by Eve Langlais
The reassurance only caused a pang of disappointment. Marcus wondered at its cause until it hit him. No more attempts on Darren’s life meant Kacy would leave.
He didn’t want that.
Yes, he did.
The split in his mind made his lips turn down.
“Someone’s looking grumpy this morning,” Darren remarked as they followed the crushed seashell path to the main house.
“These past few days have made me realize something. I’m not really qualified to protect you.”
“What are you talking about? You’ve done a fine job. I’m still alive, aren’t I?”
“Yeah, but no thanks to me. Kacy’s right. I don’t know shit about bodyguarding.”
“You know plenty. Keep in mind, these are extraordinary circumstances.”
“In other words, I’m only good at my job when there’s nothing to really protect you from.”
Darren stopped and turned to face Marcus. “What’s this really about? You’ve been working for me for years now. We’ve faced dangerous situations before.”
“That’s just it. We faced them. This whole sneaking around, bombing and snipers…” Marcus shrugged. “I don’t know how to prevent and guard against it.” Throw him down on the front lines with a gun and point him in the direction of an enemy, and Marcus could get the job done. Tell him to walk into a warehouse and use his fists to convince a guy that skimming profits was a bad idea, and he was your guy. But this subterfuge and coy attempts to kill Darren, he struggled with how to handle it.
Darren tried to alleviate his qualms. “Don’t stress out about it, bro. Like I said, these are extraordinary circumstances, which is why we’ve got Kacy.”
“But what about when she leaves?” What would happen when he didn’t get to see her every day and struggled with his emotions?
“Is it me, or are you trying to tell me you’d rather we keep the girl on?”
What?
No.
Yes.
Um…
Marcus found himself flustered for a moment as Darren pinned the cause of his true turmoil. “Actually, I was thinking that maybe I haven’t given the academy training thing a fair shake.”
“I can arrange for you to get an expedited crash course if you’d like. I have connections, you know.” Darren winked. “The academy would welcome you.”
“But that would mean leaving you.”
“Only for a short while.”
“Or…” Marcus told his tongue to hold it back, to keep it in but he failed. “Or we keep Kacy on after we solve the contract on your life and she teaches me.”
Give me a gun. I need to shoot myself.
Especially since Darren turned a knowing smile his way. “So there is something between the two of you.”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. But that’s not why I’m asking.”
“Sure it’s not.” Darren snickered. “So if I said, how about I instead get the best trainer the academy has to offer instead of Kacy, you’d say?” An expectant gaze turned his way.
Marcus clamped his lips tight.
“That’s what I thought.” Darren chuckled. “Poor Marcus. Pricked by the love bug.”
“This isn’t funny.”
“No, it most certainly isn’t. And yet, it’s about time.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you shouldn’t spend your life alone.”
“I date.” Sporadically and never for long.
“Fucking is not dating.”
“Says the man who hasn’t dipped his wick since a certain girl dumped him.”
“My lack of interest in sex has nothing to do with Francesca. I’ve been busy.”
“Now who’s the one skirting the truth?”
“Francesca is nothing to me. I barely remember what she looks like. I couldn’t care less where’s she’s gone off to or what she’s doing.”
“Really? That’s good to know because, if I’m not mistaken, that’s her on the far end of the terrace hanging off some dude’s arm.”
“What?” Darren whirled, and Marcus almost felt sorry for the man.
Darren could deny it all he wanted, but he’d had his heart broken by her. It had been a fling of only a few weeks when he’d gone to France on business. But an affair that had left him depressed for more than a year now.
The worst part about it all? No one could have seen it coming.
Marcus certainly hadn’t. He’d thought Francesca was just as in love with Darren as he was with her.
So the note she’d left, and the empty apartment, a space cleaned out overnight, had taken them by surprise. Poor Darren had gotten so drunk that night, Marcus had to carry him to bed.
Marcus did that for seven nights straight before he forced him to get on a plane and head back home.
And now, here she was. In the flesh, with another man, looking as gorgeous as always with her tall, willowy figure, her long chestnut hair, and her exquisite features.
Why couldn’t she have been sunburned and peeling?
Why did she have to be here at all?
Marcus recognized the glint in Darren’s eye. Fire, the kind borne of pain that demanded satisfaction. Except the rich didn’t fight like those of the lower classes did. Oh no, theirs was a war made of polite words and supercilious expressions.
Marcus could have applauded Darren’s cool composure as he glided across the terrace, dodging tables covered in white linen, Marcus shadowing his steps.
Darren’s smoothly purred, “Francesca, how nice to see you again,” had all the right words, but Marcus could hear the undertone. You bitch. Why couldn’t you have fallen off a cliff?
“Darren.” She feigned surprise at seeing him. “How lovely to run into you again.” Judging by her fingers clenched tightly around her glass, what she really meant was, Fuck me, I heard you were here but was hoping to avoid you.
“You’re looking well.” Code speak for, You bitch, how dare you still be hot.
Instead of returning the compliment, she turned slightly to indicate her companion. “Stefanov, might I introduce you to Darren Thorne.”
