Saving the Bride

by Kira Blakely

  “Then I’ll go.”

  “But sir, this could be a trap. If they manage to get the better of you— Look, no one’s in position yet because Marino isn’t there. If—”

  “Jessica, I appreciate your concern, but this is my cross to bear. I suggest you go home to your husband. Take the rest of the night off. I won’t need your assistance until tomorrow. I’ll be in touch.” I hung up before she could protest again.

  I slipped my cell into my pocket and squeezed my eyes shut. What a total fucking wreck. Already, things were falling apart at the seams.

  The plan had been simple.

  Lure Marino to the island, make demands, anger him if need be, and take him down out here. My connections to the government here, to Marino through the fucked up business deal, had made this the perfect place for everything to go down with minimal loss of life.

  Fuck, and now I had to worry about—

  The door creaked behind me and I spun around. Shit, it was still open.

  Katie! What if she heard? If she gets involved in this, it will go from complicated to total clusterfuck.

  I strode toward the door and pushed it open. The inside of the bathroom was silent, the lights still on overhead, and my reflection in the mirror to the right stark. My shirt still hung open and there were dark circles under my eyes. What’s new?

  My gaze locked onto the bedroom’s door, still slightly open as I’d left it. I trudged over to it, then entered the room.

  Katie lay on her side, wrapped in the sheets, her strawberry blonde hair tussled and laying across the pillow. and her mouth slightly open, eyes closed. Her right breast peeked out from the covers, tempting me all over again.

  I could wake her slowly, kiss her, go down on her, bring her to climax while she was still half asleep. What the fuck has gotten into you? Focus, fuckhead!

  Instead of following through on my fantasies, I walked over to the bed, bent down, and brushed my lips across her forehead. She mumbled in her sleep but didn’t wake. I left her like that, angelic, perhaps only because I didn’t know the “real” her, and went through to the kitchen to work on my plans for tomorrow.

  Tomorrow, I’d convince Katie to leave, even if it meant pushing her away. Tomorrow, I’d meet with Julio.

  Everything relied on the meeting with this emissary. The only contact I had with the outside world was Jessica. I had to believe that the FBI had my back, and that this would all end well.

  But the doubt in my gut wouldn’t go away.

  Chapter 6

  Katie

  I’d learned two things about this island so far. One, billionaires frequented it—handsome ones with massive… well, equipment. And two, there were craploads of bugs between the palm trees. Slapping them off my neck, arms, legs, and face was no fun at 4:30 in the morning whilst in the middle of a desperate attempt to keep quiet.

  Sneaking between trees in low visibility while being eaten alive was not my definition of paradise, but that investigative part of my brain had taken over, at least.

  No more doubts. No more thoughts about Logan, and how good he’d felt inside me. No wondering how the hell I’d let that happen with him.

  Okay, so I was a bald-faced liar. All those things were on a constant loop in my mind, backed up by a chorus of, “You don’t have any integrity, be ashamed – ah-ha, ah-ha.” Kind of like a really depressing version of a KC and the Sunshine Band song.

  Calm down. You can do this.

  I tiptoed between the trees, scanning the ground and then the beach intermittently. Thankfully, the moon was still out and cast some light on the sands. The gentle wash of waves on the beach did nothing to soothe me, though.

  I slapped at another insect and kept going, torn between worrying about Mom and Butch, the Business Breakdown, and thoughts of Logan and how he wasn’t anything like I’d suspected he’d be.

  The recluse was handsome, but he was meant to be cold and calculating, not a fiery, steamy fountain of desire and wet dreams.

  Seriously! Focus!

  I continued, picking my way out of the trees, and stood just beneath them looking out over the sands. Logan was nowhere in sight—no gorgeous hulking figure trudged into view. I’d followed him out of the bungalow, but, unfortunately, lost him between the trees at about the same time the bugs had made their coordinated attack on every bit of skin I had.

  The night was silent, the moon casting pale light, glimmering out on the ocean. Far away, a chorus of a song rang out, followed by raucous laughter. The party didn’t end on Isla Santa Maria.

