glanced at the ring on her finger. He did not even ask who her fiancé was and he did not seem surprised.
“That is unfortunate Kristen. You have never allowed me the chance to show you how my feelings are towards you.” Kristen boldly said “Well, that’s something you were quite capable of long ago. Why now? What’s so different?”
As he sat next to her, she trembled and felt helplessly drawn back into his web again. She thought “Didn’t she learn her lesson yet?” Karl silently watched her. Then he strongly pulled her to him and kissed her. Kristen weakly sunk back against the boat as his power overwhelmed her. They kissed for a long time and she could feel the old Karl no longer existed. Neither did her fiancé. Anthony was probably through with her anyway. What did it matter? She was free to roam!
Karl spoke first. “I told you Kristen, I am ready to be with you now. In no way, would I ever treat you as disrespectfully as I did when I first met you. Obviously, you are not that immature brat anymore.” Kristen was feeling such desire and still could not speak.
Karl could feel the pillar of strength that had shielded him for so long begin to dissolve. A small tear came to his eye as he pleaded with her. “Kristen, I need you to give me a chance. Please don’t get married until you see how wonderful we could be with each other.” With that, Kristen started feeling like herself again. She wasn’t sure she was attracted to this mushy version of Karl. She liked him better when he was a challenge. Kristen felt uneasy and tried to come to her senses again. "Karl, I really love my fiancé. He has been everything that I have always wanted…” It all sounded so false to her now and it was a useless attempt. Karl stopped her from continuing as he kissed her again. This time he eased her down until she was lying flat on the cushion. He raised himself up and looked around at the people walking near-by the boat. “We need to go below deck.”
He put his arm firmly around her waist and led her down the stairs to the cabin. Kristen could not let go of him. They walked together through the narrow opening to his bedroom.
Karl’s personality immediately changed. He tossed Kristen onto the hard mattress and put her hands together above her head. She worriedly looked behind her and noticed there were small shackles attached to his wooden bed posts.
His face reddened and he was ready to take her, until he noticed the scared expression on her face. He then softened and slowly brought her arms back down and around his back. Kissing her gently, he lowered himself onto her and slowly began removing her clothes. Kristen pushed up at him to stop. “Karl, I can’t do this.”
He rolled off and lay next to her, propped up on his elbow. As he looking lovingly down at her, he brushed her hair to the side of her face. “Kristen, I am sorry I just acted like that. I want you to know that being with you means everything to me. I am not just here for a fling; I need you in my life. I will do whatever it takes to have you. Just let me know what you want because I can give you everything. The world will be at our feet. Seriously, I can do that for you. You need to know that it's true.”
She smiled and said softly “Karl, I feel very close to you right now and I am glad that I am here. I am pretty sure it is over with my engagement, but, I am just not ready.” As Kristen said these words, she again knew she did not mean them. Karl had something over her and she desperately wanted to be his. They innocently wrapped themselves in each other for hours as they listened to the waves lightly rocking the boat.
When the night arrived, Karl had dinner delivered to them. Kristen was not hungry and now had a change of heart. “Karl, I can’t stay here, I need to go home. My fiancé might be coming back tonight. He gets very jealous.” Karl looked angry “Yes, I know all about your boyfriend and his temper. You sure you want to put up with someone like that? He is all wrong for you, and you are too naïve to realize that. I don’t need you to measure him up against me. The fact you are here with me now speaks volumes. Why do you think you are willing to cheat on him so easily?”
Kristen did not like that he was belittling her and groaned “Oh, please. We didn’t do anything! Again, stop with your Karl lectures and start speaking to me like an adult. My feelings for you have always been based on curiosity. Now the mystery is solved. You are human. Now I can go on with my life.”
Karl began to look angry and Kristen knew she was pushing it too far. He arrogantly replied “You don’t even have a clue about me. There is so much more you can learn; you haven’t even scratched the surface. Then he lightened up again, “Kristen, I need to return tomorrow evening to the UK for a while and I want you to accompany me.” He reached for her again and kissed her.
