by Cherry Adair
Very out of character. And the fact that she knew it was out of character bothered Addy. She knew this part of his personality; why hadn’t it bothered her before now? She’d known Naveen for five years. Slept with him for God’s sake. Why see him now without blinders on when she’d never really registered it before?
Because Rydell was in the picture again.
Because she’d almost forgotten how an honest, honorable man behaved with everyone he encountered. Ry didn’t have one way of talking to his crew, and another when talking to his friends.
Naveen never was, never could be, Ry.
“I don’t trust Case,” Naveen said. “His sudden appearance is suspect, and so is his urgency to salvage this wreck. Which just happens to be on our route to Sydney. He’s up to something. And that something has everything to do with getting back into your good graces.”
Getting back into my bed. “He just wants the use of Tesoro Mio, and he assures me that the salvage should only take a week or two…”
“You believe him?”
I believe his need is urgent, and specific, and that he has some sort of time line. I just don’t know what or why. After what I saw last night, I know, with every beat of my heart, that he’d only have come here if he had no other choice. No person would have willingly walked through the hell that he walked through last night.
Something had Rydell running scared.
“Naveen, did you reprogram my iPhone after Sophia died?”
He frowned. Or gave every indication of frowning, but the Botox in his forehead prevented anything that extreme. “Why on earth would I manipulate your phone? Even if I knew how, which my tech people would tell you I don’t.”
Reprogramming her phone was simple. He certainly could’ve done it. But had he? “Rydell’s phone number was altered in my list of contacts.”
He glanced at her before picking up his coffee. “To what purpose?” He took a sip, watching her over the rim of his cup.
“So that every call I made to him after Sophie’s death went somewhere else.”
“You must be mistaken, darling. Surely if that was the case, when you called and voice mail picked up it wasn’t Case’s voice.”
“It was. His recorded voice. I think someone taped it from his real message, and changed the number so I thought I was calling my husband, and instead my calls and texts went—God only knew where.” It sounded positively Machiavellian and absurd in the light of day.
Naveen put down his cup. “Good God. That’s outrageous!”
Addy saw her own reflection in his sunglasses. Her expression was tight, which was certainly how she felt. Confused, angry, hurt, vengeful. “Yes,” she said tightly. “It is. The question is, who would do a thing like that?”
“Hollis,” he said without hesitation.
Dear God, was her mother so vile that even someone who detested Ry would immediately see her as a potential culprit, without questioning that Ry had never received the calls?
He covered her hand with his. “But why she would do something so vile is beyond me.”
“She wants you and me to be married.”
Naveen picked up her hand to play with her fingers. “As do I. But by fair means, not foul.”
“You swear you had nothing to do with it?” God, she wished she could see his eyes, gauge what he was really thinking.
“Darling, I swear. You must confront Hollis.”
“Oh, I will, you can count on that.”
But Addison knew she had to get in touch with Ry’s sister first. There was another piece of the puzzle he hadn’t shared in the early hours of this morning. If anyone knew what was eating Rydell, it would be Peri. The siblings were close. Or as close as someone like Rydell would allow himself to get to a person. Even family. “Rydell is many things, but he isn’t dishonest.”
A rueful smile lit Naveen’s handsome face, and he brushed her jaw with his palm. “I trust you. Doesn’t mean I won’t be watching your back every second of this trip.” His hand slipped under her loose hair at her nape, and he drew her closer. His breath smelled of strong coffee. She was mildly alarmed at her lack of any emotion at his touch. More alarmed that after a second of dullness, she had to fight the urge to brush his hands off her. “I could do a better job of that if I shared your bed.”
Addison disengaged his hand by shifting in her chair. Scanning his face as a shiver ran over her skin. An errant breeze and nothing—okay, a little—to do with Ry leaving her bed just hours earlier. “We already discussed this. I won’t sleep with you, Nav.”
“I can wait until we reach Sydney.”
