SIX
I accept your apology," Peri told him crossly, distracted by his appeal. If she were a cat, her fur would be standing on end. "Especially since I suspect you don't hand them out very often."
He was wasting his time interrogating her. She wasn't going to break. And- color her shocked- she'd thought he wouldn't either until he'd murmured his apology.
She breathed him in. The scent of sea and citrus, probably some hideously expensive cologne from Paris, made her stomach quiver. Damn it, she was righteous in her anger and enjoying her mad. She wanted to hang on to it a little longer. It wasn't good for him to think an 'I'm sorry' was going to placate her that easily.
The more he maligned her character, the guiltier she felt, and the guiltier she looked, the madder she got.
Having Finn accuse her of the one thing she was already angsting about, made Peri's throat ache. She’d had no intention of stealing his damned artifact, but she couldn't say she wasn't a thief. She'd been excited because the heavy slab was exactly like the one she'd found that morning diving Napolitano. She'd just wanted to take a few pictures away from the watchful eyes of his people. That wasn't a damned crime.
He towered over her. Brow furrowed, silvery eyes glinting. She relaxed her tense shoulders. Nice try. I have a brother who's got that attitude down pat. I teethed on intimidating and surly. Unfortunately, it was exactly because of his coiled and dangerous attitude that she glared right back. She lived for danger, and holy shit, he was danger swathed in menace, wrapped in threat, double dipped in sex appeal. Six-foot-four inches of tawny skin and well-honed muscle. Finn Gallagher was a magnificent specimen of alpha manhood.
Peri knew every inch of that impressive hard body. As pissed off at him as she was, her girl parts were annoyingly ready to party and not in the least bit interested in the danger signals her intellect was reading loud and clear.
His drying hair, bitter-chocolate dark, fell in soft waves against his strong, tanned neck. Cupping her cheek, he stroked his thumb across her bottom lip. Eyes like molten steel, he said thickly, "We good now?"
Was he serious? Since his drysuit couldn't hide a damn thing, yes, he was serious. Peri took a step back. His hand dropped to his side. "Absolutely. Let me just switch off feeling like crap after three men accused me of being a felon. Give me a minute. . ."
He reached for her again. "Let me make it up to you."
She should not feel this much freaking attraction for a steamroller. Strongly resisting the temptation to fall into his arms, insist he carry her to his lair and have his wicked way with her, she stopped him with a narrow-eyed look. Putting the flat of her hand against his chest, she held him at bay. Oh, God. His chest. Hard slabs of toned muscle, and the steady beat of his heart, made her fingers curl and her own heart rate skyrocket. Damn it.
He was wickedly sexy, and even now, when he was throwing out accusations, the sizzle zinged between them. The most dangerous thing about Finn Gallagher was that no matter what, he made her want him.
If she wasn't careful, that want would become a need, just like air.
And then he'd walk away. Which was why she always ended affairs first. Not that there'd been many, but six months seemed to be her limit. She suspected it wouldn't last a tenth of that with Finn. Only because she found herself already mourning the loss of their relationship, and they didn't really have one.
Damn damn damn. Peri glanced up as a gull swooped overhead to land on the rail of the deck above them to give herself a moment to compose herself. The gull gave a plaintive cry that sounded like a kitten in distress. She returned her attention to Finn. “Stop manhandling me. You’re not a lion peeing on his mate to mark his territory."
It was annoying as hell when he laughed. “I promise, I won’t pee on you.”
Snatching her hand off his chest she narrowed her eyes at him. "You'd better not think this is funny, Phineas Gallagher. You can't accuse me of stealing and lying one minute and flirt with me the next," she said in a furious whisper.
"You liked being manhandled just fine the other day." His eyes glinted with amusement.
Irritation spiked. She needed no reminding. "I liked you three days ago." His touch burned her skin like a spark of electricity. It didn’t help that Peri wanted to lick him, all over. Right there. Outside. In public. Then she wanted to crawl all over his naked body and screw his brains out. "Before I realized your default-mode is caveman." Her words didn’t come out quite as emphatically as she would've liked.
"Know what I think?"
Her temper cooled, leaving behind simmering irritation. Not at Finn. At herself, damn it. For believing for even a nanosecond that he wouldn't think the worst of her with no damn proof. She'd been ready to tell him who she really was, and then she'd seen the tablet, and all her good intentions evaporated. So what if she'd held it a few minutes too damn long and made the twitchy tech guy feel uncomfortable?
