by Diana Duncan
“Smart aleck.” She reached to pluck the purplish black globes. “Did you know Greek mythology claims that Athena, goddess of wisdom and peace, struck her magic spear into the Earth, and it turned into an olive tree? The spot was then named Athens, in honor of her. Ancient Greek courts sentenced people to death if they destroyed an olive tree.” Her stomach grumbled. “I’m starving.”
A smile tugged at Dante’s lips. “You’re a veritable font of information.”
Her mouth watered with anticipation as she bit into the first juicy olive. Bitterness stung her tongue and her eyes streamed. She turned away and spat out the hard, sour pulp. “That tastes disgusting!”
Dante’s smile blossomed into an impish grin. “Did you know although olives ripen in mid-October, they must undergo a pickling process before they’re palatable?”
She shuddered. “You might have mentioned that before I ate one.”
“Sometimes, practical knowledge is more valuable than academic.” Mischief danced in his warm caramel eyes. “I know how you despise taking orders.”
She rapid-fired olive missiles at him, which he laughingly dodged. She shuddered again. “You’re lucky the throat spasms didn’t trigger an asthma attack.”
His laughter died and his expression grew thunderous. “You should have told me you suffer from asthma!”
“Not for years. I was teasing you, sorry.”
“How long since your last episode?”
“They tapered off as I grew up. It’s why I had a sheltered childhood.”
Compassion glinted in his gaze. “That must have been difficult. Is that why you never learned to swim?”
“I didn’t do a lot of things. But Mom wore herself out to ensure I was comfortable. And Dad would come home after a long day at work and sit down on the floor and play board games with me. When I didn’t feel well, he read me stories. On good days, he took me to the museum with him and let me examine antiquities while he related their history. That’s how I became fascinated with ancient myths.”
“He sounds like a good father.”
“He was!” And she still missed him every day. “No matter what anybody thinks, he was a decent man.” She dumped the remaining olives into the dirt. If she had to, she would spend the rest of her life proving it. “Dad was the one who taught me to ride a bike, when I was fifteen. I was humiliated by not being like other kids. He took me to the museum’s parking lot after hours where nobody would see my bumbling. For hours, Dad ran behind my bike holding me up and encouraging me to keep trying.”
“You loved him very much.”
“And he loved me.” Her chest tightened, and she cleared her throat. “What were your parents like?”
Pain flitted across his face. “I didn’t have parents.” His glance shifted, and he stood. “We need to go.”
Ariana’s muscles resisted as she clambered to her feet and reached for the staff. Her heart ached more than her body. Dante didn’t have parents. Had no one ever loved him? Was that why he held himself sternly aloof?
“Ariana!” Dante’s voice dropped. She picked up the stick, and he lunged, grabbing the front of her shirt. As he spun her around, he tripped over the staff. He shoved her away and sprawled at the base of the rock formation.
Sputtering, she sat up. “What—”
Propped on one elbow, he went as still as a graven image. “Do not move.”
A chill crawled up her spine. “W-why?”
“Do exactly as I tell you, and you will be fine.”
She darted a frantic glance around the clearing. “Is it a spider? A huge, hairy Greek spider?” A shiver rippled over her. The last time she’d spotted a spider in her apartment, she’d run outside until Geoff had gamely squashed it. “I’ve seen their webs in olive groves.” Why hadn’t she remembered before plopping her rump down under an olive tree? “Is it on me?”
“Nothing is on you. Hold still.”
Panic raised her voice an octave. “Please tell me there’s not a scorpion.”
“No. Stay still.”
Leaves rustled in the bushes beside Dante, and then parted in the wake of a thick triangular head, cold yellow eyes and brown and white scales. A scream swelled inside her, and she gulped it down. “Oh, my God,” she whispered. “A snake!”
“It’s fine,” Dante murmured. His unwavering gaze caught hers. “Do not panic…and do not move.”
Her stomach pitched. Triangular pitted head meant a viper. Poisonous. She’d read that pit vipers were attracted to body heat, and some species were very combative. Out here in the wilderness, a bite would kill Dante.