  Pity I didn’t have a minute to take any of this in. I’d literally arrived on the island yesterday, after a plane ride which’d been my version of a personal hell – a leery old dude who’d asked me about my future with his gaze fixed to my shirt – and slipped into the very same cocktail dress I wore now.

  Whatever this island had to offer, I’d only seen the crappy parts so far.

  I folded my arms and leaned back against the tree.

  It moved. It let out a little squeak. It touched my arm with cold fingers.

  “Jesus Hubert Christ!” I shrieked and jumped about a foot into the air. I came down spinning, my arms in full-on bitch slap mode. “Get away! Get!”

  “Oh, undskyld!” A woman stepped out of the shadows, her dark hair bundled on top of her head, dressed in the uniform of the resort, holding a cigarette between two fingers. “I was having smoke break,” she said. “So sorry. Undskyld. Didn’t mean to scare.”

  “Oh,” I said. “Oh. I— Okay?” I squinted at her in the dark. “Do you usually sneak up on people like this?” I asked.

  “My name is Agnete,” she said and took a drag on her cigarette. “I’m new.”

  “Okay? I— that’s not a Spanish name?” This was surreal. I was on a beach with some resort worker at 4:45 in the morning. I checked my watch again. Shit, 4:50 a.m. Where the hell was Logan and this dude he was supposed to meet?

  “It’s Danish,” she said. “I’m from Denmark. Hvor kommer du fra?”

  I stared at her, blankly. “Huh?”

  “Oh, I— where do you coming from?”

  “New York,” I said. “Listen, um, Magnete—”

  “Agnete.”

  “Right, sorry. I’m kind of in the middle of something. I wonder if you could help me. Did you see a really tall, big, broad-shouldered man go past here?” I left out the “deliciously handsome” part.

  “Ja,” she said. “He go down beach and turn into there. Between trees.” She gestured in the general direction, and I gave her a double thumbs-up.

  “Thank you! You’re a lifesaver.”

  “Sure,” she said and continued with the cigarette.

  I hurried off under the trees, keeping close to their line and out of the moonlight. I shoved out of my mind thoughts of anything other than this meeting. If it was a meeting with one of Marino’s guys, all the better.

  If I had to gather information and toss my integrity in the trash, maybe I could use this “opportunity” to get some dirt on Marino as well. And figure out why Logan’s involved with him. What if he’s a criminal too?

  It was a dangerous game, but one I’d play if it meant saving my mom and the business. I crept closer to where the Danish girl had told me Logan had gone, my heart beating a mile a minute.

  I listened hard, but the night was silent except for the gentle rustling of insects or small animals in the grass, and the waves out there. My heart beat faster, but I slowed my breathing—inhale, exhale, repeat.

  Over the years, I’d been on a couple of weird assignments. I’d traveled to foreign countries to interview billionaires or tech company CEOs and experienced a variety of awesome cultures and strange adventures. I loved adventure. Anything new, spontaneous… it was my kryptonite. But this topped all my previous adventures. The tension, the threat—this was entirely new.

  A bird hooted in the night and I jumped, let out a yelp, then clapped my hand over my mouth. Seriously? This is not your first time.

>   I took another step, cautious of what might be ahead.

  A phone rang beside me.

  I froze, turned my head, then gulped.

  Logan stepped out from under the trees, his cell in his hand, and his gaze laser-focused on me.

  “Hi,” I whispered, for god knew what reason now.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked.

  “Just taking a midnight stroll?”

  “Are you asking me?”

  “No?” Dammit! I cleared my throat. “I mean, no. I’m telling you. I felt like a walk.”

  His phone shrilled in his hand, the light illuminating his stern features from below. Logan looked as if he was about to tell me the spookiest story ever written. Stephen King quality. “A walk,” he growled.

  “Yep. It’s a free country. I think?”

  Logan charged forward and grabbed me by the forearm, his phone still ringing.

  “Hey!”

  “Let’s go.”

