FOUR
God," Finn murmured, breath hot against Peri's throat. "You taste so-" He took her mouth in a ravenous kiss, as if he'd been unable to wait a second longer. The kiss was so hard, so aggressive that Peri almost came right there in the darkness.
Wrapping her arms around his waist, she kissed him back with all the fervent longing she'd felt since they'd parted. She didn't want to stop. She'd dreamed of this for eight days and nights, but reality far surpassed the memory.
Their lips crushed, the kiss mutely rough. Not merely hungry. Starving. Yes, please, and thank you. The taste of him was a match to her tinder. She welcomed the slick heat as his tongue dueled with hers and his fingers gripped her butt through the flimsy fabric of her dress, pulling her tightly against his erection.
She made a soft, urgent sound when he released one hand from her butt cheek, to pull her dress and strapless bra down around her waist. Bending his head separated the juncture of her thighs from the promise of that erection, but the sensation of wet heat as his mouth touched her naked breast compensated.
Plumping her breast in the cup of his hand, Finn curled his tongue around the erect bud, then sucked. The sharp, sweet sensation shot to her core, making her head thrash against the heated metal at her back. Tightening her fingers in his hair, she urged his mouth harder against her skin.
The familiar intoxicating scent of grapefruit and ocean shot through her veins like hot brandy as the heat of his damp mouth trailed from one breast to the other. Peri was so consumed and distracted, she at first didn't notice he was bunching the flimsy fabric of her dress in his other hand. Not until she became aware of the cool, silky glide of fabric as he skimmed her long dress up her thigh.
Lifting his head, he buried his damp mouth in the crook of her neck, and unerringly tore the delicate silk of her thong free from her body.
As he tugged the wisp of fabric from between her legs she felt how wet she was and freed one arm, her hand going to his zipper. The hiss of the metal teeth of the zipper being tugged down mingled with their heavy breathing. It was no easy task to get the small tab over his impressive erection. She used the time to explore, lingering to see if everything was as she remembered it.
He hissed in a sharp breath and caught her wrist. "I won't last ten seconds if- Jesus, woman." As he locked their lips in another punishing kiss, she slid the zipper down. One. Tooth. At. A. Time. Finn shuddered, pushing against her fingers. Eventually, the hard length of his velvety penis jerked free and Peri was able to take him in her hand. He was huge, rock hard, and pulsing. Better than she remembered.
Without breaking the kiss, he nudged her legs apart and gripping her butt in both hands, half lifted her to plunge to the hilt, deep inside her.
Peri came apart in his arms.
"Breath," Peri begged on a meager sip of air as the first climax shook her. Instead of stopping, his hips continued to pound against her, building a rapid succession of escalating peaks, threaded like pearls on a string, culminating in a climax that felt as though it lasted to infinity.
Limp and out of breath, she attempted to suck air into her starving lungs. "Mercy! I'm melting like an ice cream sundae. Wait until I get back to solid form before you--"
"You drive me crazy." Reaching between them he touched her clit. Her back arched as a shudder of pleasure raced like fire along her nerve endings. "Can't get enough of you."
Her entire body felt as live as an electrical current. “I can't come again.”
She was wrong. Swells of pleasure cascaded through her in a fresh wave as he stroked her. The man had the stamina of a lion.
This time the climax was short and sharp, plunging her into a dark void where she couldn't hear, think, or respond as her body took on a life of its own.
When she could move, and as small aftershocks tightened and released deep inside her, she dropped her forehead to his chest. She breathed in the intoxicating smell of hot skin and sex. His damp shirt smelled pleasantly of musk and starch and clung to his skin. His chest rose and fell in counterpoint to her own. His body was hard and heavy as he pressed against her with his delicious, full weight.
Drunk on the feel and smell of him, she loved that he was as sweaty and out of breath as she was. "Can a person die from pleasure?"
Finn crooked a finger to lift her chin, then kissed her softly on her swollen mouth. "I’m willing to work at it."
She managed a choked laugh as she adjusted her ankles in the small of his back for a better hold. Not that she needed anything more than her legs, since he had her pinned like a butterfly against what she presumed was a refrigerator. "You locked the door, right?"
