It was official. She had inherited the same self-destructive tendencies as her mother.
“I’ll get over it,” Ashley muttered.
Clea patted Ashley’s arm. “What are you going to do to get the island back?”
The question caught her by surprise. She had given up that plan weeks ago. “Nothing. I’ve done everything in my power.” And discovered she was no match for Sebastian. “The most I could get out of Sebastian was the caretaker position, but I managed to mess that up.”
“Caretaker? The owner of the island becoming a hired hand? I don’t think so! Just as well you didn’t get that job,” Clea said with the cluck of her tongue. “You’ll think of something. In the meantime, stay with Louis and me. Just for a couple of days.”
The offer was tempting but Ashley hesitated. “I don’t want to get you in trouble. He made it very clear I had to have his permission to stay on Inez Key. If he knew I was staying with you...”
Clea curled her arm around Ashley’s. “Don’t worry about him,” she said in a conspiring tone. “He’ll never know you were here.”
* * *
Where was she? Icy anger swirled inside Sebastian as he strode across the beach on Inez Key the next evening. He curled his shoulders as the cold ocean breeze pulled at his jeans and hoodie. He didn’t notice the colorful birds flitting from one flower to the next. The sound of rolling waves faded in the background. There was only one thing on his mind: finding Ashley.
He couldn’t believe she would have pulled a stunt like that. It was bad enough she had left his bed in the middle of the night, but to escape with Salazar? His anger flared white-hot. She was going to pay for that.
Didn’t she know that he would follow her? Or was that the plan all along? Was Ashley determined to prove her sexual power? Her hold on him had been obvious on their last night in Jamaica.
He had chased her back to Miami and invaded Salazar’s kingdom only to discover she wasn’t there. Salazar had had great fun at his expense. Sebastian’s anger had been a slow burn until the other man made one too many innuendos. The guy was no longer laughing and Sebastian hoped he’d left a scar. It would be a daily reminder to Salazar not to come near his woman.
Sebastian hated the fact that he had been compelled to chase Ashley. She made this decision. She chose to give up her last chance to stay on this island.
But he couldn’t turn back now. When he first heard she’d left, he had been numb. It took a split second for the fury to crack through his frozen shell and drive him into action. The need to follow had been instinctive and strong. He seized upon it, not caring what his colleagues thought.
He had no strategy. He wasn’t looking ahead. That wasn’t how he operated, but Sebastian was working on pure rage. His anger had festered as he spent hours searching for her in Miami.
Sebastian let the anger swell inside him, ready to burst through his skin. Ashley Jones was a spoiled princess and he was going to teach her a lesson.
But where was she?
She had to be here. Sebastian ignored the panic squeezing his chest. If she wasn’t in Inez Key, he had no idea where she would be.
Sebastian stopped and looked around. The island was quiet and sleepy, but it did nothing to cool his temper. He heard the rustle of palm trees and the incessant chirping of birds. Inez Key looked idyllic, but that was an illusion. Who knew such a small piece of land would cause him so much grief?
He looked over his shoulder and glared at the black roof of the main house. It may have been a dream home for some, but an image of the antebellum mansion had been in his nightmares since his childhood. He didn’t see the gracious beauty but instead the cold emptiness. It was better suited as a museum than a family home. If he could, he would burn it down.
He would destroy the whole island if he had the chance, Sebastian thought grimly. He wanted to erase this particular ocean view. Get rid of the briny scent that still triggered bad memories. Wipe away the sunset that had been the backdrop of the night he had lost his innocent childhood.
No, he would keep the sunsets, Sebastian decided as he glanced at the cloudless sky. For the past month he had associated Ashley with sunsets. The orange-and-pink streaks were no longer ominous but instead held promise. He remembered every detail of the night Ashley had sat next to him on the veranda as they had watched the sun set.