Chapter 8
Lacey
I woke up to Matteo singing in the shower, then banging around in the bathroom, making it sound like a train wreck. Who the hell thought it was okay to get up and start banging stuff around at five a.m.? Matteo did. Let’s be clear though, Matteo thought of himself as a higher power and not having any manners for those around him. He’d made that entirely clear in the last two days. Hell, all I wanted to do was sleep. I knew I was going to need it if I was going to be around him all day. It took everything in me not to be a complete bitch to him. Last night, I had to put him in his place. He needed to hear those things. Maybe it would make him question himself.
I crawled out of pull-out and headed straight to the bathroom after Matteo left. After getting ready for the day, I headed downstairs to consume breakfast. At least at the buffet, I could enjoy whatever I wanted. The resort had so many different breakfast items to choose from. I planned on trying a little bit of everything before leaving here. Well, that was if Matteo didn’t end up sending me home early. After last night, who knew, he might. I did say a lot of awful things to him, but they were all true. I would feel worse if they weren’t. However, there was no way I was going to apologize. He needed to hear them. Maybe, just maybe, he would think twice before he talked or treated me the way he did yesterday. I’m all about gaining $10,000, but I won’t be completely disrespected.
After grabbing a massive plate of food, I sat down at a small table, hoping no one would bother me, but alas, here came Abigail.
“Lace, we are going to have so much fun today. Just us girls!”
What was she talking about? I wasn’t aware of this plan. Damnit, Matteo pawned me off on his sister so he wouldn’t have to face me today. How childish of him. I couldn’t be mad though. That meant I didn't have to put up with him today, so I was okay with it. Anything to make this trip a little more enjoyable. Bring it on!
“So, what’s the plan for today? Matteo didn’t mention this to me, but I am happy to spend some time with you today,” I told her. It wasn’t a lie. I was happy to get away from him, but I couldn’t tell his sister that.
“Well, I thought we could go out on the water. I wanted to go scuba diving. We can spend all day out there. What do you think?”
She waited for an answer. My face said enough. I never had money so things like that were way out of my budget. How was I going to afford to pay for these things?
“Well, Matteo told me not to bring any money, so I’m not sure I can go.”
“Oh hell, don’t worry. Anything you can do can be charged to his credit card. We are going to have fun today! I’ll meet you on the beach in thirty!” she yelled as she walked away with the biggest smile on her face. Who was I to diminish her happiness?
After I ate and changed into my bathing suit, Abigail was waiting on the beach for me. Harbour Island was too beautiful for words. The sand was a pinkish color, and the water was crystal blue.
“Follow me. The yacht I rented is waiting for us over there.” She pointed at a big yacht-like boat. Wow, it was huge and very extravagant. This was going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity! Ships like this didn’t come around very often. No way was I going to turn this down. A huge smile crept across my face as I realized that my fear when I first got here would be diminished. I wouldn’t be stuck with Matteo the whole time. Here I was, standing in front of a huge boat, about to do things I’d never gotten to experience. I climbed aboard and enjoyed the view as we sailed out into the ocean. We headed toward Devil’s Backbone, a shallow and jagged reef, where the captain told us that outlining coral reefs had stingrays and turtles. I liked turtles but not so much stingrays. Abigail put the scuba gear on and went straight into the water. I stood there, scared. Yeah, it sounded like a great idea, but now I was a little terrified. What if I get stung and then vanish? Nobody would be watching me from up here. Anything could happen. I decided to just stay on the boat. I had a great view from up here anyway. Far away in the distance, I could see pastel houses.
“What is that?” I asked the captain as he took a sip of his beer.
“That’s Dunmore Town. We can make a pit stop there if you want before we head back.”
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. Honestly, the longer I was on this boat, the worse I felt for denying the scuba diving experience. Why should I feel bad? I shook my head, telling myself not to beat myself up. Just enjoy yourself.
Abigail came back up to the boat, and I helped her take off the equipment. “Wow, that was amazing. There is so much down there.”
She looked around, realizing that I never went. “Why didn’t you come down? You would have loved it. Are you sure you don’t want to?”
I was sure. The captain mentioned the fact I was curious about Dunmore Town, so Abigail decided to go there. She didn’t even ask me, just ordered the captain to take us there. I was really starting to like her. Abigail reminded me more and more of myself the longer I spent time with her. I would need to be careful. Getting too close to her would make the result of this trip harder. No getting close to his family. You are leaving in five days.
“Come on, I want to do something you can enjoy too. Let’s go sightseeing, be tourists,” she said with a smile on her face.
One thing I really liked about Abigail was how upbeat she was all the time. Genuinely, I liked her. She wasn’t anything like her brother. That arrogant asshole. If I didn’t know they were related, I never would have guessed it. They were just way too different in many respects.
When we reached Dunmore, we got out on the dock and admired the view. For miles, all I could see was pastel houses and shops.
“Let’s go shopping!” Abigail yelled.
Since she mentioned we could charge everything to Matteo’s credit card, I didn’t object. The first couple of shops we bought beach hats and then decided to have lunch at this sit-down restaurant called The Waterfront. You could enjoy your food while sitting in the water. It was fascinating, and I had never seen anything else like this. Instead of looking at the menu, I told the waiter to bring us whatever the specialty was, hoping it wasn’t fish. I wanted to try some authentic food before I left. Which for all I knew could be tonight with how things were going between Matteo and me.
Abigail and I enjoyed sitting there in the water while eating the house special of crab. The flavor was magnificent. It was a great experience. I wished I could do this back home. The icy blue water was just the right temperature.
“So, not to be weird, but what are your intentions with my brother?” she asked, looking a little like she was going to throw up. “I just know he had a rough time with women in the past, and I don’t want him getting hurt.”
I couldn’t tell her the truth because that would devastate her. “Well, to be quite honest, I am still getting to know him.”
She shook her head. “I meant, how is your relationship going?”
It’s hard for me to speak highly of a man that I can’t even be around. Here I was, doing everything in my power to stay out longer so I didn’t have to go back to that room with him. For the sake of the money, I replied, “It’s going fantastic. He’s very sweet even though you would never know because he refuses to show affection in public. It’s weird, but I can’t force him.”