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“Ava?” Guy prompted, and she startled out of her reverie, colour suffusing her cheeks.
“Sorry,” a mumbled apology as she sat up straighter. “I was miles away.”
Carlos leaned closer. “I was asking if Guillem has told you about the caves?”
“No,” she shook her head, intrigued.
“Oh,” Luciana said with exasperation. “You are impossible, Guy. Don’t tell me you are still protecting their secrets, like the seven year old you used to be?”
His laugh was something Addie had desperately been missing. The gentle sound had her jerking her head around, staring up at him. But he was so close that her lips almost buzzed his jaw. Her heartbeat ratcheted up a notch, slamming hard inside her chest. “Are you holding out on me, Guy?” She asked, the words softly teasing.
His eyes met hers, and heat zapped between them. “Oh, you’d better believe it.”
“They’re pirate caves,” Luciana said after a moment, and Addie had to drag her attention away from Guy, to break the magnetic connection holding them glued together. “Hundreds of years
old. Corsairs used to store their loot in them, hiding it from authorities until it was safe to retrieve.”
“Seriously?” Addie’s eyes were huge in her face.
“Their bodies too,” Guy said, his voice teasingly ominous. “And those of their victims.”
“Don’t scare her,” Santiago said with a shake of his head.
“I’m not scared,” Addie assured the older man. “I’m fascinated. How many caves? How old are they? What kind of loot?”
“I’ll show you them tomorrow.” His eyes roamed her face, his lips twisted in amusement. “Answer any questions you might have.”
It wasn’t hard to smile at Guy, especially when he was being so charming. “I’d like that.”
“And we shall expect a full report at dinner tomorrow night,” Carlos said with a satisfied nod.
“Not tomorrow night,” Luciana said with a shake of her head. “Remember? We are taking Santiago to the mainland for the show.”
Santiago pulled a face and Addie had to stifle her smile behind a napkin. The older man clearly didn’t relish the idea of the night out Luciana had planned.
Guy apparently picked up on the same silent grimace for help Addie had seen. “Are you so sure it’s necessary to drag Santiago all over the country?”
“It’s a one hour flight, by helicopter,” Luciana corrected, her lips pursed. “Hardly a form of elder abuse.”
Addie’s smile threatened to give way to a laugh at the clearly well-established dynamics between the various members of the Rodriguez family. She settled back into the armchair, her eyes lifting to the sky. It was a vibrant mauve colour, and stars littered it like frantic bursts of diamond dust. The sun was almost gone, just a fierce red ball on the edge of the ocean.
“Elder abuse,” Santiago said with a shake of his head. “I’m eighty five.”
“Not yet. Not until Saturday.”
“Even better – I’m eighty four. I do not think I qualify for ‘elder’ abuse, do you?”
“Oh, stop arguing, old man,” Luciana said, tapping his knee lightly. “You’d do anything to get out of having to wear a tuxedo and smile at other people for a few hours, but everyone wants to see the billionaire recluse, as you’re coming to be known. So you’ll dress up, put a smile on, and what’s more you’ll enjoy yourself.”
“Fine,” Santiago said with a shake of his head. “You two will join us?”
“No,” Guy’s rebuttal was swift. Too swift. For a moment, the veneer of their performance cracked through. “I have to catch up on some work.”
“Work?” Luciana said with a shake of her head. “Darling, I hope you’re not neglecting Ava.”
It was a misstep. Guy had let his performance drop and Addie could already see speculation in Luciana’s eyes. Did she think Addie wasn’t holding Guy’s interest? Did she believe Addie would soon fall by the wayside? Of course, that was true, but Guy had brought her to the island to convince his family this was the ‘real deal’. She needed to do something.
“I work beside him,” Addie said with a reassuring smile, moving closer to Guy, placing a hand on his knee in what she hoped passed as a gesture of affection. “I have scripts to read. We like to work side by side. Don’t we, querido?”
