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Totally off balance, he let his frustration and volatile emotions morph into savage anger. ‘Dammit, are you stupid? You don’t make calls on a mobile phone.’
* * *
Ava spun round at the sound of Wolfe’s harsh voice and nearly dropped her phone in the water. She could still hear Baden’s voice but could no longer make out the words, her attention totally focused on the furious expression on Wolfe’s face. Her breath caught and she felt as if she was thirteen years old and being confronted by her disapproving father.
‘I have to go.’ She disconnected the phone just as Wolfe reached her.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’ he said, breathing fire and brimstone at her.
‘Ice-skating?’
‘Dammit, Ava. I told you not to make mobile phone calls from the island.’
She frowned, pretty sure that he hadn’t. ‘No, you didn’t.’
‘Yes. I. Did.’
‘No. You. Did. Not. But anyway I didn’t make a call. I received one.’ She’d found her phone on Wolfe’s chest of drawers after breakfast and checking her messages had helped take her mind off just how futile her feelings for him were.
‘Answering it works the same way,’ he said through gritted teeth. ‘It gives away our location to anyone with the equipment to utilise it.’
‘You use yours,’ she felt stung into retorting.
‘Mine’s encrypted.’
Ava shoved her hands on her hips. ‘Well, nobody told me that.’
Wolfe shook his head and ground his jaw as if she were a complete imbecile. ‘I knew this wouldn’t work.’
‘I have no idea what you’re referring to, but I’ve had enough of your overbearing attitude for one day,’ she fumed. ‘And, so you don’t have to worry, it was just Baden checking up on me after the bomb. I hope that is not against your rules?’
She stalked off in the direction of the house. This was exactly like her father, judging her and finding her lacking. It hurt. Despite everything she had promised herself she had given Wolfe the power to hurt her. She had no one else to blame but herself.
As she passed the pool she glanced down at the phone in her hand and in a fit of pique her father would say was incredibly impulsive tossed it into the water.
‘Dammit, that was a fool thing to do.’
She spun around, not realising that Wolfe had followed so closely behind her. ‘Like climbing that dumb wall at Gilles’s. I wish I’d never done that either. Maybe then we would never have met.’
‘We would have met.’
Caught off guard by his brooding tone, she felt all her anger leave her body and for a minute stood in front of him feeling strangely lost.
She needed a cup of tea. Yes, that would help her regroup. She glanced once more at the rippling pool as she stalked off. It had been stupid to toss her phone in it, particularly since she still had messages to check.
‘What are you doing now?’
Ava opened a cupboard near the kitchen sink in search of mugs. ‘Making tea. Do you want some?’
‘No. The cups are above your head.’
‘Do you have lemon verbena, by any chance?’
Wolfe expelled a long breath and some of the tension seemed to leach out of him. ‘I have no idea.’ He strode to a cupboard and started rifling through containers. ‘No. Will peppermint do?’
‘Yes.’ Their eyes connected. Held. ‘Thank you.’
* * *
Wolfe watched her pour boiling water into a mug and berated himself for letting his frustration at the situation cloud his objectivity. No wonder he hadn’t located her brother’s killer yet.
And she’d been right before. He hadn’t told her not to use her phone. He’d meant to. But that wasn’t the same thing. And mistakes like that got people killed.
Could get her killed.
Now he’d have to change their location. Find another safe place. Because he wouldn’t risk her life, no matter how small the chance that the killer had the skills to track her to the island. He didn’t know who he was dealing with and it was time to act as if he had some sort of a clue as to how to do his job.
He blew out a breath.
He needed to apologise to her. Again.
Without giving himself time to decide if it was a bad idea, he wrapped his arms around her from behind.
She stiffened but he didn’t let go.
‘I’m sorry for yelling at you. I behaved like a jackass.’
‘Yes, you did.’ She sniffed. ‘Why?’
