Hayden

I dialed Landon’s number and caught a strain of Avery’s perfume. It was sexier and more complex than her professional gloss would indicate—it hinted at the woman beneath the mask. I shook my head, frustrated at the way my thoughts slid to Avery more and more. I had enough to think about with Phoenix and the leak at Wolf Enterprises, but somehow Avery had taken up residence in my mind, day and night. In the days since the evening of fireworks and our kiss, we’d reverted to what we had been when I first arrived on the yacht—guest and crew. Perhaps that was really all we ever had been. Since her tears in my office, she’d only confided in me enough to say that her father had been discharged and that everything was going to be fine. I was relieved, but also disappointed that she’d shut down. I liked her. I enjoyed her smart mind and generous heart, but now all I got to see was the yacht stewardess.

“Any news?” I asked my brother as he answered the phone. Due diligence on Phoenix was uncovering opportunities rather than issues, the risks were as expected and the contract negotiations productive. I’d been on this yacht nearly four weeks and if things continued like this, I might be leaving early. But before I got back to the office—or bought Phoenix—I wanted to understand who’d been betraying me to Cannon all these months.

“Yes, I’m fine, thanks for asking. I had a great weekend, took a woman out for a second date on Saturday which went well, though disappointingly I didn’t get laid, and then on Sunday I played lacrosse.”

“Lacrosse? Since when?”

“Oh, so you do take some interest in my life beyond whether or not I’ve found your mole.”

“Not really, but if you’re going to demand attention like a five-year-old, I’ll indulge you a short while. You are my little brother, after all.”

“Christ, you’re a dick.”

Landon no more wanted to share details of his weekend with me than I wanted to hear them, but he liked to make it sound as if I was the less emotional and the more uptight of the two of us. But we both knew there was no way he could have done the job he had without being able to put aside everything other than the moment at hand. We had that in common. Most of the time, at least. “Do you have any news about the leak?”

Landon sighed. “Nothing. You getting Anita to request the information pack doesn’t seem to have tipped Cannon off. According to my intelligence, they haven’t placed a bid or so much as a made a phone call. But still no clue as to where that additional money came from that she has in her new bank account.”

I should be more relieved than I was. Anita was smart. And if she really was the leak, which even after hearing about her newly acquired nest egg, seemed impossible, she’d understand that if she was the only one who knew about the company I was looking to buy, she shouldn’t pass that information to Cannon.

“Right, and what about the finance team?”

“The treasurer is clear. We’re still digging around the financial controller.”

“So, no real progress?” The thought of having to go back to the office, knowing someone was betraying me, wasn’t something I relished. I wanted to leave this boat a winner, not still under threat.

“We’re eliminating people, which is helpful, and there is one thing. Looks like there’s been an attempted break-in at your building.”

“In my flat or the building?”

“The building.”

“Okay, well that happens from time to time. They weren’t trying to get to me, were they?”

“Difficult to say. A panel of glass was removed from the ground-floor windows but apart from that no one is reporting any damage or disturbance. CCTV from the street shows two masked men enter and leave but the building security cameras don’t show anything. I’m following up.”

Surely this wasn’t connected to Cannon. Bribing someone for information was one thing, but breaking and entering? It all seemed to reek of some kind of underground, criminal gang. James Cannon was a pig, but his collar was white. Perhaps it was graying in his old age.

“It could be nothing. But I’m going to check your flat and we’re going to check it for surveillance devices.”

“Jesus, Landon. This sounds like it’s getting out of control. Should the police be involved?”

“I’m on it. I’m probably being paranoid because of what that guy did to Dad, but I’m not taking any chances.” We hadn’t talked much about James Cannon being at the helm of Cannon. The man who’d tried to destroy my father and succeeded in many ways. We didn’t need to go over old ground. Landon understood how serious the situation was. We’d lived the aftermath of James Cannon our whole lives.

“Thanks, Landon. I appreciate it.”

