The Family: Chapter 4: The Poisoned Chalice
Every paradise has its price.
Chapter 3: What Lies Beneath
Previously in The Family…
In Chapter Three, the island revealed its first cracks. A warning disguised as small talk. A feeling Adrian couldn’t shake—that he was being watched. Now, in Chapter Four, he steps deeper into The Family’s world, drawn further into Celeste Sterling’s orbit, where every glance feels like a test and every smile holds a secret. Isla Rosario is paradise, or so The Family says. But why does it feel like a stage? And why does Adrian feel like the only one who doesn’t know his role?
Come Closer 🎵🎵▶️
Cabo De La Vela, Uribia, La Guajira, Colombia
The yacht was in full swing as the A-Listers began guzzling champagne as if emerging from a drought as music pounded out of unseen speakers vibrating off the water in all directions.
I stood by the railing watching the lush, verdant landscapes of Colombia’s La Guajira province dotted with palm trees gently swaying casting long shadows over the beaches as we sailed across the pearlene blue water. It all felt too perfect, it almost felt like we were trespassing on one of Earth’s last great secrets, guests horning in uninvited to something that could not be—should not be—spoiled. The beauty passing by almost took away the unease I felt around The Family so seemingly perfect and out of touch and then lost in thought, The Family touched me, quite literally.
As I stared, I felt her delicate fingers coil around my elbow as I looked out beyond the rail. Turning her back to the rail, Celeste Sterling propped herself against the edge of the boat resting on her elbows.
“Adrian, right?” She asked in a sort of ethereal voice, the light seeming to bend around her like a warm aura. I nodded politely at her as she looked up towards the sun running her hands through her brown hair which was streaked honey brown. “The sun feels amazing doesn't it?” She asked. I wasn’t sure if she wanted me to answer so instead I took the opportunity to look at my subject up close.
I had never seen her this close so I tried my best to look, really look at her face, her features, to see what stories, lies and truths her face could tell me. I looked into her eyes which I knew from research were chestnut brown but this close, they looked more like cherry wood with brilliant veins of sparkly gold that seemed to twinkle in the sunlight. Celeste’s skin almost looked like delicate satin spread over bones, I could even see as I looked closer as the delicate hairs on the base of her neck appeared as if they were standing up. Her lips looked full, plump and petal-pink and seemed to shine. As I looked closer I felt her feel me looking at her, her eyes snapped away from the sun to meet mine and as she did so, the whiff of the most seductive perfume wafted between us, it smelled equally hard and soft, the distinctive smell of well-hewn leather kissed with the flowery delicate notes of gardenia and a refreshing mist of orange peel. The scent just sort of seemed to float in the air between us.
“Oh look, Celeste said breaking the moment between us as she pointed to a strip of land just off the boat, “That’s Cabo De La Vela,” she said excitedly pointing. There was so much beautiful scenery passing, I asked, “which beach is Cabo De La Vela?”
“Here silly,” she said grabbing my hand and pointing it out towards the horizon as she looked over my outstretched arm lining it up with the beach and then beckoning me to come in closer to get a better look. I did as she asked and got another whiff of her intoxicating scent.
“That means we’re almost there,” Celeste exclaimed with the jubilant nature of a teenage girl, something I was not used to seeing in her everyday life which looked more like a serious, stoic celebrity.
However, it was in this morning, I could see why Ethan was so drawn to her, she had this uncanny ability to make you feel like you were the only one in the room even in a place like this yacht so jammed full of A-List celebrities. And, on top of it, she was so gorgeous up close, she could cause even the most glamorous celebrity to fade into the background.
The yacht rounded a small peninsula jutting off from Cabo De La Vela and then began gaining speed as we headed straight into open ocean breaking our parallel course with the land leaving the modern world firmly behind.
A few minutes later, as if rising from the ocean itself, the craggy skyline of Isla Rosario took form on the horizon, the yacht passed a smattering of archipelagos dotting the water between us and the Island. As we passed the archipelagos, two small metallic drones that looked like metallic hawks in flight flew past the yacht before arching their flightpaths and heading back towards the Island.
I craned my neck up to watch the drones fly by in formation like two birds of prey hunting the ocean surrounding the island. Clocking this, Celeste told me nonchalantly, “Security…the Island is well guarded for everyone’s protection.”
