[Invitation to Eden 04.0] Hydrotherapy Read online

  Jenna looked over Simone's shoulder and spotted the coral reception desk at the far end of the room. The Eden logo was painted on the front with the words “Oasis Spa.”

  “This place looks so different from the rest of the castle,” Jenna said.

  Simone smiled, although on her it looked more like a twitching of lips. “Yes, well. We have found that our clients prefer the more relaxed atmosphere when getting their massages. It helps get them more…how should we say…” Simone waved her red manicured fingers in the air. “In the right mood.” She straightened and cleared her throat. “Now, what type of package will you be having today?” The woman chuckled, as if she had just made some sort of joke.

  Jenna frowned at the tall woman's words. “Oh, I'm not a client. I'm supposed to start working here. I have an appointment with Mr. Vardalos.” She pulled out the invitation from her jacket and handed it to Simone. “I was offered a job in management. It's very similar to the job I had in Chicago at the Ecstasy Spa.”

  Simone lowered her mascara-caked eyelashes and scanned the note. “Ah yes, Jenna.” Simone handed back the paper. “There has been a change of plans. Mr. Vardalos is away from the island for the next week. Mr. Malstrom will be tending to your needs.”

  Tending to your needs. There was something about those words that sounded suspicious. Jenna wanted to question the androgynous woman, but Simone had already started toward the reception desk.

  Jenna followed her in her wake, still trying to make sense of it all. “I used to be a masseuse,” she explained, hoping that her earlier comment about management didn't offend. Jenna knew first-hand how competitive spa staff could be. “Then I was moved to office management about six months ago.” The move had more to do with spa politics than any administrative talent, but she didn’t need to know that.

  “Oh?” Simone’s voice sounded bored, but Jenna felt a strange need to prove herself to the woman.

  “Yes. I schedule appointments, work with vendors and coordinate work schedules.” Jenna glanced down at the invitation she had gotten only three, short weeks ago. “I kind of assumed that I’d be doing something similar here.” For three times the pay—and the possibility of advancement in six months if she did a good job. The offer was like a dream come true. Jenna had conversed with Mr. Vardalos over email and had become so excited about the position, that she had quit her job at the Ecstasy Spa and jumped on this chance. It was a bold move, much more like the young Jenna from St. Lucia than the woman she had become.

  While she didn't particularly like working in a spa, she needed the cash. After two contract workers had swindled both her and her mother out of their savings, Jenna had yet to regain her equilibrium. She was still living paycheck to paycheck, never seeming to get ahead. This was going to be her big opportunity. She was finally going to get her life back on track.

  As Jenna watched Simone speak with the receptionist in hushed tones, Jenna thought about the dark turn her life had taken. After her dad had an affair with a maid, her mom filed for divorce and used her part of the settlement to take Jenna to St. Lucia to start over. Her mom had put her entire savings into that company. It was her life and Jenna's inheritance. Soon after the money was stolen, her mother’s breast cancer came out of remission, and they were forced to move back to Chicago where she could undergo a more aggressive treatment—treatment Jenna had trouble paying for. When she died, the doctors had said that it was due to the breast cancer, but Jenna was convinced that her mom had died of a broken heart.

  She had taken the job at the Ecstasy Spa more or less to make ends meet, vowing one day to earn enough money to move back to St. Lucia and carry on her mother's dream. Then somewhere along the way, her dream had died along with her mother, until both had become nothing more than a distant memory.

  Then this invitation to Eden came, and Jenna saw the opportunity to finally put the past behind her and move on. With the money from this job, she could save up enough to get her hospitality management degree, and possibly open her own spa one day. While the work wasn’t exciting, it was stable. She’d be her own boss once more and would no longer need to make a choice between buying food and paying her electric bill.

  And no one would be able to hurt her again.

  “The Master will see you now.” Simone called over her shoulder and started walking toward a long, brightly-lit hallway off to her left.