The older gent, with more salt than pepper in his hair, smiled. “Very nice to meet you.” The words emerged with a heavy Russian accent. “So glad you could accept my invitation.”
“You invited me?” Darren couldn’t hide the surprise.
Stefanov gestured widely to the area around them. “I invited everyone you see here.”
“Why?” Darren asked.
“It is much too complicated to explain out here in the open. But trust me when I say we have many things to discuss.”
“Are you sure about that? Because I don’t know you, so I don’t see what we’d have to discuss.”
“And that is where the complicated part comes in. If you’re not busy right now, perhaps we should adjourn to my office. I will have one of my staff bring us some breakfast to enjoy while we converse.”
As the Russian spoke, Francesca slipped away, and Darren betrayed himself only a slight bit when his eyes tracked her movements.
Marcus wanted to slap him for paying her any kind of attention. The woman was obviously involved with their host. Darren doing anything with her might prove treacherous.
“I’ll admit I am intrigued by what you might have to say.” As the men began to move, Marcus dropped in behind them.
Stefanov abruptly stopped and fixed Marcus with a cold, blue-eyed gaze. “This discussion is private.”
Marcus bristled. “Where he goes, I go.”
“Are you calling my hospitality into question?”
“Yes,” Marcus growled. “I’m sure someone told you about the attempt on my boss’s life on the way over.”
“A regrettable accident. The original pilot was replaced without our knowing, but I assure you, the staff on the island is quite loyal to me.”
When Marcus would have hotly retorted, Darren shook his head. “I’ll be fine. Go back to the cabana and check on Kacy. Take her so
me breakfast while you’re at it. Meet me back here in an hour.”
“How do I know you won’t wander off?”
“You don’t.” Darren smiled, and Marcus could only gnash his teeth as he watched the two men continue on their path, leaving him the choice of standing there staring like a slack-jawed idiot or reporting to Kacy—who might break his jaw for letting Darren go off on his own.
He rubbed his jaw. No matter what, he needed to tell her what had happened. Surely, she’d know what to do. To hopefully mitigate any damage to his person, he thought it prudent to bring her some food.
The plate he balanced in one hand soon found itself piled high with yummy tidbits—including lots of bacon. When a voice purred by his ear, he didn’t whip around to smash the contents in a certain face but only because he hated to waste good food.
“Darren is in danger.”
Not displaying any emotion, Marcus pivoted to face Francesca, her features as elegantly beautiful as always, but Marcus didn’t find her at all attractive. He preferred someone a little more vibrant and tanned.
“You don’t say. But don’t worry. If he finds himself drawn to you, I’ll kill you myself to save him the misery.”
“I wasn’t talking about danger from me.” Francesca’s eyes flashed with anger.
“Maybe not, but I was. Consider this your warning to keep your claws out of him. You’ve done enough damage. I won’t see him hurt again.”
At that, he noticed a flicker in her gaze, a shade of regret quickly there and then gone again.
“What happened between us was regrettable.”
“Regrettable?” At that, he raised an eyebrow. “You shredded his heart.”
Again, a shade of something passed over her face. “I am sorry for what happened, but it couldn’t be avoided.”
“I understand breaking up is hard to do, but to leave him high and dry, thinking you had a future…” He trailed off and shook his head. “That was cold. But the good news is, he’s moved on. As a matter of fact, he’s here with his new squeeze.” A fake relationship, but, given the way Francesca’s lips puckered in displeasure, it hit a chord. Good.
“I didn’t come over here to speak with you to rehash my past with Darren.”
“Then why did you bother coming over? I mean, other than to cause trouble.”
“Darren’s in danger.”
“So you said. Aren’t we all? I’m thinking I could eliminate a good chunk of it right now by making you go for a swim with the sharks.”
“Resorting to threats now?”
“More like making promises for the well-being of a boss who is also my friend. You hurt him once. I won’t let you do it again.”
“It’s not me who wants to hurt him. There is a contract out, demanding his blood.”
How did she know that? Francesca obviously wasn’t the woman Darren had assumed her to be. Then again, that had become obvious the moment they saw her on this island. More and more, Marcus wondered if Darren had known Francesca at all.
She fooled us all.
“We are aware of the contract and taking precautions.”
“But are you aware that the person behind it is on this island with us?” Francesca turned from Marcus and swept her gaze over the spaced tables on the terrace, the people seated at them varying in age and nationality, but all having one thing in common, a subtle aura of power and wealth.
“How do you know the person who offered the contract is here?” Darren had also mentioned that possibility. Just how widespread was this supposed tidbit?
“I have my sources.”
Yup, definitely more to Francesca than a beautiful model in France for a fashion show.
“Are you the person behind the hits?”
“It’s not me.” Said with hot indignation, the cool veneer crumbling for a moment.
“Then how do you know?”
“How I know is not important.”
“I’d say it is. If you know who’s threatening Darren, then give me a name, right now.” Marcus moved so he stood closer to her, using his size to intimidate, except Francesca didn’t back down. Much like Kacy, she had a backbone of steel, which made her running away from Darren in the night so much harder to understand.
“I don’t have a name, nor do I know who it is. I only know they are present, and you must be vigilant.”
