“As it happens, I was around food all day so there’s no need to worry about me.”
“You’re in my charge, I’ll worry if I want to,” he snapped and pulled out her chair as she sat down. “And why the hell are you wearing the same clothes you were wearing yesterday?”
Darcy almost laughed at his horrified expression as he sat down across from her. “I’m wearing the only other outfit I brought. Since I didn’t want to wear the dress I came in, having lost one of the shoes anyway, I have only my jeans and tee shirt as an option.”
“I’ll have some other clothes brought to you. I didn’t know you hadn’t packed an entire suitcase for your stay.” He grumbled as he walked around the table and sat down across from her. “What size do you wear?”
“I’m not telling you what size I wear. That’s personal. As for the other issue, the contract stated the party would only be for one night. I didn’t pack for anything other than a simple change of clothes, which I’d anticipated changing into during my flight home.”
“I would have thought women like you packed for any kind of emergency.”
Darcy took a sip of the ice water, then served herself the seafood gumbo that was making her stomach grumble in anticipation. “That’s the second time you’ve referred to me as if I were some sort of subsection of society. What kind of woman do you think I am?”
He watched her serve a heaping portion of the seafood dish, fascinated that she really didn’t intend to starve herself to maintain her silly weight. He wasn’t particularly hungry himself and instead of serving himself some of the food, he sipped his bourbon and watched her. “Aren’t you?”
“Aren’t I what?”
“A subsection of society? There aren’t many of you, but I believe you’d be classified as mercenary, spoiled, attention hounds who live off of the wealthy patrons you snare in your trap.”
She bit into a delicious spiced shrimp and closed her eyes in ecstasy. “I guess there are women out there like that. And I can definitely see why you classify me in that category.”
He waited for several moments for her to continue. But when she simply continued to eat, not offering him an explanation, his eyes narrowed. “Are you saying you’re not part of that group?”
She shrugged. “You’ll have to gather the evidence and judge me yourself. I can’t convince you of anything.” A part of her wanted to scream out that her image wasn’t real. But the more sensible part of her reminded her that he was her prison keeper and he’d given her no reason to trust him with her secret life. So instead, she skewered another tasty shrimp onto her fork and bit into it, savoring the amazing flavors as she watched his eyes.
“I believe there’s ample evidence about your behavior in the tabloids. I don’t need any other convincing. Your presence here indicates that all those tabloid stories are correct.”
“Ah, but you had to sign a contract before I would agree to come to your secret island. So if we’re to judge each other, I would have to say that all of your wealth was obtained through unethical, if not illegal means. And since I’ve had ample opportunity to deal with people of your kind, I find your lack of morals and ethics in your business dealings far below my standards.”
Sergei couldn’t believe that she was actually attacking his business acumen. He wasn’t sure if he should laugh or destroy her. In the end, he had to laugh because she sat across from him, daintily eating her meal, unaware of the danger she’d just put her world into. Oh, he’d never cause her physical harm. He drew the line at any kind of violence. But there were so many legal ways to destroy one’s enemies, he never found it hard to do it legally.
Leaning forward, he served himself some food, finding his appetite had completely recovered with a return of his humor. “I can no longer include you in a specific subset of women, Darcy DiAngelo. You’re definitely one of a kind. I don’t know if you’re are amazingly brave, or just stunningly stupid but either way, you’ve impressed me with at least your spirit.”
Darcy felt as if she’d been given a precious gift. It wasn’t respect so much as….admiration? Not the same, but close. Not that she craved respect from anyone. She had her own means of serving this world and no one could take that away from her. But she felt a bit elated, excited even, knowing that Sergei’s opinion of her had shifted slightly.
Chapter 7
Darcy woke up feeling wonderfully refreshed. The excellent food and fresh air were exactly what she needed after the previous week of stressing about when Marco might find her. She still missed all the dogs and was worried that Dave and Matt would be wondering where she was, so not all of her cares and concerns had been omitted from her life, but she felt better than she had in a long time. She hated to admit that the additional nutrition she’d been consuming over the past several days was part of it because that would prove that Sergei had been right and she’d never give him that much credit.
As she padded to the bathroom with the puppies trailing behind her, she realized that the first day here had been terrifying, but Sergei had actually done her a huge favor by hiding her here on his private island. She hadn’t even understood how much she’d let the stress get to her.
Now that she was free, her shoulders felt lose and the aches in her neck were actually gone. The room was beautiful and after those first two days she almost never saw her captor, why not just enjoy the time she had here until Sergei decided it was time for her to head back home? At that time, she’d figure out what she would do next to hide from her brother.
Right now, though, it was time for breakfast! She pulled on a pair of shorts and a soft cotton shirt, grateful that someone on his staff had sent her several new outfits for all times of the day. She was excited that none of the clothes were incredibly sexy, most were pretty comfortable and whoever had purchased them, had only gotten her size slightly wrong. The clothes were just a bit too big, but she didn’t mind, enjoying the bagginess of the clothes versus the other way around. The bathing suits, on the other hand, were a bit too risqué for her taste.
She showered and pulled her hair back, not even bothering to dry it as she tied it on top of her head with an elastic band. Because of the sun she’d gotten yesterday, her pale skin didn’t even need makeup. Maybe a touch of mascara but she ignored even that, knowing she was going to venture into the ocean today.