  “Master?” Jenna scrunched her nose as she followed Simone. Hell, she'd call Mr. Malstrom ‘King of the World’ if it helped. She wanted this job more than she wanted air. Managing a spa was easy, and she was sure no one could be a tougher task master than her old boss, Celeste. All she had to do was to keep her head down and not create any waves. It wouldn’t do for her to say something smart and get herself fired. That had almost happened to her at the Ecstasy Spa, and she was determined not to let such trivial things get in the way of her goals again.

  Simone walked to the end of the hall and stopped at the large, office door. With a flick of the wrist, she opened it and poked in her head. “She has finally arrived, sir.”

  Jenna glanced around at the cream-colored walls and potted plants that littered the hallway. Everything looked so clean, so professional. It was an odd contrast to the resort like atmosphere of the reception area, and an even odder fit with the creepy exterior.

  Mr. Malstrom murmured something Jenna couldn't hear, and after a moment Simone straightened and stepped back from the door.

  “When you’re done, I'll come back and show you to your rooms.”

  “Thank you.” Jenna tried to smile, but it felt forced. There was something odd about that woman, and Jenna made a mental note to stay away from her as much as possible.

  Simone nodded and opened the door wider. Jenna strode into the office, hoping she looked more confident than she felt. Everything was riding on this moment. This job meant everything to her, and it was imperative that she made a positive, lasting impression.

  As the door clicked shut, Jenna quickly took in the tropical plants, modern lamps and art-deco paintings, then focused on the tall, rugged looking man behind the mahogany desk.

  Jenna's smile faltered as he twirled his pen in his hand and sized her up with a knowing smile.

  “You.” Jenna’s mind seized with anger.

  With a flick of his wrist, the man removed his dark-rimmed glasses, revealing large, hazel eyes that matched his golden locks. “Hello, Jenna. It has been a long time, hasn't it?” He smiled wider, revealing two long rows of perfectly white teeth, and tossed both his glasses and pen carelessly onto the stack of papers on his desk.

  “Caine,” Jenna said on an exhale. “You’re Mr. Malstrom?”

  “A temporary name, I assure you.” He straightened his pale blue tie and rounded the desk toward her with open arms. “It's so good to see you again.”

  It was him, it was really him. Despite every fiber of her being screaming to go to him, Jenna sidestepped his warm embrace and put some distance between them. “I wish I could say the same.” She moved behind an office chair and grasped the back so tight her knuckles turned white. “What is this, some sort of joke?”

  Chapter Two

  “I thought you'd be happy to see me,” Caine said as he lowered his arms. This was a far cry from the reunion he was expecting.

  “See you? You left me, Caine.”

  “My contract was up.” Among other things. “I had no choice.”

  “God, I should have known it was you when I saw your sidekick in the waiting area. The dreadlocks and sunglasses threw me for a loop.”

  “Yeah, when we first got to the island, Rex met a woman who was into hair. The relationship didn’t last, but the dreadlocks did.”

  “The dreadlocks—” Jenna shook her head, as if dispelling her thoughts. “I don’t care.”

  Caine closed the distance between them. “Jenna—”

  “Oh no, you don’t,” she said, sidestepping his advance once more. “You left without saying goodbye.”

  �
�I wrote you a note.” A hand written note, because email seemed too harsh and hearing her voice on the phone would make him lose his nerve. In the note he told her he wanted to be with her, but if they were to have a future together he needed to find more stable work. He was leaving her, but the separation was only temporary. Once he acquired enough money and stability to give her the life she deserved, he’d send for her.

  Jenna furrowed her brow. “I never received a note.”

  “That’s crazy. I left it on your desk in the office.” Caine waved his hand in dismissal. The tour company she and her mother ran consisted of one small office and a boat. He had great memories of making Jenna scream with pleasure in both. Caine had placed the note on the small turtle planter she had kept on her desk. Jenna used to have a thing for both fresh flowers and turtles. He wondered if she still did.

  “I never saw it. You just got up and left without a word—and with all of our savings.”

  Icy fingers stretched through Caine, causing his muscles to freeze on the spot. “What are you talking about?”

