Poisoned Love, Calculated Death

ngine faded into the vast

on. On that yacht were my fiancé, Liam Miller, and my adoptive sister, Brittany Hayes

eft me

gave me had been blinking. It was a top-of-the-line model,

s, he ignor

e dwindled with each passing hour. Hunger was a constant ache i

cracking sound echoed in the silent jungle. My leg twisted beneath me at an unnatural angle, and a wave of pure agony was

ppled. Death felt close, a patient sh

combination of pain and starvation, a fig

ce. He moved with a quiet confidence that was completely at home in thi

his eyes assessing me, my br

," he said. His voice

ands surprisingly gentle as they examined my leg.

needs to be set," he said, hi

ned with fish and strange, edible fruits. He built a fire that never went out. He crafted a splint for my leg from sturdy b

im about my life as an architectural designer in the city, about the buildings I dreamed of cre

never knew. I explained how the internet worked, what a skyscraper wa

had saved my life when the man who promised to love me forever had left me to die. I told myself this was fa

impossible. I lay on the soft bed of leaves Jax had made for me i

, pulsing light, deep in the j

ase, pushed me to move. I used a long branch as a crutch and slowly, painful

to me. He was no longer the rugged survivalist. He stood straight, and in his hand w

voice. It wasn't the rough, gravelly tone he used with me. It

as Brittany. Her voice, sickly sweet and triu

settled. Why haven't you le

body going cold. That woma

e, replied. His words struck me w

he doesn't escape and challenge

ed. Heiress?

g but reptilian. "Good. Liam is getting impatient. H

my fate and shattered t

he 'wild man' for life...

er was a calculated performance. Every kind gesture, every shared look,

sted nuts and berries. He knelt to check the splin

" he asked, his voice ba

said, my own voi

ad... it' s going to take a long time to heal. It might not eve

ll I saw was a stranger, a cold-blooded operative delivering a verdict that he him

ank you for taking care of me, Jax. I do

smile that now looked monstrous. "I

I had to act like I was still falling in love with my captor, even as the truth burned insid