“Tell that to your boyfriend who wouldn’t let me join him and Darren.” Hard to guard a body when his boss insisted on wandering off with strangers.
“You needn’t worry about Stefanov.”
“Says you. Who’s to say he won’t have a jealous fit when he finds out you and Darren used to fuck?”
Her lips pursed. “There’s no need for vulgarity.”
“I’ll be as vulgar as I like. You treated Darren like shit. I’m just returning the favor.”
“Your loyalty to Darren is commendable. One can only hope you’ll be enough to keep him safe. Consider yourself warned. Be watchful.” With those parting words, she slipped off, a slim figure in an elegant white pantsuit—an enigma he now wished he’d killed.
Just who was Francesca really?
More than ever, he needed to find Kacy. The plot had just thickened, and he could use her expertise.
Balancing the plate of food, he quickly made his way through the paths he’d memorized to the cabana. Entering, he crept quietly into the bedroom and stared down at little pint. She still slept, or at least feigned it, her face relaxed, her skin fresh and clean of makeup or artifice. Smooth of any scowl.
Utterly angelic looking.
Perhaps dropping a light kiss on her lips wasn’t the brightest thing he’d ever done, but he didn’t deserve the knife she pulled from under her pillow and held at his throat.
Chapter Eighteen
Overreacting to simple things, that was Kacy, but then again, she didn’t know what to do when Marcus kissed her.
Placed a light caress on her lips as if waking a princess.
And she’d allowed it. She’d heard him enter the room, so it wasn’t as if he had surprised her.
The sweet and soft kiss most definitely did, though.
She opened her eyes to glare at him. “Why did you do that?”
“Because you were cute.” He sounded as appalled as she was by the words tumbling from his lips.
“Cute?” Did he need a mental evaluation? She sat on the far end of cute with her unbrushed teeth, wild hair from her nocturnal swim, and the possible dried drool on her cheek from her exhausted nap.
“Should I have said sexy?” He pulled back from the knife. “I have to say, it’s kind of arousing to know you sleep with a weapon.”
“I always have something under my pillow in case I need protection.” She wouldn’t need anything if she slept with Marcus. The man was beast-sized.
Hold on, why on earth would she even let her mind veer in that direction?
Struggling to a seated position, she noted the tray in his hand and the lack of client. “Where’s Darren?”
“In a meeting at the main house.”
“And you left him alone?”
She would have sprung out of the bed, but he placed the tray on her lap and sat on the edge of the mattress, pinning part of her thigh with his bulk.
“Calm down, little pint. Before you go rushing off, let me note that Darren made me leave. I didn’t have a choice. He met the owner of the island, the guy who invited him and brought us all here.”
“And you let them go off together?”
Marcus shrugged. “Like I said, I wasn’t given a choice. He wanted to talk to Darren alone. But that’s not the only thing that happened.”
Since listening to Marcus—and imbibing some food—would be more valuable than running off half-cocked, she didn’t throat punch the brute and shove him off the bed. Instead, she grabbed a slice of mango before asking, “Who’s the guy Darren met? Describe him.”
Marcus gave her the brief rundown, very brief, and then took a deep breath.
&n
bsp; Uh-oh. “What else?” she asked.
“Darren’s ex-girlfriend is here, on the island.”
“And? Don’t rich folk run in the same circles?” Kacy had watched more than her fair share of sitcoms and soap operas, enough to know that everyone slept with someone at one point. Sometimes more than once.
“Rich folk, as you call them, have a much wider circle and world than you’d think. Especially when they are from other continents. It’s why Darren only vaguely knows the people here. As we’ve noticed, everyone present thus far seems to come from a different spot in the world. Darren is from the US. This Stefanov guy seems to be Russian. We’ve got that Chinese gal. The Australian. Some big dude from South Africa, and even someone from Brazil.”
“And Europe seems to be two groups. One is definitely British, and the other is from Switzerland. Have you figured out what they have in common yet?”
“Other than the fact they’re loaded?” Marcus shrugged. “Nope. But I imagine Darren’s finding out right now.”
Which meant Kacy would grill him once she got her hands on him—and shook him for, once again, being a moron. “Is this ex-girlfriend going to cause problems?”
At that, Marcus lifted his shoulders. “Yes. No. Probably. Darren really had a thing for her, and when she dumped him out of the blue, without any explanation, she fucked him up. Bad.”
“With his resources, why didn’t he hunt her down and ask for answers and get some closure?”
“For one thing, that would have been pathetic. For another, we couldn’t find her.”
“What do you mean you couldn’t find her?” As owner of the academy, Darren had access to the most comprehensive databases.
“It’s as if she only existed for that one month they spent together in France. Not a trace of her could be found, not by name, fingerprint, or DNA. All of our searches came up empty.”
“That’s almost impossible.”
“Unless she wasn’t who she said she was.”
A spy? An agent for someone else? The plot thickened. “You said she appears to be with this Stefanov guy.”
“That’s the appearance they gave.”
“I wonder if they arrived last night.” Was that the woman Kacy had seen coming down those stairs, the one who’d almost caught her on the balcony? She’d have to watch herself around the woman.