She had to tell him the only thing that was going to happen when they reached Sydney was that they would part ways. Had to find a way to let him down easily. Had. To. She opened her mouth, but the words escaped her.
“You must know that you drive me mad, Addison. I want you desperately, but I feel that with each passing day you pull away instead of drawing closer. And even more so now. Case stole you away from me once. I won’t allow him to do so again.”
“He didn’t steal me, Nav,” she told him gently. “I went willingly. I know that hurt you, and God only knows it wasn’t intentional. It just … happened.” Love at first sight. Like a lightning bolt.
“You were mine first, and as long as you’re mine last I must be content.” He nodded. “Until we reach Sydney.”
He pressed a quick kiss to her mouth, then released his hold and picked up his glass of orange juice. He gave her a mock toast. “I’ve done everything in my power to change your mind.” His smile was wry and charming, reminding Addison what had attracted her to him in the first place. It wasn’t his fault that as soon as she’d met Rydell Case, Naveen’s smooth, sophisticated charm wasn’t enough. It was like the moon challenging the sun.
He drank his juice and swirled the last inch in his glass, dark eyes intent on her face. “Everything short of clubbing you and dragging you by the hair to my cave. So I’ll be patient and wait a few more weeks. We have the rest of our lives to make love. I want a life with you, darling. Children to take the place of the girl you lost.”
Her name was Sophie. Is Sophie. Will always be Sophie.
“I could have a hundred children, and none of them could replace Sophie.” Addison’s voice broke. Children. Her heart pinched. All she could see was Sophie’s sweet little face, the wisps of black hair, her soft gray eyes.
“I know, darling. I misspoke, of course not. But you’ll have other children, and the pain of loss will fade.”
He had no idea. Would never have an idea. That on the day she held another baby for the first time, she’d still remember Sophie, as though not a minute had passed since she’d held her lifeless little body.
And it was exactly because Naveen couldn’t comprehend the depth of emotion that would guide the rest of her life, her decision not to marry him was the right one. Knowing that, with as much crystal-clear certainty as she’d ever have in her life, it was cruel to string him along. She had to tell him. Now. Not later.
“I’m sorry, Naveen. I’ve made a decision. Rydell and I—”
Fourteen
The phone on the table behind her rang. Her heart did a little jog. News from the Coast Guard officials? Perhaps they’d caught the man? She stretched out and took it off the cradle. “This is Addison.” She mouthed Sorry to Naveen, who didn’t bother hiding his annoyance at the interruption.
Saved by the bell. She hadn’t planned on blurting out anything right now, but words had been on the tip of her tongue. God help me.
“Badri, Miss Addison.” Badri Patil was first mate. “We have Miss Persephone on the ship-to-shore for you. Do you want it connected there?”
Finally. She’d called her sister-in-law as soon as Rydell had left her cabin that morning. Thank God Peri had finally decided to return one of her calls.
“No thanks, Badri, I’ll run down to my cabin. Give me a few minutes.” Pushing back her chair, Addison got to her feet. “Thanks.” At the moment
of disconnection she snatched up a slice of bacon. “I’ve been waiting for this call. Don’t let your breakfast get cold waiting for me. I’m not sure how long I’ll be.”
Naveen grabbed her wrist, his mouth a thin angry line. “Finish what you were about to say, Addison. You and Case—what? Fucked last night?”
His vehemence, and the fact that she’d never heard him swear, made her go cold. “Let go. I have to take the call.”
“Did you fuck that son of a bitch behind my back again?” His shackling fingers tightened like a hard vise around her wrist. “Did you?”
Addison wrenched her arm free of his grip. His fingers left red marks on her wrist. “Do not manhandle me, Naveen. I’ll take my call and then we’ll discuss where our futures are going to part ways.”
“Addison!” Naveen called after her as she flew down the outside stairs instead of winding her way through the main room. She ran down the corridor to her cabin just as Fahad, second steward, exited with his arms loaded with sheets and towels. He stepped aside and Addison flashed him a smile before closing the door and racing to pick up the phone on her desk.
