‘If I thought about it for a year it still wouldn’t change my opinion,’ Hawk rasped.
Glyn gave a weary sigh. ‘Try and talk some sense into him, Whitney.’ He shook his head. ‘If anyone can do it you can.’
An uneasy silence filled the room once he had gone. Whitney didn’t know what to say; what could she say to the man who was her lover but was so obviously still in love with his ex-wife?
He spoke suddenly. ‘We’ll have to postpone our chat. All this has—changed, things a little.’ He ran an agitated hand through the thickness of his hair, the light overhead gleaming on the golden strands among the dark blond.
Whitney didn’t feel as if they had anything left to talk about now. ‘Yes,’ she accepted dully. ‘I’m sorry—that Geraldine is involved,’ she added weakly, not knowing what else to say.
He swallowed hard. ‘Would you—I’d like to—’ He broke off, shaking his head.
‘Yes?’ she prompted sharply.
His eyes were dark with pain. ‘Would you make love to me?’
If he had asked her to walk over hot coals, jump into a pool full of sharks, sit in a room with a poisonous snake, she might have found it easier to say yes to any of them than she did to the thought of making love with him after the way he had just shown his love for Geraldine. And yet she couldn’t say no to him, never had been able to deny him anything he asked of her.
‘Forget I said that,’ he dismissed harshly as he saw the hurt bewilderment in her face. ‘It would just be another mistake to add to the many I’ve already made with you.’
She flinched at that description being applied to the most wonderful night of her life. ‘Then you make love to me,’ she prompted, her violet gaze steady on his. ‘I’d like to be close to you tonight.’ After tomorrow she felt sure there would be no other nights together like this.
Hawk drew in a ragged breath. ‘I think I should tell you—’
‘Don’t tell me anything,’ she put in quickly. ‘Let’s just go to bed.’
‘Maybe you’re right,’ he sighed heavily. ‘God, how I wish you had stayed out of this.’
‘And that you had never made love to me?’
‘I’ll never regret that,’ he said with certainty. ‘I fought it, but I’ll never regret it.’
He didn’t seem to realise how much he had hurt her with his defence of Geraldine, how much he was hurting her now with his reluctance to at least give his body to her one more time. But there would be time for pain later; now belonged to them, and tomorrow was time enough to let him return to Geraldine.
Hawk made love to her with an intensity that made her head spin, each caress, each heated word, having special meaning, as if he couldn’t get enough of her, wanted to imprint every part of her in his brain, as if he, too, regretted that they would never be together like this again. Whitney knew it couldn’t really be so, but she loved him nonetheless, gave back every caress, longing to tell him of her love but daring only to tell him how much he pleased her.
Tonight he didn’t want to sleep at all, repeating the sensual ritual, even more slowly this time, creating even more tension, until Whitney begged him to end the torture.
They made love with fierce intensity time and time again, both of them wishing away the dawn, not wanting to relinquish the magic of the night.
But dawn stayed away for no man—or woman—and Hawk and Whitney were only mere mortals allowed a brief glimpse of heaven. They had no choice but to face the day ahead.
Hawk lingered in her suite even after he had showered and dressed, his expression remote. ‘Whatever happens today, if it happens, stay out of it, all right?’ he instructed harshly.
‘But what’s going to happen?’ she demanded frustratedly, ‘Can’t you at least tell me what all this is about now?’
His eyes became chilled, ‘Drugs,’ he stated flatly.
She blinked her surprise, frowning. ‘But I thought—’
‘I know what you thought, Whitney,’ he rasped. ‘And it was better that you did. But things could get nasty today, and I don’t want you getting in the line of fire.’
She swallowed hard, her eyes wide. ‘Could there be actual shooting?’
‘Who knows?’ he sighed heavily. ‘Anything could happen when Glyn challenges him.’
If Geraldine was somehow involved in helping her second husband in drug-smuggling, no wonder Hawk was so upset!
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘WHAT happens now?’ Whitney faced Hawk across the breakfast table the two of them shared, the others having eaten earlier. Neither of them had any real appetite for the food on the serving unit, Whitney stirring sugar into her coffee, Hawk looking bleak.