"I have no idea, but I'm sure you're about to tell me. And for God's sake, lower your voice, everyone's watching us and avidly listening to our every freaking word."
Finn placed his hand on the small of her back and edged toward the rail. "Better?"
Why didn't the damn man put on a shirt? He was practically naked in the second skin of his drysuit, which hid very little. He was a big man. All over. His bare chest was tanned, and muscular, and an arrow of dark hair disappeared beneath the black neoprene. She knew precisely where it went. Prickly heat flushed her skin. Her body reflexively tightened, waiting for his touch.
She shivered in reaction when he placed a finger under her chin, tipping up her face so she was practically blinded by the sun. Of course, his face was shadowed. "I'm going to discover all your secrets, Ariel Andersen."
Ariel Andersen didn't have many. It was Persephone Case who had cause to be guarded. Her heart skipped several beats as she stepped out of his hold and used his shadow to block the spotlight of the sun. Folding her arms, she mimicked his eyebrow raise. Her brother had taught her how to do it to good effect. "It was your rule that we give each other false names and pretend lives, not mine," she reminded him, purposely misinterpreting his comment.
His eyes narrowed. He didn't like being reminded that he'd made the damned rules. “Rules change," he spoke through clenched teeth. "Like it or not, we're in the real world now. Stop hiding things."
"Hiding things? Me? How mysterious. What would I be hiding, I wonder? I believe you’ve seen me laid bare." Probably not something to remind him of when they were both pissed off.
"If I asked outright, I'm sure you wouldn't tell me."
"Give me a minute, I'm sure I can come up with something salacious and daringly spy-like."
"That's an interesting leap. Who are you spying for, Ariel?"
Shit. "Mr. Blofeld?"
His lips twitched. He got the James Bond supervillain reference. "You're quick, I'll give you that. How long have you worked for the Ministry?"
"Almost five years." She bet he'd checked. True. But her own salvage was the only thing she'd been supervising until the Bastard Cutters had shown up.
She didn't like Finn's cool smile, his questions, or the feeling that she was walking into a trap. A trap of her own making, but a trap nonetheless. She liked him more as a lover than an adversary. At least there the playing field was sorta, kinda even.
Most of her first-hand knowledge came from their pillow talk when they'd been too exhausted to move. The rest she'd discovered on the internet. Entrepreneur. Philanthropist. Inventor. Private. Brilliant. Reclusive. Sixth richest man in the world. All of which was a little terrifying if she really thought about it.
His bio confirmed that he had once been married. Peri had seen a picture of the exquisitely beautiful ex-wife, model, Erica Larson. Another Zagg search mentioned, briefly, that his ex-business partner, Derry Byrne, was in prison for embezzlement, and that Finn had testified against him in court, nailing his conviction. The business partner having an affair with Finn's wife had been tabloid fodder for months. And explained why he was so paranoid about people stealing from him.
She and Finn had been together for about thirty-something hours, and the only personal details she knew about him was where he liked to be touched. She knew where and how hard to caress him to make him shudder, knew exactly how he liked to be kissed. She knew his sexual expertise, and that he had incredible stamina and a large appetite for sex. And he'd told her she drove him bat-shit crazy with lust.
Everything else he'd told her could've been fabricated for that weekend persona. Truth couched as lies, lies couched as truth.
Peri's throat tightened. She'd allowed herself to fall a little in love that weekend because it hadn't come with any risk. She'd known she'd never see him again. But even with the confidences they'd shared, he still amounted to being a stranger. A stranger who had the authority to boss her around, tell her what to do, and how damn high to jump.
His ship. His rules. Her fingers itched to snatch back the tablet, now out of her sight, damn it. Hit him over the head with it, then make a run for it. How dare he treat her like a criminal. Serve him right if she really stole the damn thing.
That kind of impulsive behavior was her real-life modus operandi, but not in keeping with something Ariel Andersen would do. She wasn't ready to give up Ariel. Not just yet. Still, her heart raced, and her palms were sweaty with excitement. All she needed was a little time alone with the artifact to prove what she already suspected.
She pointed in the general direction of the cleaning room "Do you think I could just take a-"
"No."
"You don't even know what I was going to ask!"
"Take a closer look under the microscope at that artifact. The answer is still no. Once it's processed, you may get another look. Supervised. Until then, keep your hands to yourself."
