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A glimmer of hope sparked in my chest. If there was someone else on the island, maybe I would find an ally if I needed one. Jacob had sounded sincere when he said he wouldn’t hurt me and that I was safe with him, but I still didn’t know what he wanted from me. Until I discovered that, I was keeping my guard up.

“Who’s Wallace?”

“My housekeeper. He’s lived with me since I moved to the island.” Jacob held his hand out for me. “Come, angel.”

I glanced around, realizing the man who had driven us here had now boarded a speedboat docked next to the jetty. Swallowing nervously, I placed my hand in his, tingles shooting up my arm and traveling to parts of my body that no man’s touch had ever reached before. Despite the lingering worry of being taken to an island that was far away from civilization, I couldn’t deny that a part of me was intrigued.

Jacob released my hand to step over the side of the boat and into it before offering me his hand again. I took it, and he helped me in before he grabbed a life jacket from a crate nearby and handed it to me.

“Please put this on, angel. Whenever we’re on the boat, I always want you wearing a life jacket.”

I didn’t hesitate to take it from him, slipping it over my head. It wasn’t that I couldn’t swim; I just wasn’t confident, and the thought of falling into the water in the middle of the day scared the hell out of me, but at night, the inky black sea terrified me.

Once the jacket was on, Jacob stepped within an inch of me and took hold of a strap attached to the jacket, tugging it tightly. His eyes were fixed in concentration as he tightened another strap, oblivious to the way my pulse was racing at his proximity.

Satisfied that the jacket was fitted properly, he smiled softly at me, and my mouth dried. For several beats, I was unable to move, not just from gratitude that he’d made sure my life jacket was secure, but from the strange feeling swirling in my stomach.

It wasn’t that I had never been attracted to guys before, but I’d never felt this feeling quite so intensely, especially to someone who was obviously a lot older. How old was he anyway?

With enormous effort, I pulled my gaze away from Jacob, reminding myself of the reason I was standing in front of him in the first place: he’d taken ownership of me in place of my parents’ debt.

I was no more than a possession.

“Sit, angel,” Jacob said, waving to the leather bench that ran the length of the boat.

Forcing my legs to work, I crossed to where he’d indicated, and as I did, the man at the front of the boat started the engine. Nerves thrummed through my veins, and as if sensing how on edge I was, Jacob took the seat next to me, reaching for my hand and cupping it between both of his.

“Don’t be scared, Charlotte. Johnston has driven this boat hundreds of times, and in all kinds of weather. He’s a skilled driver, both in a car and a boat.”

My gaze flicked to the man ahead, who was focused on checking dials in the cockpit, before I returned it to Jacob and willed my body to relax. A few seconds later, Johnston pulled a rope away from where it was looped over a post on the jetty, and as he pushed a gearstick forward, the boat propelled forward.

Not meaning to, I gasped at the sudden lurch, bumping against Jacob’s arm. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, angel.” He shifted closer, our thighs pressing together, and despite my brain telling me that I needed to keep my guard up, I couldn’t help but feel safe with him sitting next to me, my hand clutched firmly in his.

For a few minutes, neither of us spoke, and as the boat gained speed, racing toward the mysterious Du Pont Island, the more dread seeped into my bones. Looking over my shoulder, a knot tightened in my stomach as the lights of the harbor grew further away. I chewed my lip, a habit I had when nerves were getting the better of me.

Twisting back around, my eyes clashed with Jacob’s, who was once again staring at me. A flush warmed my cheeks, deepening when Jacob reached up to pull my lip free from my teeth.

“You’re very beautiful, Charlotte,” he said, his voice a smooth murmur under the crashing of the waves against the boat.

I sucked in a breath, unable to recall a time anyone had ever called me beautiful before. My parents hadn’t. Elton Rothborne hadn’t told me I looked beautiful when we snuck out at the mayor’s party, nor had any other guy.

“Thank you,” I muttered, unable to hold his penetrating gaze.

It was as if he could see inside me, to where all my flaws and insecurities lay, and was silently uncovering every one of my secrets.

Jacob cleared his throat. “Would you like to know the history of Du Pont Island?”

“Oh, sure,” I replied, grateful for the change in subject.

He leaned back against the seat. “Well, the island was purchased by my great-great-grandfather back in 1895. My great-great-grandmother was pregnant at the time, and he wanted a sanctuary away from the mainland to raise his family. He started building the house that is there now, but, unfortunately, he was killed in a car accident before it was finished. He never got to meet his son, my great-grandfather.”

“Oh, that’s sad,” I said, intrigued by his story.

Jacob shrugged. “Well, motor vehicles were very much a new invention back when he was alive, and only the wealthy could afford them. He was killed in one of America’s earliest automobile accidents, but of course, since then, millions have died worldwide in car accidents.” I nodded in agreement; accidents happened all the time.

“Anyway,” Jacob continued. “Years later, after my great-grandfather returned from fighting in World War I, he returned to the island and finished building the house. By some miracle, it avoided any damage when World War II took place, and when he passed, he left the house to my grandfather, and when he passed, he left it to me.”