They had been moored in Amsterdam for some time now; there was a curious watchfulness about Hawk that made her uneasy.
‘We wait,’ he shrugged.
‘For what?’
‘Who the hell knows?’ He stood up impatiently. ‘Glyn is running this show.’
She looked up at him with troubled eyes. ‘Do you still believe Geraldine is innocent?’
He gave a ragged sigh. ‘I don’t know that either. Those photographs…’ He shook his head.
‘Yes?’ she prompted softly.
‘They were pretty damning,’ he rasped. ‘But I know Geraldine hates drug pushers as much as I do. She liked Dan—’
‘My father?’ Whitney questioned sharply. ‘What does he have to do with this?’
Hawk’s eyes were hooded, making their expression unreadable. ‘Nothing,’ he bit out forcefully.
‘But you just said—’
‘Hawk, he wants to go ashore now.’ Glyn Briant burst into the room now, his face flushed.
Hawk stiffened. ‘Geraldine?’
‘She’s staying on board,’ Glyn dismissed. ‘She feels too ill to get off.’
‘At least that’s something!’ Hawk shrugged his regret at Whitney as she watched them. ‘I have to go, Whitney; we’ll talk when I get back.’
She was still too stunned by the mention of her father in connection with Tom Beresford and Geraldine to be able to formulate an answer. Her father had never been involved in drugs, so what was Hawk talking about?
‘Whitney?’ he prompted concernedly.
She blinked up at him dazedly. ‘I don’t understand—’
‘Kiss her and let’s go, Hawk,’ Glyn instructed harshly. ‘I’m not going to lose him now.’
Hawk’s eyes were narrowed. ‘You think he’s going to make the exchange himself?’
‘With Geraldine sick he’ll have to.’ Glyn’s mouth twisted triumphantly.
Hawk looked down regretfully at Whitney, his hands on her shoulders as he drew her up in front of him for his kiss, lingering over the caress, his eyes dark with passion when he finally raised his head. ‘Stay away from Geraldine while I’m gone,’ he rasped.
‘I will,’ she agreed dazedly. ‘But I wish you would tell me—’
‘We’re ready to leave now, Mr Hawkworth.’ Glyn’s voice had changed, become more formal, and as Whitney turned curiously towards him she realised why; Tom Beresford and Alex Cordell had joined him.
‘Fine.’ Hawk nodded abruptly before compelling Whitney to look at him once again. ‘I’ll see you later,’ he promised huskily.
Whitney watched the men leave, still puzzled by Hawk’s unexpected mention of her father. What was the connection? If there were one. She and her father had only spoken of drugs once that she could ever remember, and he had despised the illegal use of them.
She was still leaning over the rail where she had watched the departure of the four men when she knew she was no longer alone, that slightly elusive perfume Geraldine always wore telling of her presence.
‘Where is everyone?’ she demanded caustically.
Whitney slowly turned to face her. The other woman looked beautiful in the lemon-coloured sundress, her hair taking on a redder glow than usual. But if you looked closely beneath the expertly applied make-up it was possible to see the lines of strain and
the slightly sallow tinge to her skin that were remnants of her recent seasickness.
‘Well?’ Geraldine snapped as Whitney continued to look at her.
Hawk had asked her to stay away from Geraldine while he was gone; he hadn’t told her what to do if Geraldine sought her out! She straightened. ‘Well what, Geraldine?’ she drawled derisively.
Anger flared in the deep green eyes. ‘Where are the others?’ she bit out.
Whitney shrugged. ‘Gone.’
‘Gone?’ Geraldine repeated incredulously. ‘What do you mean, gone? Where have they gone?’ she demanded impatiently.
‘I would have thought that was obvious.’ She looked pointedly ashore.
Geraldine’s mouth firmed angrily. ‘I don’t believe you,’ she scorned.
She shrugged. ‘Please yourself.’
The other woman frowned at her. ‘I don’t know what game you’re playing, but—’
‘I’m past the age of playing games, Geraldine,’ she rasped. ‘Except those that involve Hawk; if you want him then you’re going to have to fight me for him,’ she warned grimly.
‘And why should I possibly want a man who doesn’t want me?’ Geraldine returned absently, looking frowningly over the side.