“So that sorry was just paying me lip service?"
He arched an eyebrow. “Not used to being told no?”
She gave a mocking laugh. "Talk about the kettle calling the pot black. I bet no one has ever dared to tell you no."
"Many people- heads of State, high-level government official's, the lot. They've all tried to tell me no over the years. Those no's made me who I am today. Never underestimate the power of no."
“Double ass.” Still, excitement fired her blood almost as well as a good argument. She couldn’t wait to compare the two artifacts. Were they identical? Part of something larger? They appeared to weigh about the same, the sizes and shapes were similar, and both appeared to have the same markings. Would they fit together like a jigsaw puzzle? Why had they been discovered five miles apart? Debris field from Napolitano? Or had the two tablets been on different ships to protect them? She wanted to look at them side by side to compare. She had a million questions and couldn't freaking wait to get started on finding the answers.
"Thank you for the life lesson, I'll needlepoint it onto a -whatever people needlepoint on. The power of no. I'm sure it'll come in handy."
"Are you and Doctor Núñez lovers?" Finn asked in an annoyingly conversational tone considering he'd just reamed her out without anesthetic.
Seriously? One of the tech's nearby taking photographs of the day’s finds, covered a gasp with a cough. No shit. Peri lowered her voice. "They can still hear us! And that's absolutely none of your business.”
"After what we’ve shared, you bet your ass it is."
“One weekend where we gave each other fake stories-your rule, not mine, -doesn’t entitle you to know a damn thing about me, my past, present or freaking future! I liked you." Peri pointedly used the past tense, and enjoyed the tension in his jaw at that flat out, blatant lie. "I don't think I do anymore. So, no more giving me hot looks, or playing with my hair, or staring at my mouth as though you intend kissing me senseless.
He rubbed a broad hand over his naked chest, silver eyes narrowed as he waited for her answer. Why was he squinting? The sun was at his back. She was the one in the spotlight. A muscle jerked in his jaw. He radiated heat and a heavy dose of testosterone. "Answer the question."
All she had to do was extend her arm and she could run her hand over all that lovely muscle on his chest. Proud of her willpower, heart hammering, she refrained. "I forgot what it was." Dear Lord, the man wreaked havoc just by looking at her.
"Núñez. You. Lovers."
"Would it bother you if..." One look at his thunderous expression and Peri reversed. "Doctor Núñez is my boss. He understands how impassioned I am about these wrecks, their history and what the discovery of their treasures will mean to Argentina.”
Again, the eyebrow arch told her he was seeing through every lie she manufactured. He couldn’t, could he? Damn. Damn. Damn. “Do you often sleep with people who work with you?"
"No."
There was that power of no again. Annoying as shit. Your ex slept with your partner. Is that why you're so uncompromising? "No, not often? Or no, you don't sleep with your employees?" Peri asked sweetly.
He gave a small shake of his head as though she was trying his patience. "Isn't work where most people meet their mates?" As he answered her throwaway question with a throwaway of his own, he glanced at the large black dive watch on his left wrist. To indicate his disinterest, to time her response? Or in a hurry to go? I can only hope.
Why did even his most benign question sound loaded? "I have no idea." She bet he'd slept with every one of the attractive women on board. Staff and crew. That thought ignited her temper all over again. A ripple of unease fluttered across her skin as he focused his gaze on her, as if he had x-ray vision and could see right through to her bones.
Other than the perpetual scruff on Finn's jaw, he looked like some manly GQ model selling sex and men's cologne as he stood there, tall and broad, drysuit around his hips. Cocky. Arrogant. His dark hair artlessly combed back off his elegant face, curled slightly at his nape.
Phineas Gallagher looked exactly like what he was. A self-assured, beyond-billionaire used to getting his own way. Someone who didn’t take no for an answer, and didn’t take shit from anyone he considered competition for something he wanted. She didn't for a second underestimate him. He hadn't become one of the richest men in the world by being a pushover. He wore the same air of danger and menace as her brother, Ry, did for people he didn't trust. Which was pretty much everyone.
She preferred the way his eyes softened when he'd looked at her while they were making love a hell of a lot better. Too bad this situation had them in opposite camps, him firmly with those bastard Cutters and her with Ry.
She made the foolish mistake of looking directly into eyes the thunderous, ominous gray of storm clouds. She'd probably turn to freaking stone as he gave her a stare down hot enough to melt... "What material has the highest melting point?"
