Page 5 of Claimed Gem

Ries considered that question as they headed back inside the bar and then made a decision. Stephanie seemed like a beautiful young woman and was really upset, and yet, the police didn’t help her.

“Don’t say anything to the police. That was probably a bad idea on my part. Let’s gather up the women and head out.”

Upon reaching the booth, Ries found himself surrounded by gorgeous women from different countries. Tall, short, all colors of hair, all gorgeous, and all ready to party the night away. “Ladies, did you miss me?” he asked, although without his usual measure of enthusiasm.

Realizing that all was not right with the local police and worrying about Stephanie stole some of his enthusiasm for the party he’d been planning all afternoon. Two women hooked his arms with their own as they towed him towards the exit. Ries smiled down into their eyes, doing his best to put the incident with Stephanie out of his mind.

“I can’t seem to remember any of your names,” he commented to the dark-skinned beauty on his left and the blonde on his right.

“That’s all right, you don’t need to know our names to have a good time,” the blonde informed him with an inebriated giggle.

Ries smiled and squeezed her closer, “That’s right. I don’t, do I?”

“Ladies, if you’ll get into the limo and slide all the way to the front, I believe we can all fit into the one vehicle,” Chris said as he held open the rear passenger door.

“We don’t mind getting cozy, do we girls?” one of the women asked.

Ries guessed by her accent and coloring that she was French, but everything was slightly blurry and after all, he didn’t really need to know their names or where they were from. They all knew the score, that this was a one-time event and, in the morning, Chris would ensure they were all returned to wherever they needed to go to resume their lives.

Ries waited as the women climbed inside, looking back inside at the place where the two officers sat, nursing their drinks. He frowned and asked Chris, “Do the police consume alcohol while on duty in your country?”

Chris followed his eyes and shook his head, “If they did and anyone reported it, they’d be out of their jobs rather quickly.”

“That’s what I thought, as well.” Ries made a mental note about the policemen. First, they ignored a woman in distress and now they were drinking while in uniform and presumably on the job. The situation deserved more thought, especially if he was going to be in the area for any length of time and possibly needing their assistance.

“Did you forget something?” Chris asked, gesturing toward the open limo door and raising a brow as Ries continued to stand on the sidewalk.

“No. I believe everything we need is already inside.” Ries climbed into the limo and found himself surrounded by the women once more. It was obvious the women were waiting for him to decide what came next and suddenly Ries found himself struggling to hide his true feelings. Everyone who looked at him saw a carefree, party boy who didn’t have any concept of the future or concerns about anything other than his own personal gratification. It was all that anyone had ever seen in him, from the time he’d turned sixteen and entered the party scene.

In reality, Ries hated his life and the perception people had of him. The expectations they placed upon his shoulders to always be the life of the party and expecting him to thumb his nose at society. He didn’t want to be the party boy but he’d created this life for himself and now he felt trapped by it.

I’m incapable of doing anything else. No one expects anything from me and that’s exactly what I give them. Nothing tangible. I’m the rich, handsome, wealthy playboy who’s always up for a good time. I couldn’t even help a woman on the street. I just let her walk off to fend for herself.

“Ries, you okay?” Chris whispered as the limo pulled up to the docks.

Ries shook himself and then nodded, “Never better. Ladies, I hope you brought your suits.”

“And if we didn’t?” one beauty asked, leaning forward and giving him a glimpse of her ample cleavage beneath the short top.

“Well, then I guess you’ll just have to do without,” Ries suggested blandly. The women looked at him for a minute and then laughed when he waggled his brows and confided quietly, “I personally never wear a swimsuit. I just don’t see the need.”

They talked amongst themselves and Ries leaned back, his thoughts going once more to Stephanie.I hope she’s okay. She needed help. Why didn’t I offer her something tangible?

3

Stephanie deliveredthe next tray of drinks, flirted a bit with the older Middle Eastern gentlemen at the table, and then headed for the next table in her area. She kept looking around the bar for the two men from the night before, starting to question her own sanity in the face of everyone else’s disbelief.

After leaving the bar the night before, and the unfortunate encounter with Ries whatever-his-name-was, she finally made it to the police department. Only one officer was on duty and she told him her story, only to have him also suggest that she hadn’t really seen anything worthy of investigating. The bar was dimly lit, she’d just finished working an eight-hour shift, and since she didn’t have any evidence and couldn’t name the men involved, in the eyes of the officer the incident simply hadn’t taken place.

She’d even mentioned it to Terri when she’d arrived for work this afternoon, and Terri also had told her she must have been seeing things. “No one would conduct that kind of illegal activity out in the open. Get real,” Terri had told her with a small laugh as she’d walked away to start her shift.

Maybe I just thought I saw something nefarious? Is my life so boring that I’m now conjuring up conflicts when there aren’t any?Stephanie shook her head and headed back to the bar, stopping short when she spotted Ries. She observed him from the other end of the bar, and it was obvious the man was nursing a humongous hangover. His head was hanging low, his color was slightly off, and his jovial personality was completely missing.

She watched him for a long moment, thinking that at least he’d been willing to listen to her. He had been so focused on getting her to party with him, she hadn’t truly given him a chance to help, but he’d seemed concerned at least. Even more than the police officer she’d originally told her tale to.

She blew out a breath, nodded thanks to Tomas and headed to deliver the drinks, bringing her directly past Ries. She didn’t look at him until she heard him call her name in surprise.

“Stephanie?Tikanis?”