"You mean between the time we slammed it behind us and now? No." He kissed her neck just under her ear, sending a ripple through her body. Deep inside, his penis responded to her reaction and her body clenched around him.
"So, anyone could just walk in?" She angled her head so he could better reach the juncture of her neck and shoulder, which gave her the opportunity to taste his skin. Salty. "Where are we anyway?"
"Pantry." Finn cupped her breast, his thumb leisurely tracing her turgid nipple.
Now that she knew where they were, Peri could smell the savory hint of the spicy tapas they were serving at the party, and a trace of booze. "We have everything we need. We could live in here for a month."
She felt his smile against her jaw as he kissed her neck. "I think people would miss us."
They'd miss him. No one knew who she was. No one would notice if she went missing. Her brother never knew where she was for months on end. He was used to her disappearing. The thought was a bit depressing.
"We didn't use a condom." In Buenos Aires when they'd depleted the dozen in the mini bar, he'd called down for more.
"Too much of a hurry, and I wasn't prepared. I guess I'm not that good of a Boy Scout after all. I have a clean bill of health—"
"So, do I, but still—"
"It's extremely hard - hard being the operative word here - trying to think when you do. . .that." His thumb glided over her painfully hard nipple making her tremble. She used her teeth on his shoulder and slid her fingers into the hair at his nape.
"All the booze is in here, too, right?" Came out almost breathlessly. How was he still standing? If he wasn't pinning her against the fridge, she'd be a puddle at his feet… An interesting possibility she'd explore later.
"Makes it more exciting."
"To have wait staff to-ing and fro-ing while my dress is up around my waist and you have your pants down around your knees? Sure." She was only being half sarcastic. "Way more exciting."
"Damn it, Persephone, I couldn't find you. You left without giving me your real name or any contact information.”
"I like when you call me Persephone when you're inside me." Peri had given him her real name, Ariel was the lie. "Do you want me to call you Leo when we make love?"
"You can call me any damn thing you like, as long as I have you like this. You didn't say goodbye. I went to the airport, car rental places- tore the city apart looking for you. I wasn’t ready for our weekend to end."
She'd driven the five hundred miles back to her house in Patagonia with heart palpitations and sweaty palms. Hoping, but also dreading, that the man who’d introduced himself as ‘Leo’ would follow her and ruin what had been a magical time by allowing reality to intrude. "You said no names, no reality. I figured you'd also want no goodbyes."
"Changed my mind."
At least he admitted, albeit tacitly, that had been his original intention. "Nothing that hot could sustain," she told him.
"Well if we'd left it there, we'd never have had the opportunity to find out, would we?" He nipped at her lower lip, then stroked the sting with a sweep of his tongue. "Now we do."
"I'm on the oversight committee." Peri combed her fingers through his thick, dark hair. She wished she could see him, read his expressions, but there wasn't a scintilla of light in the room. She had to settle for the feel, taste and sound of him. It was almost enough. Certainly, enough to keep this lovely fantasy alive a little bit longer. "That's a conflict of interest."
"I don't give a flying fuck." Pausing to push her hair over her shoulder, he lingered to rub a strand between his fingers. "If you quit, would they send someone else?"
"Of course." She started unbuttoning his shirt. Theo would come out every few weeks or months to see what was going on. But Peri knew him. He wasn't the most conscientious Minister of Antiquities she'd ever encountered. He was happy to sit in his office in Buenos Aires, or at his sheep farm in Patagonia, playing fantasy soccer on his computer, raking in the government’s percentage of the findings, taking some on the side, and going to nightclubs until three every morning.
Pushing the edges of his shirt clear, she buried her face against his hard chest, inhaling the smell of his skin.
"Quit. I’ll pay you to take a holiday.” Slanting his mouth over hers, he kissed her with raw, ravenous hunger. A perfect reason for her not to respond to the offer.
Still erect, and deep inside her, Finn lifted her, his hands under her butt. Peri wrapped her legs more tightly around his waist to maintain her balance. He moved through the darkness, apparently knowing what might be in his way to trip him up. After a few moments, she was set on a cold flat surface.
"Do people eat on this table?"
Gently lowering her so her back met another metal surface, he kissed his way across her chest. Caught between the cold stainless steel and the furnace heat of his body, fresh waves of arousal stole her breath. He sucked her nipple and her entire body arched into him.
