The Ruthless Gentleman

by Louise Bay

  “How long do those usually last?” he asked as his eyes followed a strand of my hair, set free by the breeze.

  “A few days to a couple of weeks.”

  “So eight weeks is a long charter,” he said, almost to himself.

  “Usually there’s a month’s break between the Med season and the Caribbean season. That’s when most people do their traveling.”

  “Usually?”

  “This charter was a little early, so I flew straight in from Miami, not that I had travelling planned. Unless you count Pavilions Mall in Sacramento.”

  He laughed. “I don’t think you need a Lonely Planet guide for that. So you’re doing two seasons back to back. It doesn’t show.”

  “I have good lighting,” I replied as I pointed at the sun. “And a good crew. And one unfussy guest.”

  “I can be very demanding,” he said, pinning me with a stare. “You haven’t seen all of me yet.”

  My pulse throbbed in my neck as his gravelly voice echoed through me. Heat rose up my body, and I snapped my head around to focus on the water.

  Silence pulsed between us as I concentrated on keeping my breathing steady. I should go but I wanted to see what was next.

  “Where would you take this boat if this was your charter?” he asked eventually, the heat between us having cooled to a simmer.

  Was he interested or being polite? I wanted to tell him everything.

  I smiled. “Italy is beautiful. Taormina in Sicily is as breathtaking as it gets. I’ve only ever been for an hour here or there but from what I’ve seen it’s desperately . . .” I stopped myself from finishing my sentence, from telling him how romantic I’d found Taormina the twice I’d managed to set a foot on dry land there.

  He inhaled and stood, and I could only focus on how his chest expanded and his body seemed to take up all the space around me.

  “Do you vacation a lot?” I asked, wanting to prolong our interaction, and still unclear why we hadn’t left the spot we’d started in two weeks ago.

  He chuckled. “Hardly.” He leaned back on the railing, facing away from the view that had brought us here.

  It was strange that he was my guest and yet here we were both working. I should be trying to lighten his load. “Have you thought about changing your surroundings a little? You could at least watch the sunrise light up a different coastline.” He’d enjoyed the sunrise and he might enjoy a different view. If I could do anything to make his experience on the Athena better, I would.

  He frowned as if he hadn’t really contemplated the idea, but Captain Moss would have talked him through the options.

  “Just a thought.” I sank my teeth into my bottom lip. “I know relaxation—the food, the wine, the ambience—isn’t your priority here, but in the nanoseconds that you allow yourself to relax, it could be nice to have a different view.”

  He nodded, and I stared out over the water, as he focused on something that wasn’t the view. For a moment I wondered if I was the only one who felt the link between us. It was as if we were being drawn toward each other by an invisible current—I wanted to stop swimming against the pull and let myself drift toward him, but I knew that wasn’t an option. And anyway, he’d be gone soon enough.

  “I’d need someone to share those sunrises with,” he said.

  Before I had the chance to respond or to analyze what he’d said, a crash in the kitchen brought me back to the moment. I straightened and checked my watch. It was a few minutes after seven, which meant Neill had started to prepare breakfast. It also meant Hayden and I had been admiring the Med for almost an hour. “I’m officially on shift,” I said, taking a deep breath as if it would magically transform me from tourist to waitress. “What would you like for breakfast?” I asked, knowing the answer would be eggs.

  Hayden stood and ran his fingers through his unruly hair. I pulled my hair into a ponytail while Hayden watched, his gaze flitting from my face to my hands, down my body and up.

  “You’ve been up all night,” I said. “Maybe you should sleep rather than eat.”

  “You’re probably right.” He stretched, the edge of his shirt lifting past his waistband to reveal a bronzed ribbon of skin—my own personal sunrise.

  I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block him out. “I’ll ask Neill for some eggs.” I turned and headed toward the sliding doors.

  “Thank you,” he called after me.

  I turned my head to smile. He was watching me, and the warmth that rose in my belly shouldn’t have been there. Perhaps I shouldn’t have suggested he catch the sunrise. I definitely shouldn’t have stayed to watch it with him, and I was certain that this feeling of connection I had to him was one-sided.

  And it needed to end. Fast.

  Hayden

  The squawk of seagulls pulled me from my nap and as I opened my eyes, even though I had my sunglasses on, I had to shield myself from the glare of the sun. I checked my watch. I’d been asleep four hours, ever since I’d slumped on my lounger after breakfast. I glanced at my laptop, which was firmly closed beside me. It was just coming up to one local time, so the U.S. wasn’t even at their desks yet. I’d not missed anything.

  “Mr. Wolf,” the captain said as he came through the sliding doors of the main living space.

  I stood to shake his hand. He checked in with me daily to ensure everything was okay and to ask if I wanted to pull up the anchor to go somewhere else. I’d always insisted I was fine where I was, but now I was in the mood for a change of scene. Avery had been right about so many things. She’d helped me set the Phoenix acquisition back on track, after all, so how could she be wrong about changing up the scenery? And if she liked Italy, then Italy was where we were taking this boat.

  “I was thinking we could make our way down the Italian coast over the next week.”

  Captain Moss nodded, probably relieved he was going to get to do something. “Absolutely. Do you want to leave today?”

