Soon after their arrival at the Resort they went to their suite, showered and changed into clean clothes.
Since the weather had turned unusually hot for this time of year, he changed into shorts and a t-shirt ready to enjoy some sun. Rory was waiting for him as he met her at the door. She wore a dark purple t-shirt and white shorts. The combination made her violet eyes stand out and emphasized her slim, tanned legs. Gabe quickly returned his gaze to her face and reminded himself that no matter how tempting he was not supposed to gape at his fake wife.
“Should we try out one of those restaurants in the main area of the resort?”
“Sounds good.” Gabe followed her downstairs to the large main area and soon they found a nice Italian restaurant.
As they waited for their food, they sipped on the water glasses for a moment before Rory spoke. “When you talked to Maria’s uncle today, he said that her papa was sad that she hadn’t been home in two years because she’d been too busy with work. What do you make of that?”
Gabe chuckled a little at his wife. “Rory you sure are concerned about Maria. Maybe there’s nothing to make of it at all. Maybe she really is too busy to go home.”
Rory scowled a little at him. “I don’t know about that. And yes, I am concerned about Maria. Call it a gut feeling, but I believe not everything is as it should be in her life.”
“Okay, that’s fine. I adore the fact that you are very compassionate toward others Rory.” Gabe smiled at the waiter who brought their plates of food.
“Thank you.” Rory said her eyes now holding a warmth that was lacking before.
“Maybe you could ask her mother or one of her brothers or sisters tomorrow. I think Jose plans to take us to Maria’s family home in Pipa.”
“I guess I could.” Rory conceded.
After a refreshing meal they both agreed that some time sitting in the sun would be ideal. They went to their suite to grab their swimsuits and towels, finding a lovely quiet spot poolside.
Gabe saw Rory reach into her beach bag and grab a book. He pulled out a book too. “What are you reading?”
“I love reading romances so I brought a new book by one of my favorite authors.” Rory peered over at the book in his hands and her eyes widened. “Are you reading one of the books I wrote?”
Gabe chuckled at her surprised look. “I thought I should. Maybe I’d get to know some of your secrets that way.”
He could see a stain of red starting on her neck, which quickly rose to her cheeks. “This is the first book in your Island romance series, and I thought since you spent most of your childhood on Walker’s Island, this story would be a great starting place.” Gabe leafed through the front pages of the book. “Besides, the dedication of the book really piques my interest: To the one man who started my love of romance in the first place. I’d love to know who you dedicated this book to.”
Gabe glanced up from the book, hoping Rory would answer him only to be surprised when she stood up beside her lounge chair. Hurrying she quickly put her t-shirt on over her bathing suit. “I’m sorry. I forgot something from our room. I have to go. Be back soon.”
Puzzled Gabe watched his wife as she hurried across the poolside deck and disappeared through the doors that led to the elevators.
What was so important that she had to dash off so quickly? Was it something he said?
One thing he knew for sure, he still had a lot to learn about his fake wife.
Rory’s legs and arms shook in the elevator all the way up to the top floor to their suite of rooms. She was so shook up that Gabe — her best friend since she was six years old — had bought one of her romances and was reading it.
Opening the door to their room, she closed it quickly and leaned her head back up against the door. Did Gabe have to choose that series to read? That was the series where she had poured so much of her romantic imaginings of how it could be if Gabe would fall in love with her. It was her love for Gabe that had got her started writing romance in the first place. That’s what had inspired the dedication to that book, but she wasn’t about to tell him that.
She walked across the room and poured herself a glass of water. Her hands were still shaking from his almost discovery of one of her biggest secrets.
And she did need to keep her love for Gabe Stevenson a secret. They might be married, but it was a fake marriage. If he found out she loved him, most likely he would believe she was manipulating him. That was the last thing she wanted him to think of her.
No, her love for him would have to remain a secret. Though how she would do that, she had no clue. Each day he was so nice to her. He had thoughtfully figured out a way that she could get more of those sea plants that she so desperately needed to make the formula for her organic skin care.
All these thoughtful and generous acts that Gabe did also made her realize more and more that he wasn’t the selfish man she’d believed he’d become over the years. She had thought that the money and fame would have changed him into someone who could no longer appreciate the little things or the little people. But, that didn’t appear to be what happened to Gabe.
He had changed, but he had done his best to become a better man.
Rory took another long drink of water and walked toward the window that looked down to the pools. She located where Gabe lounged on his chair, reading.
She would need to keep her guard up or else her new husband would find out her horrible secret.
She was in love with him.
Her new husband only wanted to be married for one year. She wanted to be married for a lifetime. He held himself back from falling in love. She longed to fall in love.
It was an impossible situation.
She didn’t know how long she stood there thinking, but finally she remembered Gabe was waiting for her.
She needed to get back downstairs. Belatedly, she remembered telling Gabe she needed to grab something. Spying the sunscreen on the corner of the counter, she quickly grabbed it and opened the door.
Suddenly, overhearing a heated conversation stopped her in her tracks.