"Tungsten has a melting point of 6192 °F," he answered readily, not in the least thrown by the non sequitur. "A material made with a combination of hafnium, nitrogen, and carbon has a melting point of more than 7460 °F. That's about two-thirds the temperature of the surface of the sun. Why, are you planning on melting something?"
She hoped he read something diabolical into her nonchalant shrug. "Just a question."
He just smiled.
He might look like a sportswear model, but he had more brainpower than the average half-naked man featured in advertisements. More brainpower than anyone, if internet reports were accurate. Do not underestimate him.
Peri tore her gaze from his and glanced over the rail to see three divers on the platform below. She gave Finn a saccharin sweet smile. "I see your divers down there waiting for you. They look impatient." Not at all, they were talking, and looked perfectly relaxed and in no hurry.
"Where did you go to school, Ariel?"
She suddenly hated him calling her Ariel. She wanted to taste her name on his mouth, damn it. "The Argentine Atlantis University in Buenos Aires." She really had attended a few classes there when the incessant high winds of the Patagonian summer made diving treacherous. But she bet he knew that, too. It was best to stick as close to the truth as possible.
"What do you do for fun, when you're not pilfering artifacts?"
She rolled her eyes. "I make spreadsheets and write reports."
His brow rose. "For fun?"
"You have no idea," she gave him something short of a dirty look. "Why all the questions? This isn't a date, remember. I'm here representing the interest of my government. Doing my job. If you have questions reference that."
"Consider it a job interview."
"I have a job, thank you." Down girl. Be Ariel Andersen. His elegant, unreadable face appeared before her like the afterimage from staring into the sun for too long.
His probing questions were unnerving, and, despite sounding casual, put her on alert. The bright, burning intensity in his smoky eyes was in no way diluted by his casual tone.
Game on, Finn Gallagher.
Typically, she thrived on danger-when she chose the intensity, location, and who'd participate in said danger. "You've made your damn point loud and clear. No need to hit me over the head with a sledgehammer." She wanted to go inside and see what the techs were doing. And take another look at that slab under the pretense of cataloging the day’s finds for the ministry. But it was as though some freaky forcefield bound them together and she couldn't pull apart from him. "How long ago did you leave Ireland? If she couldn’t break away from him she might as well learn more about the notoriously reclusive multi-gazillionaire.
"I left in my teens."
In one of the rare moments when they hadn't been having sex, Finn had told her he'd been orphaned when he was a baby. His parents had died in a boating accident. He'd been in the foster system in Ireland for fifteen years. That would harden anyone. There was no reason for Peri to think he’d made that up, and she could certainly relate to the feeling of isolation and loneliness he must've felt.
There’d been no need to carry their charade to the point that they made up a fictitious past that weekend. She certainly hadn’t.
Besides, once she’d realized who he was, she’d done her homework, too. He'd been born in Waterford, Ireland, made his fortune at seventeen by investing in the stock market, and parlayed that into the kind of wealth that could pay cash for this mega-gigayacht and anything else he so desired. Now he had his finger in hundreds of pies and had more money than God.
Peri didn't give a damn about his wealth, his power, or his good looks. The Cutters were her focus, Finn just happened to be in the same orbit.
It was a minor inconvenience that she was distracted by his sex appeal, annoyed by his autocratic ways, and lusting after his body all at the same time. The tightness of the neoprene wrapped around his lower body put all his assets on display and was extremely freaking distracting.
She kept her attention on his face. But his mouth was too diverting. Switching her focus three feet to the left of his head, she said sweetly, "If you have more questions feel free to email me."
He gave her a penetrating look that made her nervous as hell. "Will you answer?"
She hadn't even realized that, like iron filings to a powerful magnet, she was looking at the damn man again. "It depends on the question." She wished he wore sunglasses so she couldn't see his silvery eyes. They saw too much. Her breath caught at the well of feelings she really, really didn't want to feel as she struggled with conflicting emotions. There was a panicky excitement in her stomach being so near him, that said; Touch the flame, it won't burn too badly.
"Why are you blushing, Persephone?"
"In case you hadn’t noticed, it's hot out here."
"Have I embarrassed you?" He splayed his hand on the small of her back and walked her into the shade. "Are you imagining me inside you, my mouth on your pretty breasts?” The words came out low and deep, somewhere between a growl and a rumbling, seductive whisper that rubbed across her skin. His Irish accent was more pronounced when he was thinking about sex, she realized.
