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“Any thoughts from anyone on what we’re dealing with?”
“Not yet. I’ve had men crawling the streets, including in Texas. There’s been no outward threats, nothing on the street. There haven’t been any unusual business activities either and I’ve checked everything from Texas to Key West. Whoever it is was toying with us.”
“Tell me about it. This has to be revenge based. I feel it in my gut.”
“I agree,” Francois said. “It’s just a matter of figuring it out.”
“I think you need to talk to Jean Baptiste again, maybe privately.” Arman had suspected that past enemies of his father’s would come back to bite the entire family one day, especially since the man had been so brutal in handling business operations back in his day.
“I’ve tried. Pops is being… less than cooperative as well. Don’t worry. He will sit down and talk with me. I’m like you. I have a feeling he has a general idea of who it could be. Either that or he and Arman are sworn to secrecy.”
Fuck that. The one thing I had walked in on only a couple of weeks prior to the party had been a terse conversation between Arman and his father on the phone. It had been apparent his father had been attempting to coerce Arman into doing something he hadn’t wanted to become involved in. That wasn’t necessarily unusual given Jean Baptiste preferred keeping the more lucrative and illegitimate sides of the business more active. Now I was beginning to wonder if the attack had stemmed from that single phone call.
As Zoe moved toward the water, I tensed. I’d told her that she could have run of the house, even enjoying taking walks on the beach, yet when she had, I’d followed her, keeping my weapon out of sight but with me at all times. I shouldn’t have any fear that we’d been discovered, although I monitored the security system, checking it three times a damn day. I felt as if we were living in a bubble, and at some point that bubble would burst in a way I couldn’t control and I wouldn’t be able to protect the woman I… I’d been assigned to keep safe. Fuck. I had the kind of feelings for her that were difficult to shove inside a box, even though that was exactly what I needed to do.
“Let me know what you find out, Francois. I don’t want to be down here any longer than absolutely necessary.”
“Think of it as a mini vacation.”
“Right,” I snorted. “That’s not the way it works.”
“Incidentally, when this is all over, Delaney and I need to have a few days in paradise.”
“Any time you want, brother. After this is all over.”
“Yeah, yeah. I got it. Delaney will be thrilled. Try and relax. Get on that sailboat of yours. Go water skiing. Do something to burn off the heady amount of testosterone. I’ll let you know what I find. Keep doing what you do best in searching.”
I’d yet to make contact, calling in a few favors, but that would soon become necessary if I didn’t learn anything in the next forty-eight hours. I had a feeling the search was on to locate Zoe’s whereabouts.
“You mean hacking. Very funny.” Testosterone, my ass. Although he’d likely smelled my primal needs from across the room, I’d been so charged from the time spent with her. And relax? The man had to be out of his mind. I loved the house, the beach, and everything the water had to offer. I’d wanted nothing more than to cart the catamaran out, but wouldn’t do so unless she came with me, which I highly doubted.
I took another gulp of coffee and glared at the cup, trying to keep from tossing it across the room.
Two days had passed of Zoe ignoring me. Two fucking days of the woman doing her best to act as if I didn’t exist. Two days of me fuming because she’d seen through my armor, challenging me in a way no one else ever had.
Two days of her never bothering to look at me once. Shit, the woman had called me a fucking Neanderthal. Maybe I was.
At first, I’d congratulated her in my mind for walking away, dismissing me. I’d called her a good girl, praising her silently for recognizing that I was a monster. Now I was annoyed, even angered that she’d managed to keep her distance, ignoring the electric connection that was feeding on us like an alien boring into our blood cells. Great. Now I was comparing her to some creature from another planet. Or maybe that was me.
In truth, I’d never been this ignored by anyone, nor had I believed it was possible she could do so. I’d assumed that I’d be the one to shut her down over and over again. To realize that she had more self-control than I did was humbling. Great. Now I was analyzing myself like a freaking psychologist.
Maybe that’s what I needed. I’d spent the last two nights tossing and turning, not losing sleep from worry about Arman or the Thibodeaux business, but because images of her voluptuous breasts and perfect nipples had battered my mind. I’d even imagined her soft moans coming from the other side of the king-size bed. I’d reached over to pull her on top of me more than once, which meant I was losing my shit.
I took another sip of coffee, staring down at the pool as she prepared to take her late morning swim. I had a coffee cup in my hand and I was barefoot and shirtless, sunglasses hanging from a neon cord around my neck. I was even wearing shorts for the first time in as long as I could remember. Yet I wasn’t comfortable.
Because of her.
Being cooped up in a five thousand square foot tropical villa was more suffocating than I could have thought. I’d asked if she’d wanted to go sightseeing, or to purchase a few more groceries, although we were fully stocked. She’d just glared at me, walking away as if I’d said nothing. In truth, I’d wanted to spank her sweet ass for being so defiant, but I knew that would only make the situation even more difficult.
The coffee tasted sour, just like my mood. I headed into the kitchen, pouring the rest down the drain. As I planted my hands on the counter, staring out the window at the thick foliage, I realized that we couldn’t continue this way. I couldn’t protect her while we were fighting any more than I could if we were lovers. It was ridiculous.
Shaking my head, I stormed outside, heading down the stairs as I slipped my sunglasses into place. I could sense she’d heard me coming, immediately moving to the edge of the pool and diving in. She swam under the water all the way to the other side before breaking the surface. I crouched down, refusing to walk away for the fifth time. Her insolence wasn’t going to be allowed any longer.
Whether she liked it or not, she was stuck with me.
“Zoe. Come here.”
She didn’t bother turning around or even looking in my direction. I wanted to be furious with her, but her rebellious attitude only increased the heat of the flames tickling my senses. If I wasn’t careful, soon I’d been engulfed in them, incapable of making any rational decisions. That couldn’t happen.