A man’s angry voice spoke loudly in a mixture of English and Spanish. Then she heard familiar woman’s voice speaking a rapid volley of words in reply. Rory caught a little of what they were saying.
She peeked her head out the door and looked down the hallway. Near the end of the hallway she could see a large dark haired man holding Maria’s arms in a tight grip.
His face was a mask of anger and his words dripped with contempt. “You… don’t have a choice.” Maria winced as his fingers seemed to grip her arms harder. “…was our deal… get a job here. Now I want you to do more… no choice.”
Rory put her hand to her mouth, as she sucked in a breath. Was the man forcing Maria to do something she didn’t want to do? Did he have some kind of control over her?
“No… not agree.” Maria tried to pull away from the man but he held tightly to her arm. Rory could hear the desperation and panic in Maria’s voice.
“You agree… or big trouble.” The man jerked her arms one more time then suddenly let go. He hurried away from Maria, and Rory could hear her sobs. When the man had disappeared down the elevator, Rory stepped out into the hallway and hurried over to Maria.
Maria saw her coming and hurried to dry her tears. “Mrs. Stevenson sorry. You need me for something?”
“No, I don’t need anything. I wanted to ask if you are okay?” Rory hoped Maria would tell her something.
“Si. I’m good. I should get back to work.” Rory spoke quickly as the maid started to move away.
“Wait please.” Rory needed to know what was going on. “I overheard some of what that man said to you. He was forcing you to do something you didn’t want to do. Is he your boss? What’s his name?”
Maria glanced away for a moment. Looking down she spoke. “Si, he’s my boss. His name is Carlos Santos. But I can’t tell you what he’s doing. He would hurt my family.” She started picking up the supplies from the cart she pus
hed. “I’m late. I have to go.”
“Maria, we will help you. We can help you get away and stop him from hurting your family.” Rory whispered passionately hoping that her new friend would listen.
“No one can help me now. It’s too late. I must go.” Maria hurried to push her cart down the hallway.
Rory stood there staring as she hurried away feeling sad. Just then, the elevator doors opened and Gabe stepped out.
“There you are. I thought you were coming back.” Gabe walked toward her, the corners of his mouth turned up ready to tease her some more until he looked at her closely. He put one finger under her chin and looked into her eyes that shimmered with unshed tears. “Rory, what’s wrong?”
Rory quickly wiped away the tears that had formed as she continued to think of Maria’s situation.
“Oh Gabe I’m so sad about Maria.” Rory continued, explaining to him about what she’d overheard. “It’s like he’s threatening her. And Maria told me that if she tells me what’s going on, that man will hurt her family. I’m really worried about her. Is there anything we can do to help?”
Gabe caught a stray tear with his thumb. It had slipped out of the corner of one eye, unnoticed. His eyes crinkled as his blue eyes focused on hers. “Ah Rory, you have a soft heart. It’s one of the things I adore about you.”
Warmth stirred in her belly at his words and she averted her gaze for a moment. Forcing a relaxed smile Rory spoke, “Thanks, but you haven’t answered my question. Can we do anything to help Maria?”
“Yes, I’m pretty sure we can. I’ll call a friend who’ll be able to help us out.” Gabe reassured her and Rory blew out a small sigh of relief.
“Okay. Good.” She nodded feeling better.
“Why don’t you head down to the swimming pool area and I’ll make that call. I’ll join you soon.” Gabe walked with her to the elevator and she waved at him as the doors closed.
Walking toward the poolside lounge area, her thoughts turned to Gabe. The very fact that he was willing to take his time and money to help someone in need that he barely knew, spoke well of him.
Her husband was fast becoming a hero in her eyes.
She was growing attached and more in love with her fake husband. She didn’t know how to stop these feelings that were blossoming more and more each day she spent with him. Did she even want to?
“Hey, Max? Gabe Stevenson here.”
“What’s up?”
“I have a name I’d like you to investigate. His name is Carlos Santos. He’s been threatening one of the workers here and I’m wondering what we can do to stop him.” Gabe explained more details about the situation. “I’d like to fly you and some key people on your team to investigate more about what’s happening with this. Would that work for you?”
“Yes. I’ll first do a little background check on this guy. Then, I’ll book us a flight. Me and two other guys from my team should be there by tomorrow morning.” Max’s crisp business-like tone set Gabe’s mind at ease.
“Great. Thanks Max.” Gabe turned his phone off and set it in his case beside his bed.
As he headed out the door and down the elevator he thought of Rory. His childhood friend had become someone whom he realized was not like other women he knew. Rory had a compassion for others who were in pain unlike anyone he knew except maybe his own mom. His new wife was growing on him.
He was beginning to like her far more than he thought possible. He was beginning to like her far more than he should. He was confused.
How could he stop these growing feelings for his fake wife?
Chapter Nine
Jose Moreno waved at them as Gabe parked the vehicle beside the red building on the corner of main street. Rory got out of the vehicle and looked around at the small seaside village of Pipa. Buildings of all different colors and sizes were all around her. There were signs in Spanish as well as a teashop and a church with a Welsh name. It was great to see people from so many different backgrounds living in harmony together in one village.
