by M. S. Parker
I pressed my lips together against my objection because I did understand. I got it. Mostly. My head just wasn’t exactly clear when it came to Liam.
“I’ve offered him a job on the security team here,” I told Millie.
She inclined her head, clearly considering this bit of news. “Has he accepted?”
“I think he’s still thinking it through,” I said, looking away from her to stare out over the resort property. “I want him to take the job. There’s something between us, and I…I want to see where it’s going.”
“As long as the two of you can keep your minds focused on your jobs when the need arises, it could be a workable solution.” Millie shrugged and turned to go to the resort. “Come along, darling. We need to get you fed. Clearly, you need to keep your strength up.”
31
Liam
I had a million things on my mind, and none of them had to do with the wedding.
Okay, maybe a million was exaggerating.
Most of what I had on my mind was Mila…and her offer. Then there was Mila herself.
I couldn’t deny the fact that I’d enjoyed the past two days together. It was Friday, and the wedding was to take place tomorrow. I had to be back in New York City before my scheduled work shift Monday night. I hated to think about leaving.
Because I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do, after the rehearsal finished Friday afternoon, I headed back to the bungalow Mila used. She’d invited me to stay with her. I’d said yes. There was no point in me sneaking off to her place at night when a blind man could see what was going on between us.
I’d told Jake some of what happened between us. He’d been surprised to realize that the reason we were at the island was because I’d pulled a woman out of the water and her grandmother wanted to repay the favor. I’d confessed that Mila was the woman I’d been ordered to watch over, then I admitted to losing my job. I’d only skirted around the details previously, too embarrassed to tell Jake all of it.
He’d listened as I explained what really happened, then shook his head. “Guess that warning to be careful came a little too late,” was all he’d said.
I wouldn’t have listened to any warning anyway. Not when it came to Mila.
She was inside my head all the time and had been almost from the beginning.
It was a good thing that nothing seemed to have come of her father’s concerns about her being in danger. I would have thrown myself in front of a bullet for her, but it might be hard to notice one was coming when I was too busy trying to get her naked.
Those were the thoughts circling through my head as I let myself into her bungalow. The light was off, and I hit the switch, still preoccupied. But the moment light spilled through the room, my mind snapped into quick, immediate action.
Mila’s place had been trashed.
Clothes were strewn everywhere. Huge cracks fragmented the mirror, showing my reflection in splinters as I took one step deeper into the room. The mirror looked like something pretty solid had been thrown at the center. Skimming the area, I saw a heavy bookend laying on the floor in front of the mirror, surrounded by a few fragments of glass.
My senses went on red alert.
Moving to the wall, I circled the perimeter of the bungalow, focused on the doors that led to the bedroom, the kitchen, the bathroom, and one that opened out onto a small patio.
When I reached the patio, I saw the hole in the glass and knelt down, studying it. Somebody had busted the patio door and come in through here.
And then, whoever it was, had taken his time totally destroying the place.
Fury burned through my brain, along with worry for Mila. A quick look at the time told me she was still in session for the next thirty minutes – I’d seen her to the door myself so I knew exactly where she was.
Pulling my phone from my back pocket, I thumbed in a number.
As I waited for a response, I pushed up to my feet.
The head of the security team who handled things on Pleasure Island was a broad, bull-chested man who looked to be in his early fifties. He introduced himself as two of his men started to search the room.
His name was Juan Garcia, and I could tell that I was talking to somebody with a long history in law enforcement, just by the way he watched me.
He asked me a few questions, which I answered, and as soon as he came to a pause, I said, “I’d like to head out if that’s okay. I want to be the one to tell Mila about what happened here.”
“Policy insists we be the ones to handle that–”
“He can tell Mila,” Millie said from the door. Her hand rested on the door frame as she stared inside, concern stamped across her patrician features.
“Ms. Thatcher,” Garcia said, nodding at her. He gave me a quick look before focusing back on Millie. “The security team can–”
Millie held up a hand. “I’m aware of what the security team can do. Mila will take it better coming from Liam, and frankly, she’s my main concern.”
When Garcia said nothing else, I met Millie’s gaze. “I’m going to head on over to the workshop area so I can be there before class ends.”
Millie nodded. “Do that.” On my way past her, she touched my arm. “Watch out for my granddaughter, Liam.”
“I will.”
There was a privacy tint on the windows of the bungalow where the workshop was being held. But a few moments outside the door told me she was in there. I could hear her talking.
I looked at my watch and saw that I still had about ten minutes before the class ended, and I was too restless to just stand there, so I circled around the workshop building. I wasn’t expecting to find anything. But I needed to get my brain engaged before I stormed into the bungalow and demanded that Mila cancel the rest of the class so I could affix myself permanently to her side.
Why now?
That was something niggling at the back of my mind.
Her father had hired me over a month ago. In all that time, nothing had happened, and now she gets here to the island, and her place gets ransacked?
