by Sun Chara
Julia was up to no good.
He’d slipped once where she was concerned and that rankled his pride. But he never made the same mistake twice, especially with a woman…he had no intention of being suckered a second time by Julia.
Suckered like his uncle—a fierce pressure built inside him—who’d transferred half the fledgling Leonadis boat business, now worth a fortune, to his American Loli— the pressure detonated from him. And she’d bequeathed it to her only relative—a daughter.
“Move along,” he commanded, marching up behind her.
As soon as the weekend tryst with Julia wrapped, he’d get an update from Mario and nab Julia. She was no doubt a gold digger like her mother.
“Not so fast.” Julia skidded to a stop, and he almost bumped into her shapely derriere.
Friction crackled in the inch of space separating them, and he dropped the attaché across his hips, camouflaging his body’s reaction.
The woman still turned him on, and that had him clamping down on his molars. She was a major turn-on, but she didn’t have to know that.
She spun around, hands on hips and jabbed her finger at his chest.
Sizzles zinged into him.
“I want to see the trust deed,” she demanded, her voice wavering. A blink, and she averted her gaze.
Another ploy? He frowned.
“I want proof you’ll keep your promise that Amy’s future is secure.”
He inflated his lungs, and a second later the air exploded from his mouth. “Right here.” He tapped the attaché case, and she pounced for it, but he held it out of her reach. “Uh, uh.”
“Why not?”
“You’ve got to uphold your end of the deal first.”
“But how do I know if—”
“You don’t.” His cruel words surprised him almost as much as her. “There’s something to be said for…trust.”
She gaped at him, and then burst out laughing, the brittle sound lacerating his insides. And because of that, his next words were even more unyielding. “I’m going to lock this in the safe below, until we’re square.”
She gave him a glazed look, and nibbled her bottom lip.
He felt a prick of his conscience, but he crushed it before it took root.
“Got that, cover girl?”
A slight lowering of her lashes, and she ran her fingertip down his chest, his muscles tightening beneath her touch. “A look at the document, might make me more amiable to your overtures.”
“Might do.” He curled his lip. “But I don’t intend to pay to play prematurely.”
“Pay is pay, Michalis,” she blasted, her words breaking on her tongue.
“Come now, Julia.” He squinted at her, his tone laced with censure. “That’s so cold, no?
“Got that one right, Michalis.” She flung her head back and skirted a wide girth around him onto the boat.
Chuckling, he leaped on deck. “We’ll just have to heat things up then, won’t we?”
Oh, yeah. He’d ensure whatever surprises she might spring on him were pleasure bound, but it’d cost him. Patience. Caution. He’d have to exercise both where she was concerned until he felt vindicated. A self-deprecating grunt, and he watched her strolling to the deck chair. The problem was, he’d never been patient or cautious where she was concerned.
Shaking his head, he turned to vault the stairs to the safe below and an unexpected gust smacked him, hurling him back in time…
He was a kid of twelve racing down the beach, his toes sinking in the sand, the wind whipping through his hair and salt-tang stinging his cheeks.
Trying to outrace one of his uncle’s boat rentals chug-a-lugging to shore, he slid to a stop, sending sand flying with his foot and howled with glee. He’d won, and plunged into the ocean, helping pull the skiff ashore…
Ocean spray moistened his face, and he blinked the past behind him, snaring Julia in his sights. Oh yeah, she was up to something. He curled his lip and heavy-stepped it across the deck to the helm station. The motor revved, and chuckling, he gripped the wheel, relishing the sheer power vibrating beneath his hands.
“What’s funny?” She yanked off her visor and plunked down on a lounger.
“Settle in, Beautiful.” He winked, pulling out of the harbor into the Aegean—an amalgamation of sea, sky and flaming sunset. “This won’t take long.”
Mist from the white-capped waves spritzed her face, and she sputtered at the saltiness on her lips.
Michalis laughed the harder, and smart man that he was uttered not a word, navigating northeast from Mykonos. Obviously miffed, she stretched out on the lounger and closed her eyes, ignoring him.