‘He loves you—’
Geraldine gave her a pitying look. ‘Even when we were married he didn’t love me,’ she dismissed scornfully. ‘I have no reason to think that will ever change.’
‘I don’t believe that,’ Whitney instantly scorned.
‘That’s up to you,’ the other woman shrugged. ‘I’m quite indifferent to both you and Hawk,’ she added in a bored voice. ‘And what you choose to believe or disbelieve.’
‘But—’
‘Are you sure the men went ashore?’ Geraldine demanded in disbelief.
‘I told you—’
‘How long ago did they leave?’ the other woman asked agitatedly.
Whitney shrugged. ‘An hour or so ago. I thought you were too sick to go with them.’ She frowned.
‘Damn him!’ Geraldine didn’t seem to hear what she said, her eyes blazing with fury. ‘What’s he up to?’ she muttered to herself. ‘I was supposed to go with him. I—’ She glared resentfully at Whitney as she seemed to become aware of the fact that she wasn’t alone. A dozen emotions flickered across the beautiful face, predominant among them anger and uncertainty. ‘Have one of the crew let me know when they get back,’ she snapped before going back down to her suite.
It was obvious from the conversation that Geraldine hadn’t intended remaining on board when her husband went into Amsterdam, that Tom Beresford had deliberately left her behind. Why? It was also obvious from this conversation that Geraldine was deeply embroiled in her husband’s corruption.
Strange, Whitney hadn’t found even a hint of a connection between Tom Beresford and drug trafficking during her investigation. True, she hadn’t been looking for it, but all the same…There had been plenty of rumours about blackmail and pay-offs, but she hadn’t actually found any real proof of them, either. She hoped Hawk and Glyn knew what they were doing.
Most of all she hoped Hawk would be able to accept Geraldine’s guilt.
***
‘If you would concentrate a little more, darlin’, you wouldn’t be losing so badly,’ Sean chided, once again claiming the money from the middle of the table to join his already abundant pile of coins.
Whitney gave a wan smile as she drew her attention back to the card game they were playing. ‘I don’t think forty pence will break me!’ she drawled.
Sean had found her wandering about on deck an hour ago, and insisted on sitting down to play cards with her. It had been a favourite pastime of theirs during voyages in the past, but today Whitney could think of nothing but Hawk and the danger he might be in at this very moment. God, how she wished he had taken her with him; anything would be better than sitting here worrying about him.
Geraldine was obviously impatient for the men’s return, too, coming up on deck a couple of times to pace up and down impatiently before returning to her suite with an angry toss of her head.
‘Let’s raise the bets to a penny a time,’ Sean suggested with a twinkle in his eyes. ‘Make it more interesting.’
‘You know Hawk’s rules,’ she teased. ‘Half-pennies or we go back to matchsticks!’
‘But you’re a big girl now,’ Sean complained as he dealt the cards.
She sobered, her expression becoming shadowed. Yes, she was a big girl now, her second night with Hawk had only confirmed that; but Hawk continued to treat her as someone he had to protect rather than someone he could share his troubles with. Much as that rankled, she knew that, if only he would love her a little in return, she would be happy to let him protect her for the rest of their lives.
She blushed as she looked up to find Sean watching her anxiously. ‘OK, a penny it is,’ she said brightly. ‘But watch out, I feel my luck changing!’
During the next hour she lost another ninety pence, ruefully agreeing with Sean when he suggested ending the decidedly one-sided game. She was too worried about Hawk to think of anything else. The four men had been gone for hours now, lunchtime having come and gone; what on earth could they be doing all this time?
She was in her cabin when she heard the sound of the car returning, and she rushed over to the window to see that there were only two men inside. And she couldn’t make out in the dark interior which two it was!
She almost collided with Geraldine as the two of them rushed out into the passageway and up to the deck, the other woman white with tension as she pushed in front of Whitney to run up the stairway first.
Whitney arrived on deck in time to see Hawk—and Tom Beresford—stepping on board!
Geraldine seemed to go grey, her gaze locked with the coldly chilling one of her husband. ‘Oh, my God…’ She breathed raggedly at the expression in his eyes.