Turning my gaze back to the archipelagos passing by, I marveled at how each one was seemingly draped in verdant plant life. “It’s beautiful, isn't it?” Celeste asked as if she were reading my thoughts or perhaps, just my gaze of wonderment watching the miniature biomes of tropical life glide by.
“Is the Island…?” I began to ask.
“As beautiful as this?” Celeste answered unfurling her arm as if to showcase the archipelagos as if they belonged to her. “Wait until you see it, it’s magical” Celeste said in an ethereal manner, her words seeming to hang on the ocean breeze itself, her hair catching wisps of the wind carried off of her shoulders making her appear almost weightless for a moment. And, truth be told, in this moment I was feeling a bit untethered and weightless myself almost as if I gave in to this feeling, I’d be consumed by it, I could feel myself being pulled deeper into The Family, deeper into my uncertainty, my fear, and even deeper into my longing for the truth.
I could feel the vial from Gideon in my pocket like a silver bullet that could bring this all crashing down, even though I still wasn’t sure how or what I’d even be destroying in the first place. But like all great intoxicants, I was hooked and falling deeper into The Family’s clutches drawn deeper by my desire, my ambition, my drive and…I gave in.
Reaching out as if on instinct, I grabbed Celeste’s hand. “Promise me you’ll show me around?” I asked slyly.
“It’s a promise,” she said pulling back on my hand drawing me closer to her as she dragged the back of her fingernail delicately up my exposed forearm, the nerve endings of my arm producing a warm, tingly sensation that rippled across my skin like the water beneath us.
“Tonight after the dinner in The Grove,” Celeste said to me, her eye winking as if asking a question tinged with mystery, allure and temptation. “It’s a date, right?”
“Absolutely,” I said earnestly knowing that Celeste may be my entry into cracking The Family once and for all. And what sweet irony it would be that their most visible member may become their downfall.
As the Island dock neared, the guests began lining the deck happily taking photos and making grand proclamations like “best trip ever!”
As the boat docked, the guests descended the gang plank to find the Island staff lined up neatly, men in neatly-pressed navy blue pants and crisp white shirts while the women wore navy blue skirts, and white blouses with silk kerchiefs with elaborate tropical designs.
The staff held trays with cocktails which the already very inebriated guests happily took along with them. A staff member approached Imani and guided her to the side, I could hear over the crush of the ocean waves the staff telling her, “Your villa is this way, Ms. Vertias.”
Moira stood sentinel at the end of the dock next to a handsome gentleman in a linen suit with high, expertly crafted cheekbones that look like they could slice open envelopes. The man held a tray with little envelopes. “This is Umberto, our Concierge,” Moira announced to the guests who passed by and grabbed a keycard. “His staff will see that your bags are delivered to your rooms,” she announced.
I grabbed my envelope which had a bracelet with a silver sort of charm on it inside and a card that said CV12. I stood looking at this quizzically for a moment wondering what any of it meant. Behind me there was a rustling in the trees and then from the lush foliage, Celeste appeared behind me. Reaching for the envelope, she asked, “What’d you get?”
“Honestly,” I confessed, “I don't understand what this means.” I said holding up the bracelet and the card.
“So this,” Celeste said holding the bracelet, “will give you access to the Island and will allow the Island to learn everything about you, how strong you like your drinks, how much you toss and turn at night, everything, it will then make sure the whole island reacts to you properly,” she said as I took this in somewhat awestruck.
“Thats an awful lot of surveillance,” I sort of half asked and commented.
“That’s an awful lot of service, some would say,” Celeste retorted.
And then this, she said pointing to the card, “Means you’re in The Clearing, Villa #12.”
“Its so confusing the first time, I know,” Celeste said knowingly.
“The Clearing is down that way,” Celeste said motioning down a path that lead into a thick patch of Jungle.
“C’mon,” Celeste offered, “I’ll walk you.”
As we walked through the jungle, the sunlight shattered through the canopy casting long shadows on the jungle floor, small twigs cracked underfoot as little dribbles of brackish water dotted the path.
“The Clearing is just up ahead,” Celeste said walking through the jungle with the careful air of someone who knew this path by heart. As we walked, I was plagued by a nagging suspicion of being followed or watched, not by a person or thing but by the jungle itself. As irrational as it sounds, it felt as if the jungle plant life itself was turning its leaves towards us reacting to our presence the deeper in we walked - it could only be compared to the feeling of walking into a crowded room and feeling every head turning to look at you as you passed by.