Cool air caressed her where his mouth had been, an indication he was looking up at her in the pitch darkness. "No," he murmured against her breast, his breath as ragged as her own, “but it'll get cleaned after the party anyway."
That sounded highly unsanitary to Peri, and she tried to close her legs and squirm off the table. "With industrial strength--"
Finn repositioned himself between her spread knees as he readjusted her hips. He moved slowly, deliberately, until she didn't give a damn about the table or anyone entering the pantry without warning.
"Everyone must be wondering what we're doing in here."
He chuckled. "No one has any doubt whatsoever about what we're doing in here."
“Then let's exceed their wildest imagination.”
“Let’s.” He laughed as he pulled her against the blazing furnace of his naked chest. His grip was unyielding, as if he feared she'd disappear the second he released her. "You don't know any of them, why do you care?" His voice was rich with amusement as he stroked his hand down her hip, urging her even closer.
"Good point." But she did know Theo, and very soon she'd confront the Cutters. Having Finn in the mix was guaranteed to complicate everything.
It had been three days since Peri had fled Blackstar. Her cheeks still flamed hot remembering how, when she'd opened the door, two security guys had stepped aside to let her pass. No wonder no one had come into the pantry while they were having wild, unprotected, monkey sex. It was a little too freaking late to hope that the room was soundproof.
She'd had to return to the party, but made no eye contact with anyone. Grabbing Theo, she'd insisted they return to the mainland because she had a headache.
A six-foot-four-inch, silver-eyed headache.
Finn Gallagher was a complication she couldn't have anticipated. Three days away from him hadn't been sufficient time to figure out just how she was going to weave yet another complicated thread into an already overly complicated tapestry.
And maybe she shouldn't. But then she'd have to stay on one of the Cutter ships, and that would prove a whole hell of a lot more awkward. Or she could scrap this whole crazy plan, say to hell with it, and toss seven years of trying to get their attention into a file labeled, Massive Waste of Time and Energy. Negative energy.
She could ship their artifacts back to them anonymously, and be done with the whole ill-advised freaking mess.
She'd had a nightmare that night when she'd gotten home. She hadn't had one in years, but that night, after being with Finn, the old nightmare had followed her into a restless sleep.
The hard grip of her mother's fingers grabbing her arm as she dragged her from her hiding place in the hall closet, had hurt physically. The slaps, the screams, the sobs, hurt emotionally. Her parents yelling, always the same indistinct jumble of angry words.
Her high-pitched, "Daddy, take me with you!" The slam of the front door as he left without a backward glance, always jolted her awake.
As she always did after a nightmare, she woke, chest heavy, heart racing, clammy with sweat. Being told, repeatedly that she was unwanted, had carved a deep psychological scar that never went away. She carried a hollowness inside her, sleeping or awake. No wonder she was lousy at maintaining relationships. Other than her brother, there were few men she trusted. No wonder she'd been a willing participant in anonymous, unemotional sex where she'd had zero expectations other than exquisite pleasure.
She'd been five when their father left. Adam was twelve and Rydell fifteen. Ry became mother, father and brother to her and Adam. He was her anchor in a rocky sea as their mother had become increasingly unavailable. A year later their father committed suicide.
She wasn't the only one with scars. When he died, their father left his salvage ship to Ry. Rydell had been barely sixteen when he'd taken the dive boat out on his first salvage. She'd tried to understand, but at that age, all she knew was that her beloved brother was leaving her behind, too. Ry had worked his ass off to keep the company afloat. He succeeded, and then some, making his first million at the age of twenty. He'd also secured a name for himself in the salvage circles.
But every two steps her brother took forward in the salvage business, the Cutters beat him back one.
Paying the Cutters back for every shitty, underhanded thing they'd done to her family was Peri's way of silently compensating her brother for their rough childhood.
Zane, Nick, Logan and Jonah Cutter would get back every damn artifact she'd taken from them. Cleaned, polished and curated. But not before she threw who she was, and what they'd done to her family, in their smug faces.
Ironic that Finn had caught her at the museum as she was saying a final goodbye to the pilfered Cutter artifacts. Of course, she hadn't known who he was, nor his connection at the time. But if she had, would things have turned out any differently?
Probably not.
