After coming back from the beach, I went straight to bed. Although I don't know why I bothered, not like sleep would come. I couldn't even go on a run beside I didn't know my way around.

After tossing and turning in bed, I threw the blankets off me and sat up in bed. After raking hand through my hair, I stood up and quietly walked out of my room.

A hand came out and pulled me into a room. A scream escaped my lips before it was smothered by a large hand. I stared wide eyed at the person in front of me before it turned into a glare.

Joshua had a smirk on his stupid face. He dropped his hand and put both arms on either side of me, trapping me between him and the door.

"Hey princess, rough night?"

I scowled, "just when I think I can stand you, you turn around and piss me off."

He smiled, "well you kept me awake tossing and turning so scaring you is the least I can do."

"Moron."

He leaned in closer as he spoke, "so got any ideas on how to spend the night?"

My breath caught in my throat but I put on a 'are you serious face'.

"Yeah, its called watching TV and reading. Now move." I pushed on his shoulders before realizing that once again, he was shirtless. I nervously raised my eyes to meet his and saw that he was watching me. I pulled my hands back and let them drop to my side. He removed his hands from either side of me and stepped back.

We stood there looking at each other before he spoke.

"No reading or watching TV, tonight you'll get some rest." He grabbed my hand and pulled me to bed.

I didn't bother protesting because a good nights sleep was both what I wanted and needed. But I was not sharing a bed with him.

I grabbed a pillow of the bed and went to the couch.

"What are you doing?"

"Going to sleep," I said as I fluffed my pillow.

"I won't take advantage of you in your sleep you know."

I tensed at his words. I closed my eyes to block out the images that surfaced.

"Amira?"

My eyes popped open and I returned to fluffing my pillow, although more aggressively.

A hand of my shoulder scared me and I grabbed it and twisted it behind the persons back. I instantly let go when I realised my mistake.

"What the hell?!" Joshua yelled.

"I'm sorry but don't sneak up on me."

"Really? That's your argument for twisting my arm?!"

I shook my head, "no its not a defence, just...don't...I don't even know!"

I plopped down onto the sofa. I put my face in my hands.

"Amira?" He pulled my hands from my face. He was bent down and looking at me worryingly.

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"Clearly not. You freaked out when I lightly touched your shoulder and tensed when I said I wouldn't take advantage of you. I don't under-"

He paled and let the meaning of his words sink in. His hands fisted and he got a murderous look on his face.

"Who took advantage of you?"

"What? No one, no one took advantage of me."

"You can trust me Amira, if someone did just tell me and I'll make them pay."

"Trust you?" I asked.

He nodded, "yes, you can."

"Well I don't. I mean why would I trust you? I don't know the first thing about you and nor do you know anything about me. We're just strangers who came together in order to meet our goals. So why on earth would I trust you?" I asked him.

His expression turned blank at my words. He quietly got up and walked to the bed. He laid down and slept without saying anything.

I got up and walked back to my room. Guess there would be no sleep for me tonight.

*******************************
More than usual, I was extremely tired. I couldn't stop yawning and had bags under my eyes.

"Amira, you look like hell."

"Thanks Lucas. You sure know how to make a girl feel beautiful."

I poured some orange juice into a glass and sat at the counter.

"Didn't sleep well?"

I looked at Elliot with a tired expression. "No I'm the epitome of beauty sleep, can't you tell?"

He grinned sheepishly, "sorry that was a dumb question. Here, eat some."

He pushed a bowl of diced up fruit towards me. I smiled gratefully and started eating.

Joshua entered the room, took a look at me and Elliot chatting before storming into the kitchen.

He grabbed a mug and poured some coffee in.

"What time is Pearson getting here?" He asked stopping my conversation.

"This afternoon but he said we'll meet tomorrow because he had meetings all days yesterday and a conference call on the flight. He wants some sleep before we meet."

He nodded as he sipped his coffee. "Okay so we have the day to ourselves. Everyone can do what they want."