Her hard nipples chafed the inside of her bra in response to his words. Just hearing them brought to mind the suck and pull of his mouth. That powerful mojo of his kept sneaking up on her. She should take note. "Of course not, you egotistical oaf. Hard for me to consider being full of you when you're already so full of yourself."
"Ah, then it's that redhead temper of yours."
"I don't have a temper," she said crossly.
Finn laughed.
Oh, God, Finn amused was almost as seductive as Finn in a dark pantry.
"Don't--" Peri's throat ached. She didn't want this. She had an agenda, and Finn Gallagher had never been part of it. He was ruining everything.
He stepped close enough to cup her jaw. "Don't what, Persephone?" he murmured, eyes now pewter.
"Don't make me want you when I'm mad at you, damn it."
Like a pirate, Finn wanted to scoop her up and carry her back to Blackstar. He suspected that would not go as well as he hoped. He'd never met a more infuriating woman, and yet everything about her drew him to her. As if they were destined to be together, which was fanciful bullshit. What it was, was painful lust. He found her amusing and entertaining. Charming. Nothing more. It was more than enough.
"Would you kindly issue a royal decree to your staff that I have permission to go into the cleaning area and do my job documenting the other items found this morning?"
"A word of warning, darling. I'm not someone you want to cross. I don't give second chances. Do your job. No sticky fingers."
"Yeah, yeah. Heard it before. I'll needlepoint it on a pillow." She scowled. Even that was adorable. "You drive me to violent thoughts, Phineas Gallagher, you really do. Why don't you let that sorry stand for an hour or two, so it feels sincere?"
"It's sincere." He smiled. "What you're sensing is suppressed sexual desire."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm going in there." She jerked her chin toward the cleaning room. "Unless you have a valid objection?"
"Come to dinner on board Blackstar tonight."
Turning her head, she made a rude noise of dismissal. "I've heard that one before. No thanks."
"I want you to meet the Cutters. I think you'll enjoy them. They're a colorful bunch."
God, her face was so expressive. A profusion of thoughts flittered across her features like the shadows of passing butterflies. She wasn't warring with him, she was warring with herself. Why and what was the field of battle? Work ethics? Something else?
"Okay."
That was easier than he expected. "Fifth deck. Seven." He'd told the others seven-thirty.
"Will you want to check my pockets before I eat?" she asked, sarcasm dripping off every word.
"After," he teased. "A full body search. Just in case you decide to pilfer the silverware."
Finn enjoyed the sway of her enticing arse and long legs as she marched through the double doors.
Dressed with studied casualness in wide-legged white linen pants, a matching, low-cut white linen tank top cinched with a thin black belt, and strappy sandals, Peri strolled through the solarium and out the French doors onto the fifth deck at precisely seven that night.
She'd spent the rest of the afternoon with the tech team, although Mike and the gold tablet were nowhere to be seen. At six o’clock she'd made her way to the cabin she'd been given onboard, Blackstar, a luxurious suite on the third deck. She wasn’t surprised to see that her suitcase, the one she’d thrown into her motorboat before she left home earlier, had been unpacked and her clothes now hung in the closet in the bedroom.
She anticipated this first meeting with the Cutters with a roiling mixture of stomach-tightening dread and excitement. She'd waited so long for this to happen, that it was hard to believe the time was finally here. She'd rehearsed a dozen scenarios until she was sure she'd know what to say and do in any situation. She was ready.
The cool air felt good on her bare skin, and the expansive view from so high up on Finn's ship was nothing short of spectacular. The ocean spread out around them, for miles. But all Peri saw was Finn, his back to the rail, waiting for her. Behind him, dark purple clouds drifted across a rose-colored sky.
In her peripheral vision, she took in the swimming pool and hot tub, both of which mirrored the colors of the flamboyant dome overhead.
Even though it hadn't come loose, Peri pushed a hairpin more firmly into her casually messy updo. Her just-got-out-of-bed look had taken forever to get just right. She'd spent more than an hour doing her face, her nails were fire engine red, and she wore her highest heels. She was ready for battle.
Hesitating in the wide doorway, she casually glanced around. No one other than Finn and herself. The area looked suspiciously like a romantic setting with stringed lights and flickering candles in hurricane lamps in the center of the long table.
