Avery

It was as if I were walking in a field of cotton wool and sunlight as I floated along the street. My body should have been heavy from lack of sleep, but it was soft and light, as if gravity had given up on me as I made my way back to the tender. I wanted to feel like that forever. I resisted the urge to spin full circle in the street like an extra in the Sound of Music, but it took effort.

The sun was up but the light was dusky, as if the day’s eyes weren’t fully open yet. The streets were quiet, shutters still closed. I didn’t know how long I’d been walking so I glanced at my watch. It was twenty minutes before the tender left for the yacht. I’d be fine. I was only a few minutes away.

I passed a man unloading boxes of vegetables from the back of his Vespa and waved. “Buongiorno,” he called.

“It’s a beautiful morning,” I replied, even though I knew he probably wouldn’t understand me. But it was a beautiful morning and I wanted to shout it out loud. A joyous morning after an incredible night.

Running into Hayden at the theater had seemed like a coincidence, but today it felt bigger than that. As though it had been inevitable. I glanced down, embarrassed at the images flashing through my head. The things he’d done with my body? No man had ever made me feel the way Hayden had. He’d unlocked a whole different part of me last night, discovered someone I didn’t know existed. Hayden looked at me as though he knew exactly what I was thinking at every moment—the need, the desire, the vulnerability—as though we’d connected body and mind.

I turned left, and the road sloped steeply under me as it led down to the harbor. I didn’t feel tired. We must have fallen asleep at some point because when I’d woken, I’d been tucked into Hayden’s body, my back to his front, and I’d had to lift his heavy arm from around my waist to escape. I grinned. I couldn’t wait to see him later.

The shore came into view and I spotted the tender immediately. Eric was bent over looking at something, but he was the only one there. He wouldn’t have been expecting me to stay on the mainland last night. I was the one known for enforcing the rules, not breaking them. Of course, no one could find out what had happened between Hayden and me. We hadn’t discussed it, but things had to remain as they’d always been. Nothing had changed. Yesterday was yesterday. Last night was last night. Today Hayden would return to being my client.

Unease settled in my stomach. That wasn’t what I wanted. The thought of going the rest of my life without feeling how I did last night, without spending more time with the man who could elicit the sounds, feelings and memories that Hayden had, tasted like vinegar on my tongue.

Lost in thought, my mood slightly soured, I turned right as I reached the seafront. It was deserted other than a man on a bench facing the sea and reading a newspaper. He closed it as I approached and smiled. He didn’t take his eyes off me as I continued toward him, which wouldn’t have bothered me because Italians tended to be . . . obvious in what they found interesting. But this man wasn’t Italian. His hair was ginger and his newspaper was British.

“Avery?” he asked.

I stopped and fixed my mouth with a professional grin. “Do I know you?”

“No,” he said as he set his newspaper beside him and stood. “I’m Phil and I know you work on the Athena. I was rather hoping I could ask you a couple of questions.”

It was usually paparazzi rather than journalists who approached the crew, but this guy knew my name. He didn’t seem like a journalist either. I stepped away from him and continued back to the tender, aware of him following me, my heart beginning to clatter in my chest. Without the slope of the hill to give me height, I’d lost sight of Eric, but he must have been less than a two-minute walk away. How had this man known my name and what did he want?

“You’re a stewardess on the Athena, I understand.”

I didn’t react, just concentrated on keeping my gait steady, but the stranger caught up. No doubt he’d be able to outrun me if I was to break into a sprint. He wasn’t big, but he was stocky and fit looking. The rich liked to use the phrase that wealth attracted wealth but all too often I’d found that wealth attracted trouble.

“It’s a beautiful yacht,” he said.

He was right, but I wasn’t going to engage with him.

“What do you know about Hayden Wolf?” he asked, as if we were talking about the weather.

Did he know Hayden? Who was this guy?

“I’m doing some research. I need some information.”

If this guy was a friend of Hayden’s, he had no need to approach me. And if he wasn’t a friend, did that make him an enemy?

