The Billionaire's Prize: Taken & Tempted: (Book 3 Billionaire Bodyguard Series)

by Kristi Avalon

“Bodyguard. Why does your boyfriend need a bodyguard?”

  She blinked. “He’s Cade Soren. Billionaire investor.”

  Digesting this new information, the official’s brow cleared. “Oh. Okay, makes sense. Go on.”

  Kylie was surprised he didn’t look alarmed or suspicious wondering what a gorgeous billionaire could be doing with an average girl like her. “I heard shouts. Gunfire.”

  “What kind of gunfire?” the officer pressed.

  “The big kind.” She stuffed down her annoyance, well aware of his tactic to discern who used which weapons and who fired first. But she had to play innocent and resist her urge to reveal her intimate knowledge of the legal system. “Bullets rained down on our boat, tons of them, really fast. Like the sound of machine guns in the movies.”

  He nodded. “That checks. What else did you see or hear?”

  “My boyfriend made me promise not to come out of our room until he told me it was safe. So I didn’t see anything.”

  The lie almost caught in her throat, but she pressed on, letting her very real tears and fear flow out.

  “All I heard was a powerful speedboat coming toward our yacht. Then the loud bullets hitting the ship. Then two—no, three shots, close range, and loud, like they were right above me.” She gripped the man’s shirt and pressed her damp cheek to his chest. “I was so scared. Then I heard a siren, and I thought that we were safe. That you’d come to rescue us,” she whimpered, hoping to appeal to his heroism.

  “Yes, ma’am. That’s why we’re here.” He patted her back gently. “You’re safe now.”

  No, I’m alive because Cade and Slone are the real heroes on this ship.

  The officer continued to pat her back as he waved another official over to him. “She confirmed the guys’ story. Uncuff them.”

  “What about the captain?” the younger man questioned.

  The sympathetic officer beside her adjusted his baseball cap. “Retain him for further questioning. I want to know who was behind this attack. The captain is our person of interest, and I believe he’s the link to the mastermind.”

  A gasp of relief filled her lungs. Oh, thank God.

  “Can I go see him now?” she pleaded with the officer.

  “Your boyfriend? Sure. I’ll bet he’ll be glad to see you in one piece. But we’ll need all three of your statements for the official record, so sit tight for awhile.”

  “Yes, sir.” She moved blindly through the throng until she found Cade rubbing his unshackled wrists.

  His head lifted as if he sensed her nearness. She swore the sun caught a liquid shimmer that rimmed his eyes.

  “Thank God you’re okay,” he said, louder than necessary, as though seeing her for the first time. To confirm to the coastguard their version of events. She dove into his arms.

  Scattering kisses over her hair and face, he lifted her against him. Her feet dangled off the deck.

  Never had she experienced the crackle of connection that ran like a live current through both of them. Being held by him felt as necessary to her as breathing.

  “We’re all right, baby. It’s all going to be okay,” he murmured against her hair.

  Even if it wasn’t, hearing him say the words lifted the heaviness surrounding her heart. She sniffed back tears that collected in her throat. “How did we ever get into this impossible disaster?”

  Though she meant the question rhetorically, he answered. “I don’t know. But we’re together. That’s all that matters.”

  The genuine and reassuring timbre of his voice touched a chord inside her. As if he planned to engrave the words in stone, should anyone dare to doubt him.

  She couldn’t tell if he was still acting for the sake of their audience, but the sentiment sounded so heartfelt and real she didn’t want to know whether he actually meant it.

  It felt like a vein leading to her heart had ripped open, pouring out all her hopes and dreams for love in a gush of unstoppable emotion.

  Damn it, in spite of herself, she was falling madly in love with him.

  Chapter 10

  Cade wasn’t going to let go of Kylie unless they pried her out of his arms.

  Which they eventually had to, separating him and Kylie and Slone to take down their individual accounts of what had happened during the attack.

  While they each gave their statements, a second American coastguard ship joined the first. They’d found the speedboat half sunk, along with an arsenal of waterlogged weapons. From the sounds of it, the attackers had no intention of taking captives or keeping anyone alive. The second he saw Kylie’s potential fate as a victim of that asshole’s potential, he stopped caring about lying—damn it, he’d do anything to keep her safe and alive.