"Where's everybody?" she demanded suspiciously as he skirted the pool to come to her side. He looked handsome, urbane and altogether delicious in dark pants, and a slate gray, collared shirt. "If you lured me up here to have sex you've got another thing coming." The tinge of cranky in her voice was fake. Her temper usually flared hot but was short lived. And God help her, the idea of sex right now was tempting. But she wasn't ready to let him off the hook just yet. Because that will keep him safely at arm’s length while I deal with the Cutters. She refused to admit, even to herself, that the powerful attraction she and Finn shared was almost too intense, even for a daredevil like herself.
She'd had sex on the brain pretty much since their weekend in Buenos Aires, almost two weeks ago. Revitalized by sex in the pantry three days ago. Hell, just looking at him turned her on. Her pheromones were hot for his pheromones all the freaking time. But he was her sexual kryptonite. And she couldn't- shouldn't get distracted by him. This promised to be the most important event in her life, and lusting for Finn might very well derail her from her long-term purpose.
Finn had the gall to laugh. As he got closer, the stringed lights surrounding the deck caused little stars to bounce off his shiny clean hair. The dark strands had a slight wave to them, and it made him look softer, more approachable as a stray breeze played with the strands. Do not be deceived by his hair, she cautioned herself. There's nothing soft about him.
Tonight she couldn't afford to be distracted by Finn's sex appeal. Tonight was all about the Cutters.
Brushing a loose skein of hair from her cheek, he traced his thumb along her jaw. No fair. A tremor went from point of contact to her toes. "You have a very suspicious mind, darling. Hold that thought. While sex with you right now has enormous appeal, it's not on the menu. At least not for another couple of hours. I told everyone seven-thirty because I wanted you to see something first."
When he held out an elegant hand, her nipples beaded, her body reacting as if he were stroking her skin. "Come look."
The man was painfully magnetic. Peri put her hand in his, then remembered her caution to herself too late as his fingers curled around hers. Damn it. Holding his hand felt. . . Perfect.
That "darling" stopped her heartbeat for a couple of seconds, it hiccupped in her chest before resuming a normal, if slightly elevated, beat. "What is it you want to show me?"
He led her to a side table where a large flat gold object stood propped on a table easel. Her eyes shot to him, and her fingers tightened around his as her gaze fixed on the artifact. "Oh!?"
"Had Mike put a rush on processing. Spectacular, isn't it?"
Understatement. That's why Mike and the tablet had been missing all afternoon.
Hidden beneath the sediment and dirt acquired over five hundred years, lay the gleaming sheen of gold. The lights reflected off the uneven surface, highlighting the almost straight horizontal lines, with a narrow border on two sides.
Mouth dry, she stared at the artifact, transfixed. "It's stunning." She wanted to call Ry, ask if his team had cleaned their tablet yet.
Way too close for comfort, Peri felt the heat radiating off Finn's body, and couldn’t take a breath without inhaling that intoxicating mixture of grapefruit and sea air. She concentrated on the tablet. Letting her finger hover just over the surface, she took it all in. "This is writing." Unable to resist, she ran her finger along the uneven edge of the almost perfect oblong piece.
"Possibly some sort of text?" Finn captured a strand of her hair that had come loose from her updo and wound it around his finger as he spoke. Peri's insides contracted as if he were touching her bare skin. "But none of us have been able to read it. And between me and the techs, we cover about fifteen assorted languages. Did you pull your hair up to drive me mad?"
Yes. "I put it up so it's off my neck."
"I love it this way, too. I'd prefer you only wore it down for me."
She threw him a glance filled with amusement. "You’re ridiculously Victorian, you know that?"
"I'm quite fond of your ankles as well," he teased, tugging her closer. "And everything in between." Finn's mouth hovered over hers. "Why is it you tie me into knots, Persephone?"
Every time he called her Persephone it did crazy things to her insides.
Torn between desperation for him to kiss her, and getting back to the artifact, Peri stood on her toes and pressed a chaste kiss to his mouth.
Wrapping his arm around her waist, Finn pulled her upand slanted his mouth over hers. The kiss was unlike any of his others. This one was achingly gentle, tender. No less passionate, but surprisingly restrained, all things considered. Too quickly he set her back on her feet, steadying her with a firm hand on her hip. "Rain check?"
Yes.
