NINETEEN
Aiden felt a migraine coming on as he headed for the water that morning. He didn’t think it would be a good idea for him to dive, but he’d be damned if he was going to allow himself to become so worried he didn’t at least go out with the team in the small boat and participate in some way or other. He had never let anything bring him down before this, and he wasn’t about to start now. He couldn’t afford to be distracted or, like the domino effect, his whole carefully laid world could come crashing down.
“Aiden, you really look like hell,” Declan felt the need to point out. “Something’s sure got you pretty worked up. Would you care to tell me what this is all about?”
“I don’t want any of the noobs to overhear,” he said, glancing over Declan’s shoulder at the group of men who were currently double-checking each other’s gear. “My wife may be up to no good, yet as usual she’s clearly got somebody else doing the dirty work. But the question is, what would Brynn gain by ruining this place if her goal is to force me to sell it off? No, Dee, I’m convinced it’s something else.”
“Maybe she heard about Cat and jealousy is rearing its ugly head,” Declan suggested.
“No, that’s not accurate,” Aiden sighed. “I don’t think she was aware of anything between Cat and I until she actually got here. I think maybe she’s figured out she can’t get half the assets, and it’s got her running scared. She’s practically begging me to forgive her for filing for a divorce and give her another chance. Four years, she hasn’t given a damn about patching things up, and now this? Something just isn’t right.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, buddy,” Declan sighed. “But I can’t have you coming out with the team looking like this. You know that, right? Even if you’re the boss, I’m the guy in charge of safety around this joint, and it’s just going to have to be a no go.”
“Yeah, I know you’re right,” he sighed. “I need to get my head screwed on right. The sooner Brynn and her groupies leave, the better I’m going to feel.”
“I know that’s right,” he agreed. “Maybe tomorrow you’ll be feeling more able to dive. But do you know what you need to do? Grab Cat and take her with you for a drive. Kellen can easily hold down the fort here for an hour or two, and I’ll have this group out doing more clean-up in the coral beds. I doubt that even if Brynn and her people are up to no good that they’d try another stunt in broad daylight.”
“I’m not so sure Cat will leave her post after what happened last night,” said Aiden with a sigh. “Somebody lit a fire in the kitchen, and I had to call in Max and get it all cleared up before breakfast time. I’m almost afraid to leave myself, for fear of what we’d find when we returned.”
“Fear of the possibilities is not how Aiden Whitney lives his life,” Declan scoffed. “But I gotta go now, before these men start trying to find out what’s up with you. I really do urge you to take my advice. That fire may have been a onetime thing, you never know.”
“All right, I guess I’ll go,” Aiden sighed. “But Kellen needs to be told about everything first. I’d hate to have a mishap just because my main administrator was not informed of the entire situation.”
“Look frosty, boss,” said Declan, squeezing his shoulder. “Things are going to be all right.”
“Thanks, Declan,” said Aiden, grinning wryly. “See you later.”
When he stepped into the office, Aiden found that Cat wasn’t even in the room. Kellen told him that she had been called away to deal with a power outage in the laundry room, and he told him what had happened last night, postulating his idea about all of the incidents that had happened being related to one another.
“Come on, Aiden, do you hear yourself?” he scoffed. “Why would that car incident tie in with some weird garbage burning? And more importantly, if somebody burnt garbage on the grill, why didn’t the smoke detectors go off? Don’t you think you should be more worried about that aspect of the thing?”
“Dammit, I hadn’t even thought of it,” he sighed. “We’re going to need to check them all. I can’t believe this! Could this really be all Brynn’s doing? She’s never done anything like this before.”
“You’ve never given her a reason before,” Kellen shrugged. “Every other time, you’ve given her exactly what she wants. Let her get away with her indiscretions and allowed her to come crawling back. But now that the tables are turned, who knows what she might be capable of?”
“I’m going to take Declan’s advice and bring Cat out with me somewhere,” said Aiden. “I mean, what’s the point of having you in charge if I can’t take advantage of that once in a while?”
“I’m sure I can manage for a couple of hours,” Kellen agreed. “You two go on out and blow off some steam. Maybe if it’s steamy enough you might even feel ready to work when you return.”
“Kellen, I never said I was taking her off for that!” Aiden protested.
“And why not?” he teased. “Last night was the first evening she didn’t go home with you in two weeks. Who could blame you if you wanted a little reminder of what you missed?”
“You’re such a twisted Brit,” Aiden chuckled. “I’m going to find Cat and see if she’s gotten the electric mess fixed. I’ll see you later.”
“Yes, sir,” he said, smiling.
Aiden found Cat just leaving the laundry room. Apparently they’d gotten the power working since all the machines were spinning just as they should be. He smiled at her surprise when she saw him coming.
“Weren’t you going to dive?” she asked curiously.
“I was about to, but I’m just feeling way too stressed,” he admitted. “Declan sort of grounded me. He doesn’t want me to get into any trouble because my mind isn’t in the game, and really I can’t blame him. So what do you say you let Kellen handle this place for a while and go out for a drive with me? I think you’re pretty stressed out too.”
“A drive?” she repeated, smirking. “And did you have a particular destination in mind?”
“I’d like to visit some old friends of mine,” he replied, though he did not elaborate.
“Okay, fine,” Cat agreed. She had grown used to his strange need for secrecy, it seemed. He liked to think maybe she even understood it in a way.
“Great, then, let’s go find my ride,” he said, grinning.
Cat didn’t seem even remotely surprised that he took her to visit dolphins. In fact, if anything she seemed quite delighted to go with him into the bay and discover where his watery friends were playing for the day. The pair spent a couple of hours with them, and then Aiden brought her back to his place.
“Aren’t we going back to work?” she asked him curiously.
“Sure we are,” he shrugged. “I just thought we could stop by here first.”
Cat giggled as he turned off the motor and pocketed his key. He couldn’t make it more obvious that he was in no hurry if he tried.
“Aiden, you do know that we’re meant to be working right now, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but Kellen already gave me a green light to take my time,” he said, smirking. “I’m sure that if he needs us for anything, he’ll give us a call. Besides, it’s barely two in the afternoon. We’re both stressed out from all the nonsense, and I for one find being close to you physically tends to make all of this worthwhile.”
Blushing as he came around and tugged her out of the vehicle, Cat did not hesitate to follow him through the door and straight down the hall to the place where both of them wanted to be.
“I missed you last night,” she admitted as he pulled her into his arms.
“Good, baby, I missed you too. But we can make up for it now.”