Page 20

Chapter Nineteen

“R ichard,” Andrew snarled, his expression contorting into anger. He removed his hand from me, making me go cold all over, especially where he had just touched me. “What are you doing here?”

“I’d say the same thing to you. I’m here to find Augustine’s treasure, but you’re obviously”—Richard waved his hand at us—“getting busy with…”

I took a moment to scrutinize Dr. Dickhead. In contrast to us, Richard wore swim shorts and a white T-shirt and he held a snorkeling mask with a small oxygen tank—he was much more prepared. He was a foot shorter than Andrew, and a wet shirt that clung to his body revealed a teenager’s narrow shoulders and slim arms. Such an ordinary asswipe. What exactly did Brie see in this man?

Andrew looked at me, and his eyes softened. “I’m so sorry.” He pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead.

“It’s okay,” I whispered.

It wasn’t okay.

I was making out with the sexiest man on this planet and maybe getting more than a mind-blowing kiss, and now the moment was ruined.

Andrew stood up, and I followed suit, feeling overexposed, naked, and unnerved. I hid behind his enormous frame, embarrassed that Richard had caught us barely dressed. Going for a swim in a bra and panties felt like a stupid idea now.

Richard dramatically shielded his eyes with his hand. “Not what I came to see.”

“How did you know to come here?” Andrew asked.

“You aren’t the only one who’s clever. Don’t forget, we used to work together. I know a thing or two.” Richard angled his head and caught my stare. “Mrs. Jones, I apologize for ruining this private moment. If I knew what was going on here, I’d have waited outside. But since we’re here, tell me, did you find anything?” He walked deeper into the cave, studying the same rock walls Andrew and I had examined earlier.

“It’s empty, so you can leave,” Andrew said.

“Why is it that every time we’re in the same space, you want me to leave?” Like a shark, Richard made his way around us, his eyes grazing my body. I stepped closer to Andrew.

Richard glanced at the goo of old paper near the pool, his brows coming together. “What is that?”

“The next clue,” I said, my eyes landing on the leather sack in the dark corner. It had no value, but I wanted Dickhead to think it did and that we were a step ahead of him. I bent and grabbed it. “Too bad it’s ours.”

Richard tilted his head up to nature’s sky window, and then he peered at me. “Can I see the bracelet? The one that you found last night.”

My stomach roiled. Goddamn it. William must have told Brandon. Of course, he did. But I was the idiot who shared the news with him in the first place.

Andrew drew in a deep breath, clenching and then unclenching his fists. “You can stay. We’re leaving.” He tugged my hand to go.

As I turned, Richard grasped my right arm, his fingers gripping tightly around my forearm.

“Let go!” I jerked my hand out of his grip.

In a flash, Andrew stepped to Richard. “You touch her again, and I’ll break every bone in your body, starting with your skull.”

Richard threw his hands up in surrender. “I just wanted to see the original one. I’ve only seen photos of it.” He moved back, and his foot slipped on the wet rocks. At that moment, Andrew pushed on Richard’s chest, and the jerk fell backward into the pool.

We turned and made our way to the cave’s mouth.

“Oh, come on, Andrew,” Richard called out. “Let’s work on this together. It would be like the good old days. You need my help, my resources. I have more money at my disposal than you do.”

Without looking back at Dr. Dickhead, Andrew wrapped his arms around my back. I looped my legs around his waist, my arms around his neck, and buried my face into his shoulder, pressing my chest into his. It was nice to be pressed into his body again.

“Take a breath,” he said, slowly walking us into the rush of water.

* * *

Outside, a somber sky awaited us, and gusts of wind pushed on the tops of the trees. On the shore, William and Brandon sat on the ground next to our backpacks, and Brie was perched on a rock, talking on a satellite phone. She wore a khaki long-sleeve shirt, brown hiking pants with multiple pockets, and a high-braided ponytail. Two thickset men with shaved heads, dressed in desert camouflage uniforms, stood not far from her. As we swam closer to them, William leaped to his feet.

“I didn’t say a word,” William said as we slogged through the last ten feet of the water. “I swear.”

My chest heaved from a long swim. I gave William a death stare as I marched to my pile of clothes and dropped the old leather bag. I could feel the leering eyes of the two hideous round-faced men on me, but my anger left no space for self-consciousness. I shouldn’t have texted anything to William. He was a smart man, but I guess he had a big mouth when it came to pretty boys. I yanked my shorts off the ground.

“Andy,” Brie said, a bit too breathless for my liking, her eyes perusing Andrew’s body. “You are so… mmm. An extra six years looks great on you.”

Jealousy gripped my throat. I wasn’t too fond of the way she was inspecting him. Argh . She used to touch him too. I wasn’t a violent person, but my hands itched to push her fucking face into the mud.

Andrew grabbed his pants and pulled them on without making eye contact with the bitch.