  Cracking under pressure, the yacht captain eventually revealed his part in the plot. Though Cade doubted he’d face prison time, in exchange for his testimony against the ringleader, Ramos.

  When the lead officer questioned them later about any ties to someone called Ramos, Cade flatly denied ever hearing the name.

  Thanks to Kylie’s quick thinking and grace under pressure during her initial interview, the lead officer chalked it up to a premeditated hit on Cade for monetary gain. God, she was brilliant.

  It wasn’t until midday that the coastguard agreed to accompany them to Cade’s friend’s island establishment, the Montgomery Hotel, on Eldorado Island, along the coast of South Carolina. In fact, the crew seemed excited to land on the famous inlet. Cade’s good friend and fellow investor, Carter Stratton, had in the past four years established El Dorado as an expensive, and necessary, stop during the Golf Channel Tour. People paid thousands of dollars to golf the same course as Tiger Woods. Stratton had made the island a stronghold for sportsmanship, and had invited them to stay as long as necessary to resolve the situation surrounding Ramos.

  During dinner he discussed with Slone how to maximize a strategy for the coming days, when to contact Adam and give him the update on their relentless enemy who’d targeted them out on the ocean, what leads they needed to pursue. Kylie excused herself and disappeared for a bit, while he and Slone concluded an action plan he would share with Adam shortly.

  Cade wandered over to the bar area next to the dining table on the main deck, bottles clinking as he rummaged through the liquor selection. He came across a prize.

  “Johnny Walker Blue?” he asked, turning to his brother in battle.

  “That’s a decent way to celebrate being alive.” Slone arched an eyebrow. “Sure you want to waste top shelf on ‘the help?’”

  Not amused, Cade narrowed his eyes. “I’d say you’re pretty damn helpful, Rowan,” he muttered, his gaze dropping to the bandage on Slone’s forearm.

  While the coastguard fished the traitorous captain out of the water, before they climbed aboard, Slone had dumped the dead man’s carcass overboard. To skillfully avoid bringing Kylie into it, since her fingerprints were on the revolver that would’ve matched the bullet in the dead guy, Slone had grabbed a throwing star out of his duffel before hiding the bag of weapons in the empty equipment bin under the seat cushions. He’d subsequently embedded the damned thing into his left forearm, claiming the throwing star had nicked an artery to account for the pool of blood on the deck.

  “You have the pain tolerance of a rhinoceros,” Cade said. “That alone earns you a bottle of the best.” He shook his head. “What the hell did you do before coming to work for us?”

  Slone’s lips twitched. “Make mine a double.”

  “Ice?”

  “Hell, no.” Slone scoffed. “It’s sacrilege to dilute Johnny Blue.”

  “Excellent choice.”

  But Cade wasn’t about to drop the subject. They moved to the plush seating in the sunken living room area.

  “The marines?” Cade asked.

  Stretching his legs out in front of him, Slone sipped his scotch like the guess didn’t even deserve a response.

  “Special Forces, then.”

  Cade knew that Trey had purchased the
bodyguard company from Logan Stone, a former Army Ranger in the Special Forces. Cade had met Logan a handful of times, most notably at a pool party his wife Allison had thrown for his birthday this past summer. During the party, they’d pitted the newcomers, the Sorens, against the old guard, Logan and his crew. An amusing lesson in contrasts for sure.

  Racking his memory, he vaguely recalled that Slone had played pool volleyball on Logan’s team, against Cade and his family. Logan and the guys on his side of the net all gave off that clean cut, calculating, uber-confident vibe that could only come from having walked into the mouth of hell and come out on the other side.

  “Army Ranger?” Cade asked.

  Looking bored, Slone glanced out the picture windows lining the back of the yacht. “You’re getting warmer.”

  “Navy Seal.”

  Slone gave a short nod. “Pour me another. This is gearing up to be a long conversation where you bury me in questions that I’m never going to answer.”