"Awesome! I'm gonna go pick up some girls." Lucas said before running off to his room.

"We're heading out to some bars and clubs, don't wait up." Ron said as he and Johnathan left.

"I have a friend that lives around here, I'm going to go visit her." Elliot announced.

"Oh a girl huh?" I smiled.

"Yes a girl. We went to university together and then she moved out here. I probably won't be back until midnight so you guys have fun and don't kill each other."

He planted a quick kiss on my cheek before heading to his room.

I smiled and went back to eating. I could feel Joshua's eyes on me but ignored him.

"What do you want to do?"

I looked up from my food and saw he was waiting for me to answer.

"You want to spend the day with me?" I asked confused.

"Let's do some site seeing. Be ready in thirty minutes."

Before I had a chance to say no, he walked off to his room.

Sighing, I put my dirty dishes in the sink and went to get ready. It was extremely hot today so after a quick shower, I put on a black bikini under my white dress. I slipped on a pair of sandals, grabbed my wallet and met Joshua in the living room.

"Everyone else already left, so we can just lock up and-"

He stopped talking when he looked up from his phone at me. I stared back at him because he had freshened up and was wearing a red button up shirt that was left open just enough to showcase his abs and a pair of black board shorts.

"What?"

"Nothing," he shook his head and looked back down at his phone. "Lets go."

Confused, I followed behind him. We got into the cab that was waiting for us and speed off.

"Where are we going?"

"Subsix. It's an underground restaurant. We'll have some lunch first then hit the beaches. When it gets dark, we'll head to the sea of stars on Vaadhoo island."

I got excited when he mentioned sea of stars. It had always been on my bucket list of places to go.

"Joshua."

He tensed a little when I said his name but turned in his seat to give me his attention.

"Why are you spending the day with me? Especially after I said I don't trust you last night."

He stared at me for what felt like forever and when he answered, I was at a loss of words.

"I'm going to make you trust me. It's clear to anyone that you have some trust issues and you push people away. This is just a deal but if we don't trust each other then we'll never reach our goal. So to answer your question Amira, you're going to learn to trust me today. I'll make sure of it."

He turned back and looked out his window. I stared at his back for a bit before looking out my own window.

Trust?

Good luck with that.

The cab stopped us at some shore. Joshua paid the driver and told me to follow him. We arrived at a speedboat that whisked us away to Subsix. There we were taken down to sea level by a giant staircase.

The restaurant was beautiful. It was surrounded by crystal clear water where you could see various sea creatures swim by. It was decorated with bespoke chairs, had capiz shell ceilings lined with coral like chandeliers, a calm shaped bar and aquatic lighting that cast the restaurant in hues of blue.

We were escorted to a table where we took our seats.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" The waiter asked.

"Two Long Island iced tea." Joshua said.

"Coming right up." He wrote down the order and handed us the menus before leaving.

I browsed through the various items on the menu, intrigued by all of them. I settled on oven roasted potatoes and pasta. I probably ate this too much but I'm a picky eater so it's better to stick to the basics.

The waiter returned soon and set out drinks down. We told him our order and he rushed off to the kitchen.

We settled into an uncomfortable silence. If this was bad, how were we going to get through the day.

"Ask me something."

"What?" I asked confused.

"Ask me something. To trust me, you have to know me. So ask me something." He leaned back in his chair and waited.

"When did you inherit your company?"

He snorted. "Really? That's your first question? Don't you want to know my birthday or something?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I already know the basics. Did you think you were the only one to get information about the person you signed a deal with?"

He gestured at me to continue.

"Joshua Andrew Collins. Born November 19, 1993 at 5:33 am in St. Joseph's hospital Toronto, Ontario. Mothers name Clara White, fathers name Gavin Collins. You attended Rockford elementary school and Rivertone high school. You graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in Business. You wanted to pursue an MBA but you had the company to take care of. Yet in one year, you took your hotel shares and doubled their worth in the market. You aren't active much on social media, you love football, cooking and apparently working out."