Brie pocketed her phone in a leather crossbody purse.

“Did you find anything?” William asked.

“Do you really think I’d tell you? In front of them?” I jerked my chin in Brandon’s direction, stepped into my shorts and brought them up. “Maybe we did. Maybe we didn’t.” Frustration boiled my blood. Why did Richard always appear in the same place we were? Was it a coincidence? Did he know about the palace too?

I buttoned my shirt and grabbed my boots. I wrestled the left sock on, the fabric clinging to my skin. The feel of wet socks always hurled me back into my worst memories. So many times, as a kid, I had to wear damp shoes because they hadn’t dried overnight. William and I owned only one pair of tennis shoes each, and we wore them until our neighbors passed down some of their kid’s shoes. “Tell me, Brandon.” I stared at the Dr. Dickhead minion. For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to look at Brie. “Do you guys follow us around because you have no clue how to find Augustine’s treasure?”

“I… We don’t…” Brandon said, his brown eyes round and eyebrows raised.

“Did you shove a tracking device up my brother’s ass last night?” I pulled my other sock on.

Brandon’s eyes widened more, his cheeks turning red, and his gaze locked on William. “You’re related?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Same features.” William circled his face. “Of course, my skin tone is much better than hers. She’s always outside, and I’ve told her it’s harmful.”

Andrew set his hat on his head and threw on his backpack. He marched over to Tweedledum and Tweedledee and reached for our hunting rifle at their feet. The left guy stepped on the barrel, holding the gun in place.

Andrew glanced up at the bonehead. “Let me have my gun.”

“William,” I snapped. “Why would you give them our gun?”

“I didn’t,” he said. “They took it.”

The ogre spitted to one side, then sneered, baring his crooked teeth. He shook his head. Andrew straightened to his full height, his expression that of someone who was as calm as a bomb with a short fuse. He had a few inches on them, but I wasn’t sure he could handle both at the same time if their staring contest escalated to something ugly. Andrew peered over his shoulder at Brie.

“Tell your guard dogs to let go of my gun,” he said to her.

I quickly yanked my other shoe on and laced it up, stuffed the leather pouch into my backpack, and stood up. When I worked at Salzburg Wine Distributing, I often traveled alone, so I’d picked up a few self-defense moves just to be safe. If we were about to get into a fight, I was ready. I think. Of course, they not only had our rifle, but it was also hard not to miss the pistols on the ogres’ belts. The events of this day hardly seemed real. First, the cave turned out to be a dud, then a scorching kiss with Andrew— can’t think about it right now —and now we were on the verge of a tussle.

“Andy,” Brie said, placing her hands on her hips, her ample cleavage very noticeable. Were her top buttons unbuttoned before and I hadn’t noticed? I squared my shoulders. “Let’s all work together.”

“Not going to happen,” he said with hostility.

“We’ll split our share with you. Seventy/thirty. It will be many times more than what you would get from the Octavian Global group.”

“The gun,” Andrew demanded.

“We can solve this puzzle in no time if we combine your knowledge with Richard’s. Sixty/forty?”

Andrew’s jaw tensed, as he clenched his teeth. William stepped to me, his backpack already on his shoulders. We exchanged glances.

Brie sighed. “Fine. Fifty-fifty.”

“Brie. My gun.”

She wrinkled her nose and crossed her arms. “No. If you want to leave without negotiating a deal. Then leave without it as well.”

What the actual fuck? Had that cold-hearted bitch lost her mind? I was turning into a ball of pure anger.

“Seriously?” I muttered. “You want us to trek through the jungle without protection?”

She rolled her eyes and barked, “Igor, otdai emu rujee .”

Definitely not Spanish. Russian, maybe? The ogre released the gun, and Andrew picked it up. He slid open the lever and checked the rifle.

“And rounds.” Andrew stuck his hand out, palm up.

The guy’s hand went to his chest pocket, and he withdrew five bullets and dropped them into Andrew’s hand. Andrew loaded the rifle and slung it over his shoulder.

“William, say goodbye to your pretty boy.” I hoisted my backpack on my shoulders. “This is the last time you’re going to see him.”

Andrew pushed past us into the dark jungle, and we followed him.

“Text me later,” William told Brandon and tailed after me.

For real, William? Even right now?

If the walk to the waterfalls was long, the walk back felt twice as long. The tension among us had gone wire taut. With no sun the jungle was blanketed in semidarkness. Strong gusts of wind harassed the rainforest canopy, making tree trunks groan and vines sway in an eerie dance.

“You are such an idiot,” I said to William as I stepped over a log. “Why would you tell him what we’ve found?” I pushed a large waxy green leaf out of my way.

“I didn’t,” William yelled. “I didn’t tell him anything. This morning we exchanged digits, and I left his room. He had no idea who I was. And then they just showed up here. And if someone is a fucking idiot, it’s you. You’re the one who texted me.”