  She crossed her arms and jutted her hip to the side in that way he had always found so endearing. “Oh come on now, Caine. We’re past lying, aren’t we? You and your cousin just got up and left. The next day Dad tried to use his credit card and it was denied.”

  “I don’t see—”

  “Our bank account was stripped,” she huffed, clearly losing her patience. “Everything we had made that summer was gone.” She averted her gaze, but not before Caine saw the tears in her eyes. “Mom was feeling too sick and run down to go into town, so she sent you to the bank to deposit the weekend’s earnings. You were the last one to touch the account.”

  “I didn’t do it, I swear.” He had gone to the bank and deposited the check, just like he was told. Sure, he was tempted to take the money and run, who wouldn’t be? But his respect for the old woman and his affection for Jenna kept him on the straight and narrow. It was the only time in his life that he had done the right thing.

  He had no idea where her damn money went—or that note. The whole point of leaving her was to make her life easier, not harder.

  “I wanted to say goodbye, believe me.” He took a cautious step forward. “There just wasn’t time.”

  Jenna snorted and crossed her arms. “Right. That was why, as soon as your contract was up, you fled the island. You had no time for me, the girlfriend you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. The girlfriend you fucked for two months.”

  Caine pressed his lips together for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “I had another job waiting for me. I couldn't stay.”

  “As a spa director?”

  “Human resources director.” And this job was only a front so that the local governments wouldn’t know what they were up to. Everyone on the island thought that both he and his cousin Rex were spa employees who liked to scuba dive in their spare time. Only Mr. Vardalos knew what they were up to—or why they were doing it.

  She waved her hand, indicating the expensive décor around them. “The Caine I knew wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this, let alone in a suit.”

  “You don't like the suit?” he asked as he ran his hands over his beige jacket. “I had it tailored.”

  “That's not the point.” She let out a long, angry breath. “You were a diver, Caine. A free spirit. You told me yourself that you hated being cooped up in an office pushing papers. You craved the outdoors and fresh air.”

  “So did you.”

  She steeled her jaw as some indescribable emotion passed over her features. “People change.”

  “They don’t change that much.”

  “They do if their livelihood was stolen from them.”

  Caine stared at her cotton-candy-pink lipstick, unsure of what to say. What he told her was true. Caine did have another job lined up after his contract with her mother's tour company was up—this one. What he didn't want her to know was that he took the job because he knew that if he stayed, she'd break his heart. What they had shared was great for a summer romance, but could never last. Jenna's family was rich, and she was used to living an independent and carefree life most people dreamed about. Caine and his cousin, Rex, had to fend for themselves since they were eighteen. His steady instant-noodle and hot dog diet would make her ill. She didn’t know what it was like to sleep in an alley, or to beg restaurants for table scraps. They came from completely different worlds, and he knew that until he could give her the life she was accustomed to, their relationship didn't stand a chance.

  Jenna made a very unfeminine-like sound as she moved toward the door. “I'm out of here.”

  “Wait.” He grabbed her wrist, stopping her movements. When she glared at him, he dropped her hand and took a step back.

  “I'm here because...” His mind raced, looking for a believable answer. “I'm here because I needed the steady paycheck,” he said.

  She frowned at him as she considered his confession. “You never needed a steady paycheck before.”

  He shrugged and tried to appear nonchalant. “Like you said, people change.”

  She snorted. “You don’t change.”

  “How do you know?” When she didn’t answer, he shrugged. “I guess at some point, you have to grow up, don't you? You can't live in the past forever.”

  His words seemed to have struck a chord. Jenna's shoulders slumped and tears filled her eyes. “Please, let go.”

  Caine dropped her arm and considered her for a moment before speaking. “Okay.” He stopped her as she moved toward the door once more. “Just don’t go out there alone.”

  “Why?”