Every atom in her body was traveling at warp speed, colliding inside her in showers of sparks and small charges that had her heart racing. All her senses felt pumped up as if on steroids. Wordlessly, she nodded. There had never been any doubt that she'd end up in his bed tonight. She blinked him back into focus.
Amused, he said thickly, "Back to the artifact?"
"My God, this is epic.” Thrilled beyond belief, she wanted to throw herself into his arms and take him up on his offer. Instead, she returned her attention to the gold piece on the table. "Thank you for having it cleaned so quickly."
His gorgeous smile reached his eyes, revealing straight, white teeth. "Pick it up if you like."
She didn't need a second invitation. Remembering the unexpected heft of it, she reached for the tablet with both hands, then slowly turned it this way and that to see the text. Whatever was written was quite clear, just indecipherable.
Both her brother and Theo were going to be blown away when she told him they'd discovered a second tablet. On her way from Ry's ship to her house on the bluff that afternoon, Peri had called Theo to fill him in on her intriguing find on her dive with her brother. Even though her tablet had yet to be cleaned, she’d sent him pictures of it from several angles.
She couldn't wait to see them side-by-side. Maybe they needed to be together to become legible. The thought was thrilling.
"This looks festive," a male voice came from behind them. "You picked a good night to be outside. No wind."
Her heart leaped, so hard she felt the knocks against her ribcage. Very carefully, with Finn’s assistance, Peri placed the tablet back on the stand.
A Cutter.
Up close and very personal.
"Nick and Bria Cutter, Ariel Andersen." Finn drew her toward the couple and they met in the middle of the open space. Acutely aware of Finn's hand on her back, she felt the heat of each finger through the flimsy linen of her tank top. The newcomers couldn't miss Finn touching her, much less his body language which stated his claim on her. Even though he wasn't aware of it, Peri was grateful for Finn's display of emotion and physical support right then.
Nick was as tall as Finn, dark-haired and broad-shouldered in jeans and a dark t-shirt. She hadn't been able to see his eyes through her binoculars when he'd been aboard the Scorpion, when he'd been on her radar a couple of years ago. Wow. They were distinctive and gorgeous. She was struck by the penetrating ocean blue that seemed to see directly into her soul as if he knew exactly who she was and what she had been doing.
Wasn't this exactly what she'd wanted?
Yes, but now that the time had come, she wasn't as sanguine about the inevitable confrontation. She'd stolen a fortune from them. It was within their power to have her arrested for piracy and thrown in some godforsaken foreign jail where she'd spend the rest of her life futilely plotting her revenge.
The reality of her first meeting with them wasn't nearly as explosive as the fantasy had been.
One of Ry's favorite cautions was- Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.
"Nice to meet you, Ariel." Nick's smile reached his eyes. He looked genuinely happy to see her, which meant, despite the distinctive color and length of her hair, he didn't recognize her. Peri had not taken that into account.
Maybe he was biding his time? Waiting for his brothers to arrive so they could unmask her together? When she shivered, Finn rubbed her back with his warm hand. She took comfort in his touch.
"Finn's talked about you," Nick said easily. "We're looking forward to your visits to our ship, Scorpion, in the coming weeks."
She shot a quick glance at Finn. What had he said about her, and at which stage of their short relationship had he spoken of her?
"Yes." Bria's Italian accent was charming. Her blue-black hair shone in the light. Svelte, sophisticated and stunningly beautiful in a red, halter neck dress that bared her shoulders and long legs, and accented her body to perfection. Gold earrings, a dozen gold bracelets and a massive rock of a diamond wedding ring, made her look impossibly put together. Like Addison, Bria looked like a model in a glossy magazine.
Enveloping Peri in a soft, fragrant cloud of ripe peaches, she placed a kiss on each cheek. Very European. Bria was the Crown Princess of Merrezo, a small, Italian principality in the Mediterranean, but no one introduced her as such. "We look forward to getting to know you.”
Peri very much doubted she'd say that if she knew who she was.
"And you, you charming man," Bria addressed Finn as she curled her hand into her husband's elbow. "This was a lovely idea to get the family together before the real work begins."
"Soon we'll be too busy to socialize."
Peri turned slowly as three men strolled through the solarium to emerge out on deck. The other Cutter brothers.
Even though she'd been waiting for this moment, the impact of their larger than life presence was like a blow to the chest. Heart galloping, palms slick with sweat she waited for them to join their group.