The heat between them was off the charts. There'd been no stopping the inevitable.
She couldn't put off returning to Blackstar much longer. In her official capacity, they'd expect her there, doing her job. So would Theo.
But for today, she could enjoy seeing her brother and have the pleasure of showing him their wreck for the first time.
She was about to blow his socks off.
Last night, unable to sleep for the second night in a row, she'd looked at the black moonlit water through her powerful telescope from her vantage point on top of the bluff.
The lights from Blackstar cast a halo effect around the enormous ship. What was Finn doing now? Had he also been too restless to sleep? Was he thinking of her, and as horny as she was? The ache she felt between her legs and the tenderness in her breasts didn't diminish because he wasn't touching her. Just thinking about him, turned her on unbearably.
This was crazy.
She was on hormone overload exactly when she needed her wits about her.
South of Finn's ship, the lights of Logan's Sea Wolf, Zane's crazy, Decrepit, Nick's ship, Scorpion and Jonah's Stormchaser lay at anchor, lights twinkling on the black water. The Cutters and Finn shared the salvaging of the other three wrecked carracks. Nuestra Señora del Marco, Santa Ana and El Crucifijo.
The three Spanish ships, accompanied, oddly, by her Italian Napolitano, had been loaded with gold, silver, precious stones and artifacts bound for the return trip to Spain. Shortly after sailing from the port of Buenos Aires on the 8th of November, 1489, they'd disappeared without a trace.
Peri, through diligent research, and following the tiniest leads, had discovered the wrecks, hundreds of miles south of where anyone had ever looked for them, forty miles off the coast of Patagonia. Hundreds of miles south of where anyone had ever looked for them. They'd been untouched, undiscovered for over five hundred years.
She resented like hell that the Cutters had made the same discovery several years later. It pissed her off that, probably due to Finn's incredibly deep pockets, they'd been financially able to secure the rights to three of the four wrecks.
She'd love to see the look on the Cutter's faces when they learned that their nemesis was about to join their ranks.
Hours later, she'd watched her brother's ship Tesoro Mio, slip into position and drop anchor near Napolitano. She'd barely been able to wait until dawn to leave the house to see him.
Action would get rid of this hollow feeling.
She'd figure it out. But for now, she'd enjoy time with the two people she loved most in the world.
"Ahoy maties!" Peri called out as her runabout bumped the edge of the dive platform on Rydell's ship. After the hour and fifteen-minute water commute from her house, her clothes and hair clung damply to her skin from the sea spray and early morning mist rising off the silvery surface of the water.
The sky was a pale milky wash, and the air still retained the night's chill. She shivered, more from anticipation than the cold.
Holding hands, Rydell and his wife Addison waited for her on the dive platform. Peri imagined cupids and little cartoon hearts popping up around them. The two were dissimilar, yet so perfect for each other. They'd had a hellish couple of years, and Peri's heart swelled with love seeing them again - together.
Love had won after all.
Ry had cut his hair since she'd seen him almost three years ago. He was tall, dark and no longer brooding. Addison was as beautiful as ever. Wearing a yellow maxi-dress and wrapped in a large beach towel to ward off the chill, her strawberry blond hair swung to her shoulders in a glossy bob. She gave Peri a big smile of welcome, motioning her to hurry so she could give her sister-in-law a hug.
Family.
It was impressive that Ry and Addy had salvaged their love, despite all that had happened between them. Peri couldn't comprehend a love so powerful it could withstand the storms that had struck them.
Rydell stepped to the edge to meet her. "Hey, Magma." Emotion deepened the slight British accent he'd never lost. But then he'd lived in England longer than she had.
Seeing his unshadowed smile as he called her by her childhood nickname, made Peri's own grin widen. No matter where they were, Ry would always represent unconditional love and a sense of homecoming to her. Ten years older, he'd borne the brunt of their dysfunctional family on his shoulders. He was one of the good guys. Her example of all that was good and right in the world.
As she grabbed her bag and prepared to board, she was suddenly overwhelmed by all she'd done in the last seven years. It was like flipping a black page to a white page. What she'd done was cheap and tawdry, and flew in the face of all the principles he'd tried to drum into her as a kid. A hollow nasty swirl took hold of the pit of her stomach. God, she hadn't felt this guilty since she was nine and Ry had caught her stealing a comic book out of Adam's room.