  “This place is much bigger than it looks. It’s easy to get lost.” He rounded the desk and rang for Simone. “Jenna is ready to see her rooms.” When Jenna raised her brows, he tried to offer her an encouraging smile. “I have another appointment right now, but this isn’t over. Simone will see you to your rooms and make sure that you’re settled in. Tomorrow, show up bright and early for work and I’ll give you a tour of the place and explain your duties.”

  Her violet eyes flared in defiance, but all she did was nod. “Very well.”

  Caine wanted to say more, but the knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. “Yes?”

  Simone poked her head inside the room. “I’m ready if Jenna is.”

  “Ready.” Before Caine could say anything, Jenna turned her back to him and hurried from the room.

  Perhaps it was for the best that she left, he decided as the office door closed. They both needed time alone to decompress after what happened and to think. He also needed time to plan.

  Caine returned to his desk chair and twirled a pen between his fingers. Odd that her mom’s bank account was robbed so soon after he left. Normally he’d dismiss such things as bad luck, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he had more to do with that money’s disappearance than he realized.

  “Hey cuz’, I have some good news.” Rex opened the door without knocking and hobbled across the office using his favorite teak cane.

  “God, man, put on some clothes,” Caine said as he returned to his desk.

  “What? I have shorts on.”

  “But no shirt.”

  “It’s company policy, dude.” Rex grinned and held his arms out to the sides. “My hands are tied.”

  “I’ll bet.” Caine’s cousin had the same hooked nose and sandy hair as him, but while Caine’s bushy locks were neatly trimmed, Rex’s was long and in dreadlocks. His cousin had embraced the Caribbean lifestyle much more than he did, right down to his brightly-colored Bermuda shorts and Kangol hat.

  “I think I’ve found a potential buyer,” he said as he flopped into the office chair opposite Caine.

  “You have?” Caine straightened and put down his pen. “Someone who doesn’t care that the artifacts have no papers?”

  “Well…” Rex took off his sunglasses and tossed them on the desk. “He wants to see the papers before he buys them, of course, but he’s a collector who
knows his stuff. Really into Spanish history, too.” Rex clapped, then rubbed his hands together. “I think we’ve hit the mother-load, my friend.”

  Caine grinned. While a twinge of guilt tugged at his chest over double-crossing their boss, he refused to dwell on it. The Master of the Island had more money than he knew what to do with. If the champagne fountain didn’t tell him that, then the exorbitant price this guy was paying Caine and Rex to excavate a shipwreck in secret, would. Besides, it wasn’t as if they were going to steal all of the artifacts from Mr. Vardalos, just a few of the most expensive pieces. And it wasn’t as if the Master of the Island was totally innocent in this. When Caine and Rex confirmed the shipwreck a short distance from Eden, their boss didn’t notify the local authorities. Caine suspected it was because he wanted to hoard the treasure for himself.

  While none of this was exactly legal, it would make them all filthy rich. Between the final payment from their boss and the profit from selling those artifacts on the black market, both he and Rex wouldn’t have to work for the rest of their lives.

  He’d be able to give Jenna everything she deserved.

  “How much is this guy willing to pay?” Caine asked.

  “It would depend on his appraisal.” Rex put his sand-coated feet up on the desk—and on top of Caine’s paperwork. “But I’m guessing it would be somewhere between two and five.”

  Caine slapped Rex’s Birkenstocks and motioned him off the desk. “Million?”

  Rex grinned. “Billion. But only if we could confirm that the arrowheads, ink pot and sculpture all belonged to the same owner.” He leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head. “Kind of like hitting the lottery, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah.” Caine wasn’t sure, but he thought that the porcelain sculpture was of the Madonna. If that was true, then someone religious was riding on the ship when it sank. If the dating matched up with the other artifacts they had found, it would place the ship during the time of Bartolomé de las Casas, a Spanish friar who spoke on behalf of the Native Americans and frequented the Caribbean waters. If the shell markings on that ink pot were similar to those on Bartolomé’s lectern at the Vatican, it would make this a huge historical find—and make the artifacts worth much more than either Rex or Caine had dreamed. All they needed was something to tie everything together to prove that Bartolome spent time in Central America, but North America as well.