  Ignoring him, Cade wondered, “How high up did you go?”

  Slone grazed his fingers along the fronds of a potted palm hovering beside his chair. “High.”

  “Were you on the Navy Seal Six team that took out Bin Ladin?”

  Slone sent him an arrested stare, before carefully rearranging his features in a mask of nonchalance. “No.”

  “Okay, but you have gone on missions as part of the Navy Seal Six, haven’t you? Christ, Rowan.” Cade’s tone expressed his admiration. “Even if you didn’t take out the nation’s number one most wanted, you should be guarding the president—not holed up on a yacht with me, protecting a girl from a psycho drug kingpin. Why did you leave the Special Forces?”

  The stony look in Slone’s gray eyes told Cade he had no intention of answering.

  “Fair enough.” Cade nodded. “We all have our secrets. Some are meant to stay buried.”

  “Forever,” Slone muttered. “Can I get that second pour I asked for an hour ago?”

  “You mean forty five second ago? Sure.” Cade tilted the bottle and the amber liquor sloshed along the sides of Slone’s glass, filling the air with a crisp earthy tang.

  The man downed it in three seconds, and held out the glass again. This time Cade handed him the bottle. Slone grunted his thanks.

  Setting his half-empty glass on a side table, Cade pivoted to see if Kylie had returned yet. No sign of her.

  An alert tension filled his body when he heard someone coming down the steps. But it was just Antonio, carrying a bucket of cleaning supplies and a mop.

  Cade frowned. “Have you seen Kylie?” he called to the kid.

  Antonio glanced up. “I thought she was with you, senor.”

  “I’ll be right back,” Cade said.

  After checking their quarters, he took the stairs two at a time to the captain’s deck. There he knocked on the darkened glass of the control room. One of the two coastguards manning the yacht opened the door. “Can I help you?”

  “Did you see Kylie pass by?”

  “The pretty one?”

  When Cade nodded, the officer pointed above his head.

  Moving quickly up the steps, Cade found her at the rear of the sundeck. She sat on the teak floorboards, arms crossed over her bent knees. “Kylie.”

  When she didn’t respond, he strode in her direction.

  Gripping the railing with one hand, he leaned over her. “Dinner’s ready.”

  “Okay.” Her voice sounded distant.

  The faraway look in her eyes troubled him. Securing both hands on the railing, he knelt behind her, his thighs bracketing hers. He gazed past her shoulder at the orange sun sinking through wisps of purple clouds toward the deep blue horizon. “I didn’t see you come up here.”

  She swiped a hand across her cheek. “I didn’t want to be seen.”

  Concerned, he went from kneeling to sitting, stretching his legs out on either side of hers. His hands still grasped the rail, holding her without touching her. “Beautiful view.”

  She took awhile to respond. “Is it?”

  “You don’t think so?”

  She shook her head and swiped at her cheek again. When he curved her finger under her chin, she turned halfway around. He met her gaze and his gut clenched as he looked into two huge pools of grief. “I’ll never have my old life back, Cade. Nothing will ever be the same.”

  Unable to look her in the eyes and lie to her, he averted his face. “Things will go back to normal.” He nudged her shoulder with his chin. “You’ll see.”

  “Thanks for trying, but I know the truth. I’m a realist. When I see the writing on the wall I pay attention. And it’s written clear as day. I may never be safe again. If Bruno wants to find me and follow through on his intention like he did with Maria, I’ll be afraid until the day I die.”

  He dropped one hand and curved his arm around her waist, leaning her back against the shelter of his chest. “I won’t let that happen.”

  She dropped her head against his shoulder, and he felt her deep sigh beneath his forearm. “You can’t protect me forever.”

  “I disagree.” He kissed her hair and whispered in her ear. “I’ll take care of you for as long as you need.” Longer if you let me.

  “We can’t hide out forever.” Misery coated her words. “Who knows how long this will drag out?”

  He gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Slone and I have come up with some ways to expedite the process. It won’t be much longer.” Though the idea of letting her out of his sight sent a jolt of panic through him, and for a few seconds he found it hard to breathe.