“Okay, well I’m too busy to chat like sisters, so fuck off,” Landon said.

“Actually, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about. I want to get off this boat.” Even saying the words lifted my spirits. Avery still used my satellite phone periodically, and she was in the office and my bedroom to change sheets and towels, fiddle with the loo paper, folding it into shapes and whatever else she did. Her perfume surrounded me at every turn. Everywhere I looked on this boat, there was a shadow or a memory of her—a sign she’d been there and would be back soon. If I couldn’t have her, I needed a break.

“What do you mean ‘get off the boat’?” Landon asked.

“Like, experience dry land for a day or something.”

I wasn’t used to not getting what I wanted, and I wanted Avery Walker. I respected Avery’s decision, but it didn’t make it any easier.

We arrived in Taormina tomorrow and Avery still hadn’t had a day off. If I offered the crew the evening off as I’d done before, Avery wouldn’t go with them. She might even think I was trying to engineer some alone time with her. I might be a manipulative bastard in business, but I wasn’t about to trick a woman into letting me kiss her again. I reckoned the only way Avery would take a break would be if I wasn’t onboard. If I was ashore for the night then she’d have no possible excuse to keep working. And she needed a break. I couldn’t give her much, but I could give her that.

And I could give myself a break from wanting her. Maybe even find an Italian woman to seduce and bury myself in. Perhaps that would push Avery out of my mind.

“Are you fucking crazy? Everything is working. You’re making good progress with your deal, Cannon haven’t figured out what you’re doing and we’re eliminating potential leaks. Why would you jeopardize that?”

Why indeed?

“I’m not suggesting I come back to London,” I replied. “I’m just feeling a little stir crazy. I want to go ashore. Overnight.” True, but it was only part of the story.

“What? Stay in a hotel or something?”

“Yeah. Maybe get rid of my sea legs. I’ve been on this thing a month and I just want to get back on dry land for a few hours.”

Landon was right—I was in one of the most beautiful places on earth. As well as trying to make things easier on myself, maybe I could enjoy it if I was away from the yacht and everything connected to the Phoenix deal. I had a day or two while I waited for the lawyers to review everything. I could afford to catch my breath. I wanted to see the place Avery was so keen to visit.

“You mean you want to get laid,” he said. I didn’t respond. I had no desire to discuss my need to fuck Avery Walker out of my system with Landon. “I don’t know. We’d need some time to set it up. I’d want to check out the hotel before you got there, and you’d have to do a full sweep for bugs when you got back.”

“I do a full sweep twice a day on the yacht anyway so that’s not a problem. And I won’t do any business on shore or make any calls. I want you to set this up.”

He sighed, and I could almost hear the cogs in his brain trying to process what I was saying, trying to find a solution. “I could send in someone to conduct surveillance while you’re there. You never know, if we get lucky someone might be following you.”

“Lucky?” My brother was a twisted fucker.

“When were you thinking?”

“Day after tomorrow.”

I could almost hear the eye roll.

“Okay, leave it with me. I’ll find a hotel. I’ll also get some security for the boat while you’re ashore. It’s a good job you’ve got money. This is going to cost you.”

I chuckled. “Just stop whining and make it happen.”

Hopefully my being ashore would ease Avery’s burden. She’d told me she’d always wanted to explore Taormina—now she’d get the chance. Perhaps it would take her mind off what was happening at home. And maybe I’d stop thinking about her.

Landon could organize this without any consequences for the Phoenix deal, couldn’t he? If I didn’t conduct any business on shore then the only risk would be someone planting a listening device on me while I was on dry land and me taking it back to the boat. But I could scan anything I brought back. This shouldn’t be a problem, and my little brother wasn’t the type to not tell me when he thought I was being an idiot. An overnight trip would be worth it. I could distract myself and make Avery happy. Not that the chief stewardess of the Athena’s happiness was on my agenda at the moment.

Definitely not.

I was just going stir crazy. I needed to find something else to think about.