It wasn't as if she didn't know her day of reckoning would come. And now that cataclysmic event was tangled up with reconnecting with Finn. Once the cat was out of the bag, he'd know she wasn't at the museum in Buenos Aires as a visitor. He’d know exactly who the benefactor was. How would he see her when he discovered the truth? Not in a favorable light, that was for sure.
She’d been living in denial for years. One glance into her brother's clear blue eyes told her she’d painted herself into a corner from which she would not escape unscathed.
"It's so good to see you guys," Peri put a lilt in her voice. "I've been pining. Here, catch." She tossed him the bag holding her gear. Once he dropped it to the deck, she threw him the rope to secure Witch Craft, to the platform.
After efficiently tying it off, he extended his hand, hauled her up beside him, then pulled her into his arms for a tight hug. "Missed you, too, monster child," he murmured against her hair. "Something we'll discuss in depth later."
Ignoring the threat, no matter how lovingly couched, she hugged him back, just as hard. Damn it to hell, she had tears in her eyes and hurried to blink them back before he saw and started asking questions.
She punched his arm. "I'm about to make you a multi-gazillionaire, so don't mess with me, big brother. I almost raced out here when you arrived last night, but I figured you needed all the beauty sleep you could get."
Ry was the person she loved the most in the world: She'd do anything for him. Up to and including keeping a secret that would destroy him if he ever found out. A secret she'd take to her grave. But there were other semi-secrets she'd better fess up to, sooner than later.
Her brother was too smart to be fooled for long. Unless she changed course, she was about to sail directly up shit creek. Without a canoe or a paddle.
Reaching up to cup his smoothly shaven cheek, Peri gave him a misty smile. "Ugly as ever I see." Turning to her sister-in-law, she opened her arms. Addy walked into them, enfolding her in a gardenia-scented embrace. Unlike herself, Addy's redheaded complexion was almost freckle free. "You, on the other hand, get more beautiful every time I see you."
God, she'd missed them. They’d married, had baby Sophia, mourned the baby's death, divorced and finally remarried, and now had a newborn son. Peri hadn't been present for any of it. "Where's my favorite nephew-"
Baby Adam was her only nephew. Her sis-in-law stepped aside and with a dramatic sweep of her hand indicated the portable crib in the shade. Peri walked over to look down at the sleeping six-month-old.
She'd never particularly been a baby person, but this little guy was the prettiest little human she'd ever seen. Her heart melted, and her throat tightened. That they’d named the baby for the brother they’d loved so dearly, and lost, made the child even more precious.
"Oh, my God, Addy, he's. . .He's perfect!" Allowable tears stung her eyes as she leaned over to marvel at his impossibly small hands and his full cap of silky dark hair. Wearing a fluffy blue outfit with BORN TO DIVE on the front, he was sprawled on his back, arms and legs extended, like a little blue starfish.
“Go ahead.” Addison draped her arm over Peri’s shoulder. “Pick him up. He needs to wake up. He’s a typical Case. Not adhering to anyone’s time schedule but his own.”
Peri shook her head. “He’s too freaking. . . breakable.”
"You won't drop him. How can you resist kissing on him for hours?"
Considering they were a mere ten feet away from water that was eighty feet deep, Peri would pass. She felt light-headed just thinking about the responsibility. "Resist I must." She stared, drinking in the wonder of this incredibly small human. If she had one of these she'd never sleep. "I’ll wait until later, when I'm sitting on something large and soft. Then you can hand him to me."
The thought of having children had never crossed her mind. But suddenly her biological clock was chiming like Big Ben. She ignored it. She remembered that she and Finn had had unprotected sex three days ago. She ignored that, too.
Of course, the option might already be out of her hands since they hadn't used a condom the other night, and no birth control was one hundred percent foolproof. What was Finn thinking about the situation? As little as she knew him, it didn't take a rocket scientist to know he was a very cautious man. With his wealth, he'd have to be. She believed him when he'd said he'd never had unprotected sex before her.
She was in the midst of the most exciting salvage of her life. Not only was there no time for children or a relationship like her brother's, she hadn't even had a real date in eighteen months. Having wild monkey sex with Finn didn't count.
