Pleasure Unbound

“She left her island to me by putting me in charge of her trust. But it turns out the trust can’t transfer ownership of the island to me without you, because the island is conservation land, and conservation land can only be passed down within a family. I can’t have it unless you become involved

with the trust and sign off on the sale of it to me.”

“If you want to keep the money that I gave you, what you have to do is simple. Sign on to oversee her trust, and decide the island should be sold to me. The money will go to the trust, but I’ll give you an additional thirty thousand dollars.”

I blink a few times. “Are you bribing me?”

He pins me with that awful look again. The condemning one. “Do you consider yourself above that?”

“I don’t know. Yes. You called me a money-grubber. That’s not a good way to get my help.”

A beam of sunlight pushes through the dark clouds, illuminating the man’s black hair. “So you’re saying you won’t do it?”

I rub my eyes, noticing as I do that my hand is shaking. “I don’t know if I will. I don’t know.” I draw a deep breath in. Force me to look into his dark eyes. “I don’t think I would agree to sell her island to you. You seem like an asshole.”

“Do I?” He steps closer, and my chest and cheeks go molten hot.

I grit my teeth. “Yes. You are an asshole. I can spot one.”

“You’re a beggar.”

“How did she die?”

“Excuse me?”

“How did my grandmother die, asshole?”

His face hardens. “It was cancer. Do you care?”

“Of course I care!”

His sneer tells me what he thinks of that, but I ignore him.

“Pancreatic cancer?” I ask.

He frowns.

“Did she die of pancreatic cancer?”

“Lung.”

I exhale slowly, feeling faint. “She didn’t want to meet me, did she? It was you who told me to come here.”

He nods, and my throat constricts.

“After your first e-mail, I did some digging. I found out about your financial woes. After she passed, I gave you a ‘gift.'”

“A bribe.”

“It’s not a bribe. It’s a gift. A token of my intent if you were to decide, on behalf of the trust, to sell the island to me. Her trust will get the money. A little under a million, if I’m correct about the island’s worth. You can keep the sixty thousand I give you, and I get to continue living at my home.” He holds his hands out as if everything he’s said is logical.

I shake my head.”Just because you were dumb enough to deposit money into my account-under pretenses, might I add-that doesn’t mean I have to agree to sell the island to you. How could I do that, anyway?

If you’re one of the trust’s administrators, wouldn’t that be like…illegal?”

“I’d have to remove myself first.”

“Why do you care so much about this island?”

He shakes his head as if he speaks another language. As if he’s lost. When he speaks, his voice is surprisingly soft. “It’s my home.”

“Only if I decide to give it to you. So far, I haven’t thought of a single reason why I should.”

“What if I told you the money is gone unless you do?”

I snort. “Are you a magician?”

His eyes harden.”The money is gone, Red. It’s been gone since this morning. I had it removed.”

“W-what do you mean?” My voice is squeaky.

“Your check for the car you bought won’t bounce. I removed it after that.”

I start to tremble, shoulders first, then chest. “Are you fucking kidding me? Is this a fucking joke?” I fumble for my phone and he steps closer. “Go ahead and check,” he says. “You’ll see.”

I can barely get to the bank’s website, my hands are shaking so badly. When I see the balance, I nearly vomit $245. 13.

“I don’t understand. Why did you do this?”

“I needed to get you here.”

“I would have probably come if you’d asked like a normal person!”

He shakes his head. “I needed a guarantee.”

I grind my jaw together as hard as I can and put my head in my hands. I haven’t felt this screwed-this utterly and fucked-since Mom was diagnosed.

I feel his hand touch my shoulder, and I slap him off. “I can’t believe this shit. I can’t believe-”

He holds up a check, and I go quiet.

My name is in the “to” space. The dollar amount is $60, 000.

Suddenly, my lungs work again. It takes me a moment to find my voice, and when I do, it’s raspy and weak. “How can I trust you? If you can deposit and remove money from my account one time…” I shake my head.

“How did you even do that?”

“It wasn’t easy. It’s not something just anyone can do. I doubt I could do it again, for what that’s worth.”

It’s worth nothing. “I’ll never trust you.”

I take a step back, and his hand closes around my arm as his black eyes find mine. “I’m sorry I did things this way. I am. I’d like nothing more than to hand this check to you-and I will. As soon as you sign the island over to me. Come with me, Red. Just for a night. Give me a chance to talk you into this. You can see where your grandmother lived.”

I look at the blue and white sailboat beside us. It’s got two benches in the middle, two motors in the back, and a steering wheel podium near the front. I shake my head. I’m not getting on that boat with him. “God, this is so my luck. Some asshole poses as my grandmother, and now you want to steal her island from me. You’re like…the big bad wolf.”

He blanches for just a second before he turns his face into something more neutral. “Get into the boat, Red. I promise you’ll be glad you did.”

*