’t seem overly concerned about that. Maybe she just wants him for his body.” Bastian couldn’t help laughing but Remy’s silence warned him that he was pushing his brother too far.