"Deal." Eyes glowing, Addison looked incandescent with happiness. "He'll be awake, and therefore full of beans by the time you two get back. You can hug and kiss him to your heart's delight then."
"Ready to suit up? A couple of my divers just went down." Ry shot Peri a smile as he stroked his wife's hair.
Peri yanked the damp sweater over her head and unzipped her jeans, revealing a white bikini and a lot of goosebumps underneath. "Already?"
Later it would be a gorgeous sunny morning with just a light chop on the water. Perfect for diving. Now it was cold and not bright enough to see much of anything beneath the glossy surface.
"Momo and Kev couldn't wait. Thanks for rigging the spotlights already, good job all around." He narrowed his eyes. "You haven't been diving alone at night, have you?"
"No, but that doesn't mean I haven't been tempted!
He booped her on the nose. "I'm shocked and impressed that you showed so much restraint waiting for me."
She and Ry began to suit up to join the others on the ocean floor. Addison walked over with the sleeping baby in her arms. Rydell paused, drysuit half on, and leaned forward to kiss his son on the forehead.
Taking in the tenderness of the lingering kiss, the way her brother gently touched the infant’s hair, Peri fought to keep her jaw from dropping. Ry looked more interested in domestic bliss than diving. He looked more rested and relaxed- hell- happier than she'd seen him in years. He was going to be a whole hell of a lot happier when he saw what lay below, just waiting for him.
Recovering from the shock, she managed to glance into Addy’s eyes and share a smile over the two dark heads. Clearly, loving and losing made his family even more precious to him.
Was Finn thinking about her? She dismissed it as foolish fancy. They'd had sex. Exceptional sex. No reason for him to suppose it wouldn't happen again, and as often as he liked, when she returned to his ship. She'd take a bet that if- when- that happened, he'd have a lifetime of condoms on hand. She'd bet he wasn't a man who made the same mistake twice.
"Are you okay?" her brother asked, "We're not diving if you don't feel well."
"I feel peachy, thanks. Napolitano awaits." She made a sweeping gesture to the water, and pushed aside the scorching heat surging through her blood at the mere thought of sliding a condom onto Finn's impressive erection. "Be prepared to have your socks blown off." Telling him, and showing him, were two different spheres –like being on the surface breathing air, and being under the waves breathing through a regulator.
Heartbeat elevated, and hyper-aware of the four Cutter ships, now hidden by the black bulk of the Blackstar, Peri should've been feeling the adrenaline rush that came with a dive. Instead, she just felt that nasty sense of dread that came with having to deal with something unpleasant.
It pained her to know she was the thing that was unpleasant.
Had Finn told the Cutters about the redhead he'd met at the museum? Had he mentioned that the government oversight person was a redhead? Had they put two and two and redhead together to come up with thief?
Damn it to hell. Pushing aside the niggles of self-doubt and foreboding, Peri reverted to her old standby feeling of up-from-the-bootstraps bravado.
With Ry's unnecessary help, Addy settled onto a nearby lounge chair with Adam in her arms. "I can't wait to see Callie, it's been years." With a warning glance at her husband, Addison said, "You'll play nice, Rydell Case."
Eyes serious, he looked at Peri as he stroked Addy's cheek with his knuckles. "I'll always love Callie."
Callie had been married to Rydell and Peri’s brother Adam, who'd died of leukemia several years ago. She was now engaged to Jonah Cutter. They’d planned on marrying in Switzerland last year, but the wedding had been postponed. Peri wondered what Ry had had to do with that. She hadn't seen Callie at the party, but if Jonah Cutter was here, Callie would be, too. She'd show up sooner or later.
“Regardless, Ry, we’re a family. We have to make an effort.” Her love for Callie ran deep. Probably because she'd had to work really, really hard to overcome the resentment caused by the fact that her mom had loved Callista like a daughter. Supremely unfair when she'd treated her own daughter like an unwelcome guest in her own home.
Still, over the years, she and Callie had formed a tight bond and were as close as real sisters. Peri wanted her to be happy. But when Callie married into the Cutter family, she’d be firmly ensconced in the enemy camp, and the last connection they had to her brother Adam would be gone forever.
Ry arched an eyebrow in reply as he picked up his tank from the rack.