“Easy, Ariana,” Dante coaxed, his tone soothing. “Look at me, not the snake.” How could he be so calm? “Remain motionless and he’ll leave.”
The monster was nearly twice the circumference of her forearm and almost four feet long. Its forked tongue flicked, and the hair on the back of her neck prickled. “He’s not leaving,” she whispered. “He’s crawling toward you!”
“No matter what happens, do not move.”
The hostile viper hissed, flashing curved fangs in warning. “You want me to sit and watch you get bitten?”
“Sì. Stay out of his way.”
She battled the urge to scream and run away. Dante was helpless. There was no cavalry. She had to save him. Slowly, carefully, Ariana eased her arms from Dante’s bulky coat, then slid the staff toward her.
Dante scowled. “What are you doing, cara?”
“Saving you.”
“No!” he gritted. “Do not!”
She ignored him, ignored roiling terror and concentrated on the snake. Her hands were shaking, and she sucked in a breath. She only had one shot. She couldn’t miss, or Dante would die. “He’s slithering toward your right arm. On three, roll left.”
Before he could protest, she counted. “One. Two. Three.”
Ariana thrust the staff beneath the viper’s sinuous length at the same instant Dante rolled away swearing. She flipped the hissing reptile across the path.
It coiled and struck at her. She screamed and slammed it with the staff. Stunned, the snake hesitated before attacking again. She hit it once more, and then Dante was beside her. He shoved her aside and snatched the stick.
Ariana couldn’t look away, couldn’t stop screaming as he dispatched the reptile.
Dante knocked the gigantic, limp body over the side of the bluff, dropped the staff and then tugged her into his embrace. “Shh. Everything is all right.”
Trembling uncontrollably, she choked back more screams. “Is it dead?”
He hugged her. “It is not prudent to leave a lethal predator alive to attack again.”
“Excellent,” she whispered. “Excuse me.” Ice cold and dizzy, her vision graying at the edges, she tottered to the boulders. Her quivering legs gave out, and she dropped to the rocks and hung her head between her knees.
“Easy, mia cara. It’s all over.” Dante’s warm, supple fingers kneaded her neck. “Take a breath.”
She struggled to comply, to gain control. Air slowly inflated her tortured lungs, vanquished the dizziness.
“That’s the way…breathe. Slow and easy.” He eased her up and enfolded her in his arms.
Even with his support, she shook so hard, she could barely stand. “Was that monster an adder?”
“Adders are shy.” He rubbed her back in slow circles. “It was a Levant viper. Extremely aggressive. And lethal.”
Nausea churned in her stomach. “B-because I was weak, needed to rest, it almost k-killed y-you.”
“No, cara. The snake would have attacked when we walked past, and we would have stood no chance.” He stroked her hair. “You were very brave. You saved my life.” His embrace tightened. “At great risk to your own.”
Her fingers fisted in his shirt and she clung to him as despair assailed her. “I might have killed us both, anyway.”
His wide palm cradled the back of her head. “Non capisco.”
Ariana squeezed her eyelids closed. Sh
e would not cry and embarrass herself further. “After my bloodcurdling screams, whoever is waiting for us in that house knows without a doubt we’ve arrived.”
CHAPTER FIVE
CAPTAIN NICK PAPPAS stood on the bridge of Alexandra’s Dream and stared out at the glittering Mediterranean. He would never tire of the challenge of guiding the massive ship through unpredictable waters. The comfort and safety of over a thousand passengers and hundreds of employees was in his hands.
One particular employee’s welfare nagged at him, as it had for the past five weeks. What had become of the intelligent, personable librarian?
Gideon Dayan, his lean, sandy-haired security officer arrived, and Nick listened to Gideon’s daily report before asking, “Any word on Miss Bennett?”
“No. Her mother is worried sick, and rightly so. And the private investigator hired by Elias Stamos hasn’t turned up any viable leads, except that she was last seen talking to an Italian worker on the dig site at Paestum.” Gideon’s brow furrowed. “Some of the local authorities have suggested she might have willingly run off with him.”
