My nipples instantly harden; it’s less to do with the air and more to do with the way Jonathan straightens, his entire focus zooming in on me.

His jaw clenches as he removes the shades, uncovering his darkened gaze. “Is that an invitation, Aurora?”

“No.” I walk backwards towards the beach. “I’m going for a swim.”

“A swim?”

“Catch me if you can, old man.”

“Old man?” he repeats slowly.

“Yeah, show me your stamina.”

“I did, not too long ago, and you were so exhausted, you fell asleep on me, remember?” He stands anyway, pulling his T-shirt over his head, then yanks down his shorts.

He went commando as well.

My feet falter in the sand at the view of him entirely naked, but I don’t get to stare for long when he charges towards me.

I squeal as I turn around and run in the direction of the beach. The water envelops my toes and calves in seconds. It’s a bit cold, and I shiver as it reaches above my knees, but I don’t stop my escape from Jonathan.

A strange sense of excitement grips me. It’s like those times when I used to hunt and stalk, but now, I’m not the predator, I’m the prey playing a game.

When I glance behind me, there’s no trace of Jonathan. I stop when the water reaches my waist and search around. Where did he go?

Did he leave? But I’m sure I heard him come in after me —

My thoughts are suddenly cut off when something grabs my calf and I shriek just as I’m being pulled under. Then the cold shock withers away as strong hands grip me by the arms and lead me back to the surface.

I gulp in a large intake of air, gasping, my fingers holding on to a muscular shoulder. I blink away the water in my eyes to make out the sight of Jonathan’s drenched face and his hair sticking to his temples. “Y-you!”

“Did you say something about stamina, wild one?”

“That’s not fair.”

“I never play fair.” His lips brush over my nose. “I play to win, remember?”

I do, and even though the notion scares me a bit, I can’t help but want more of it right now.

Splashing him in the face, I escape his hold and swim in the opposite direction.

He catches me in no time, but he also lets me go when he senses my need for a challenge.

It’s always been there, no matter how much I’ve tried to smother it. Challenges are what make me thrive, and Jonathan offers me that in the best way possible.

Will he still feel the same if he finds out that I’m as much of a monster as my father?

21

Jonathan

“What do you mean by, it’s null and void?” I ask Harris through the phone.

Aurora is taking a shower upstairs and I’ve come to the home office so she can’t listen to the conversation.

During the past few days we’ve spent on the island, she constantly demands to speak to Black Belt. If it were up to her, she would be sniffing for details about the news from England.

Not that I would let her. Whenever she tries to ask Layla, I either take the phone away or tell her there will be no more calls. She stopped trying to get around me after that.

I brought her here for multiple reasons, and the most important of all is not allowing her to see the articles written on her.

Her name and face are all over the media, and some of the victims’ families have come forward to say that she has the same look that’s in her father’s eyes. That they always thought she was unhinged like him.

I had Harris do some damage control, block articles and drive away the attention from Aurora’s personal life, but there’s only so much he can do. The media has always been obsessed with Maxim Griffin and his gruesome murders. The fact that he’s finally talking is giving them the chance to bring back the past and fully investigate it.

Now, Harris is telling me that my solicitor, who’s working on building a strong case for Aurora, says the whole prosecution’s questioning, and even the trial, will be smoke and mirrors.

Correction, he’s not my solicitor. I’ve never needed a criminal one before. Most of my hotshot solicitors specialise in corporate law. But I had my main law firm pick me the best criminal solicitor in the whole of the UK. Besides being known to have won all the criminal cases he’s taken, Alan Sheldon took the bar exam at the same time as Stephan Wayne — Maxim’s solicitor — and has also gone a few times against him.

From the outside looking in, that fact may seem trivial, but it’s not. Alan is the best, not only because of his unbeatable record, but also because he’s familiar with Stephan and his games prior to trials.

And Alan didn’t get the perfect record by being a saint. He’s been known to use every method under the sun to get his wins — moral or immoral. That’s why he’s a good fit.

While I don’t trust people, I trust his need to keep his serial wins. When someone has ego as a driving force, nothing stops them.

“Alan told me the prosecution has absolutely no evidence against Aurora,” Harris continues in his half-bored, half-sleepy voice. It’s the middle of the night there, not that he minds — I don’t think. He’s a workaholic with zero life outside of King Enterprises. “They thoroughly investigated her eleven years ago. There was nothing that hinted that she knew or participated in Maxim’s crimes.”

“Are you telling me Maxim’s solicitor is going after her as a ploy?”

“Probably. Alan says Maxim wants to drag her down, just to show his power.”

“No. There’s more to it.” I take a sip of my cognac, savouring the burn. “If he only wanted to drag her down, he would’ve done it a long time ago. Something triggered him. Look into it.”

“I did hear a tale some time ago.”

“And why have you waited this long to tell me? You’re losing your touch, Harris.”

“I didn’t think it was important at the time.” He goes into defence mode. “I still don’t, but it could be of value.”

“Go on.”

“When Aurora first entered your life, I met with a few of Maxim’s inmates.”

“Why did you do that?”

“I didn’t trust her, okay? She came out of nowhere and could’ve played that entire thing with Ethan just to get close to you.”

“What is this nonsense? You honestly think someone can use me?”

“No. But I don’t trust people, especially new people. Better safe than sorry.”

“And? What did your distrustful journey bring?”

“There was one of Maxim’s inmates who was later transferred to a mental institute. Robert Hill. He was convicted for killing his wife and mother-in-law with a kitchen knife. He stabbed his wife twenty times and his mother-in-law fifty times, then went to the police station and handed himself in. Anyway, Robert told me that Maxim has a muse, and when I asked him what he meant by that, he said that Maxim gets inspiration by seeing his muse, and when he doesn’t see her, he feels like he’s missing something. Robert said that Maxim keeps her picture with him at all times.”

“Is it Aurora?”

“No clue. Robert said he doesn’t allow anyone to see it, and since Maxim is in solitary confinement, no other inmate has managed to take a look. He also said that Maxim is proud of his muse, saying it’s because of her that he found his true self after years of floundering with no clear path. His muse is his freedom. Robert connected with that — the freedom part — because killing his wife and mother-in-law gave him his so-called freedom.”