"You learned I love football, cooking and working out from a file?" He quipped.

"No, that I learned when I saw your pictures."

He smiled. "Interesting. Well, to answer your question, I inherited the company when I turned 18 years olds. I however left the control to the shareholders while I finished my degree. Okay now it's my turn. What did you do after your parents died?"

I got shocked that he would ask that so bluntly but the waiter returned with our food before I could say anything.

"That was direct. Clearly you don't sugarcoat."

He grinned and dug into his food. I picked up my fork and stabbed a potato before taking a bite.

"I left the control to the shareholders as well. I was just 11 years old when they died so it wasn't like I could handle a company. When I turned 18, they handed the company over to me. I finished my degree and managed the company simultaneously. That's all there is too it."

"So while you're on this revenge mission, you handed the control back to your shareholders?"

"That's two questions in a row but yes I did. I still work on some files when I can and email them but right now, the company isn't my priority."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Okay you can ask two questions now."

I decided to take a risk and ask a rather daring question. "Why do hate Pearson so much?"

He stopped eating and looked at me. He was quiet for over 10 minutes and I scolded myself for being nosy.

"You know what, you don't have to answer that. Forget I asked that."

"He is the reason my parents are dead."

I did a quick intake of breath. "What?"

"His parents died when he was born but he had all the money he needed because of his parents company. But that wasn't enough. He wanted more control, more power and more money. He tried to take my parents money and company. When they rejected his deal, he went crazy. He stalked them and everyone they were close to. When they took action against him, he got angrier. He broke into our house and killed our staff. We couldn't prove anything because he had a coverup. But he didn't just stop there. He went after Johnathan, Ron, Elliot and Lucas's families. He molested Elliot's sister and then killed her. He tortured and killed their parents in their sleep. He also shot me to freak my parents out further. At that point, my parents then agreed to do whatever it is he wanted but he said it was too late. He burned them alive. I was out that day, studying for an exam. He set the house on fire and killed them. The funny thing is, aside from shooting me once, he never really came after us. The psychopath gets off on our suffering. We beat him to death almost but got arrested. We then realised that we had to do this quietly and smartly. It takes all our control to not kill him when we see him. That day when he came over, he was mocking us. I wanted to kill with him my bare hands but I knew I couldn't. It kills us everyday that the monster that destroyed our lives is still walking free, even after fifteen years."

I was crying throughout his story. I never realised how bad they all had it. He truly was a psychopath. He had crimes ranging from rape to murder. If it was even possible, I hated Pearson more.

Joshua took a tissue from the table and handed it to me. I wiped my eyes and drank some water.

"I won't say I'm sorry because I know that doesn't help. But I will say this. I will do everything it takes to get justice. For you, for the guys and for your families." And for my Elena. I said in my head.

"That's why Elliot is so attached to you. He may have had a crush on you but now he sees his sister in you. Please, don't hurt him further. I know you're leaving, but for the time being just don't hurt him."

I nodded and both grew silent.

"So what's your second question?"

"What?" I asked confused.

"You have a question left, so ask something."

I could tell he was trying to lighten the mood so I went along with it.

"Um, why don't you have a girlfriend or someone special in your life."

He burst out laughing. "Wow, I was wondering when you'd ask that."

I blushed a little and ducked my head. "Just answer the question."

"Well for one thing I was too busy with managing the company and trying to make Pearson pay for his crimes."

"And the other reason?" I questioned further.

"Just haven't met the right girl...until now."

"Until now? That means you found someone?"

He smiled. "Yeah, I think I just might have."

*******************************
After lunch, we headed back to shore and took a cab to the nearest beach. The temperature had gone up and I was sweating buckets. I scrambled out of the cab as soon as it stopped. I walked onto the beach while Joshua paid the driver.

I found a nice beach umbrella and waved Joshua over. He had remembered to pack towels, blankets and sunscreen. While he sat down the blankets, I lathered myself in sunscreen. When my arms and legs were covered, I removed my dress and put sunscreen on my stomach. I was having trouble with my reaching my arms to my back.