It didn’t make sense.
I tried to remember if Millie had told me how many guests were at the resort, but I came up blank. Still, we were on an island. It wasn’t like when we’d been in New York, surrounded by millions.
There were a few people who still lived on the island that weren’t part of the resort staff, but for the most part, anybody who was on Pleasure Island was affiliated with the resort itself, either as guests or employees.
Mila had been here three weeks.
How many people knew she’d come here?
My mind continued to work on the puzzle as I finished doing a circuit around the bungalow.
There was nothing out of the ordinary that I could see.
But something clearly was. After all, Mila’s place hadn’t ransacked itself.
32
Mila
My session for the afternoon wrapped up, and I went about putting the room to rights after the resort guests left. Erotic massage definitely seemed to be a hit with these people. I’d assumed it would be popular and appreciated knowing I’d hit the nail on the head.
Of course, what isn’t there to enjoy about having your lover’s hands gliding over you, stroking away the stress…replacing it with something else far more enticing.
A sound at the door interrupted my reverie and had me looking up from the mats I’d been wiping down.
I spied Liam and winked at him. “Want a one-on-one lesson in erotic massage? You came to the right place.” I sure wouldn’t mind getting him naked, oiled up…underneath me as I slowly straddled him. The thought played haywire with my heartbeat, and I resisted the urge to fan myself.
He moved deeper into the bungalow, and that was when I saw the rigid set of his face.
Well, so much for the idea of introducing him to erotic massage, I thought absently as I got to my feet. Uneasiness curled in my belly as he came closer.
“What’s wrong?”
“I was at the bungalow a few minutes ago,” he said, his voice brusque. His face was as hard and unreadable as I’d ever seen it and that only added to my unease. “Somebody got inside and tore the hell out of your place, Mila.”
I blinked at him, the words not making sense. “What?” I asked, shaking my head.
“Your bungalow was trashed,” he said, coming closer. He held out a hand.
Without thinking, I placed mine in his and let him draw me closer. “I left the security team going through everything. I wanted to be here to tell you.”
“You’re checking up on me,” I said wanly, recognizing the protective look in his eyes.
“I’m also checking up on you.” He brushed my hair back from my face. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?” I parroted back. I shook my head. “I’m not entirely sure. How much damage is there?”
“Enough.” He looked like he was debating on how much to tell me.
It had better be all of it.
“I didn’t do any poking around because I didn’t want to risk contaminating the scene, but the furniture was overturned, the mirror in the living area broken, and your clothes were dumped out all over the place. Somebody wanted to cause a lot of damage in a very short period of time from what I could tell.” He shook his head and added, “But I’m no professional at this. The security team is still there, going over everything.”
“Who would want to tear up my things?” I asked, bewildered.
Liam was quiet for a moment before he said softly, “Your dad was worried enough about you to hire security guards to watch you. And I haven’t seen a single guard around you since I got here.”
I broke away from him and paced over to the nearest window, staring outside. “I told my father I wasn’t accepting any more security guards.” Tired, with the beginnings of a headache starting to pulse inside my skull, I rubbed the line between my eyebrows. “I had you with me for weeks, and nothing happened. He was exaggerating things like he always does.”
“But somebody got into your place and tore it up. If it wasn’t connected to your father, then what do you think happened?”
“How would I know?” I gave him a weak shrug even as my mind spun, trying to come up with some plausible explanation. “Maybe there’s somebody on the island that doesn’t like that Millie is leaving – I don’t know. But it seems kind of far-fetched to me to think that this is related to my dad in any way. It’s been over a month, Liam. And nothing happened until now.”
“You no longer have a bodyguard watching over you all the time. It could be that the man behind this just now discovered his chance.”
“That’s…” I thought about it, then said, “No. It still doesn’t make any sense. I’ve been back in New York, and it would be a lot easier to try and scare me there than it is here.” I shoved my hands through my hair and turned back to face him. “Does my grandmother know?”
“She arrived not long after the security guards did. I assume one of them tipped her off.”
“Okay.” Blowing out a breath, I tried to gather my scattered thoughts. “I should go talk to her. She’ll be worried.”
“Aren’t you?” Liam asked as I went to turn off the lights.
“Of course I am.” I was worried, and my hands were sweating, my mind spinning in dizzying circles as I tried to make sense of what Liam told me. But I wasn’t about to let all of that spill out of me. What would it help?
Liam eyed me narrowly as I approached the door and I leaned up onto my toes, pressing my lips to his mouth. “But I’ve got you here with me now, don’t I?”
It was easier to play my worry down – and easier for me to feel better – if I kept a tight grip on the fear that wanted to well up in me.
We’d get this figured out.
I found Millie in her office.
Her assistant waved me in. “She told me that if you showed up to go straight on in.”
I did, keeping Liam with me.
I came up short at the sight of her sitting on the couch beneath the window with a man in a suit.