At long last we entered The Clearing, an open plain abutting the jungle with sleek, modernist circular villas held in the air by pylons making them look like a fleet of UFOs held aloft and nestled close together nestled between jungle and looked over by the towering mountain at the center of the Island.
“The main house is up there,” Celeste said pointing up towards the mountain beyond the clearing.
The Clearing🎵🎵▶️
“At the top?” I asked.
“No but the Main Housed is in that general direction through the jungle and nestled on the side of the mountain. It looks out over the whole valley,” Celeste said extending her hand as if showing off something she owned as its sovereign. I noticed that in Celeste’s gestures as she pointed out landmarks as if she owned them seemed to reflect her sense of belonging and authority within this world. She’s not just a member of The Family; she’s a steward of its dominion.
“Through there,” Celeste said pointing to another thick bank of jungle, “Is the Grove, its our outdoor dining pavilion and beyond that, The Beach House and the Pavilion.”
“What’s the Pavilion?” I asked vainly searching for an answer.
“A secret place just for me,” Celeste said again asserting her ownership. I dared not push further.
I approached Villa #12. Waving my hand over the door at the bottom of the pylon, the villa seemed to react to me, the door sliding aside. I stepped into a small circular elevator which closed behind us before shooting upwards towards the villa. As I stepped into the Villa with Celeste behind me, I could see it was wrapped in glass offering a panoramic view of the valley around us.
At almost every corner of the villa, there were comfortable touches, a plush throw, a soft pillow and for as many comfortable accouterments, there were just as many if not more jungle flora and fauna, flowers, vines, potted plants.
Celeste showed me around the kitchen, the bedroom, the bathroom. As she showed me around at one point, Celeste stopped and turned to me. In sort of a devious, devil-may-care sort of way, Celeste confided in me, “Do you want to know one of the best things about this place?”
“Do I?” I asked back exuding curiosity eager to hear what she might tell me.
“The bracelet doesn’t just optimize the Island for you, it’s also a key of sorts,” she said.
“A key to what?” I asked.
“You’re here, and anyone who is a guest of The Family can tap the bracelet at any time and ask for what they really want, anytime of the day or night.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, a speculative tone giving a rough edge to my voice.
“Anything your heart desires can be yours, Adrian,” Celeste purred. “This isn’t like the real world, Adrian,” she said to me a blunt directness.
Celeste came towards me, gently leading me over towards the sofa, she pushed me down onto the couch with a seeming force. As I sat motionless, Celeste put her heeled foot across my lap and dug it into the sofa as her legs parted in front of me. Grabbing my hand with hers, she lead my hand under her skirt. Celeste moved my hand until I could feel an uncomfortable warmth growing close. Moving my fingers she made my hand part her underwear as she applied some pressure pushing my fingers inside of her, gently.
I could feel the warmth of her and I’d be lying if I said I wanted her to stop. “Is this what you want, Adrian?” Celeste said locking her gaze into mine as she held my hand in place. “Don’t stop,” Celeste said as more of a command than a come on.
I pushed my fingers in gently a bit more and probed as I felt her body quiver and shake, her knees becoming wobbly. As I did so, Celeste looked at me with a sense of surging intensity, I wasn’t 100% sure if she was trying to seduce me or to prove in some twisted way that she owned me.
“Hold it right there,” Celeste commanded me. I then felt a warm sensation around my hand separate from the warmth of her body that then traveled down my arm and towards my shoulder.
“If you wanted this, Adrian,” Celeste said, her eyes narrowing, “All you’d have to do is say the word into the bracelet, and I’d be yours,” she said in a way that felt like it was both an offer and a warning.
I recoiled my hand from between her legs and pushed Celeste away, “I think you have the wrong idea,” I said. “I’m here just to write an article,” I said becoming unsure who I was trying to convince of this fact.
“Are you sure that’s all?” She asked, her eyes scanning me up and down.
“You don’t have questions you want to ask me?” Celeste teased.
“For the article?” I asked, “Of course.”
“About him,” Celeste said as I froze in place her words striking at a chasm deep within me that rendered me motionless.
“I could tell you all you want to know about The Family, this place, what you’re really looking for here,” Celeste said with a biting sense of knowing. “That’s what you’re really here for, isn’t it?”
“And in return?” I asked proposing what I knew to be a Faustian bargain in the making.
“I’ll tell you what you want to know about Ethan and you help get me out of here and away from The Family.”
And just like that, my story’s poisoned chalice had dropped almost quite literally into my lap. And how sweet it would be that The Family would be brought low by their own weakness.
