by Suzanne Rock
And they would tie everything together. Too much was riding on this excavation to have any other end result.
“We’ve come a long way from our treasure-hunting days in St. Lucia, don’t you think?” Rex asked. “No more living paycheck to paycheck, or going to bed hungry. No more working odd jobs like this one.” He waved his hand in the air around them. “Or that damn clunker of a boat that ran scuba diving tours.” He wrinkled his nose. “What was the name of that again? Scuba Excitement?”
“Adventures,” Caine corrected. “About that—”
“It doesn’t matter,” Rex cut him off and straightened in his chair. “The buyer will be here next week to look at the merchandise, so we have to have everything ready by then.”
“Next week?”
Rex shrugged. “Vardalos is expecting everything us to be done by then, anyway. Either way we’re going to be kicked off the island, so I say let’s make the most of it.” He got up and turned to go. “I need to go work on the boat. Catch you on the flip side.”
Caine stood as Rex turned to leave. “I’ve asked her to come here.”
Rex stopped in his tracks and turned to face him. “Asked whom?”
“You know who. Jenna.”
Rex’s face contorted in disgust. “Aw, come on, Caine. You’re not still lovesick over that skirt, are you? We have rules, dude. Clean cuts when we move locations. Leave no trails behind.” He nodded toward the door. “You didn’t see me pining after that mother, did you?” He hobbled forward and tapped his cane on the desk. “And let me tell you, that was one nice piece of ass.”
“You seduced Jenna’s mom?”
Rex shrugged. “Weren’t you seducing the daughter?”
“That was different.”
“Not the way I see it.”
“I wasn’t seducing her to get at her money.”
“No? Then why were you seducing her?” Rex hobbled a few steps closer. “Come now, Caine. You couldn’t honestly believe that women as independent and wealthy as them could ever want anything more than a casual fling from people like us.”
Caine steeled his jaw and tried to rein in his emotions. Rex had never liked Caine’s relationship with Jenna, had said that Caine was getting far too emotional over a skirt. Caine knew he’d have a fight on his hands, but he had already denied himself for far too long. This whole mission was for Jenna, and he’s be damned if he’d leave the island without her.
“I want her to come with us,” he said as he rose from the chair.
“What? No, Caine. You can’t.” Rex lowered his cane and limped closer to the desk. “You can’t do this to me. To us.”
“This is non-negotiable.” Caine held up his hand, stopping Rex’s words. “I told you that the only reason why I had agreed to go on this mission was for Jenna. Now that it’s through, I’m going to quit the treasure-hunting life and give her what she deserves.”
“Ah hell, I thought you had gotten that chick out of your system. I even took that lovesick note away so that we could make a clean cut and start over.”
“You what?” Caine placed both hands on the desk and leaned forward as anger blurred his vision. “That was a private note.”
“It was a pathetic, flowery piece of garbage written by someone not in his right state of mind.” Rex frowned and dragged his gaze over Caine’s neatly-pressed suit. “Look at you, all corporate-like. You want to do that stuck-up shit the rest of your life? Jobs like this suck the life out of you.” He shook his head. “Women will suck the life out of you too, if you let them.” He pointed his cane toward the door. “I did you a favor by destroying that note. She would’ve only held us back, Caine.”
“I loved her.”
“Bullshit. You just loved to fuck her. There’s a difference.”
Caine started to protest, but stopped himself. It was pointless arguing about love and sacrifice with someone who only thought of himself. “When we leave, Jenna and I will be returning to the mainland to live an honorable life.”
“Jesus. Honorable?” He limped over and grabbed the edge of the chair to steady himself. “You wouldn’t know honorable if it walked up and bit you in the ass.”
“No more stealing from innocent businesses. No more double crossing our bosses. I mean it.”
“Fuck, double crossing Vardalos was your idea.” Rex pointed his bony finger at Caine’s chest. “Your idea, not mine.”
True, but Caine rationalized that it was for a good cause. Besides, their boss didn’t know about the Bartolome artifacts, only some of the more benign ones. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, and Caine needed that money a hell of a lot more than the Master of the Island needed his.
It was one thing to steal from a rich man who was skirting the law and could buy his own island. It was quite another to steal a family’s only means for survival.
Caine took a deep breath. “Jenna told me that the day after we left, her mother had found the company’s bank account drained.”
Silence slammed down into the room, pulling the air tight with tension. Rex stared at Caine, clearly shocked by his cousin’s outburst.
“Well, shit. Fine. I’ll give you half.” Rex waved his hand between them in dismissal. “I was going to do that anyway. Just never got around to it.”
Caine fisted his hands. “You stole from our employers.” Fuck, no wonder Jenna was furious. “How?”
“After we had sex one afternoon, I—”
Caine shook his head and held up his hand. “Forget it. I don’t want to know.”
“No, you probably don’t.”
Caine couldn’t believe his cousin would take advantage of a woman’s loneliness and strip her of her life’s savings. It was a new low, even for him. “We have to give it back.”