Nick gave Dayan a sharp look. Nothing got past the former Mossad officer. “What’s your opinion?”
“She seemed too levelheaded to ditch her job without notice and take off with a man she’d just met.” Dayan shook his head. “I think the authorities can’t find her, and are trying to cover their asses.”
“That surprises you?” He hadn’t thought Miss Bennett seemed like a woman who would indulge in a reckless relationship, either.
“Not one iota, sir.”
“Although…sometimes a man and a woman ambushed by an undeniable attraction are capable of…impulsive actions.” As Nick knew well from the reblossoming of his romance with Helena Stamos.
“I’m well aware of that, sir.” Gideon’s lips twitched as he fought a brief battle with a smile.
Nick flicked his glance to the horizon. The crew knew about Nick’s new love, just as Nick knew that Gideon had recently taken personal risks when he fell in love with Meilin Wang, who was now living in Paris, and whom Gideon would join shortly.
He glanced back at his security officer. Not allowing yourself to love, even when there was risk, would mean dying a little more inside each day.
“With all due respect, sir—” Dayan hesitated “—I…wish there was more we could have done other than notifying the authorities and having Interpol put out a missing-person alert.”
“We did all we could.” Nick frowned. He didn’t trust the various foreign police agencies to place the welfare of one “missing” American woman at high priority. And the FBI couldn’t get involved until there was evidence of foul play. “We have a thousand other lives in our hands. Notify me immediately, night or day, should any information come through. Dismissed, Officer Dayan.”
“Yes, sir.”
Gideon departed, and Nick resumed staring at the water. He’d hated leaving Ariana. Each individual on his ship was his responsibility. Ariana Bennett was his responsibility.
He rubbed his temples with his fingertips. He couldn’t shake the wrenching feeling he’d let her down. Where was she…and was she all right?
STANDING BY THE SIDE of the trail, Dante continued to rub Ariana’s back with comforting strokes. “After that ruckus, whoever is in the house may believe we were attacked by roving wolves and are dead.”
“I hope you’re kidding.” She slanted him a cautious glance. “I’ve seen enough Greek wildlife.”
“Relax, Ariana. The only wolf in these woods is Italiano.” His grin gave her knees a whole different reason to quiver.
She leaned against him, absorbed the steady thump of his heartbeat. Dante was big and strong and capable, and she didn’t care who he was or what he did for a living. She did not want to let go of him. After confronting the reptile from hell, she deserved an indulgence. “I couldn’t stop screaming.”
“Women and snakes are mortal enemies from the beginning of time, yes?”
An unsteady smile sneaked out. “He was hunting you.” Shuddering, she studied the clearing. Dante had maneuvered them behind the olive tree. She gazed uneasily at the leafy branches. “Do you suppose he had friends?”
“No. The species is hostile and aggressive. They’re known to strike without provocation, and cannibalize one another.”
“How could you remain immobile, waiting, knowing that thing was coming after you?” Dante had let the monster stalk him to protect her. And earned her gratitude and respect. His sacrifices on her behalf almost balanced the scales for kidnapping her. While his incentive might be in question, there was no doubt he’d served his penance.
Dante’s broad shoulder lifted in a fatalistic shrug. “There are moments when one must commit wholly to a course of action. I have learned that sometimes, evasion may save your life, but damn your soul.”
His declaration enveloped Ariana in tenderness. Though she suspected he was not only a kidnapper but also a thief, he possessed commendable dedication and chivalry. And he walked his talk…all the way. “That’s a pretty gutsy philosophy.”
“Perhaps.” He brushed a lock of hair back from her temple. “But you understand. It is the same reason you risked your life to defend me.”
Pulse pounding, she stared into his unwavering brown gaze. She’d never known anyone like him. The mysterious man incited a tornado of contradictory feelings. Dante embodied all the male C-traits she abstained from: contrary, confusing and complicated. She inhaled another slow breath. “Sorry I blasted off like that. It was involuntary.”
“Those who await us have already been alerted to our presence.” His deep voice sounded unconcerned. “Perhaps not the exact timing, but they know we are here. Megaera is not a woman who acts without forethought.”