  “But there’s no guarantee,” she whispered.

  “Life doesn’t come with guarantees, honey.” He hugged her tight against him, as if his body could shield her from all the things she feared. “We’ll get through this, I promise.”

  She shook her head. “You can’t put your life on hold, Cade, and neither can I.”

  “What are you plans?”

  “Same as they’ve always been.” She shrugged with a sense of defeat. “I have finals next month. After that it’s four months until I graduate. I still have to confirm my work-study program. I’m supposed to spend my last semester at the county courthouse.”

  That piqued his interest, though he kept his tone casual. “Does your work-study have to be at the courthouse? I mean, could you do it from anywhere?”

  She paused in thought. “I guess I could approach another law firm again. But I wanted so much to work in the prosecutor’s office, doing research on cases that matter, that really make a difference. That go after people like Ramos, instead of defending them,” she said with a bitter edge to her voice.

  “You brought all your books with you to study,” he pointed out. “There’s no rush to get you back to Las Vegas.” Sure as hell not for him.

  Her hands balled into fists against her knees. “My life is there, Cade.”

  Your life is with me. You belong with me, he wanted to say, but he bit back the words. The forced silence stewed inside him, but this wasn’t the time to bring up anything long term, if she couldn’t see past the next five months. To be honest, he’d viewed his future through the same narrow lens until she came into his life and altered the trajectory.

  The wind lifted her hair, a few strands catching in the unshaven bristle along his jaw. He smoothed the silky texture with his hand. “I’m just saying there are options. We can explore them when you’re ready.”

  She relaxed into him completely, and he closed his eyes, welcoming her surrender. “I don’t know how I would’ve ever gotten through this without you.” A glitter of moisture rimmed her lashes. “You mean so much to me.”

  The softly spoken admission curled around his heart like sun-warmed silk. You mean the world to me, too. “I’m not leaving you to face this alone. I’ll be by your side the whole way.”

  Swinging both her legs over one of his, she turned in his arms. Her gaze fell to his mouth. He needed no further invitation.

  He sank his finger
s into her hair. She sighed as he sifted the light strands through his fingers, her eyes closing, her head settling into his large palm. He sipped and tugged at her lips in slow, passionate grazes, intent on making her forget everything and everyone else but him.

  Increasing his demand, he parted her lips and slid his tongue inside to curl around hers. He held her face as he probed her deeply, memorizing her taste. Temptation heated his blood. He wanted to pretend they were alone in the middle of the ocean. He wanted to lay her down and feel her naked body against his, warm and lush beneath his hands.

  Pressure built in his chest and funneled downward, filling him with an aching need only she could satisfy.

  Until a voice interrupted their sensual reverie. “Everything all right up here…okay, I have the worst timing on the planet.”

  Kylie pulled her top up to cover herself, sucking his taste off her lips. God, she made him so hot. “It’s okay,” she said.

  “No, it’s not,” Cade growled.

  The sound of Slone’s heavy steps led away from them. “Yep. Leaving now.”

  Then again, maybe Slone was a good man to guide Kylie through this emotional aftermath, a more seasoned pro at weighing the risks of preserving a life versus taking it, and he’d offer a decent distraction for Kylie’s tumultuous thoughts.

  “Slone,” he called out.

  “Yeah, boss.” Slone’s voice echoed up the staircase.

  “Think you can find some rum and pour three shots?”

  “Yep,” Slone said, a faint congeniality returning to his tone.

  Cade hoped the three of them could begin to heal one or two of their freshly opened wounds, and lingering confusion, over a bottle of liquor. It couldn’t hurt, right?

  *

  That evening Cade and Kylie lounged on a deck chair together. A contained fire within a concave discus offered heat to them. She leaned back against him, relaxed between his legs, while Antonio made them laugh all hysterically with his showmanship. Turned out the kid had a theatrical side to him, and he proceeded to entertain them for most of the evening.

  After Antonio took himself and his entertainment below deck for the night, Kylie stood and staggered a little, as she passed the bottle of rum to Slone, who reclined on a chair beside them.