  “Seriously, man, are you going to answer that?” I asked, stalling hard. “Why are you freaking out? It’s a lovely morning. Let’s take a walk together.”

  “Oh, you wanna take a walk?” he asked. “Fine, let’s walk. This way.” He set off across the sand, half-dragging, half-walking me back the way I’d come.

  “But the ocean and the view. I—”

  His phone quit ringing and he spun toward me, letting me go. “Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out here?”

  “Dangerous? Why? It’s paradise.”

  “Don’t play dumb. You followed me out here. You’re going to explain exactly what the hell is going on or I’m going to—”

  I raised my chin and stared him down. “You’re going to what?” I asked. “Hurt me?”

  “No!” The very thought seemed to offend him. He drew back from me, and the heat which’d traveled between us and streaked through me went with him. I wanted it back, and I despised myself for it. Too complicated. Ugh!

  “Then what?” I asked, hardening my tone. “Do you usually treat women you sleep with this way?”

  “No,” he repeated. “I don’t usually sleep with women like you.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “That you’re not meant to be here. We’re leaving. Actually, you’re leaving. I’ll buy you a ticket back to…”

  “New York,” I filled in. God, I’d slept with him and he didn’t even know where I was from. This was insanity.

  He took my hand this time and I pulled it out of his grasp, forcing myself not to respond to his touch, to the roughness of him, the bluntness. “You’re not making me go anywhere.”

  “You’re not staying here,” he replied.

  We’d reached an impasse.

  “Tell me why you’re out here,” I said.

  “I think you already know.” His eyes narrowed. “Which means you know it was private and you followed me anyway. Who are you, really, Katie? Jinx? Who are you?”

  “I’m a writer,” I snapped. “At least I told you a bit about myself. I don’t even know what you do for a living. Only that you snatch up girls from bars and practically drag them back to your bungalow for—”

  Logan grabbed me around the waist, lifted me, and tossed me over his shoulder. I gave a little yelp. “Hey! Hey, what are you, a caveman? Put me down.”

  “We can talk about this later. It’s too goddamned dangerous out here. If they find you—”

  “They?”

  “We’ll talk la—”

  A gunshot popped through the air behind us, followed by another, and another. I screamed for real this time.

  Logan swung me down from his shoulder and onto the ground, then threw his body on top of mine. “Stay low,” he growled.

  Chapter 7

  Logan

  Katie squirmed beneath me.

  “Stop moving,” I said, trying but failing to ignore the press of her breasts in that same damn dress. Christ, I should’ve fetched her clothes from her hotel. This was insane.

  She didn’t quit.

  “Stop!” I snapped. I had to concentrate and couldn’t do it with her grinding into me. My cock was already thickening, for fuck sakes.

  “Can’t … breathe,” she choked.

  “Oh shit,” I said, and shifted my weight. The gunshots sputtered again, but they weren’t on us. They appeared to be from down the beach. I had to check it out—had the feds gone in early? That would be an absolute, unadulterated disaster. Marino wasn’t here. “Idiots,” I muttered.

  “Gerroff,” Katie hissed. “Gerroff, I still can’t breathe. You weigh a ton.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, resisted the urge to kiss her on the forehead.

  “Yeah, it wasn’t a compliment, bear man.”

  I rolled to the side and lifted myself into a crunch position, scanning the beach. Silence, then another crack. I narrowed my eyes. Those shots didn’t sound right, but I couldn’t investigate with Katie here.

  Firstly, I had no idea who she really was or why she’d followed me out here. Secondly, I couldn’t think when she was this close to me. And thirdly, and most importantly, I couldn’t allow her to get hurt.

  “That doesn’t sound right,” Katie said, mimicking my crunch. She flopped back after a second and muttered something about working out more often. She scrambled to her feet, put her fists on her hips, and frowned. “Wait a minute. Of course!” She set off across the beach, kicking up sand in her wake, and shock slashed through me.

  That was another first.

  Nothing had shocked me in a long ass time. Katie… shit, I didn’t know her last name… was probably the only person I knew who’d run toward the gunshots.