“Put her through please, Badri.” There was a click as the line connected. She realized she was shaking from the confrontation with Naveen. It was as if someone else had suddenly invaded his body. She was partially at fault. She hadn’t handled that well, or diplomatically. Naveen was a proud man. She’d left him once for Rydell, and he was astute enough to know she still had unfinished business with her ex. Still, the look on his face had scared her, and him grabbing her like that pissed her off.
They’d have words all right, and he could go ahead to Sydney without her. Addison realized her heart was beating fast, as if she’d encountered danger and only narrowly escaped. Silly.
“Hi Peri?”
Without preamble, and ignoring the fact that the two women hadn’t spoken in months, Peri said, “Ry told you.”
Addison, slice of bacon raised to her mouth, sat down. “Told me what?”
“Shit.”
“Oh, that instills me with confidence and not fear. What the hell’s going on?”
“Hasn’t Ry been on board for several days?”
Addison wasn’t in the mood to be combative with anyone else today. Especially not with her ex-sister-in-law, whom she adored. “So?”
“So you need to talk to each other, Addy!”
“We talked about Sophie last night.”
“Thank God! But no, not about Sophia, Addy.”
Holy freaking crap. What the hell else? “What’s he supposed to have told me?”
“It’s not my place—”
“Bullshit. What else is going on with him, Peri? I know about Sea Dragon being hijacked.” Her heartbeat stuttered as her mind raced with every dreadful scenario imaginable in her fertile brain. “Is he sick? Please don’t tell me he has some terminal disease—”
“As far as I know he’s healthy as a horse, and going to live well into his nineties like Grandpa Paul. It’s the Cutters.”
Swamped with relief, Addison made a rude noise. “I wish they, and Ry, would just leave each other alone. Why does every damn little thing have to be a contest between them?” She nibbled the crisp, salty bacon. “Who did what to whom this time?”
Rydell was always in conflict with one or more of the Cutter brothers. The problem was, the men were so much alike that they knew which buttons to press. Sometimes Ry ended on top; sometimes one or all of the Cutter men did. It was a lose–lose situation. “You would think that with over seventy percent of the earth covered with water there’d be enough room for dozens of salvage operations at the same time without them all falling over one another!”
“Daniel Cutter and our father were partners,” Peri said flatly. “A long time ago. There was a third partner. Some French guy named Antoine Baillargeon. He died about nine months ago, apparently.”
Addison digested the fact that the two archenemies had once been not only partners but friends. “Ry never mentioned it.”
“We didn’t know until we go a letter from Baillargeon’s lawyer in England five months ago. Right when the Sea Dragon was hijacked. So Ry was a little occupied at the time.”
Right when Ry had been fighting to find her and out of his mind with grief. Addison tossed the rest of her uneaten slice of bacon into the trash. “The three men were full partners?”
“More like venture capitalists, but in essence, yeah. Dad needed an infusion of cash for a major salvage. In short, Baillargeon lent him the money and gained an ownership share of Case Enterprises as collateral.
“Ry learned about it when Dad died, and he suddenly found out we had to make payments. He was already planning on buying them out, but over the course of years—many years. Unless he made an incredible salvage sooner. Now the Frenchman’s heirs want to sell their share. They want fast money. A shitload of money.”
Addison frowned, rubbing the tension at her temple. “Rydell has a lot of money.”
“No, actually, he doesn’t. Not this kind of money, Addy. Two hundred and fifty million euros. The Baillargeons have to honor the right of first refusal that was in the contract. Without Sea Dragon, Ry hasn’t had an income for a year. That big lawsuit in South Africa brought by the Cutters cost him—and us—pretty much everything. Supporting you, and a full crew on board Tesoro Mio, has eaten up everything he had left. Even with every cent to both our names—Ry and myself—we can’t come up with two hundred and fifty million euros in eight days! There’s just no way.” Peri dragged in a ragged breath.