A sunbeam caught the gold in her hair, and he was tempted to abandon the wheel and vault to her side, burying his face in her curls and breathing her scent laced with ocean mist.
The wheel throbbed beneath his hands.
A modern goddess; perfect from the top of her head to her scarlet tipped toes. Her skin glistened in the waning sunlight, her hair glimmered and the swell of her breasts glowed.
He eased his grip on the wheel, his fingers stroking the smoothness of wood. A low rumble rapped his rib cage. He remembered how he’d cherished her with his hands, his mouth, and his body.
“No.” The denial scorched off his tongue, yet the ache tore through him. He must not feel a thing for her, the deserter. The deceiver. He twisted his mouth in contempt. She’d dissed him without a hearing and pronounced him guilty outright.
Her scorn had knocked him for a loop, making him feel a bigger fool than his uncle had, when he’d been duped by his American Lolita. His gut coiled, fueling him with ice-cold fury to turbo-charge his M.O. for retribution. No way in hell was he hitting the skids like his uncle had over a woman.
You’ve already been had, big guy. The taunt stabbed his mind. She’s cost you more than cash. Stone-faced, he twirled the wheel beneath his hands and rode roughshod over the waves. “Shut up,” he muttered, but the wind carried his words.
“What’d you say?” She lifted an eyelash, her tone detached, and that irked him no end.
“Nothing,” he said, his reply curt, cold. Folding his hand in a fist around a spoke, he maintained course. Settling the score would be sweet.
After he sated his lust for her over the weekend, he’d boot her out and claim his daughter.
“Hmm,” she murmured, and not elaborating further, she flipped over on her stomach. Her rounded tush was an enticement, her tanned legs a jolt to his brain…she’d wrapped them around him pulling him deeper inside her.
A roar built in his throat, and he gripped the tiller tight with his fist.
Just then, a speedboat swerved by on its way to the harbor, and the couple water skiing behind it, shouted something to him, but a squall swallowed it up. He shrugged, his mind hurling him back to the day Julia bailed on him…
Michalis had nixed his videoconference with Tokyo and flown back to the mainland, only to find their home eerily silent. He’d taken the stairs two at a time, stomped into their bedroom and flung the closet open. Air exploded from his chest, and his heart pumped acid-spiked blood. Her clothes, her shoes, everything was still there.
He’d brushed a hand over his face, and stalked to the window with the spectacular ocean view and the Leonadis chopper parked amidst the gardens.
Could he have been wrong? Maybe she’d gone shopping—
He spun around, squinting at the top shelf of the closet. Her suitcase was missing, but not her gowns or shoes. And he knew. She was gone. A chasm gouged his insides. She couldn’t even bring herself to take anything he’d given her.
Annoyed at her escapade, his intention had been to hunt her down, and demand an explanation…haul her back home, and toss her in bed.
He rotated the helm, and a sudden gust sucked up the growl erupting from his mouth.
But when he found out she was about to cost him a marriage…the billion Tokyo loss was incidental…he’d been furious. But when he discovered she’d skipped
out, harboring a secret—she’d hidden his own child from him, the bi— He bashed down the expletive with a snarl. Her furtive maneuver had corroded his insides and pumped him up for a major payback…
The yacht rose on the crest of a wave and plummeted over it. He glanced at the barometer, then at her.
Poison.
She swiveled onto her back again and bending one leg, slung an arm over her eyes, her breasts rising and falling with each breath she took.
A poison he craved; he needed just a month’s worth to regain his immunity.
“Mykonos Harbor to Lady One.”
The radio message shattered Michalis’ dark thoughts, and he seized the transmitter with such force, he nearly yanked it from its cord. “Lady One read…copy over.”
He’d named the boat Lady One for her. Foolish guy to have confessed in a moment of ardor that she’d been the one he’d waited for all his life. A muscle battered his jaw. And she’d slapped him down after only three months of matrimony.