No one would mistake them for anything other than brothers. They all had a similar look. Tall, athletic, and dark haired. Having four pairs of identical, piercing blue eyes focused on her was the most terrifying experience of Peri's life.
"Ariel, my brothers Logan, Jonah and Zane." Nick pointed to each.
Since death or dismemberment was highly unlikely with this many witnesses, Peri held her hand out to Logan and tried to steady her breathing. Of course, croaking from anticipation was still a strong possibility.
“Nice to put faces to the names.” Logan’s hand was large, dry and strong. Peri extricated her hand as soon as was polite. She shoved it into the front pocket of her slacks, and surreptitiously wiped her damp palm. “I’m looking forward to an extraordinary salvage.” This was a man who'd scuttled his own ship to defeat terrorists from getting their hands on millions of dollars worth of diamonds. Clearly, he had no problem doing whatever was necessary to win.
Zane gave her a charming smile. The similarity between the brothers stopped at the youngest Cutter’s piece of crap ship, the aptly named Decrepit. The decrepit look of his salvage boat indicated to Peri that Zane gave more weight to how he looked than the appearance of the ship he used to extricate millions of dollars worth of artifacts from the sea. “If the past few days are any indication I think your anticipation is well-founded.”
Jonah was the dark horse. Peri knew absolutely nothing about him. He was the only brother she'd not stolen from only because she hadn't known of his existence until a few weeks ago. Why had they kept him a secret?
Did she care enough to find out now? Nope.
Braced for the moment they realized who she was, Peri's heart stopped and started like a malfunctioning outboard motor. The nasty oily swirl in her stomach returned. She hadn't expected them to be nice to her. Far from it.
She'd been braced for instant recognition, followed by hurled accusations, questions and drama. She'd been prepared with answers and accusations of her own. But so far no one had treated her as anything other than a representative of the Argentinian government. Which was damn disconcerting, not to mention weird.
This wasn't just waiting for the other shoe to drop, it was actually seeing its downward trajectory, only to find it halted an inch over her head.
“Let’s drink to that.” Finn went to the bar. "Wine? Beer?"
"I'd love a glass of red- Dios mio might be correct!" Bria whispered, hand to her throat as she caught sight of the artifact on the nearby table. Letting go of Nick's arm, she walked to it as if in a trance. "How does this come to be here?"
"We brought it to the surface this morning."
"Here?" Glancing at Finn, she pointed to the deck beneath their feet. "From Nuestra Señora del Marco?"
"Yes, this morning. We think those horizontal markings could possibly be text. Can you read it?"
"No, non posso-"
Walking up beside her, Nick put his arm around his wife's slender shoulders. His brothers crowded behind them to see what had snagged her attention. "English, love."
Peri pressed a hand to her stomach where nervous butterflies swarmed. The relic was suddenly out of sight behind a wall of males and she was on the outside looking in.
Selfishly, she wished Finn hadn’t drawn attention to the artifact. She’d wanted time alone with it, and the one she’d discovered this morning, to see if she could crack the meaning of the text.
With a slight frown, Bria nodded to her husband, then turned large dark eyes to Finn. "We have one such as this. It looks the same as la tavoletta d'oro Merrezo in our little museum. In fact, I think identico. May I hold it?"
"Sure. It's heavy. . ." Finn cautioned, taking it from the stand. He placed it in Bria's hands, then, as he'd done for Peri that afternoon, braced it on the bottom edge when Bria's arms dipped with the weight.
"I'm aware." Bria smiled. "It is far heavier than it looks. It's just like ours. Same size and shape. Thickness. This exact shade of gold. A gold unlike any I’ve ever seen before."
"We've ascertained it's Peruvian gold," Finn told her. "Tests show the thin layer of sheet gold covers a chiseled marble tablet."
"If it is indeed the same as ours, it does," Bria indicated Finn take the tablet from her. "One corner of La tavoletta d'oro Merrezo is broken. Gold layered over marble." She looked around, face glowing, dark eyes bright with excitement. "It is the same."
“Identical?” Zane asked as their circle opened to include Peri.
Bria gave a very Italian shrug. “It certainly looks to be. You all know of our Gold Tablet of Merrezo, yes? How could this be here, off the coast of Patagonia, and its twin thousands of miles away on a small Italian island?"
Peri could barely contain her excitement. Holy crap.
Not a twin.
A triplet.
What were the odds?
Three tablets, worlds apart.