Kristen knew that he still hoped to make love, and in a sense, she strongly wanted it, but also knew that she had to leave. She was afraid to pursue it with Karl; she could never be confident around him. She never knew how he would react; he was so complex. There was something unsettling about him and she still felt slightly afraid.
Kristen sadly said “I can’t go with you; I have my life here. I am sorry.’’ She walked around the cabin and gathered her things. She stood at the door “I am going to walk. I’ll see you later Karl.” He sat on the bed and watched as she ascended the stairs. He did not follow her.
The night air was still very humid and Kristen enjoyed her stroll back to The Colony to retrieve her car. The sky was filling up with stars and the palm trees made rustling noises as the wind passed through their leaves.
When Kristen arrived home, she looked up towards Anthony’s house and saw it was dark. He was not there to greet her or to question her. She had left her cell in the car when she went by the marina and now looked down at it. Anthony still hadn’t called her. Not even a text!
She considered phoning him, but she was also thinking about her time with Karl. She was still longing for him to touch her again. She thought about England and wished that Karl had been there for her earlier. Things would have been different. But it just wasn’t the same with him. She had no idea where she stood in his life and definitely did not know how he figured into hers. The afternoon had been special and innocent, but she felt guilty and couldn’t continue to enjoy thinking back on it, so she went to bed.
The next morning, Anthony resurfaced from his trip. Kristen was still sleeping when he came up the stairs. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her awake. “Where did you go yesterday? What do you think you are doing?” Kristen was trying hard to come out of her slumber to answer him. She said tiredly “What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything. I just hung around here and then walked around.” She sat up on the bed and looked at him through her long messy hair that was hanging in her eyes.
Anthony picked her off the bed and stood her straight. “Don’t lie to me! Where were you?” Kristen just looked puzzled. How could he know anything? She said “What is your problem? You never called me yesterday. How would you even know if I was home or not?”
Anthony just looked exasperated. Kristen ran off to the bathroom and locked the door. “Get back out here” Anthony yelled. “I am not finished with you yet!”
Kristen sat on the edge of the bathtub and would not answer him. Anthony pounded on the door and began swearing at her in Sicilian. She waited it out until she heard him go downstairs.
Ten minutes later, she heard his car engine start up and he tore off. She slowly dressed and went down to the kitchen. She saw that Anthony had brought her flowers and then, obviously had second thoughts, because he had pulled them out from their vase and threw them on the floor before he left. He was so angry at her. She didn’t know what she should do. She couldn’t understand how he found out about Karl!
She looked at the settings on her phone and wondered if he had a GPS tracker on it. But that wouldn’t make sense, because she didn’t take it with her yesterday. Maybe he didn’t know about her afternoon. Maybe, he just thought she did something wrong. She certainly did not want to ask him and even more, she did not like being treated like she was his incorrigible teen-age daughte
r.
As Kristen sat at the table she noticed a black sedan pull up with three men in it. They sat in the driveway with the engine running. She could see them watching her through the window. She quickly stood and went to turn the house security system on. One of the men opened the back door of the car and walked up to the side of the house. He knocked on the window “Where is Anthony?” Kristen held up her hands and mouthed “I don’t know.” She then yelled loud enough for him to hear her, “Who are you? What do you want?” The man said nothing and returned to the car.
They sat for about half-hour when Anthony came roaring up in his car with another car following behind that contained two large men. They blocked the other car and Anthony quickly walked up the driveway. The first car rolled down the front window and Kristen watched as Anthony leaned in and angrily talked to the driver. The two men in the other car came up to join him and protectively surrounded him. Kristen looked closer, they all had guns! She wondered if they were the security for his chemical company.
Kristen reached for her phone and thought she should call the police. This just didn’t look good. She held it as she continued to watch and considered running upstairs and