‘Yes, indeed, my dear,’ Tom Beresford drawled softly. ‘Not what you were expecting, is it?’
Geraldine moistened her lips, regaining a little of her usual control. ‘I—er—you left earlier before I had a chance to join you.’
Her husband gave an acknowledging inclination of his head. ‘By design, I assure you.’
Temper flared in the dark green eyes. ‘But I wanted to come with you,’ Geraldine complained.
Tom Beresford’s eyes took on an icy hardness. ‘I’m aware of what you wanted, Geraldine,’ he rasped. ‘Unfortunately it’s no longer possible.’
Whitney glanced at Hawk, her initial pleasure in seeing him alive and well turning to confusion at this strange conversation between husband and wife. Hawk returned her gaze blankly.
‘Tom—’
‘I think it might be better if we went to our suite and discussed this in private,’ Geraldine’s husband interrupted her coldly.
Her eyes widened. ‘No.’ She shook her head, backing away from him. ‘Hawk,’—she gave him a look of desperation—‘don’t let him do this to me!’
Hawk’s mouth twisted. ‘If you’re lucky, Geraldine,’ he drawled uninterestedly, ‘he may decide to only beat you twice a week for the rest of your life!’
‘Hawk!’ Whitney gasped, moving quickly to his side. ‘Isn’t Glyn going to arrest them or—or something?’ she demanded.
‘No,’ he mocked, his arm moving about her shoulders to hold her against him.
‘Arrest me?’ Geraldine became flushed with anger. ‘Why should Glyn Briant want to arrest me?’
‘He’s an undercover policeman, my dear,’ Tom Beresford drawled mockingly.
‘So?’ Her eyes widened indignantly.
Her husband’s mouth tightened angrily. ‘So he’s been persuaded to wait until we get back to England before arresting you,’ he bit out.
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Geraldine snapped. ‘I’m not guilty of anything.’
‘You don’t call carrying drugs “guilty of anything"?’ Hawk rasped, his eyes bleak.
‘Drugs?’ Geraldine repeated daze
dly. ‘Have the two of you been drinking?’
‘No—but I’m about to start!’ Her husband strode past her and into the lounge, pouring himself a large glass of whisky before swallowing it down. ‘You can stop the act now, Geraldine,’ he told her wearily. ‘The police know everything.’
Whitney couldn’t understand why Glyn was waiting until they reached England before arresting this couple. Neither could she understand why he wasn’t here now. She walked beside Hawk as they followed the other couple into the lounge.
Tom drained his glass of whisky and poured himself another one. ‘For God’s sake say something, Geraldine,’ he thundered. ‘Even if it’s only that you’re sorry!’ he scorned.
Geraldine stiffened. ‘How can I be sorry for something I don’t even know I’ve done!’
Her husband gave a snort of disgust. ‘I don’t know why I ever allowed myself to fall in love with you,’ he rasped. ‘You’re nothing but a selfish, deceitful bitch!’
‘Hawk!’ Geraldine prompted indignantly.
He shrugged, his expression remote. ‘He’s owed this, at the very least,’ he sighed.
The green eyes flashed. ‘I do not care to have my private life discussed in front of Whitney,’ she snapped angrily.
‘Do you not?’ her husband challenged.
‘No!’
‘That’s a pity—because she’s staying!’ Tom Beresford bit out forcefully. ‘God, she’s more of a woman than you’ll ever be, for all that she’s over ten years younger,’ he scorned. ‘She was willing to stand by Hawk, even if he was a criminal; you’ve never cared for anyone or anything but yourself.’
Geraldine blinked. ‘You mean—you mean Hawk was pretending all the time?’
Tom’s mouth twisted. ‘Now you’re starting to get the idea,’ he derided.
She swallowed hard. ‘But I thought—My God!’ She glared her dislike of Hawk. ‘I should have known you would never really be involved in—’ She broke off abruptly, her mouth tight.
‘Yes, my dear?’ her husband prompted softly. ‘Why don’t you tell us what Hawk would never have been involved in but that you surely were?
Geraldine turned her back on them, breathing deeply. ‘I don’t have to tell you anything,’ she dismissed scornfully.
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