Page 48 of Mr. Risky

“I know it’s real. I know because a long time ago my granddaddy worked here and he heard Pippa’s grandaddy talk about it when he was drunk. All that stuff about pirate treasure was bullshit. Chamberlain has that necklace somewhere on this property. I am going to get it and then me and you, songbird, are going to get the hell out of here. Now get up. I want to go play music on the beach.”

“Play? But I’m so sleepy and there’s a performance in the morning!”

“Play for me.”

He pulled me to my feet, the nightie flowing again around my thighs, and we went down the stairs and out the front door.

The waves were crashing wildly, and I could taste a storm in the air. There would be one coming very soon. Tomorrow or maybe the next day. But it was coming.

Granger handed me my flute, and notched the fiddle under his chin too.

“What if someone hears us in the big house?”

“What if they do? I’m tired of waiting around. I need something to shake loose. I’ve been over every damn inch of this property. Besides, it’s too windy to hear anything. There’s a big storm coming.”

“Do you think they’ll cancel the upcoming performances?”

“Chamberlain never cancels them. His friends enjoy seeing all the tits too much.”

The first notes of his fiddle sung out, and oh, they were haunting and eerie, the notes deep and resonant with frustration, searching, longing.

“I’ve always wanted to be a Siren,” I said. “I thought they were incredibly beautiful. And so talented. I could never afford private lessons beyond what the school offered. And you know my granny would never have paid for them. But God, I wanted to be a Siren.”

“Well, sweetheart, you’ve done it. And you’re the best damn one there is. Now you can move on to something else. Something where you don’t have to dance to their tune.”

“And what happens if you do find this necklace?” I asked, my feet following as if by instinct, as he wandered closer to the water.

No shirt on, jeans hanging low on his hips, and I was following this asshole Pied Piper, the same as I always did.

“It’s stolen property. That’s why he’s so anxious to pretend like it’s just an urban legend. I’ve been over every damn inch of this house and yard and haven’t found shit. So when I take it away, he won’t be able to say shit. Now play with me.”

And I did, the notes of my flute blending in with his.

I was a fool.

But damn did those notes sound so good together, my own leaping about, his pulling me closer, the notes wrapping sensuously around mine, snaking with wicked, seductive power all through my best intentions.

“Are you gonna have sex with her?” I asked jealously, as the first streaks of dawn broke over the horizon.

“Probably. If she bitches about where I was. But don’t worry, sweetheart. It’s not long now. I can feel my luck is about to change. You’ve always been my good luck charm. That’s why I’m gonna keep you with me.”

“When have I brought you good luck?”

“You introduced me to Pippa,” Granger said with a wink. “I’ve skimmed off a nice little nest egg from them in the last two years, but it’s nothing compared to what we’ll get when I find that necklace. Now get back in that house and rest. We have to take good care of that baby in your belly.”

Chapter Fourteen

But the next day the storm was pushing at the horizon, the billowing deep clouds building, and the ocean spray felt chill and icy on my skin.

“Are we going to reschedule the performances?” I asked Chamberlain as the Sirens stood in the gardens, my auburn hair whipping around my face.

“No, Sosie. They always go on.”

“But what if the storm⁠—”

“They always go on. It won’t hit us here.”

This rich bastard was so arrogant he assumed he could control the weather.