“I just want to know what he’s working on. Who does he talk to on the phone? That kind of thing.”

I kept walking and kept quiet even though I really wanted to ask him who he was and what he wanted information on Hayden for.

“I can offer you money,” he said. “Five thousand US dollars.”

Five thousand dollars? That was a big sum of money. I couldn’t remember being offered more than a few hundred, even when big Hollywood stars were on board. And how did this Phil guy even know Hayden was on the boat? And how did he know who I was? I shrugged. “I have nothing to say.”

“Think about,” he said. “There’s nothing to lose. I just want a few innocuous details and you’ll get a lot of money in return.”

It was a lot of money.

“You could shop. Travel. What would you spend it on?”

An extra five thousand dollars worked out to over thirty physical therapy sessions. That was nearly seven weeks of care for my brother. But I couldn’t sell Hayden out. I knew how private he was. “I don’t know any details. I just serve dinner and change bedding.”

“I’m sure a clever girl like you knows more than you think you do. You’ve already confirmed he’s on the boat, so thank you for that.”

I snapped my head around. “I did no such thing.”

“But you didn’t deny it, and that’s as good as a confirmation as far as I’m concerned.”

Shit, had I given Hayden’s location away? He was so careful, so private about everything. It would be horrifying to be the person who fucked that up for him. “I didn’t confirm or deny anything. It’s none of your business who’s on my yacht.”

“If the information’s good, the money could go up,” he said, ignoring my denial. My bliss seeped away, and I wanted to grab him by the collar and force him to confess that I hadn’t confirmed who our guest was, but of course, I’d just make things worse. It would cement what he clearly already knew.

“Five thousand dollars? Come on, it’s easy money. Just tell me what he’s working on, who he’s talking to. Think of it as a tip. You’re used to tips, right?”

Easy money? Was there any such thing? Five thousand dollars would mean a great deal for my family. Didn’t I owe more loyalty to my family than a near-perfect stranger? If I asked my dad I knew what he’d say. He’d tell me my character was priceless. I couldn’t take the money for my family when I knew they’d be disappointed if they ever found out how I’d come by it.

As we rounded the corner, the tender came into view.

“Eric,” I shouted, and I waved when he looked up. I turned to the man. “I don’t have anything to say to you, sorry,” I said, then broke into a run. It wasn’t worth it. I would just work harder for bigger tips rather than take money to steal secrets and sell them. That wasn’t how I was raised, and more than I wanted that extra money, I wanted to be my father’s daughter.

I didn’t look to see if he was following me. I just focused on Eric, the tender and getting back to the yacht.

“Hey, I thought you’d go back to the yacht last night,” Eric said, taking my hand as I stepped into the boat. “You weren’t at dinner.”

I frowned as I turned to see Phil had disappeared. I hadn’t told him anything, yet he’d twisted it and made me feel bad.

“Avery?”

I turned away to look at Eric. “Sorry, yeah.” Should I tell Eric about the approach from Phil? Maybe he’d approached other members of the crew while they’d been ashore. What had they told him? Was Hayden under surveillance or something?

“Did the guy I saw you with get lucky?”

It took me a couple of seconds to see which dots he’d connected. Eric had assumed the man I’d been approached by was my lover. I’d not thought about what I was going to say about where I’d been last night. I’d been too wrapped up in the shadows of last night, still drunk on Hayden’s touch, to think through my excuses and get my story straight. I shrugged. “You can’t ask me that,” I said and winked at him.

Eric clearly hadn’t recognized the guy, so perhaps Phil had only approached me. I’d mention it to the captain so he could remind everyone to take their duty of confidentiality seriously. I wasn’t sure if I’d tell Hayden. I’d not revealed anything to Phil but whoever he was, he’d intimated that I had. I hated the thought Hayden might get the same impression, might believe I wasn’t on his side or didn’t have his best interests at heart.

I knew the truth. But would he believe me? Or was it better to just keep quiet?