But was I cracking the story wide open or was it cracking me? Would I have to kiss the ring of the devil to win and if so, was that a price worth paying?
As I stepped out of my villa for the big family dinner, the Island was practically humming with excitement, Harmony dressed in a glittering but flowing gown adorned with jewels, Jaxon, Kai, Theron, Ronan and their various guests were streaming towards the jungle path towards The Grove. The area surrounding the villas looked like a summer night filled with fireflies from the glow of phones and other handheld device screens being held aloft by the guests as they walked and happily guzzled champagne straight from the bottle.
As we stepped into the jungle path heading towards The Grove, Imani joined the heaving A-List mass and like some sort of celebrity wrangling school teacher, Imani called out, “Could someone please use those phones to light the path?”
Ronan, Victor, Harmony, and Kai, only too happy to suck up to Imani graciously offered to do so using their screens to light her way. But a moment later, the jungle lit up in a glorious display of colors as massive floating spherical-shaped lanterns in soothing hues of amber, yellow, pinks and peach sprung to life. The lanterns cast their colors across the Jungle path bathing the guests in soothing colors that felt like being inside of euphoria.
The Grove 🎵🎵▶️
“So cool…” Kai exclaimed taking it all in, his eyes widening to soak in the spectacle.
As we came to the end of the path, the jungle opened into a clearing with a long marble table bisecting the clearing as more colored lanterns floated above the table seemingly weightless casting light down on the table and onto the cavernous dome created by the trees surrounding The Grove.
As we neared the clearing, the Sterlings stood as if they were waiting for us. They stood stone still, their features and poses perfect in nearly every way as if they were carved into marble by an artist and left here to wait for us.
As we approached, the strings of ethereal music began drifting into The Grove followed by the subtle thump of bass which seemed to set the scene into motion. Beside Moira stood Elektra, playing the part of the well-coiffed tech mogul wearing a form fitting black sheath. Willow was draped in diaphanous fabrics of shining silver with pink undertones while Onyx stunned in a form-fitting dress with an exceptionally-tailored bodice that pushed her chest up and out. Orion, the seeming outlier of the family wore a shimmering black tux that looked like it was made of material cut out of the night sky itself.
Next to the Sterlings stood Harmony and Blanca, Harmony looking on at her creations in full form, smiling proudly.
As I passed Orion he grinned at me a sort of self-assured smirk, a sly, devilish look of a lion imagining what seasoning he’d sprinkle on his antelope.
The scenery developing around me began to feel hallucinatory, the sounds and smells of the jungle swirling around me creating an intoxicating air that met with the music’s thumping, hypnotic, almost tribal beat.
And then, I saw her, Celeste, standing in the dark, her features momentarily illuminated by a burst of peach colored light which painted her skin in coral radiance. Her eyes and the gold veins that ran through them almost looked like they were attempting to escape her face, their brilliant radiance seemingly defying the night to shine in the dark.
“Adrian,” Celeste whispered as if returning to Earth for a moment. Turning to Aurora who stood beside her, Celeste introduced her to me, “My sister Aurora,” Celeste said as the sweet smell of soft and hard I smelled from the yacht seemed to waft back as if coming from the jungle itself, our eyes locked in a deep penetrating embrace.
Aurora was no slouch either, she had Celeste’s radiant beauty with a touch of almost doe-like naiveté and long, flowing nimble limbs that exaggerated her movements to look like a praying mantis draped in designer fashions. Perhaps its why Aurora was the family’s resident fashion plate extraordinaire. I could see why she and Harmony would become such fast friends.
I could see why The Family wanted Harmony in their presence.
“Now now,” Moira chided in a way that sounded condescending but chipper. “Lets take our seats, chef is ready to serve the first course.”
Celeste and Aurora peeled off with their siblings to take their seats. I was left wondering where to sit, I saw a seat next to Imani but thought that too forward. Theron must have caught me looking lost, “first time at one of these things?” He asked.
“How can you guess?” I asked thankful for a lifeline.
“Stick by me and I’ll make sure you’re alright,” he said.
Moira sat in the middle of the table with Celeste, Willow, Aurora, and Imani at her side while Theron sat at one of the far ends and motioned for me to come sit across from him.