  “At your convenience,” I replied.

  “We can get going this afternoon. The weather is good, and the winds are low.”

  “I thought we could end up in Taormina.”

  “That’s a great spot. No problem at all.”

  He turned to leave, but I added, “I’m aware that this is a longer charter than most, Captain.”

  “Yes, but we’re delighted you’re on board.” I was used to recruiting people for their skills, not their charm. I wasn’t a man who reveled in pleasantries and small talk. I preferred to cut to the chase. Captain Moss had a similar temperament, but I appreciated the effort he made.

  I nodded. “But I am here alone and require very little looking after. I appreciate that the crew might need to blow off some steam, after all, I’ve already been on board two weeks. I’d like to drop anchor somewhere and give the crew the night off.” I got the impression I was less demanding than most, but the crew shouldn’t be expected to work eight weeks without some time off. I might have been betrayed by a senior employee, but I still believed treating people with respect produced their best work. And their loyalty. Most of the time. People labeled me a generous employer, but I was motivated by self-interest—you got what you deserved most of the time.

  “That’s not necessary, Mr. Wolf. The crew are assigned enough free time.”

  Of course he’d push back, but my mind was set. “I appreciate when we’re not in dock I can’t be the only one left onboard, but I’m sure most of the crew can be given the evening off. Shall we say tomorrow from six?”

  Captain Moss hesitated. “That is more than generous. Rest assured I will be on board at all times along with one of my engineers.”

  “As you wish.” I shook his hand.

  “I’ll get us moving as soon as I can.”

  “Excellent. Thank you.”

  I’d been selfish by insisting I deal only with Avery, and I hadn’t even realized until I’d seen her with her hair down watching the sunrise this morning, trying to steal a few moments for herself. I wanted to be the one who ga
ve her those moments. She’d earned it—talking through the issues I had with Phoenix had genuinely helped. I could get stuck in the numbers, but she’d been right—this deal was all about people. Watching the sunrise with her, where she’d let joy replace her professional veneer, had been breathtaking and infectious. I was pretty sure I’d enjoy watching a traffic jam if I was watching it with her.

  For a few moments, as we’d faced the new day together, we’d been just two people enjoying the dawn. I’d remembered what it was like to feel free from the pressure of my whole world on the brink of collapse.

  It had been over all too quickly, and we’d both returned to our respective pressures—although she was far too professional to give away that her long hours were a problem. But she’d clearly not had the break between seasons she normally did, and that was down to me. While I couldn’t relieve that pressure again so easily for me, I could do it for Avery. Giving her and the rest of the crew the night off meant I could reimagine her and that easy manner she had when she wasn’t on duty. Even if I wasn’t there to witness it, it was reward enough to know she’d leave her hair loose and wear that warm generous smile somewhere ashore.

  Avery Walker deserved the night off. And it felt good to be the one who could make that happen for her.

  Fourteen

  Hayden

  “How’s paradise?” Landon asked as he answered my call.

  I pushed my chair away from my desk and rested my right leg on my left knee.

  “It’s fine.” Why did we have to go through this rigmarole of Landon trying to point out that I lived a charmed life? I rolled my eyes, desperate to get down to business. “I’ve asked the captain to take us down the Italian coast over the next week or so.”

  Landon cleared his throat as he stopped giving me shit and became the focused professional he was with others. “Not a problem. I have contacts all over that area who can make drops if you need them and I have a mobile team following you. I’m glad you called, actually.”

  “Why? Your bear-baiting skills need sharpening?”

  I could almost hear his grin at the other end of the line. “Well, yes, as it happens. But I also wanted to let you know that I finished tracing the finances of your senior team.”

  “And?” I asked, gripping the phone a little more tightly.

  “There’s a few things that we need to follow up. One with Anita and one with your finance director.”

  “Anita? There’s no way she’s the leak.”

  “We need to do some investigating. But she opened a bank account just over a year ago and there have been chunky payments into that account that total just shy of a hundred grand.”

  My heart began to knock against my ribcage. Anita was the one I trusted over everyone. It couldn’t be her. She’d worked for me for ten years and been part of the team before we had seven figures on our balance sheet. But what Landon had found didn’t sound good. Anita and I didn’t share anything personal, but I assumed she and her husband didn’t have a lot of money. From what I’d heard when my office door was open, she was putting two kids through university and was finding it tough. I’d given her a ten percent pay rise when I’d heard that, although she’d never asked for a raise in the whole time she’d worked for me. Perhaps her kids’ education had been her Achilles’ heel. Had Cannon found her weak spot?

  “You’re talking about my assistant, Anita? Fenton?” I asked. Perhaps Landon had mixed up the names.

  “Yes, Anita Fenton. The bank account activity is unusual. But I need to trace where it’s coming from. We’re on it.”

  “Okay, well let me know as soon as you can, please. I can’t imagine it’s her, but if it is . . .” The woman had access to everything I’d ever touched. I kept nothing from her; I trusted her implicitly. If she wanted to, she could cause chaos back at Wolf Enterprises.

  “We’ll find out what’s going on.”

