Eight

“Wakey, wakey, sleepy Bianca.” Jakob’s warm voice whispered in my ear, and I stretched out and smiled. “I have breakfast for you.” His voice spoke again; this time I felt the tip of his tongue tickling my inner ear.

“Morning.” I opened my eyes slowly and saw Jakob’s face a mere inch from mine. “Oh.” I blinked rapidly as my eyes focused in on his lips.

“Good sleep?”

“Yes.” I nodded and smiled.

“Hungry?”

“Absolutely.”

“Limited vocabulary?” He grinned, and I sat up and rolled my eyes.

“I’m not even going to respond.” I stretched my arms and reached for my bra.

“You don’t have to put that on. I bet that won’t be feeling too comfortable right now.” Jakob’s face reminded me of a lascivious wolf, and I ignored him.

“Thanks for your concern.” I laughed as I slipped on my bra. “You got up and brought breakfast to me?” I stared at the fruits lying on the large green palm leaf. “That was really thoughtful of you.”

“You looked so peaceful lying there. I didn’t have the heart to wake you up.”

“Who knew you had a heart?”

“Don’t get used to it.” He sat down next to me. “After last night I wanted to make sure you got a good rest.”

“I almost forgot we weren’t here by choice.” I gave him a small smile. “And how much I hate the wilderness.”

“It’s not so bad when we have nights like last night.” He handed me a peeled banana. “Try this; it’s firm and sweet.”

“Thank you.” I took it from his hands and nibbled on it. “It’s delicious.” I gobbled up the rest of the banana greedily and then licked my lips. “Best breakfast I’ve had in a long while.”

“Do you enjoy breakfast, then?” He sat back and watched me as I reached for another banana. I felt slightly self-conscious that he was just sitting there watching me eat, but I soon got over it.

“I don’t normally eat breakfast,” I mumbled between bites. “I’m the sort of person who waits until lunchtime and then gobbles up everything in sight.”

“That’s not healthy.” He frowned.

“It’s just how I grew up.” I shrugged. “My dad was the same way. He kept really odd working hours, and I guess it caught on with me.”

“So what was your dad like?” he asked casually, grabbing a banana.

“He was really wonderful. He was devoted to me. Though, he was very forgetful when he was working on a new invention. I can’t tell you how many times I waited at school after the last bell because he was late to pick me up.”

“Why didn’t he just hire a nanny?”

“He didn’t have money for a nanny.” I stared down the beach. “He never made much money from his inventions.”

“I thought he created the self-painter.”

“He did.” I gave him a wry smile. “That’s part of the reason why I’m trying to get access to Bradley Inc.”

“I see. That makes sense. What’s the other part of the reason?”

“I think that David’s father had my mother killed.”

“What?”

“My father didn’t believe my mother died in an accident.” I decided to tell him almost everything. I figured I couldn’t be mad at him for holding back, when I was holding back as well. “When he died he left me the letter I told you about, but he also left me some business papers. Papers that would lead someone to believe that the timing of my mother’s accident was too coincidental to have been an accident.”

“So that’s the real reason why you’re trying to gain access to the files?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “I just want to go through all the files from that time period. I want to go through the financials. I want to know if the corporation would have been okay if my father had left. I want to know when and why it changed from Bradley, London, and Maxwell to Bradley Inc.”

“I didn’t know.” He pursed his lips and looked toward the ocean. “I wish I’d known.”

“It’s okay.” I shrugged. “I didn’t tell you.”

“This has nothing to do with the money for you, does it?” He cursed under his tongue. “I’m sorry for my earlier comments.”

“Don’t worry about it. But no, I’m not investigating so I can get a whole bunch of money.”

“I’m going to help you, Bianca.” He threw the banana peel on the ground. “It’s a shame that your father wasn’t compensated properly by the company.”

“Yeah, it really was.” My mind flashed back to the all the different patents I’d found in my father’s box, and I looked back at Jakob. “It’s surprising as well, because he was really quite brilliant. I’m not sure why he just walked away without demanding his cut. I mean, I know he loved my mother, and he was devastated by her death, but I never thought he’d just walk away from something like that. I guess he just didn’t care about money.”

“Isn’t that always the way? The brilliant ones never seem to make much money. Such is the life of a genius.” He shrugged. “Even though many of them seem to be chasing the money, karma always catches up with them.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I can’t say I know any geniuses that are chasing money,” I said with a sigh. “Do you?”