Not a moment later, Harmony, Victor, and Ronan came and joined our end of the table as Onyx sat across from him. Being this close to her, I could admire that she also possessed her sister’s unnatural and understated beauty. But one thing I noticed is that yesterday on the yacht, she had shimmering, radiant skin like Celeste but here in the dark of the jungle it almost looked ashen and gray, even her face did not carry the warmth of her siblings, it was as if her face were cloaked in shadow, like she was wearing a veil made of the night itself.
As drinks were poured, Moira called out, “To friends, to Family!” Raising her glass.
I looked down the length of the table as I saw Ronan, Victor, Kai, Theron, Onyx, Willow, Moira, Harmony, Blanca, Imani, and Celeste raise their glasses that glittered and shimmered in the night, their island bracelets delicately dangling from their wrists. To any outsider, this was a perfectly choreographed moment, the kind of practiced luxury that took generations to ingrain. As I kept looking at them, their glasses held aloft though, I spotted something, something no outsider would ever see but I think what I saw was a fatal error on the part of The Family, a loose thread that if I pulled correctly might unspool this whole charade.
Dinner was, as promised, a luxurious feast of global cuisine one course after another lubricated by fine spirits.
Harmony sat across from me, pushing the delicately prepared food around her plate taking careful, studied bites as if she were being watched or photographed.
The liquid lubricant passed around at our end of the table only helped Onyx and Victor shoot captivating glances back and forth at each other. As the detached observer even I knew that Onyx and Victor one had a romance that fizzled out in the tabloids. I also knew enough to know that Victor is the father of Onyx’s one and only child. Perhaps I was witnessing a rekindling of this romance? I made a subtle note of it that I could hand off to the celebrity gossip desk the next time I checked in with the office.
As the desert courses came, Victor motioned at Onyx, “Babe,” he half-whispered, “Can I talk to you for a second?”
Onyx nodded gamely, and motioned towards the jungle. I stood and grabbed my phone pretending to be sending an email or make a phone call and found a discrete shot just in earshot as I tried to glean whatever I could from their conversation. I soon found Blanca creeping towards the bushes near me straining to hear the conversation as well. I didn’t hear the full conversation but what I did hear was made of some compelling short bursts.
“When are you going to tell me what’s going on, Onyx?”
“What do you even mean, Victor?”
“Let’s start with our child for one,”
“What about him Victor?”
“You always swore he was mine.”
“And?”
“I checked his DNA and the results say with 99.99% certainty that the child shares genetic material with both the mother and father.” Even by this point, the barbs were too intense for Blanca who scurried away as I continued to listen.
“The test must be wrong, Victor,”
“Okay so, me and my new wife, Charmaine, have been trying to conceive for two years now, I go and get a test and you know what they say, Onyx?”
“What does it say, Victor?”
“The test says I’m impotent and always have been.”
“How is that child mine?”
The tenor of their argument began to swell the tension palpable even from a distance. A short moment, Onyx stormed out of the jungle fuming mad.
I pivoted my position to see what would happen next. Onyx unleashed her fury by marching over to Ronan Kade as he stood talking to Jaxon, Harmony, and Kai, grabbing him by the wrist, pulling him in close to her to whisper into his ear. Ronan looked at her smiling and nodding his head as she dragged him towards the jungle.
The jungle swallowed them whole, it seemed alive, its dark tendrils reaching out to pull Onyx and Ronan deeper into its secrets. From my vantage point, I could only watch, the heavy air thick with questions I wasn’t sure I wanted answered.
Victor’s words lingered in the humid air, a crack in the perfect façade of The Family. Whatever secrets they’d hidden within their bloodline were surfacing now, and it felt like I was standing at the edge of a much darker truth.
As I stood feeling the jungle expand around me, the orb lights pulsating casting various colors over the guests, I felt a certain unease growing within me as well. My neck was slicked in sweat that felt sticky, hot and sizzling creating almost another skin.
As I began to feel faint and disoriented, I turned around to see where everyone was but instead I found Orion standing in front of me like a monument, a totem marking this land and his provenance.
I looked at his face which was framed by a sort of dauntless grin, one that told more than his face or his words could convey.
“Orion,” I stuttered. “Sorry you startled me.”
“Not a problem,” Orion said, his Cheshire grin curving with a hint of devilish delight as if he were in on a delightful secret.
“I saw you standing over here and figured you might need an escort back to the villas,” Orion said attempting to appear amiable.
In all honesty I didn’t need an escort to the villas but I figured I’d see where this thread would lead. “That would be great,” I said giving him right back what he was giving me.
