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But it hadn’t been without cost.
“Funny that no one picked up your boat fire,” said Xaris. “Or found you two floating in the wreckage.”
Hudson nodded, his mouth a tight line.
She looked away but felt his hand move to hers, squeeze it.
So, clearly he didn’t want her to tell anyone about their desperate underwater swim as bullets pelleted the water, the way they’d surfaced near shore, behind a bevy of rocks, watching as their boat burned black, then sank into the sea as another circled it before setting off down the shore, searching for them.
“Where’d you spend the night?”
Hudson looked at the man and drew in a breath. And just like that, she heard the voice, slightly accented, of a woman named Ziggy, occupation sketchy, who’d just happened to show up a step before trouble found them.I found out who put the hit on Iris.
A hit. As in someone wanting herdead.
Why, they still hadn’t figured out. In fact, Hudson hadn’t wanted to stick around to sort out the answers either.
Poor guy. He actually thought he’d been the one to get her into trouble. She could still hear his desperation in the hotel room in Athens nearly five days ago.Listen. I’m sorry I got you into this. I’m not James Bond. I’m not even Tom Cruise. I’m just a lousy wide receiver with a leaky brain and need to get off this roller coaster ride. And I think you should come with me.
“We spent the night in a cave,” Hudson said.
Xaris’s eyes widened. “Not Cave Aspro?”
Hudson lifted a shoulder.
“It’s an all-white cave. They say it is covered in the tears of nuns,” said Nico, climbing along the deck of the boat and jumping down beside them. “A pirate ship caught them and left them to die there. It’s filled with stalactites and dead, jagged coral. At night, the tide completely fills it.”
“We know,” Hudson said.
Nico raised a dark eyebrow, his gaze going to Hudson’s shoulders, the loosened blood that stained the towel.
“Are you on your honeymoon?” This from Xaris. Behind him, the shore grew, along with the port of Santorini with its fishing boats and houses built on the craggy hillside. Along the top of the ridge, like so many hats, sat the whitewashed buildings, one on top of another, many with domed roofs, all nestled together.
Magical. And the perfect place for a honeymoon.
Iris looked at Hudson. She’d used the lie only a few days ago when he’d been hospitalized, but—
“Yes.” Hudson lifted their clasped hands. “We’re staying in Santorini—just took a rental out for the day. I don’t think we’re getting our deposit back.” He grinned, and wow, she’d seen his charm up close and personal, but now it had the power to loosen the aura of suspicion she hadn’t noticed until that moment.
Then, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll bet you can’t wait for a warm shower and a gourmet dinner, right, honey?”
She’d be happy for dry clothes and a vending machine sandwich, but she nodded.
“You look familiar,” Nico said, frowning. “I don’t know where.”
Hudson lifted a shoulder. “I get that a lot. I sort of look like an actor.”
“Hmm,” said Nico, but the boat was turning into the harbor, and he left to pick up a line.
Iris glanced at him. Raised an eyebrow. “An actor?”
“Yeah. Didn’t you see the newReacheron Netflix? It’s a series—Coach says I look like that actor.”
She hadn’t seen it, and frankly, Nico probably hadn’t either, but, “Right.” Because if the man was a fan of American football in Europe, then they both knew exactly why Nico recognized the six-foot-four, blindingly handsome, fit and sturdy wide receiver from the Vienna Vikings.
“Let’s hope he’s not interested in a selfie,” she said.
They pulled up alongside other fishing boats coming into dock. The place smelled of fresh catch, salt, and oil, and dockhands tied up boats as fishermen sat on deck, sorting their fish from the nets. A road switchbacked up from the harbor to the pristine town. Horses snorted nearby, tied up, waiting to pull carts filled with today’s catch to market.
