Stranded(48)
“I’m just expressing my sympathy; can’t I at least do that? Anyway, I thought it was interesting that there were three of you on the island. Your little friend, Iris, or was her name Ingrid? Well, it doesn’t matter. How did she get on with you two?”
“What are you getting at?” he demanded.
“She’s very pretty. I could understand if something might have happened between the three of you. After all, you guys were stranded on a deserted island and you’re all virile attractive people, so naturally…it wouldn’t be a stretch for people to assume that something might have happened, sexually I mean.”
He knew where she was going with this, and he wanted to wring her neck. “Angie, if you’ve come here to make threats…”
She chuckled. “Rafe, you should know me well enough to remember I don’t make threats. I just thought I’d warn you that with all your recent attention in the news, people might start delving into your past and as your ex-wife I may be contacted…or maybe I could offer the reporters some information.” Malice glistened in her eyes. “We did have an interesting sex life, didn’t we, Raphael. How’s Grant, by the way?”
“Get out of this office before I strangle you with my bare hands.”
She lifted a brow. “Oh, come on, Rafe. You wouldn’t want to do something so foolish. Besides, how do you think your new little friend would hold up under the scrutiny?”
Rafe knew Grant wouldn’t care if Angie went to the press about their past relationship, but he didn’t want to expose India to what the people would say, viewing what they shared as something negative and perverted.
Angie must have known she had him by the balls because she revealed large white teeth. “Sweetie, it doesn’t have to come to that point of course. I could come down with a case of amnesia.”
“What do you want?” he bit out through clenched teeth. He’d never been more close to hitting a woman than he was in that moment.
“Oh, a nice check would make me forget. You were awful stingy with the settlement.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? You got a more than generous amount, more than your cheating ass deserved.”
She shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. I want fifty thousand dollars, from you and…the same amount from Grant.”
He balled his fists together at his sides. “And how long do we have before you get the money?”
“I’m not an unreasonable person. I’ll give you two weeks. I want it wired to my account. I’ll forward you my details in a couple days.” She slid off the desk and sauntered over to him with a triumphant smile.
“Once you get your damn money, I don’t ever want to see you again. If I do, I think I’ll kill you.”
She patted him on the cheek with condescension. “I knew you’d be sensible about this, hon.” Angie ran her fingertip down the length of his torso and didn’t seem like she’d stop her descent.
Rafe caught her hand just before it touched his crotch. “Keep your hands off of me, bitch.”
She laughed. “You used to like my touch.”
“I used to do a lot of things that weren’t good for me. Now get the hell out of here while you’re still able.”
Angie must have seen something in his eyes because she backed away, but it didn’t erase the sneer on her face. “Just have my money by the deadline, if you want to avoid any unnecessary embarrassments.” She moved past him then and left the office, leaving Rafe seething.
* * *
India sat at her aunt’s computer updating her resume. She was normally a fast and accurate typist, but she kept making mistakes every other word. Cursing in frustration, she knew it was no use when she was so distracted. She saved the document and shut down the terminal, then stood up and stretched.
The conversation she’d had with Val the day before was still plaguing her mind. Knowing what her aunt thought put things into a different perspective. She’d asked practical questions that had India wondering if there was some validity to those points.
No matter how much she mulled it over in her mind however, she still missed Rafe and Grant. Every night before she fell asleep, they were her last thought and when she woke in the morning they were the first people on her mind. Talking on the phone with them wasn’t enough. She found herself cutting their conversations short because it was too hard to hear their voices and not be there.
She couldn’t imagine what they would be thinking. Were they thinking about her and how often? Did her absence make their hearts grow fonder, or did it make them wander. Worse still, even though she couldn’t be more in love with anyone as she was with those two, she began to doubt if she was the right woman for them.