Rex frowned and waved his hand in dismissal. “It’s already spent.”
“But you just told me you’d give me half.”
“I’ll pay you out of the money we make on this job.”
Caine ran his hand over his face. “What the hell did you spend it on? Our boss is paying for all of our expenses.”
The guilty look Rex flashed him spoke volumes.
Caine dropped his hand. “I should have known.”
“It’s only a joint or two.” Rex followed Caine to the bar along the far wall and watched him pour a drink. “It’s only to take the edge off.”
“The edge?”
Rex nodded toward his injured leg. “It helps to keep the muscles limber. There are only two times I’m not in pain, cuz’. When I smoke a joint, and when I’m in the water. That’s all I want from life. That’s all I need.” When Caine flashed him a skeptical look, he grinned. “Well, a nice piece of ass from time to time never hurts, either. Did you know that woman Simone is a total freak-show in bed?”
Caine took a long sip of his bourbon and tried to think. God, what a fucking mess. “You better not be after Simone’s money.”
“What? No, of course not. Just a tickle with a pickle, my friend. I swear.” When Caine flashed him a skeptical look, Rex eased back and waved his hand up and down in front of his torso. “Come on, look at me. Who’s going to fuck a gimpy man if I don’t pay them? A woman like Simone isn’t cheap.”
Caine scrunched his nose in distaste. “God Rex, you’re disgusting.”
“No, she’s disgusting, but in a good way. Fuck dude, you should see how she can put her leg up behind her head and—”
“Jesus, Rex.” Caine turned away from his cousin, desperate to put the stomach-churning image of Simone and Rex from his head. “You really fucked things up.”
“No, I didn’t. After we sell this shit, there’ll be plenty of money. We can pay your girlfriend back and still have lots left over to live the good life.”
The good life. Caine wasn’t sure what that meant. No life was good if he couldn’t spend it with Jenna. There was something about her that was so different and alluring. It was more than the instant physical attraction they had felt in St. Lucia. They connected on a deep
er level. It was as if they were both born of the water and preferred it to land and people. They shared the same passion, and spoke the same language. He couldn’t give her up—not for anyone.
“Look,” Rex said. “I’m not one to complain, or tell you what to do.”
Caine snorted. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m not. Anyway, I need you, Caine. You know that. If it wasn’t for the accident, I wouldn’t need pot, women and water so much.” He averted his gaze and poked at something on the ground with his cane. “And I need you to help me with the treasure huntin’. I can’t do any of this without you. Besides, you owe me.”
“Yes, I do owe you,” Caine conceded. Since he was the cause of Rex’s injured leg, Caine felt obligated to help Rex with all of his crazy ideas. “And we will leave the island together.”
Rex grinned and slapped Caine on the arm. “I knew you’d see things my way.”
Caine smiled and shook his head. “But Jenna is coming with us.” He put up his hand, stopping his cousin’s protest. “If she goes, I go. We’re a package deal.”
“Fine.” Rex frowned and hobbled back toward the door. “Have it your way.” He opened the door and glanced back over his shoulder at his cousin. “This is the deal of a century, Caine. You know that. Just make sure that your straight-laced girlfriend doesn’t screw everything up.”
Chapter Three
Caine always came to this place when he wanted to think. Normally he found comfort either fishing or diving from his boat out on the water, but lately Rex had been nagging him to finish their job so that they could high-tail it out of there. As a result, Caine no longer found solace on the ocean, but here, amongst the artifacts they had collected over the past several months.
The room was set up like a museum. The lighting was dim, and the walls were painted in a swirl of blue and green to look like the ocean. Like the main foyer, sconces lined the walls at regular intervals, casting both light and shadow on various parts of the room.
The artifacts had been cleaned, appraised and stored under glass cases throughout the enormous space, each one set on crushed velvet with a spotlight and a small card, indicating the name of the item, the date and the year acquired. Caine guessed that if they had given the owner of the island the ink pot they had found, it would be sitting under glass here as well.
And having that piece sit here, instead of making both him and Rex money, would’ve been the greatest tragedy of all.
Like Jenna, Vardalos didn’t know what it was like to be hungry. He sat up in his stone tower and pulled people around like puppets. He hoarded weathered antiques like a little girl collected dolls. Caine could still remember Vardalos’ words as he showed Rex and Caine part of his collection that first day. Just because it’s falling apart on the surface, doesn’t mean that there isn’t something special underneath.
Bah. Vardalos didn’t know what he was talking about. People didn’t have the patience to see what was underneath. He should know. Money and power were the true aphrodisiacs. If Caine didn’t give Jenna the life she was used to in St. Lucia, then he wasn’t worthy of her.
Caine paused as he heard some footsteps echo from the other end of the room. He ducked into the shadows just as Jenna walked into view. She stopped in front of a case with an old copper cup, giving Caine a perfect view of her profile. Time had done nothing to mar her beauty. The fine lines around her eyes and worry around her lips only added to her allure.