A felt a cool hand touch my back and I jumped, ready to attack. Joshua stood there holding up the sunscreen.

"It's fine, I can do it myself."

I reached for the tube but he held it out of my reach.

"Trust me. I won't do anything."

I bit my lip and contemplated. It was just sunscreen, what difference would it make?

I turned back around and allowed him to apply the sunscreen. His cool hand travelled around my back in small circles. I could feel him close behind me and felt a weird sensation in the pit of my stomach.

I quickly turned around and thanked him for helping me. He just stared at me. I looked out to the water and saw that it was packed with people. Mostly young adults as the older adults stayed on the beach watching their kids play with the sand.

When I turned back, Joshua had removed his shirt and was applying sunscreen all over. I tried hard not to look at the bullet mark but I failed big time.

He caught me looking at it but didn't say anything about it.

"I know my abs are nice, but my eyes are up here."

I snorted. "Isn't someone full of themselves?"

He just smirked in response. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun and started heading into the water. Once I was deep enough, I floated on my back. The sun was bothering my eyes so I closed them and tuned everything out.

A dark shadow was cast over me and I opened my eyes to see a bunch of guys. I sat up in the water and floated in place.

"Can I help you?" I asked them.

"We just wanted to say hi." The guy with blonde hair in the middle said.

"Hi. Are we done here then?" I can't even enjoy some nice alone time in the water, could I?

"We were wondering if you're all alone, you'd like to join us. We're going to another beach later on for a party."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'd rather just be myself."

I started swimming away but one of the guys grabbed me hand.

"Oh come on, you're by yourself anyways. You might as well enjoy some time with us."

"I believe she said no and also," Joshua said as he swam over, "she isn't alone."

The guy let go of my hand and backed up a little.

"I didn't realise she had a boyfriend."

I opened my mouth to say that he wasn't but Joshua beat me to it. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer. "Well she does, so I'd appreciate if you left me and my girlfriend alone."

They looked at one another before nodding at us and swam away.

"Must you always attract the attention of every guy?" He said once they were gone.

"I'm not your girlfriend." I said back as a response.

"Relax, it was just to make them leave."

"I don't want to attract their attention."

We said at the same time.

"Okay, whatever." I said as I pulled his arm off my waist. "I just want to swim in peace."

"Then maybe you shouldn't wear a such a revealing swimsuit."

"Maybe you should stop telling me what to wear and other guys should stop objectifying girls."

"You're kind of contradicting your objectification statement by wearing a bikini."

"Like I said before, my body and my clothes. No one should judge me."

Before he could respond, I swam away and spent the rest of the time enjoying the cool water. After about two hours, I headed back. I dried myself with one of the towels. I wrapped it around myself and grabbed my bag. I headed to the changing rooms and changed back into my dress. I put my wet bikini in the towel and folded it up. I put it back in my bag and decided I would dry everything out when I got back to the villa.

When I got back, Joshua had changed back into his clothes as well. The sun was setting soon so we decided to sit here and watch it.

My wet hair that I had pulled out of its bun, fell to my shoulders in light waves. The heat from the sun acted as a natural hair dryer.

I smiled as the sky lit up in the multitude of colours.

"You love sunsets." Joshua stated as a fact.

"Yes, they're beautiful. They symbolise the end of a day and indirectly promise that a new one will soon come."

He settled into silence, watching the sunset and listening the crashing of the waves.

When it had gotten dark enough, we caught a cab to Vaadhoo Island. The site was too beautiful for words. The glowing blue stars on the shore and the background of ocean and a giant moon.

I scooped some of the water into my hands. The small blue bioluminescent plankton swished back and forth in the water. I smiled, for once feeling a little peace.

I looked Joshua who was on his phone, ignoring the sight. I rolled my eyes and put the water back down.

"Lets sit here for a while." Joshua suggested.