  Toward them. Shit! “Hey! What the hell are you doing?” I jumped to my feet and sprinted after her, gaining fast. “Hey! Are you out of your mind?”

  She didn’t slow down, and man, she looked fly in that cocktail dress. She’d hiked it up her thighs so she could run easier, and her blonde hair whipped out behind her in a silvery trail beneath the moonlight.

  “Katie!” I hissed. “Jinx! Whatever the hell your name is! Stop!”

  I caught up with her just as she burst past the line of trees and onto the scene of… a party.

  “What the hell?”

  We both stopped dead in our tracks, her breathing hard, cheeks red as apples.

  The scene before us was a mixture of erotic, sweet, and chaotic.

  Some couples danced in the sand, while others sat on benches feeding each other fruit or drinks. A man stumbled up from his seat and through the sand, then collapsed under the trees. Beneath a cabana, a man and woman stood in front of a guy dressed in multicolored robes. The woman wore a veil; the man, a tux. People clapped as they kissed.

  Firecrackers popped, wielded by an elderly gentleman wearing nothing but a pair of swimming shorts. That explained the shots.

  “What in the—?” I stiffened. This definitely wasn’t my scene. I looked over at Katie and did a double take.

  Her eyes had lit up, and a broad, beautiful smile transformed her already gorgeous face. It had softened her a little, and she blinked languidly by the light of the bonfire near the cabana. “Wow,” she whispered.

  The couple on the makeshift altar kissed again, and a cheer rose from the kissing couples, the drunk spectators, and the men who stood at a set of grills further down the beach. The scent of cooking shellfish and meat drifted in the air.

  “Fireworks!” a man with an American accent shouted.

  The guy who’d been popping the firecrackers rushed off down the beach, apparently to ready more fireworks. Christ, what the hell was this? It was almost daylight, and these folks were still partying like crazy.

  The married couple sauntered toward us, both barefoot, the woman in a bikini and the man in his shorts. “Welcome,” the woman said in a British accent. “Have you come to join the wedding party? All are welcome.”

  “We’d better get going,” I said, just as Katie was nodding her head in a frantic
“yes.”

  “Have a seat,” the groom said. “There’s plenty of room, and the day’s just beginning. We’ll be partying all day and all night.”

  I checked my watch and groaned under my breath. It was 5:20 a.m. If the emissary had been here, he’d left already. I scanned the people at the makeshift beach reception, but none of them stood out or gave me the evil eye.

  “Thank you,” Katie said. “That’s very nice of you, and congratulations.” She hugged the bride and then the groom. She nudged me in the ribs.

  “Congratulations,” I put in, mostly to get rid of them. We didn’t have time for this. We? What we?

  The happy couple wandered off and Katie immediately clamped down on my arm and tugged. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get a drink.”

  “Are you— What the hell? Woman, a second ago you wanted to know why we’re in trouble, and there were gunshots, for fuck’s sake.”

  “So?” she asked, and laughed, a tinkle of mirth which stirred my dick all over again. “Let’s live a little. You wanted to know who I was, right? So? Let’s get to know each other.”

  “Here?” I checked my watch again, brought out my phone, and cursed at the missed calls from an unknown number. I’d missed them all out of sheer anger and shock that she’d crept down the beach after me.

  “Yes, here. Where else? You want to have a sit-down dinner instead? At least this is casual. And public.” She muttered the last part, but I still caught it. There was more to this “Jinx” than met the eye.

  We walked over to one of the emptier tables and took our places on the bench beside each other. A waitress appeared beside us, a young woman with dark hair and a name tag. She flashed Katie a grin. “Hello,” she said, the word carrying a thick accent. “You find the party!”

  “Yes,” Katie replied. “Thanks, Agate.”

  “Agnete.”

  “Right! Sorry. You’re working here?”

  “Yes, this resort function. It go on all day. You want the drink?” the waitress asked, and spread her arms. “I get you from the bar.”

  “Yes, I’ll take a vodka cranberry,” Katie said. “Thank you.”

  “Beer,” I replied. “I don’t care what it is.”