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Since Bexli wouldn’t be training for her new job with MI5 for another week, I requested permission to take leave. Both Z and Nem cocked their heads when I asked if it would be okay for me to be away for two or three days. “I realize we’re still in the midst of an investigation as to the real identity of Courtney Wilson—”
Z held up his hand before I had the chance to finish my sentence. “Trace, while you report directly to Nem”—he looked at her sideways—“at least for now, I’m going to go ahead and approve your request.”
Nem smiled. “Take a week, Cay.”
“It won’t take that long. Bex asked if we could visit Mallorca to see—”
“Take a week, Cayman,” she repeated. “That’s an order.”
“Copy that, ma’am.”
Bexli’s reasonfor wanting to travel to the Spanish island located in the middle of the Balearic Sea was to visit Xavier and Francesca “Nonna” Vella. The two, along with Charlene Vella-Borg and Xavier’s girlfriend, Selene Pavia, were staying at a compound owned by my mother’s cousin, a man who’d also once been with MI6, Cortez DeLéon.
Cortez, code name Rile, now owned a private security and intelligence firm SIS occasionally hired for mission support.
While we didn’t believe the Vellas were in immediate danger, Z, Nem, and I had discussed it and thought it would be a good idea for them to temporarily leave Malta. When Z had contacted Rile, he immediately agreed, saying he had several vacant guesthouses on the property.
“Be sure to thank Rile for me,” my mother said when I rang to tell her Bexli and I would be traveling to Mallorca and staying at the residence my family owned not far from Rile’s compound.
“What am I thanking him for, Mum?” I asked.
“I called him to say how much it would mean to me personally if he were able to take the Vellas in since, other than the horse-breeding operation, no one is at our place full-time.”
Rather than ask my mother how she knew about the Vellas or the request we’d made, I asked Bexli if she’d said anything.
She shook her head and raised a brow. “Of course I didn’t speak to your mother about it. I know better than that.”
“My apologies,” said Z, approaching us in the kitchen. “It was me. I had dinner with your parents the other night. It’s what made me think of Rile in the first place.”
“Maybe Z needs to retake the SIS exam. I mean, passing on classified information to civilians is MI5 101,” Bexli whispered, shaking her head when Z left the room.
“I knowit isn’t the island in the Caymans, but it is quite lovely here,” I said when we drove through the gates ofCastillo en el Cielo, the estate that had been in my mother’s family for generations.
“It’s beautiful,” Bex gasped when we crested a hillside overlooking the Bay of Palma.
“It’s been years since I’ve been here, but I do remember this view,” I said, marveling at how it looked exactly the same as I remembered it.
“How far away is Mr. DeLéon’s compound?” she asked.
“Approximately five kilometers. Would you like to go there now?” I’d made arrangements, also via Rile, for a romantic dinner to be served to us on the beach tonight. However, I’d not deny the woman I loved anything her heart desired.
Bexli reached over and put her hand on my arm. “I was hoping we could spend the evening alone. Would you mind?”
I breathed a silent sigh of relief. “Not at all, my darling.”
As it was unseasonablywarm for the month of November, once I brought our bags inside and gave Bex a quick tour of the house, we changed into our suits and made our way down to the beach. My favorite thing about the property was its small, private cove, the place where I planned to properly propose to Bexli later this evening.
“I love it here,” she said, walking up to where I sat on the soft white sand after she stuck her toe in the water.
“How is it? Warm enough for a swim?”
“Not quite.” She lay a towel we’d picked up at the house on the beach, next to me. “What do you think? Big enough for two?”
“I suppose, but go ahead, my darling. I’m fine sitting where I am.”
Bexli shook her head. “I’m afraid that won’t work.”
When I looked up to ask why not, she reached behind and untied the string on her bikini top, then tossed it on the sand.
