Dark Shadows (Gia Santella Crime Thrillers Book 11) by Kristi Belcamino (best motivational novels txt) 📗

dressed in Armani and Gucci stopped at the girls’ table. The men leaned over and spoke in low voices. I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Sabine shook her head, but Amanda smiled brightly. Then she must’ve said something about us because the men stood up to full height again and took us in. Then the taller one, who had a goatee and wore sunglasses even though it was night, nodded.

Amanda stood and came over to our table.

“We’ve been invited to a private party on Île Sainte-Marguerite. They’ll take us there on Ahmed’s yacht. Just for an hour or two. I said yes.”

I raised an eyebrow. Conner looked at me. “It’s an island nearby.”

I drained my glass and shrugged. I was along for the ride tonight.

The last thing I wanted was to be treated as the “adult” or have the others look to me to make decisions.

The yacht was stunning. As yachts should be.

Besides us, there were some other women clustered on the lounge chairs toward the prow.

The night breeze felt amazing as we motored out into the dark bay. The night sky was filled with stars, and I inhaled deeply, feeling both grateful to be alive and full of sorrow for the lives I had lived and now grieved. It was bittersweet.

Conner found me and wrapped his arms around me from behind. “You were shivering,” he said in my ear.

“I was?”

He didn’t respond and started to kiss my neck. I turned and, still wrapped in his arms, met his mouth with mine. It was a warm, delicious kiss, but it felt wrong. I pulled back and smiled.

He looked alarmed.

“What is it?”

“Me and you? It’s not going to happen.”

“Did I do something?” he asked, titling his head.

“No!” I said emphatically. “You are beautiful and sexy and kind and…”

“Then what is it?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m being totally honest and transparent with you. For some reason, it just doesn’t feel right. It could be because of what I left back in Barcelona. Or maybe that’s not it at all.”

He gave a sweet smile. “You don’t owe me an explanation.”

Relief flooded me. I smiled back. “Thank you.”

On the deck above, we heard angry voices and both grew quiet.

It was Owen and Amanda. They were arguing. She was crying. He sounded furious.

Conner took my hand and pulled me under the awning so we were out of sight of whomever was on the upper deck. He held a finger to his lips.

“You told me you would kill anyone I was with,” Amanda said. “Did you do it? Did you kill him?”

“You admit you were cheating on me with him, then?” Owen’s voice was low and deadly.

“I’m sorry.”

“Too fucking late for that, Amanda.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” she said. “I heard you arguing with him. Hannah said she heard you tell Lucas you would kill him if he was sleeping with me. Did you say that? Did you kill him? Just answer me, Owen.”

Her raised voice was shrill and angry.

“Fuck you, Amanda.”

Then there were footsteps stomping away over our head. Amanda’s loud sobs continued above us.

Fuck.

Conner took me by the hand and led me to the side of the boat. We put our elbows on the rail, and as we looked down at the water, he swore in a whisper. “Owen killed Lucas.”

I exhaled loudly. “Maybe.”

“I can’t believe it,” he said, still whispering. “I’ve known both those guys my whole life. I mean we grew up playing pee-wee football together. We’ve wrestled and even had fist fights over girls, but when it came down to it, we always said ‘bros over hoes.’”

“Classy.”

“Sorry,” he said. “But that’s the saying.”

“Yeah, I know. I have a teenage daughter.”

“You do?”

“Well, adopted.”

It wasn’t exactly true, but whatever. Legally or not, Rose was mine.

Just then, I spotted Hannah sitting alone on a couch near a large TV screen. Nobody else was around.

“Excuse me,” I said to Conner and went inside. I sat down beside her.

“Can I get you anything?”

She shook her head morosely. She was staring straight ahead at nothing.

“Hey,” I said. “There’s something I wanted to ask you about.”

“What?” she said and turned her head to meet my eyes as if she just realized I was there.

“Did you hear Owen threaten to kill Lucas if he was sleeping with Amanda?”

I knew it was a very sensitive, loaded question, but I had to ask.

Hannah closed her eyes and nodded.

“So, it’s true.”

She didn’t open her eyes but nodded again.

“Do you think Owen killed Lucas?”

Her eyes flew open, but she didn’t answer.

Instead, she stood and walked away.

When we docked at Île St. Marguerite, the others disappeared before I could get off the yacht.

Ahmed was the only one who waited for me, giving a low bow as I came up from below.

He was older, maybe in his fifties. He wore expensive jeans, leather sandals, and a white silk shirt. The neckline shone with gold necklaces. He had a large, hooked nose, dark, deep-set eyes, and a great smile, which he now flashed at me.

I couldn’t help but smile back. “You are very sweet to invite us onboard and take us here,” I said.

He shrugged. “I get bored easy. To have young, beautiful people around makes me happy.”

I gave him another look. I wanted to tell him I knew exactly how he felt, but instead I just looped my arm through his. “Come on, captain, let’s go explore.”

“I will protect you,” he said.

“Oooh, from what?”

I’d never heard of the island.

“This island contains the fortress prison where the Man in the Iron Mask was held in the seventeenth century.”

“Huh,” I said. “Never heard of the guy.”

Ahmed laughed. “Some say his ghost still haunts the island. I will tell you the tale.”

“Perfect,” I said. “I’m in the mood for a good ghost story.”

Not far from where we landed was a small village with about twenty buildings. Some looked like homes. A few were cafes.

“Should we skip the drinks and check out the prison?” I said, eyeing all the drunk young people at