Gabe held out his hand for her to walk in front of him.
“Good you’re here.” Jose shook their hands and waved his hand for them to follow. “Come, I take you to Maria’s family’s place. You will see a lot of sea plants there.”
“Sounds great. Thank you Jose.” Rory remembered what Gabe had said about her learning how to be more courageous when she spoke to others. At least she was trying.
It took all of twenty minutes of walking through between the bushes and trails alongside houses to reach a small yellow house. It was a simple flat board house, square in shape with only a few windows.
As they walked up to it Jose called out, “Pedro, you home?”
A man very similar in height and build to Jose walked outside the house, a woman with greying hair by his side. Maria’s parents were followed by five children. The oldest three boys looked like ages sixteen to twelve and the two youngest girls seemed like they were much younger. They ran to hug their mother.
“These two guests come from resort where Maria is. They are interested in sea plants.” Jose explained.
Rory stepped forward to shake their hands and Gabe did the same.
“You see my Maria?” The mother asked Rory.
“Yes, she has been a great help to us.” Rory didn’t explain all that was going on because she didn’t want to scare Maria’s mother. Gabe’s private investigator had arrived just before they left the resort this morning. Max Harrington was going to talk to the police. Hopefully Carlos, the man who had been threatening Maria, would soon be behind bars. “You have a wonderful daughter, Mrs. Moreno.”
“Si. Call me Lucia.” She waved Rory to follow her. They walked past the hill and down toward the rocky beach and the ocean’s edge. “If want sea plants, you have come to the right place.”
Lucia took her to a large inlet where there was a vast amount of seaweed, marine algae and other sea plants. Lucia took her to the waters edge and pulled up some sea weed and brown marine algae for Rory to look at.
“It’s perfect and so pure. There is so much here.” Rory could hardly believe her eyes. It was just what she needed.
“You want?”
“Yes, very much.” Rory realized this was her chance to ask for the help she needed. With a quick look at Gabe who nodded at her, she looked back at Lucia. The children crowded close as she asked, “Could I hire you and your family to hand-harvest these sea plants? I’m looking for a group of people or a family who would be willing to do this every month. I would pay you well. You could talk to your husband and see if that’s something your family would like to do.”
Lucia glanced at her husband and Spanish words flew back and forth between them. Her husband shrugged as if to tell her it was up to her. “Si. We will do this.”
“Oh thank you. My husband Gabe and I will get the contract done up right and then we will set things up properly.” Rory spoke to Lucia who nodded. They started walking back to the house.
They were just about to leaven when Lucia’s troubled brown eyes stared into hers. “Please tell Maria her mother longs for her to come home.”
Rory could feel the heavy burden Maria’s mother carried for her children. “I promise to talk to her and ask her to come see you.”
Lucia squeezed her hand tightly once more and put her hand to her heart. Her brown eyes were filled with tears and Rory squeezed her hand. It was an unspoken heartfelt gesture that each of them understood.
They waved goodbye and hurried back to the waiting jeep.
It was only after they had driven for a few minutes in silence that Gabe spoke. “Rory you amaze me. Not only were you able to negotiate a contract for the supplies you need for your skin care products, but from those tears in Lucia’s eyes, it seemed like she trusted and connected with you closely.”
Rory shrugged. “Maybe it’s a woman to woman thing. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for her as a mom not to see her child for years. As I talked with Maria’s mom my own memories
of the pain and heartache of growing up without my parents hit me hard again. In that moment I realized I would do whatever I could to help Lucia and Maria to be reunited again.”
Gabe nodded slightly, “Like I said, you’re amazing.”
“Thanks Gabe.” Rory warmed at his words of appreciation. She could admit that having her husband compliment her, felt wonderful. If he appreciated her was love possible?
She didn’t know, but that was a hope she kept hidden in her heart of hearts.
Rory and Gabe drove onto the parking lot to see two police cruisers parked at odd angles in front of the main building of the Resort. They had just stepped out of the jeep, when they saw the doors open and two policemen walked out of the building each holding onto Carlos Santos arms. Carlos was handcuffed, spewing angry words as they led him down the stairs and into the waiting police cruiser.
Max Harrison followed close behind standing on the steps as the police drove away with Carlos Santos.
“Come, let’s see what Max has to say.” Gabe reached for her hand as they walked toward the front entrance.
As soon as Max spotted them, he hurried over. “Well, as you probably saw, we managed to find enough dirt on Carlos for him to spend time behind bars for years. We discovered multiple incidents of human trafficking, which was what he was doing with Maria and a few other girls in the Resort hotel. Not only did he force them to give him half of their wages, but he was also threatening them that he would harm their families if they said anything.”
“That’s terrible.” Rory sucked in air, horrified that something like that had happened to Maria.
“Well, that’s not the only thing we found. Carlos was also involved in trafficking illegal drugs as well as humans. Needless to say, the police will have enough to hold him in jail for a very long time.” Max grinned.
Gabe nodded. “Good.” He looked over at Rory. “Maria and the other girls will be safe now that Carlos has been caught.”
The Billionaire's Marriage Promise Page 11