He regretted that the excavation had taken longer than he planned. He just wished that he could make her see why it was so important for their future. People said that they didn’t care about money, but after a day or two of living off the streets, even the most romantic changed their minds. Money made the world go ‘round. If you didn’t have any, well, then you were better off dead.
Caine wanted to tell her how Rex had betrayed them both by destroying the note and taking her family’s savings. He wanted to tell her that everything would be all right. He’d get her money back and neither one of them would ever have to worry about finances again.
He wanted to tell her so many things, but was afraid of her reaction. She was right when she had said that people changed. She might look the same, but Caine knew her heart had hardened toward him. Unfortunately, he only had one week to soften it.
Before he realized what he was doing, he was stepping out from the shadows. “You were supposed to stay in your room.”
She looked up from the glass. “You never said that.”
“I told you not to go out by yourself.”
“You told me not to go to my room by myself. You never said what I could or couldn’t do once I got there.”
Caine steeled his jaw and tried to push aside his anger. Bickering would get him nowhere. He wanted to bridge the gap between them, not make it wider.
“Besides,” she said, returning her gaze to the glass. “Simone had told me about these artifacts. I wanted to see them for myself.”
He hesitated a moment before responding. “We found that a few weeks ago.”
Jenna glanced up from the copper cup and stared at him with skeptical eyes. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope.” As he stepped closer to the case, her fresh scent surrounded him, causing memories to surface of those lazy days they had spent in St. Lucia.
“Yes,” he said, forcing his gaze away from her to look at the cup. “In fact, Rex and I have collected most of the artifacts in this room.”
“How?”
He glanced at her curious expression. “How do you think?”
She turned away from the case and crossed her arms. “You’re a Human Resource Manager.”
“Ah, that. Yes.” He felt heat rise to his cheeks and cleared his throat. “That’s not my real job.”
“No kidding.” He jutted her hip out to the side, causing fresh need to surge through Caine’s body.
Caine made a show of glancing around the room. “The person who owns all of this hired both me and Rex to excavate a wreck not far from the island.”
“Mr. Vardalos.”
Caine nodded.
“But you aren’t excavators.”
“You’d be surprised. There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Jenna.”
“I guess.” She turned back to the case, her jaw set. “I mean, I thought I knew you, but I guess two people can’t really know each other after only a couple of months, can they?”
Caine took in a deep breath to steady his nerves. “Rex and I are professional treasure hunters.”
She jerked her head up to meet his gaze. “Treasure hunters? Like Indiana Jones?”
Caine smirked. “Something like that.” He didn’t elaborate. She didn’t need to know that this was the first time their findings had been catalogued and set behind glass. Before this, he and Rex would just hock the artifacts to the highest bidder. “Sometimes the waters aren’t kind, or the local government gets in the way. It’s during that time that we look for odd jobs to pay the bills.”
“That’s why you worked for two months at Scuba Adventures,” she said, turning back to the glass.
“We were between jobs at the time and needed the cash.”
She ran her finger over the glass, drawing something only she could see. “That explains a lot, then.”
“How so?”
She shrugged and dropped her hand. “I never took you for someone with a desk job. It makes sense that the Human Resource position is only a front.”
“People change,” he said, fighting the urge to impress her. “You said so yourself.”
“Sometimes.” She glanced up at him. “Sometimes they don’t.”
Before he could respond, Jenna straightened and crossed her arms. “What am I really doing here, Caine?”
He plastered an innocent look on his face. “To work at the spa. What else?”
She shook her head in disbelief. “Stop lying to me.”
“I’m not lying.”
She let out a long breath. “I was hired by the Mast
er of this Island, but when I got here, he was mysteriously absent and now you are supposed to show me around. I try to leave and explore the island by myself and you tell me that it’s too dangerous.”
Damn, he was caught. “Okay fine, I’ll tell you.” He fisted and unfisted his hands as he searched for the right words. He decided bluntness was best. “Mr. Vardalos didn’t bring you here. I did.”
She stepped back and lowered her arms. “You? Why? So you could gloat over stealing my money and bankrupting my family?”
“No.” He inched closer took her hands in his. “To make it up to you.”
“Make it up to me.” She looked skeptical but didn’t pull her hands away. Caine took it as a good sign and pressed forward.
“Yes. To give you back your money back and set things right.”
“How are you going to set things right? You not only hurt me, but my mother.”
“Let me try, Jenna.” He brought her hands to his face and kissed her fingers. “Not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought of you.” He lowered their arms and watched her lips soften and part in invitation. Need roared through his veins and made it difficult to think.
“You could have mailed me back my money,” she said. “Or do a wire transfer. There was no need to do this.”
“It’s more than the money.” Caine noted her voice sounded a little breathless. Good. It was one of his greatest fears that she had moved on with her life and had forgotten about him. It was good to know that the connection still wasn’t lost. If he played his cards right, there still might be a chance for them. He could have both her and the money.
Caine moved in closer, until only a thin sliver of air separated their lips.
“I don’t need your pity.” When she spoke, he could feel the puff of warm air over his skin.