Chapter 13

Maui was sun-kissed and perfect, like the universe had decided we deserved a moment of peace before the storm. Sebastian called it a “strategic honeymoon”—half business, half romance—and I admired the way he could switch from billion-dollar investor calls in the morning to barefoot walks on the sand with me by midnight.

I sat on a white linen lounge chair, watching the waves roll in slow and steady, and sipped from a tall glass of something sweet and icy while my husband—God, my husband—finished a meeting with a group of foreign investors by the private cabana. He was all sharp lines in an open shirt and navy slacks, his voice low and calm, charisma oozing from every move. I couldn’t look away. I never could.

When he finally walked back to me, I tilted my head, letting my silk robe slide open just enough to tease him. “You close that deal yet, Mr. Montgomery?” I asked, voice rich with play.

Sebastian grinned and handed me the last sip of his bourbon. “Secured. Now I can focus on more important matters.”

I arched a brow. “Like?”

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my collarbone. “Like what’s underneath this robe.”

I laughed, full and bold, because he always made me feel that way—like I could breathe again. Like I wasn’t just Pearl Moreau, the broken heiress or the daughter who failed to please everyone. With Sebastian, I was something powerful. Desired. Safe.

And that night, under the full Maui moon, we walked barefoot across the beach with a bottle of champagne in hand and no one else around but the stars and the hush of the sea. We didn’t even bother with a blanket. Sebastian kissed me slow, then hard, and laid me down in the warm sand, his hands reverent, like every inch of my skin was sacred ground.

“I want to love you the way no man ever has,” he whispered against my neck, and I swear the wind stilled for him.

“You already do,” I murmured, wrapping my legs around his waist and pulling him closer. He moved like he had all the time in the world. Patient. Gentle. Possessive. His lips traced every scar Jacob never saw, every place Lavenia mocked behind my back.

“You’re mine now, Pearl,” he said into my mouth. “All of you. No more pretending.”

And I believed him. When we collapsed into each other, tangled in sweat and moonlight, I knew something inside me had shifted. I wasn’t just healing. I was falling in love.

Sebastian was surprisingly easy to love. He was steel and silk. He listened. He made me laugh with dry wit and those sharp one-liners in the middle of otherwise serious board meetings. He remembered how I liked my coffee and rubbed my feet when I didn’t ask. He never said I was “too much.” He never made me feel small.

But even now, lying in our villa bed with the ocean breeze slipping through the open balcony, I kept glancing at the door. Sebastian noticed. He always did. He rolled toward me, shirtless and glowing golden from the sun. “You’ve been on edge since we got here,” he said, brushing my hair off my shoulder. “Talk to me.”

I hesitated, chewing my lip. “It’s probably nothing. I just… I keep thinking someone’s watching.”

His eyes darkened slightly. “No one can get close without me knowing. I’ve got security scattered around the entire island, Pearl. You’re safe. With me, you’re always safe.”

He kissed me then, slow and firm. And I let myself believe it. Until morning.

I woke up to the soft ping of my phone beside the bed. I reached for it groggily, expecting an alert or some stupid press headline—maybe more photos from our dinner last night. But instead, I saw a single anonymous message: “I know where you are.”

My blood went ice cold. There was no name, no number. But I didn’t need one. It was Jacob. I felt it in my gut. I stared at the screen, pulse slow but heavy. My heart didn’t race. It tightened. I shoved my phone back in the pillow. I’m not afraid of Jacob.

That afternoon, I had gone swimming alone in the private cove Sebastian found for me—a little sanctuary carved between black rocks and hibiscus trees. It was hidden. Secure. Guarded. I was floating on my back, eyes to the sun, when I felt the shift. That feeling. And then—

“Pearl.” His voice cracked through the waves like a whip.

I shot up in the water, whirling around. My heart stumbled. There he was. Jacob. Standing on the rocks, dripping in rage, the sun flashing off his sunglasses, chest heaving like he’d run through hell to get to me. I stared. I didn’t move.

He stepped closer to the edge, sneering. “You enjoying your little honeymoon with your billionaire husband?”

I swam to the shore slow, deliberate, rising like a goddess in dripping black. “You don’t belong here.”

“I belonged to you,” he growled.

“No,” I said flatly. “You fucked that away when you crawled into Lavenia’s bed.”

He stepped forward. “You betrayed me, Pearl.”

I tilted my head. “I healed.”

His eyes were wild. “With him? Sebastian Montgomery? You married the enemy.” He grabbed my arm.

“And you slept with the enemy,” I hissed and shoved him hard, and that’s when I felt him. Sebastian. He moved like a shadow beside me, appearing in silence, eyes locked on Jacob. And then—one blow. A crack of a fist to Jacob’s jaw. Jacob stumbled back with a grunt.

Sebastian’s voice was low, deadly. “You touch her again and I’ll break your hands.”

Jacob’s face twisted in rage, holding his jaw. “This isn’t over.”

I stepped forward, looking him dead in the eye. “You broke me, Jacob. Sebastian made me whole.”

His face snapped. His pride shattered. And I saw it—the moment he realized he lost something he’d never even tried to keep. He stormed off.

Sebastian turned to me, sliding his hand behind my waist. “I won’t let him near you again.”

And I believed him, but knowing Jacob? It’s likely impossible.

Chapter 13