Disillusioned

“You’ve changed.” His fingers circled the rim of his wineglass. “You’re more confident now.”

“More confident?” I was surprised by his statement.

“Yes.” He nodded. “Though, I suppose, you needed confidence to outwit Steve and Mattias.”

“Who says I outwitted them?”

“You made it off the island.” His face was solemn.

“You don’t think that was their intention?”

“I know Mattias well.” He half smiled. “In fact, I think I can say with certainty that I know him better than anyone else in the world. I don’t think he intended for you to make it off the island. At least not right away.”

“So why did he let me go?” And why do you seem to think he had more nefarious reasons for taking me to the island if you thought he wasn’t really going to kidnap me?

“He knew he had to. If Steve had started doing crazy stuff, he knew it wasn’t safe on the island anymore.” David’s eyes narrowed. “So he took you to one of his hotels in the Caribbean. He wanted to keep you there, but you found out the truth. Once you’d made him out to be Mattias, you called me, scared, and that’s when you knew the truth. He didn’t take you off the island to save you, Bianca. He most probably wanted to keep you in that hotel with him. He knew that you trusted him at that point, but then it blew up in his face. His lies came to surface and he had to let you go.”

“Why did he have to let me go?”

“He must have known that I knew what was going on—he knew that I would save you. He knew that he couldn’t keep you there against your will anymore.”

“So he let me go because I called you?”

“I think you’re safe because of me, yes.” David nodded, a smug smile on his face.

“You think he wanted to harm me?” I said softly, not wanting to believe it.

“I don’t know.” David sipped some more wine. “I know Steve wasn’t there with the best of intentions.”

“Yeah.” I frowned. Steve seemed to be the spanner in the works again. I was even more confused now. Whom was Steve working for? And why did David keep bringing Steve up? “What else do you know, David?”

Beep beep. My phone vibrated in my handbag and I reached in and grabbed it.

I thought I told you not to see David, the text read, and I frowned.

Who is this?

Who do you think?

Jakob?

Leave the restaurant now.

Why?

“Is everything okay?” David frowned at me and I looked up with a brief smile.

“Yeah, Rosie’s texting me.”

“Oh?” He cocked his head to the side. “I’m sure she’s not happy to know you’re dining with me.”

“She always trusted you.” I looked back down at the phone. “I’m sure she’s not worried.”

Bianca, what are you hoping to get from dinner with my brother?

What I didn’t get before. I typed furiously, annoyed that Jakob thought he could tell me what to do. Then I paused. How did he know I was here?

Don’t you dare sleep with him.

I’ll do what I want, Mattias.

You’re playing into his hands.

Better his hands than yours.

You don’t understand everything.

What don’t I understand? I waited for a few seconds and then messaged again. How did you know I was at dinner with him?

There are many things I know.

Are you going to tell me what they are?

You don’t understand the web you’re in, Bianca.

I might not understand it, but I know you’re the black widow.

It’s easy to identify a black widow, and, yes, they can be more dangerous. However, the real danger lies with the brown recluse.

What does that mean?

Brown recluses are harder to identify and they leave a more permanent mark.

So which one are you?

“Bianca”—David’s green eyes were full of concern—“is everything okay? You’re typing away.”

“I’m fine. I’m just thinking.” Why was Jakob warning me away from his brother, and why was David trying to convince me that Jakob wanted to harm me if they were both in this together?

“Thinking about what?”

“Nothing.” I closed my bag and vowed to myself not to check my phone. I couldn’t spend any more time texting Jakob when I had David right in front of me.

“You seem preoccupied.”

“I’m fine. Well, as fine as I can be.”

“You’ve had a major shock. I’m just sorry it was my brother who did this to you. I knew Mattias was slightly crazy, but I didn’t think he would ever do anything like this.”

“I don’t really understand why I was kidnapped.” I sipped some water. “I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot lately.” I gave him a pointed look.

“Oh? To whom?”

“Well, Rosie and you and . . .” I sighed. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Whatever I can do to help you, Bianca, you just let me know.”

“So are you excited about the merger?” I changed the subject as a waiter approached the table. He was young and cute and I didn’t want to freak him out by letting him overhear a kidnapping conversation.

“You know I’m not really interested in that business stuff.” David shrugged. “I get my check each month from the trust and that’s good enough for me.”