When the story broke, every media outlet had tacked him to the wall.
“Stor…war…” The radio message was garbled, snapping him to attention.
“Do not copy,” Michalis blasted into the mouthpiece. “Repeat.”
He pumped power, increasing speed and the boat bumped over the waves, bridging the distance to the rocky façade the sea had eroded over centuries into the shape of a mermaid.
“Hey!” Julia slid off the lounger and landed on her tush, as a strong undercurrent of air whacked her, smothering her words. “What’s the big idea?” She jumped up, rubbed her bottom and marched over to him. “I—”
Her hand flew to her mouth, and the sheer beauty of the scene before her took her breath away. Against the backdrop of the coral sunset, the Mermaid’s Grotto rose from the depths of the sea like a fairytale.
“You like?”
“Oh, Michalis,” she said, her words hitching in her throat.
“Unusual for you to be tongue-tied.” He quirked a brow, but the fleeting tilt of his mouth, tempered his words.
“It’s in such high demand” –Julia smiled— “how’d you do it?”
He shrugged, inclining his head as if to say, do you need to ask?
Such arrogance…confidence nearly left her fumbling for words. “Of course, you own the world—”
He flung back his head and laughed, the sound sending shivers shimmying up her spine.
“Only a piece of it,” he quipped. “The Mermaid being part of the package.”
“You bought it?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to.”
“And what you want, you get.”
A long pause, and his laser-sharp eyes drilled into her. Out of bravado, Julia held his gaze and a rip of dread…or maybe excitement licked her insides.
“Everything has a price tag.”
Which meant he’d tagged her with a price. She balked at the reminder, her pulse ricocheting against her ribs. She desperately wanted to belt him with a denial, but trapped between the past and Amy’s future, she had to hang tough; stay tuned to Michalis and hopefully catch a glimmer of his plans for her…them, that might work to her benefit.
“We’ll be alone here?” She averted her focus and tucked a loose curl behind her ear, her words casual. “In the middle of nowhere?
“Does that bother you?”
“Of course not,” she said, but the rapid staccato of her words hinted at the possibility.
“We won’t be alone, Julia,” he said. “Phantom staff will service us.”
“Phantom?” A nervous giggle skimmed her mouth. “You’re joking.”
“Nope.” His hand tightened on the tiller. “The hired help will serve, but not be seen or heard.”
She breathed a sigh of relief; glad she wouldn’t be totally isolated on the islet with Michalis. The corner of her lip drooped. The Mermaid was only five nautical miles from Mykonos, but it might as well be in enemy waters. Fear had nothing to do with it. Temptation was totally another matter.
“A mile to go, and we’ll anchor in the cove.” He steered toward the coastline, and a fierce gale fueled the waves, rocking the boat off course. “What the—”
The radio crackled, “…Lady One…warn…”
Michalis seized the transmitter in an iron grip. “Repeat.”
“Copy…One. Freak storm.… high winds…northwest…due… west.”
“Copy,” Michalis said, his tone grim.
“Roger…La…dy One.”
“Something wrong?” Julia swayed closer and grabbed the doorjamb for support. The ocean smashed the yacht, white foam shooting on the deck and splashing the windshield of the control room.
Ignoring her query, Michalis staggered out to the life raft several feet away, grabbed a couple of life preservers, lurched his way back and tossed one to Julia.
“Safety precaution.”
“Michalis?”
“Do it Jul—”
Another wave crashed upon the deck and washed through the doorway into the engine room, drenching them. Julia lost her balance and floundered for a handhold, but he seized her elbow, hauling her against his hip, while still controlling the wheel with his other hand.
“Get into the life jacket,” he barked.
“Wha-at about you?” she stammered, slipping it over her head.
“Worried ’bout me?” A grin split his mouth, just as more waves splashed onboard.
She blinked at him, her eyes wide, lashes spiky wet, strands of hair plastered to her face. In the midst of the raging storm, he swooped down and smacked her mouth with his. “Mmm, salty.”