“Ry will kill me for telling you all this. And I’m not telling you to make you feel bad. At any damn time, my muleheaded brother could’ve told you, and knowing you, you would’ve done everything in your power to alleviate the financial burden. Which was exactly why he refused to tell you.”
That was Rydell in a freaking nutshell. Protect and serve.
He took care of the people he cared about. No matter what. “If the Baillargeon heirs are the majority owners of Case Enterprise … no wonder Ry is so freaking cranky and bad-tempered. No wonder he’s so desperate to salvage the silver from this wreck fast.” Addy paused a moment before continuing. “So he has to buy them out? That’s why he needs this silver salvage so badly.”
“Yes, and yes. But it’s worse than that, Addy. Everything has to be paid back and finalized in a week. The heirs won’t give him an extension. We’re talking multimillions of dollars here. Ry wouldn’t tell me the details. They want their money, or they’ll sell. Ry and I have the right of first refusal. We don’t have anything close to the amount they’re asking for.”
Addison’s mouth was dry. “What happens if we can’t pay?” It would kill him to lose the business he’d built from the wreck his father had made of Case Enterprises. Where his father had been an adventurer and a dreamer, Ry was pragmatic, and had worked hard and invested well. But now, according to Peri, that was all going to be lost if he couldn’t come up with this enormous lump sum. Eight days? Impossible.
“If Ry can’t pay by the stipulated date, the Cutters will have a chance to make an offer.”
Addy knew that would be a disaster as far as Rydell was concerned. The final win for the Cutter brothers. It would kill him to lose Tesoro Mio on top of everything else he’d been through. “They’ll own Case Enterprises outright. Lock, stock, and barrel.”
“Yes. Worse, they know all about this will and the stipulation. The Baillargeon heirs have them waiting in the wings like birds of prey just in case Ry can’t pay. That fricking bastard Logan Cutter has been secretly driving up the bidding to make it all but impossible for Ry to meet the astronomical asking price. By this time next month the damn Cutters will own everything Ry and I have worked for since Dad died.”
“Is there anything I—”
“We’re working on it. This isn’t your concern. Not anymore.”
Hurt beyond words, Addison choked back a cry. “That was uncalled for!”
“Sorry. Honest to God, I d
idn’t mean it to come out like that. But the reality is, much as I love you, you’re not part of this family anymore, Addison. That was your choice.”
Tears stung her eyes. “Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?”
“You wrecked our friendship when you divorced my brother instead of telling him that Sophia had died. That was cruel and heartless.” Addison had never heard Peri’s voice sound so cold, so disinterested. “That baby’s death affected all of us, not just you. I only returned your call because I thought—hell, I hoped—that you’d do the right thing and that Ry had talked to you.”
“We did talk. Last night. My mother reprogrammed the wrong number for Ry into my cell phone. All that time I was calling, leaving him messages—he never got them, Peri. Not a single one. I think she changed my phone number as well. We couldn’t contact each other, no matter how hard we tried. She made that impossible.”
“Shit on a shingle, Addy! The bitch! Have you killed her yet?”
“I haven’t spoken to her. Yet. But I assure you, it won’t be pleasant. It will also be the very last time I see or speak to her. Ever. But first things first.” She paused to drag in a ragged breath. She was so damn pissed, she was barely breathing between words. “I was going to sell Tesoro Mio in Sydney this week.”
“You can’t. Ry still owns half of it.”
“Would us selling it jointly be enough money to pay off the debt?”
Peri made a rude scoffing noise. “It would be a great chunk of cash, but wouldn’t get us where we need to be. Not after the year Ry just had.”
Addison’s throat ached with unshed tears. “What can I do?”
“Keep away from Ry—”
“Hard to do when we’re on the same boat—”
“Then for crapsake don’t break his heart again.” Her ex-sister-in-law, ex-best-friend disconnected, leaving behind a monumental void.