  “I might call her. Check in.” I’d not spoken to her for a few days, and I could tell she was uncomfortable with me being away from the office. She’d tried to be respectful and not ask too many questions, but I could tell she wanted to know more about what I was doing.

  “Don’t set off any alarm bells. Don’t try to question her.”

  “I’m not an idiot.” That wasn’t conclusive right now. And if Anita was the source of the leak, I was pretty sure I’d be up for Idiot of the Year. “Did you say something about my finance director?”

  “Actually it’s not the director. It’s his reports. The controller and the treasurer.”

  “What’s the deal there?” Jesus, it sounded like Landon was investigating the entire company. Perhaps Cannon had more than one person on their payroll. It was clear they were coming for me, just like they’d come for my dad all those years ago.

  “I’m not sure. A couple of calls to unregistered mobiles. An account in the Cayman Islands that one of them holds.”

  “An offshore account? Why would anyone working for me need an account in the Cayman Islands?”

  “It’s actually not that unusual for finance professionals. I see it all the time, especially if they’ve spent part of their career abroad. But it makes my job harder.”

  I swallowed. Landon never admitted he found things difficult. It wasn’t his style.

  “Also, I don’t think I asked you, but who’s the newest member of your team?”

  I’d poached all five of my executive team from positions in other companies—I’d handpicked them—none of them had applied for the job. “My strategy director was the last person I recruited.” Sally’d been on the other side of a negotiation and she’d done her best to kick my arse. I’d decided I’d rather have her inside my tent pissing out than the other way around. “But that was over two years ago.”

  “What about other women?”

  “There’s Jean and Helen.”

  “I don’t mean other people on your executive team. I mean women.”

  Was he five? “You mean girls I’ve fucked? Well, you know the score there.”

  “Are you still as prolific as you’ve always been?”

  I chuckled and amusement sliced through my anxiety. It seemed so odd that my brother was asking me personal questions in a way that was clearly meant to be professional. I was used to a different side of him. “Prolific? Jesus, I bet locker room talk was boring when you were in the SAS. I fuck a lot of women, but they never come back to my place. I don’t take them to dinner or talk about my day with them.”

  “So it’s just shagging. No pillow talk?”

  “You want details? Okay, well if you must know, generally I like to start with getting my dick sucked. I like women to take their bra off for that but leave their knickers—”

  “Shut the fuck up. I don’t want to hear about how bad in bed you are.”

  Given how differently our lives had turned out, it always surprised me how quickly we reverted to our teenage selves around each other. There were lots of upsides to being successful, but there were downsides too. I didn’t get to kick back with the guys much. I didn’t have many friends. They’d been abandoned along the route to the success. And at work I was the boss—a leader. I was deadly serious and laser focused. Landon was really the only person in my life I could joke with.

  “Think about it. Is there anyone you’ve shagged over the last couple of years you changed your MO for? Maybe she turned up to your place, naked, wearing just a fur or maybe you’ve fucked some office junior—”

  “Hey, that’s enough. I’ve never taken advantage of a junior member of my staff. Like I said, there’s no one. I’m not saying there aren’t girls, but I never bring them back to my place and I never discuss work with them.” I fucked to forget about work. It was my release, the way I disappeared from the stress of the day.

  “Calm down.” Landon paused. “If you’re sure then we’ll put all our efforts into the office. I just want to make sure we’re not missing anything. I expected it to be easier. Whoever it is has covered their tracks.”

&nb
sp; “When I call Anita, I could ask her to arrange for me to be sent a couple of IMs and have her send them to me on USB.”

  “IM?” Landon asked.

  “Information Memorandum—the sale particulars of a company.”

  “Sounds good. It could help flush someone out. That way if Cannon swoop in and buy any of the companies whose sale particulars you’ve requested, we’ll know Anita is the source.”

  “Right, Einstein.” I hated to consider the possibility that Anita was the leak but if she was, I needed to know sooner rather than later. She had too much access to too much information. More than anyone, she had the ability to destroy me and I wasn’t going to let that happen.

  Fifteen

  Avery

  There was no end of lobster, steak and chocolate on a yacht, which meant I craved the most basic things. It might not be everyone’s idea of a perfect meal but as far as I was concerned, carbs and cheese were as close to heaven as it was possible to be while still breathing, and combining them was just the best invention outside of tampons, the internet and lipstick.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” Eric came into the galley as I was shredding the perfect strength cheddar, which I knew Neill stocked just for me.

  “Making myself a cheese sandwich, or changing a tire—delete as appropriate.”

  He checked his watch. “But we’re heading to the restaurant in like twenty minutes, and are you grating cheese to go in a cold cheese sandwich?”

  I shook my head. “First, with August in your party, you’ll be lucky if you make it out within the hour. Second, I don’t see how I can join you.”

  He drew back as if I’d whacked him in the face with a frying pan. “What do you mean?”

  I shook the grater, small curls of yellow tumbling onto the board. “I don’t see how I can? I mean, is the captain going to make Hayden a coffee if he wants one?”

  “Captain Moss said himself that Hayden had given us all the evening off. Neill’s prepped some food and left it in the refrigerator. Wolf knows there won’t be any crew on board.”