Dollars (Dollar #2)(18)

I might’ve killed Alrik, but he’d killed any reminder of the girl I’d been before I was his.

Hoisting her armful of laundry, the girl grinned. “You’ll like living on the Phantom. It’s amazing to wake up every day to a new view, new ocean, new port.” Cocking her chin at the unenticing breakfast, she added, “He told me to warn you to eat. The doctor, too. He sent some more painkillers; I put them in the drawer beside your bed.”

My arms ached from clutching the sheet. The mention of a new view had impatience siphoning in my blood for the girl to leave. I wanted to look out the window and see.

Silence fell; the maid coughed self-consciously. “Is there anything you need before I go?”

A question.

Those, I couldn’t answer.

However, despite myself, my chin moved left and right ever so slightly.

What the hell are you doing?

Already the steely resolve to remain mute was fading. Was I truly so weak that a few hours of unmolested sleep and a kind face had me abandoning my crutches so fast?

She beamed. “Okay, great. See you tomorrow morning!” She bustled out, leaving me in comforting silence and the freedom to kick off the covers and stride naked onto the balcony.

After living in an air-conditioned mansion for so long, the muggy heat was an aphrodisiac on my skin. I wasn’t cold. I wasn’t afraid. I wasn’t hurting from a fresh punch or kick.

The sensation was far too foreign and earned yet another lick of terror for what I would have to do to deserve such luxury.

Looping my fingers on the metal balustrade, I let the wind be my dress and the sun my shawl. The view of lolling swells and the occasional sequin of light glinting off the epic blueness granted my first unforced smile in years.

Payment for this would be astronomical.

But I might as well enjoy it before that day came.

*

Nine hours I was given.

Nine hours where I relaxed in my room, dozed in the sun, wrote a quick note to No One before tossing it into the swiftly passing sea, and did my best to ignore the swollen tongue pounding inside my mouth.

My other injuries took a backseat, barely noticeable after living so long with such agony. Even my broken hand didn’t bother me now it’d been properly strapped. I’d often wondered if I’d grown so used to pain that I would miss it. That if a time came when I had no black and blue contusions, I would no longer feel real.

I couldn’t remember a time when agony didn’t hunker inside like a gremlin ready to attack. Would Elder let me experience such a phenomenon or was he merely curing me of Alrik’s misdeeds so he could inflict his own?

The sun had set in a blaze of orange glory, setting fire to the ocean in a patchwork of golds and apricots just as a female staff member dressed in a smart navy dress entered my room.

It didn’t escape my notice the door had no lock and the staff attending to me were all women. Was that for Elder’s benefit or mine? Her gaze landed on my naked breasts where I sat curled up on a chair three times the size of me looking out to sea.

This suite was the epitome of luxury, yet there was no television, no laptop or key to the outside world.

Just the view.

And I was addicted to it. Obsessed with the moving scenery after being chained to a hilltop for so long.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” The woman turned sharply, averting her eyes.

The long-forgotten urge to tell her not to worry—to be socially acceptable and put her at ease—made my lips part. My useless tongue spasmed, before remembering speech was not something it was used for these days.

With her gaze locked on the carpet, I couldn’t catch her eye. Grabbing a cushion from behind me, I positioned it over my front and kept my legs tucked up tight in modesty. I patted the arm of the chair, signalling she could look.

She did, slowly.

Her gaze landed on the cushion as her eyebrow rose, but she didn’t say anything. If she wondered why I sat here naked, she didn’t ask.

Moving forward, she held out a small envelope. “You’re summoned to dinner.”

Our fingers grazed as I took it. I sucked in a sharp breath. Not because I was afraid of her, but because she was the first girl I’d touched since my mother. Tears dared to stab my eyes as I looked down and fought such idiotic hurts.

Elder had given me his first commandment.

I could curl into a ball and refuse to go. I could be the slave he thought I was and cower. Or I could remember how to stand straight, how to walk and talk and glower with confidence. I’d steal his secrets by watching his habits—learning him all the while he thought he was learning me.

This is just another test. I will not fail.

“Inside is a small map of the Phantom. He’s waiting for you on the main deck in the dining room.” She sucked on her bottom lip before blurting, “He didn’t mention a dress code, but can I suggest…at least, covering up a little?”

I tore open the envelope and pulled out the laminated map of a super yacht. So this was Phantom. A boat big enough to house hundreds of people.

“He said he expects you there in fifteen minutes.” The girl took a step back as I stood and tossed the cushion onto the chair. She gulped, keeping her eyes on mine, forcing her chin high to avoid my nakedness.

If she wasn’t so nervous, I would’ve smiled.

All this time, I’d been the scared one, the one holding her breath whenever Alrik walked into the room, the one cowering in submission when he decided I overstepped my bounds. Here, in Elder’s world, there was innocence still. Innocence enough to turn bare skin into an uncomfortable situation for his well-trained staff.