She came off the couch in a rush of skirts and Chanel No. 5, her hands outstretched toward me. “Sweetheart. Liam told you?”
I nodded at her but said nothing out loud.
“It’s okay to talk about it,” Millie said, gesturing to the man on the couch. “This is my lawyer. I’m not sure if you’ve met before.”
I approached the man as he rose from the couch, offering my hand. “No, I don’t believe we have.”
“Charles Gamble,” he said, giving me a polite smile. “Mila, I presume?”
“Yes.” We shook hands, and I looked over at Millie. “Should I come back?”
“No, no.” She waved toward the two armchairs that flanked the couch. “Charles and I had an appointment to start looking into the transfer of ownership of the island and resort, but then I got the call from the security team about your place…” Millie passed a hand over her eyes. “Now I can’t think straight.”
Charles laid a hand on hers, a gesture that seems very familiar. “I’m sure everything will be fine.”
She patted his hand but kept her focus on me. “Do you have any idea who might have done this? Should we call your father?”
“No!” The word flew out before I could stop it or temper my response. With a grimace, I said it again, more softly this time. “No. I don’t think it has anything to do with whatever was going on with my dad.”
“Why not?” Millie asked, looking confused.
“Because nothing happened for over a month. I’ve been without a bodyguard for three weeks now, and nothing has happened. It doesn’t make sense that so much time would pass and then here, on the island, something happens. It’s not like newcomers aren’t noticed.”
“All we have on the island most of the time is newcomers…it’s a vacation spot,” Millie reminded me.
“Whoever my dad pissed off is probably not sophisticated enough to put some scheme together where some bad guy lies in wait, posing as a guest at a resort like Pleasure Island.” I shook my head at the thought of it. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
Millie worried the pearls at her neck, silent for a moment before looking at Liam. “What do you think, Liam?”
I glanced again at the lawyer before focusing my eyes on the man beside me. My gut wrenched at the expression that had settled on his face – grim and turbulent.
“I think we should talk to Michelle and Jake about canceling the wedding – or at least postponing it.”
“No!” I gaped at him, appalled at the very idea. “Why would we do that?”
“Because somebody just tore the hell out of your place,” he returned, his jaw set. “You’re in danger.”
“We don’t know that.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “For all I know, I pissed somebody off when I came here, and this is just retaliation. I will not ask your cousin and his fiancée to postpone their wedding because of me.”
Liam opened his mouth like he wanted to argue.
“No,” Millie said from the couch. “I agree with Mila. This has nothing to do with your cousin. I won’t inconvenience my guests over a family matter.”
“Mila could be in danger,” Liam insisted.
“Yes,” I said, drawing his attention my way. “Mila could be in danger – as in me. We’re not canceling any wedding because of me.”
Liam wasn’t pleased about it. I could see it in the set of his shoulders and the hard lines of his face.
The attorney spoke up. “I’m concerned about the negative publicity the resort will suffer from based on what is going on.” He pierced me with a hard stare. “Perhaps it’s better if you stayed away for the duration. At least until the culprit is found.”
I stared at him, my mouth falling open.
My grandmother spoke for me. “Nonsense. Mila isn’t going anywhere, Charles.”
He smiled, but the gesture didn’t reach his eyes. I could tell he wasn’t pleased by the decision, but he nodded his head graci
ously. “Of course.”
But it didn’t matter if he was happy about it or not. This was my place…or it would be soon. And I wasn’t going to let somebody mess things up for any guest of the resort.
33
Liam
“Liam, I’m tired of discussing this,” Mila said. She did sound tired.
She wasn’t staying in her bungalow for the time being. Millie had given her another one and had also sent Mila some of the clothes that she’d kept at Millie’s place for visits to the island.
Now, tucked inside the new bungalow we’d been given temporarily, I tried to get Mila to see my side of things.
She wasn’t budging.
I didn’t plan on backing down either, not until it looked like she was taking this seriously.
“If you’re not going to talk to Michelle and Jake about postponing the wedding, and if you’re not going to see about hiring a bodyguard until we get this straightened out, exactly what are you going to do?” I demanded.
I was half-sick with worry, and her casual attitude wasn’t making things any easier. It was almost like she wasn’t concerned about the fact that somebody had broken into her home and had gone through her things.
“I’m going to talk to the security team and have them watch my bungalow.” She lifted a shoulder. “You can stick by my side when you can. I’ll do what the security team recommends. But I’m not canceling the wedding – or any event here on the island. That’s running away.”
“Sometimes retreat is a wise option,” I pointed out.
“Drop it with the soldier talk,” she snapped. “I’m not a soldier, and it’s not like I’ve been outflanked in battle or whatever they call it. I’m just refusing to let some jackass make me change how things are done around here. I’ll be more careful. I told you that. What else do you want?”
I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut, because I wasn’t sure I could answer that.