“I can’t believe you.” She shook her head, droplets scattering about her and onto him.
“Believe—” The rising gale whipped through the word, but not before it lodged in her heart.
Believe.
At one time she had believed, believed with all her heart…in him…in them.
“What’s left to believe, Michalis?” Her words, feather soft, were barely audible amidst the sudden ferocity of the elements, but somehow he caught them.
“Life,” he growled in her ear, shackling her upper arm with his fingers.
“Ye-s,” she murmured, remembering Amy.
Regardless of what happened between them, their daughter was worth fighting for, living for … believing.
Julia ripped away from his hold, staggered backward and grabbing the other life preserver, lurched forward with such force, she nearly knocked him over. He wrapped his arm around her, steadying her, and she pulled the safety jacket over his head.
“Steady.” He tightened his grip across her shoulders, holding her safe in the crook of his arm. “Here comes another.”
A white-capped breaker crested and crashed on deck, temporarily submerging them. She could barely breathe, but a second later she swiped saltwater from her eyes, and heaved a gallon of air into her lungs.
“Hold on, now,” he shouted above nature’s rage. “We’ll make it.”
His words offered a semblance of comfort, even amidst the onslaught of the tempest. She blinked, and the tear oozing from beneath her lashes mingled with the seawater on her face. “What happened to us, Michalis?”
“Say again?” he called, his features turning hawkish. “Don’t worry, I know the sea like the back of my hand.”
She nodded. “With you at the helm, I have no doubt we’ll get to shore.”
He snapped his head around, his eyes colliding with hers for a split millisecond, and it was like the past had never been. Before her pulse got back in sync, a giant breaker smashed the yacht and splintered them apart. Julia skidded backward, and he snaked an arm out, yanking her to his side.
“Steady there.” He rounded the southwest corner of the island, and the storm pounded the yacht from all sides, driving it against the rocks.
Michalis steered away, relishing the challenge of pitting himself against the elements…to victory. By the time Julia regained her breat
h, a foaming-crested monster broadsided the yacht against the submerged rocky crevice, the undercurrent pulling them under.
“Michalis!” She slammed against him, and the boat plunged and then rose, balancing on a breaker.
“Steady, Lady One,” he growled, and she didn’t know if he referred to the yacht or to her.
Julia didn’t care, and in the sudden lull, lunged for the door. “I’m going to check—”
“Stay put.” He seized her wrist with his fingers and hauled her back to his side. “Deceptive.”
She snapped her head up, dazed. “Wh-hat?”
“Not me…the storm.” He swiped his palm across his face, clearing his vision, and grinned.
“Let go.” She pushed at him. “I want to go see—”
Another angry wave rolling toward them had her clinging to him.
“Hang on,” he shouted. “We’re almost out of it.”
“No, Michalis!” She pointed behind her at the stairs leading down below, filling with water.
Tension tautened his cheekbones, and he propelled her in front of him.
“Take the wheel.”
“I-I don’t know—”
He pressed her hands on the wheel. “I’m going down to the galley to check the damage.”
“Don’t—” She glanced over her shoulder, but he’d already disappeared; a feeling of such devastation ripped through her that she collapsed against the wheel. But she couldn’t give in to it and curling her hands over the tiller, she straightened and steered best she could.
The next few minutes seemed an eternity, and just as panic thwacked her insides, he waded upward through the flooded stairwell.
“We’ve got a hole starboard side,” he shouted, through the rain beating down upon him. “She won’t make it.” His mouth set in a grim line, and then he challenged the fates, his words ringing clear above the deluge. “But we will.” He blinked his waterlogged lashes, his intense gaze spearing through her. “Any doubts?”
Her lips quivered, and she shook her head, chills racking her body.
He yanked her to him and stole a kiss, his pulse pounding against hers. Just as quickly, he released her, and unhinging her numb fingers from the wheel, propelled her with him across the deck. A shudder vibrated through her, then a surprising calm spread throughout her body; she had no doubt Michalis could outmaneuver even these cataclysmic conditions.