"No, seriously." Addy lay the baby back into his bassinet, then positioned her laptop on her thighs. "For Callie's sake, we really must try. It would be cruel to force her to choose between us and the man she loves."
"I have no problem loving Callie exactly the way I've always loved her." Ry checked the valves on his tank. "That love doesn't extend to a Cutter."
"You’re a bullheaded ass. But I love you anyway," his wife told him, pulling a light blanket over the baby, then tightening her towel cape around her own shoulders.
"There’s no reason for me to be in the presence of any of those lying, cheating bastards." Ry shot a glance in the general direction of the Cutter ships. "Callie’s always welcome to come and visit Tesoro Mio if she wants to see us. I’ll welcome her with open arms. Just not her future husband."
With a serene expression, Addy glanced from Peri to Ry. "I'm going to welcome the man Callie loves to the family, so live with it. Peri, tell your brother to stop helicoptering so I can enjoy my vacation." Comfortably ensconced, Addy took a sip from a mug of what must be cold coffee by now, before opening her laptop. Even a beach towel slung around her shoulders looked like a million bucks on Addy, who always looked as elegant as a model in an upscale magazine.
"She's already forgotten we're here," Peri smiled as her sis-in-law started typing. “Come on, Ry,” she teased, yanking up the zipper of her drysuit, “we’re only going down for a couple of hours. They’ll both be here when you surface. Let’s go."
It was her brother's first official day here, but Peri had a five-year leg up. She'd found the scattered remains of the Napolitano, first. Then other carracks on subsequent dives.
To grant the necessary permits and permissions, the Argentinian government had insisted on being paid an estimated future value of the treasure. Even low-balling what she thought her salvage would net, she didn't have the resources to stake a claim on all four wrecks.
Even with her brother's help, it would've been impossible. Peri had to choose which ship she wanted. The Italian ship was the most intriguing to her. She'd left the three Spanish ships, figuring she’d make enough money on the first ship to cover the other three. Then the damn Cutters had swooped in and laid claim to them.
Tesoro Mio and Sea Witch's claim straddled the miles-long spill of the Napolitano. Peri had hired a group of divers to build the grid and, under her direction, do the prep work for the dive. They’d painstakingly created a topographical map of the sea bed and marked the search areas in a grid that spanned their claim. Over the last few years, as the prep work had been accomplished, Peri and her small team of divers had salvaged hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of treasure. Relatively easy pickings.
Based on what they’d retrieved, she’d bet it was merely a drop in the bucket of what the rest of the wreck would give them.
Salvage sites were required to register with the Ministry of Antiquities of the Argentinian government, all a matter of public record. So, Peri had known almost as soon as the Cutters had staked their claims a year ago. How they'd discovered the location of the wrecks was a mystery.
If she were in their position she'd want to know as much as possible about who was salvaging so close to their dive site. To that end-they were shit out of luck, because Peri and Ry had shell companies inside shell companies.
"Any prods?" Ry asked.
He was referring to the Cutter people trying to ascertain who else had filings for salvage. "As to who Koúkos Corporation is?" she smiled. "They tried. Several times. My business people in Greece disavowed any knowledge. They'll never release the information."
"Good. Let them wonder."
Peri rubbed her arms through her drysuit. "Get the lead out, I'm getting goosebumps on my goosebumps here."
Ry paused, giving his sister a narrow-eyed look. "Now, that's a smile to put the fear of God into a man."
Peri's smile widened. "I was just thinking about their reaction when they see Sea Witch and Tesoro Mio so close together. You know they're already gnashing their teeth and sticking pins in voodoo dolls seeing you show up. I'll just be the cherry on top of their misery sundae."
"And when do you plan to do that?"
"A couple of days, I think." Coiling her hair on top of her head she stuck several long pins into the mass to keep it in place under her helmet. "I'll lull them into a false sense of security, and then, bam!"
"Evil."
"True." Drawing a deep breath, she hesitated before going forward. "And in spirit of full disclosure-"
Closing his eyes, her brother rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Oh, God--"
"No big deal. I'm working temporarily as Theo's oversight person, so he doesn't have to take up residence for the duration. A big plus is I'll be able to monitor what they're doing as they do it. Plus, we have the home team advantage."
