Reckless Girls(43)

“What are you doing?”

He whirls around, his expression totally closed off for just a split second before it once again dissolves into that goofy grin. “Lux!” he says. “Just checking shit out, you know. Seeing how the other half lives.”

He runs a hand over the teak cabinets overhead, whistling through his teeth. “Gotta say, the other half lives right.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” I say, my voice faltering, hating that I sound like a teacher or something, scolding a kid for being out of class.

His grin doesn’t fade, but his eyes seem to harden as he says, “Are you supposed to be here? Pretty sure this isn’t your boat.”

“Right, but Eliza actually sent me over here to get something for her.”

“Jake and Eliiiiiza,” Robbie drawls, leaning one hip against the counter. “Good friends of yours, huh? Bosom buddies?”

My feet are itchy with the need to run, my skin tingling with cold sweat, but I stand my ground, arms folded over my chest, chin raised. “I’m just saying, don’t come aboard someone’s boat without permission.”

“If you think me doing a little snooping is the worst crime happening around here, you got another think coming, baby girl.”

“Don’t call me that,” I snap, feeling enraged and panicky. If I shouted, the others would probably hear me, but how quickly could they get here?

“Just trying to be a friend,” he says with a shrug. “Or hell, maybe you already know how people like that have a boat like this.”

“I think you need to leave,” I say firmly.

His smile slips into something harder, crueler. “Meroe Island is cursed, you know that, right? You and your friends think you’re having a good time, makin’ content for Instagram or whatever it is the fuck y’all do, but it ain’t the kind of place for that.”

“You’re the one who wants to stay on it,” I remind him, thinking of that first night, his buddy that had stayed here for god knows how long.

“’Cause I get what kind of place this is. But you and your friends? This place is gonna snap you up.” He brings his teeth together with a hard clack, startling me so that I nearly trip on the steps behind me.

That makes him laugh, and it’s the pleasure that he’s clearly taking from frightening me that makes me look toward the knife on the table next to me.

It’s for shucking oysters—not particularly deadly—but I snatch it up anyway, surging forward until the tip hovers just beside Robbie’s eye.

That laugh dies in his throat as he holds up both hands. “Alright now, baby girl.”

“I said don’t call me that.”

I edge the knife closer, my breaths coming fast. We are in the middle of nowhere. There are no rules here, no police to call, no passport checks. If I killed this man, threw his body into the ocean, sunk his boat—who would ever know?

The realization is almost dizzying. I spent months on Maui dreaming of the freedom of the open seas, but I never really considered its darker side. Out here, we’re untethered. Which means we can do anything.

I could do anything.

“Look, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Robbie says now, backing away.

I see his dark eyes flicking nervously between the knife and my expression.

He’s afraid of me.

I lower the blade, nodding. “Good.”

As I step back, he shakes his head. “Who knew you had that in you, girl? Tell me, which one of those fuckers would you eat first?”

He jerks his head toward the beach, toward Jake and Eliza and Nico and Amma and Brittany, and I’m sick to my stomach all of a sudden, wishing I were anywhere but here.

“Fuck you,” I say, but it’s weak, and he just laughs again.

“No shame, little girl, no shame. I’m just saying, when it comes to beating Meroe, I’d put my money on you every time.”

With that, he pushes past me, heading up the stairs, and I hear a splash as he dives over the side.

I’m still shaking, and I almost drop the bottle of wine I pull out of the fridge. As I finally reemerge on the deck, I see Jake and Eliza standing on the shore, looking toward the boat. They must’ve seen Robbie on deck, and I lift a hand, letting them know everything is okay before climbing back down into the dinghy.

Robbie is still there, treading water and looking up at the sky, and when I motor past him, he actually smiles at me again, like nothing happened.

I look away, keeping my gaze on the beach.

Jake, Eliza, and Nico are waiting for me in the shallows.

“Why was that asshole on our boat?” Jake asks. He’s got his sunglasses pushed up, his eyes as blue as the sky above, but his expression is furious. I’ve never seen him like this before, and I shake my head.

“He was snooping around.”

“Motherfucker,” Jake mutters, looking over at Eliza, and now that I’m back on the beach, now that I’m safe, I suddenly remember Robbie’s words—–what those two must be doing to have a boat like that.

It was bullshit, just a creep who was trying to fuck with me.

Jake turns, striding back to our lean-to. He fishes around in there for a second, and then he straightens up, heading back toward us. Sunlight flashing off metal.

The gun.

“Whoa, man,” Nico says. He’s still got one hand on my elbow, steadying me. “Isn’t that a little intense?”