“Yes, if someone wanted to ambush us, last night when we were exhausted would have been the time.” Her fear had dissipated beneath Dante’s soothing back rub. His rhythmic strokes down her spine loosened her muscles and flushed her skin with a languid glow. Soon she’d be nothing but a melted puddle at his feet. “Megaera was one of the Furies. I doubt it’s the mystery woman’s real name.”
“No?” Dante’s droll look of mock surprise coaxed a chuckle from her. “And here I believed it was because she was an unfortunate-looking bambina.”
She smiled, enjoying their camaraderie. “Sorry. My brain stores trivia like squirrels hoard nuts, and it pops out at odd times.”
“When Megaera questioned you on the boat, I am glad you were not hurt.” His conversational tone didn’t change, but cuddled against him, she couldn’t miss his subtle tension. “What did she offer you, cara?”
Megaera’s final words taunted her. Hold fast to your secrets, Ms. Bennett. And you may be granted a chance to even the score for your father. Had it been a veiled warning not to trust Dante? A threat?
Ariana bit her lip. Who did she trust least, Megaera or Dante?
Dante’s tender touch and warm concern had lulled her into letting down her guard, feeling safe in his embrace. While his scowling intimidation had never compelled her to talk, his charm and humor arrowed past her defenses. She was liable to spill any information he wanted. She listened as Dante’s heartbeat kicked up a notch. Maybe that’s exactly what he was after. “Did she offer you something?”
An oh-so-brief hesitation. “Money. You?”
“She didn’t offer me money.” She gazed up at him. “Obviously, you didn’t accept. Why?”
All traces of softness disappeared from his bearded face. “I prefer to work alone.”
“You weren’t picky about your coworkers at the dig site. And you were so desperate for money you kidnapped me. But you turned Megaera down?”
The significance of Megaera’s warning hit home. Razor-sharp suspicion sliced her and she stiffened. Was money the reason Dante had kidnapped her? Or something else entirely? “Did you know my father? Does this have something to do with him?”
“I did not know your father.”
Suddenly
dizzy, she jerked away from him. “Tell me the truth!”
“Calm down, Ariana. I swear to you, I did not know Derek Bennett.” Dante’s sensual mouth firmed into a hard line. “Let’s go. Every moment we delay gives the inhabitants of the house more time to prepare.”
Ariana’s gaze dropped to the dead brown grass. She had denied that Megaera had tried to bribe her with money, but not that the woman had made her an offer. Dante had denied knowing Derek Bennett, but not that his agenda excluded her father. They had both sidestepped the truth.
And both recognized the dual deception.
Was Dante a smuggler? That would explain his presence at the dig site. Had he kidnapped her because he believed she knew something that would bring him personal gain? Pain lanced her heart as icy uncertainty choked the fragile roots of their newborn intimacy.
Dante picked up his fallen coat and draped it around her. Cold and bereft and lonelier than she’d felt since her dad had died, Ariana blinked away tears and turned toward the path.
Neither spoke for the remainder of the short journey.
They trudged around an upward bend in the trail, and Dante drew Ariana into a high stand of laurel bushes. “Stay here while I investigate.”
“Wait!” She grabbed his forearm, warm steel beneath her fingertips. “Not an inspired idea.” Misgivings and other, scarily softer feelings for him aside, Dante was all she had. “If anything happens to you, I’ll never survive on my own.”
His eyes narrowed. “I’ll be back.’”
“While your self-assurance is inspiring, I want to go with you. We work well as a team, and an extra body can’t hurt.”
“A very enchanting body, indeed.” He cupped her cheek, inciting a storm of turmoil inside her. “But I cannot be distracted by defending you, mia cara.”
She sighed. Arguing with Dante was as frustrating as boxing with a shadow. And as productive. “At least take the staff. It’s better than barging in bare-handed.”
“I have no intention of ‘barging’ anywhere. No one will see me unless I wish it.” His dark, intense gaze holding hers captive, he leaned closer and feathered his thumb along her cheekbone. “And I will not leave you defenseless.”