"Jesus, Persephone. Why would you do something so damn stupid? Unnecessary even. Worse, dangerous."
"It's short-term," Peri placated. "Don't worry. Nothing will go sideways, I promise. Just until I figure out what they’re finding. It's all very low key."
"They're aware that you're my sister?"
"Theo only knows me as Ariel Andersen."
"A fake identity?" Ry asked, sounding less than happy. “Peri, what the hell are you doing?”
"Are you still dating that guy?" Addy called out.
"Not since forever. No. But this suits him just fine. He wants to know the value of the artifacts they find."
Looking across the water, Ry commented, "They seem to have a big gun, that's Phineas Gallagher's Blackstar. The space exploration guy, right?"
"He’s the one. Big-time Cutter investor, apparently. When he’s not adding to their piles of exploration capital, he’s working on colonizing Mars."
"Then what's he doing on a deep-water salvage? Especially one that could take decades?"
"Good question, I'll ask him later this afternoon when I see him." If he allows me back on board or sweeps me off my feet to have wild monkey sex with me in a closet somewhere.
Ry gave her a stern big brother look. It had never worked on her, but she loved him for trying. "I don't like the subterfuge, Peri. It's unnecessary and could prove dangerous." He held up a hand. "Shouldn't have said that because obviously, that's why you do this shit. I want you to stop whatever the hell you've put into motion. Especially with Callie on her way down here. I mean it, Persephone."
"I'm just going to check on what they've found for a couple of hours a day. It's not forever."
"No, it'll just be until they figure out your dual role and someone drowns you."
Something she’d taken into consideration. "Good thing I'm an excellent swimmer, then, isn't it?" She pulled the hood over her hair and stuffed loose strands inside as best she could. Her hair tended to have a mind of its own. "If you like, we can go to the house soon so I can show you what I've already found." Better to change the subject sooner than later. "Not just coins, and some impressive emerald jewelry, but all the other artifacts I told you about as well. Your minds will be blown."
"Looking forward to it. But it would've been nice if you’d kept me informed of where you were and what you were up to during the last three years." As they donned their tanks in unison on the edge of the platform, Ry gave her a stern glance.
"If I'd known you were going to play cat and mouse with the Cutters I would've done everything in my power to dissuade you. They're not good people, Magma. I don't want you pulling their tails just for sport. Stay the hell out of their way. For my sake. Please. I’ve lost too much in one life. If I lost you, too . . ."
"A week - max," she agreed, surprisingly not as reluctant as she would've thought. This new Ry, the one willing to acknowledge emotions in words, confirmed what her gut had been trying to tell her for months. It was time for her to get over the Cutters. Time to move on. Time to be free of the Cutter albatross around her neck.
She was the only one left in the world who knew who she truly was, and why she was hellbent on dogging the Cutters. But now that her brother was here to hold up a mirror .. did any of that really matter? Would any of the things she'd done over the last seven years serve to turn back time and rewrite her life?
"Theo really needs the information. I'm a subcontractor to the Argentinian government, so I'm there legally."
Peri felt bad for worrying Ry when he already had so much on his plate. And she had no illusions about how her honorable brother would feel if he ever learned she'd been a pirate for the last seven years.
There was only one person in her life she could depend on, and that was her brother. He hadn't heard the accusations their father had hurled at her that day. She'd never tell her brother how worthless she'd felt, how scared, how absolute and utterly isolated and alone. And she never would. She'd always put on a happy face around him.
The last thing she wanted was for him to think less of her. He'd reconciled with Addison. They had a new baby. He was happy. Ry hadn't had any problem not seeing her for three years. He'd drifted away. Into a new life, with a new family. As it should be.
She'd learned early and hard how little she could depend on anyone but herself. She'd better pull up her big girl panties and deal with this as quickly as possible and get it the hell over with. No point dragging it out. She'd tell them this afternoon. Be done with them once and for all.
"But when they find out, they won’t come after this Theo guy. They’ll come after you. Stay the hell out of their way. The fact that they're here now shows us just how cutthroat they are. I just fucking spent the better part of a year in South Africa fighting their lawsuit about wrongful ownership of a salvage. Be extra careful, Magma. The Cutters are bad news."
"Got it. Are we diving or chatting? I'm freezing my ass off here."