Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 59521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
“If it matters that much to you, Rachel,” I mutter. “Go first.”
Rachel flicks her long brown hair over her shoulder. “I will.”
“Fantastic,” I say, waving her off with my hand.
She scowls at me, muttering something about being a rich bitch, before disappearing into the room. I feel sorry for the lady, I truly do. Rachel is the last person I would ever want to massage. Tatiana, who is standing beside me, leans in and whispers, “You know, we could absolutely throw her overboard. Nobody would ever know.”
I laugh. “Tempting, but no. I am going to the top deck to do some mindless scrolling and sunbake.”
“Is Aggie still up there?” asks, tying her hair into a knot on the top of her head.
I nod. “Yep, that girl lives in the sun.”
“I’ll stay and wait for my massage, I can’t be letting anyone else get in before me.”
I grin. “Don’t let them beat you.”
Tatiana chuckles. “Never.”
I leave her there and make my way to the upper deck to find Aggie, already splayed across a striped lounge with her headphones on. Her skin is already golden, as if it is effortless for her to not get burned. I flop onto the chair beside her, and she turns, staring at me as she lifts her sunglasses and stares.
“I thought you were getting a massage?” she asks, removing a single bud.
“Rachel is holding the spa hostage. I wasn’t in the mood to listen to her shit,” I say, squinting at the horizon.
Aggie pulls a bottle of coconut water from her bag and hands it over. “Ironic, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“The only person on this floating palace who could really use a massage is that small, lovely Thai lady.”
Oh, I have no doubt.
I take a sip, swallowing the cold liquid. I’m not the biggest fan of coconut water, but I know how good it is for me so I take one for the team. Aggie frowns at her phone, tapping the screen. “The internet has stopped working.”
I glance at my phone to see mine has dropped out, too. “Maybe we hit a dead zone,” I offer. But it doesn’t sit right—the Virtue is equipped with enough satellite tech to stream porn on Mars.
Aggie frowns. “Didn’t your dad say this thing had, like, military-grade WIFI?”
“Yeah, apparently so. I’ll go see if I can find out what’s going on. Adrian might know, he is a tech guy. Have you met him yet?”
Aggie raises her brows, then nods. “Oh yes. He told me that the sun isn’t dangerous and I can lay out here safely all day, so you heard it here first.”
I laugh. “Gosh, he is odd. I’ll go see what I can find out.”
With a sigh, I push to my feet and head towards the large office on board where the captain spends most of his time. I reach the large wooden door and am about to knock when I hear my father’s assistant, Joel, on speaker. I would recognize that voice anywhere. It’s nasal, smug, and always a little too loud.
He has this weird high-pitched squeak that I swear I hear in my nightmares.
I pause, not sure why, just curiosity, I guess.
“...scheduled port still confirmed?” Joel’s voice crackles.
The captain’s voice, lower and unhurried, answers, “We’re on time. No deviations yet. Everything is going as planned. We have just dropped the internet out to ensure no contact is made outside.”
I freeze.
What the fuck is he talking about?
“Good. The girls are going to have a problem with the internet, how do you plan on handling that?”
“I’ll tell them there has been a technical error, and we will fix it when we dock.”
“Very good,” Joel murmurs. “We can’t risk this going wrong. Bentley has invested basically everything into ensuring those girls arrive where we need them, they are worth more than you are, so don’t make any mistakes.”
“I hear you, loud and clear. I will let you know if we run into any troubles, but so far, they have no idea we’re not going where we promised.”
My skin prickles, like an uncomfortable bug crawling over my flesh.
I feel like I can’t breathe, hell, maybe I’m not.
“Are you confident in the security detail? We don’t need to run into any problems. I would have screened them better, but Bentley was adamant we were out of time.”
“No issues. They are doing their job.”
Joel makes a pleased sound. “And you’re certain the girls don’t suspect anything?”
The captain grunts. “They still think this is some little luxury reward vacation that Bentley provided for all their hard work. They have no idea they are going to be sold to a bunch of creepy, perverted fucks for a fuck load of money.”
“Can you believe that man is actually sellin’ his own fucking kid. That is something.”
I might vomit.
“Yeah, he’s a cold motherfucker. But you can tell him everything is on track.”