We began walking and Orion took a stab at some small talk all the while stealing glances at me in the dark moonlight. “My sister really likes you,” Orion assured me.
“Oh yeah?” I asked.
“I can tell,” Orion said half laughing, “We never talk to the media and she’s clearly very comfortable around you so that says a lot.”
I stood taking this in before Orion broke my train of thought, “What do you think of the Island so far?”
“Are you kidding?” I asked, “Its incredible, even more incredible that The Family owns all this,” I said trying to sound awestruck to draw Orion out of his shell. But I may have miscalculated.
Orion reached out and grabbed my hand pulling me uncomfortably close to him, our bodies touching. We were so close I could feel the heat radiating from his torso. From this distance, I could see the way his eyes sparkled in the moonlight, like little bits of stardust were trapped in his cornea. I could also smell an overpowering but delicate scent from him, it smelled rich and expensive with a touch of the exotic. My nose was teased by Saffron and Thyme; softened by the sweetness of jasmine, and rounded out by leather, suede, and amber. Why did they all smell so good? I wondered.
With his opposite hand, he brushed his hand through my hair, “You want to see something truly incredible?” He asked in a hypnotic way that belied the fact that I felt incredibly out of my depth, “Its something very few get to see on the Island.”
I swallowed my pride and said kindly, “I’d love to.”
We walked through a side trail branching off from the main trail. As we got deeper into the dark jungle and the path began to climb, I began venturing further into my fear, Where was Orion leading me? I thought, Was his goal to lure me to some secluded spot for something horrible? Each step over each and every rock and every exposed tree root felt like an iron footed march to a grisly fate.
But my fears were all for not as we soon came to a clearing in the jungle, that lead to a rocky cliff looking out across the water. The moonlight danced off the water making it appear glassine even in the dark. Once I was sure Orion was not about to push me off the cliff, I relaxed some. “Come here,” Orion said, inviting me towards the ledge, “I want to show you something.” As I approached hesitantly I saw what he was talking about about, beneath the dark glassy surface of the water was the most brilliant display of glowing purple light dancing below the surface like someone had knocked over a can of purple paint and watched it run into this black void.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s the Island’s phytoplankton,” he said as if it were a common fact any layperson would just know.
“It surrounds the Island and its only visible at night, its some of the rarest plankton in the world.”
“That’s incredible,” I sighed taking in the brilliant natural display. “Why does it glow like that?” I asked fully falling prey to my curiosity.
“It’s called, bioluminescence,” Orion said again in a sort of casual nonchalance. “It’s a part of how the plankton survive, communicate, and how they blend in.” He said as I marveled at the shimmery bioluminescent display.
“When you see it glow blue,” Orion continued, “Thats a plankton called dinoflagellate. They glow that way to protect themselves from predators, which allows them to live longer and reproduce more.”
As I peered over the cliff staring at the colorful display, I felt Orion grab my hand again as he pulled me uncomfortably close to him again. Cradling my head just behind my ears with his hands, he pulled my face closer into his and before I knew it, his lips were touching mine, his tongue delicately pushing into my mouth. Not wanting to offend Orion, I gave in to his advances and let him kiss me. As he kissed me, he delicately began nibbling on my lip and I let him but his forthrightness got the better of him and he nibbled my lip a bit too hard drawing a drop of blood in the process.
Orion pushed back from me, startled, he put his finger in his mouth and examined the blood for a moment with a sort of knowing stare at his finger, he looked at the blood, then at me and then licked the blood from his fingers saying cryptically, “I had no idea.”
After a brief moment of silence, looking deep into my eyes and motioning to the plankton again, he said, “I guess if I were plankton I might glow blue,” he said with an unnerving certainty, “Maybe that’s how I’d survive, maybe that’s how I survive.”
“What about you?” he asked.
As I was lost in thought trying to figure out how to even address such a question, I felt his hand pawing at my waistband, his hand sliding up my shirt, his smooth hands exploring my body before his hands began delicately unbuttoning my shirt, my shirt hung open, the balmy night air kissing my exposed chest. Orion pulled me close to his face and pressed his tongue into my mouth again.
Pushing him back I said, “I think you have the wrong idea,” I said forcefully. “But I’m very flattered, thank you,” I said softening the blow in an attempt to maintain professionalism and composure while being immersed in a world where boundaries are blurred, if they even exist at all.
“Let me walk you back to your villa,” Orion promised seemingly slayed for the time being as he reached out for my hand and we disappeared into the dark once more.