Touché.

“What exactly did your text last night say?” Andrew asked.

God, how could this day turn into such total shit? Guilt and fear punched me in my gut. Technically it was my fault I’d shared information with my brother. “Um, that we’d found a second bracelet.” The words scraped my throat.

“For the love of god. I didn’t show it to him,” William cried out. “Why is it so hard to believe me?”

I stared ahead. Last night William was probably drunk and told Brandon everything.

“Brandon could have broken into your phone and read it,” Andrew said, defending him for unexplained reasons.

“I’m telling you: he didn’t know who I was until a few minutes ago.”

“He was pretending.” I shot him a mean glance. “Have you thought about it?”

“Well, he doesn’t know my passcode to my phone. How would he read my stuff?”

“William.” I stopped and turned to look at him. “How did you find out that Mason was double dipping?”

Two years ago, William thought he’d finally found The One until he got suspicious his boyfriend wasn’t faithful. When Mason was asleep, William brought Mason’s iPhone to his face and unlocked it. And with it he unlocked the Pandora’s box of Mason’s on-the-side dates.

“Shit.” William pressed his hands to his mouth.

“Don’t touch your face. Your hands are dirty.” I couldn’t help myself.

“At the lake, Brandon said?—”

“Who cares what he said,” I said.

“Let me speak,” William snapped. “He said that Richard works with Dr. Garcia.”

It was heartbreaking to quarrel with William. We rarely bickered, and when we disagreed, we never yelled hurtful things.

Andrew steered left from a gaping hole left by a fallen tree, its dark roots sticking out like crooked fingers. “Dr. Garcia is my father’s old friend. He wouldn’t work for Nicolai Kolesnikov.”

“Then why would he say that?”

“To add disruption, slow us down. To ruin our trust.”

“It doesn’t feel right that they always show up at the same place where we are,” I said.

“Richard is smart,” Andrew said. “We shouldn’t be surprised our paths cross.”

“Maybe they bugged our car?” William chimed in.

We trod in dead silence for the remainder of the hike. Once in a while, birds or animals yawped and shrieked as if mocking us. William was annoyed with me for giving him shit about Brandon. I was pissed at William and myself. Rage rolled through me. I hated the way Brie had checked out Andrew. I hated her nauseating use of Andy . Why did she keep calling him that? He didn’t look like an Andy at all. He was too handsome and too large for the cutesy nickname, especially when he was angry.

And boy, was he angry. The way he slashed vines and leaves with his machete to make a path for us was frightening. William and I were careful to keep our distance from him.

When we reached our destination, a stylish Land Rover Defender was parked next to our crappy, dirty Jeep.

“How come they got a nice ride, and we got this?” William folded his arms on his chest.

“Seriously?” Andrew gave him a look. He dropped the gun and his bag into the back and tossed his hat on the driver’s seat. “I’ll be back. Stay here.”

I watched him march in the same direction he went after we arrived, my eyes glued to his broad shoulders and his very nice ass. The ass that I could have squeezed several hours ago before shit hit the fan. Sorry not sorry. Even in the current situation, I couldn’t help myself.

“Dr. Sexy Hulk has a serious issue with his bladder,” William said once the jungle had swallowed Andrew whole.

I threw my backpack next to Andrew’s and slumped in defeat on the car bumper. I was so mad I wanted to find a nearby rock and smash the windshield of their nice car. I glanced around but only found low shrubs and grass and vines hanging off trees. And I wasn’t about to crawl into the bushes in search of something heavy since deadly creatures lived there.

Andrew emerged from the woods, holding the wrapped box we’d found last night.

“This isn’t my first rodeo,” he said, approaching us. “I couldn’t leave it on the shore, and I couldn’t leave it in the Jeep.” He unzipped his bag and placed the box inside. “They searched it.”

William and I both stared into the car. Nothing looked out of place. How in the world did Andrew know they’d rummaged around? I couldn’t believe how dirty Richard played. More irritation pricked my skin.

“Screw it.” I stepped to Andrew and yanked his pocketknife.

“Hey.” Andrew caught my wrist, my hand gripping his knife. “What are you doing?”

“I’ll give you one guess.” I twisted my hand out of his grip and strode to the Land Rover.

Unfolding a blade, I squatted by the right tire and jabbed the blade into it. Well, I tried to jab it, but the knife bounced back, leaving a tiny poke.

Shit. That wasn’t how it played out in my mind.

“It looks so easy in the movies.” I glanced at my hand. “I want to slow them down, or to piss them off.”

“Everything appears simple in the movies.” Andrew crouched next to me and gently removed the knife from my fingers, then took my hand, turned it up, and pressed his lips against the inside of my wrist. The touch electrified my every nerve and fiber, setting my body on fire. I went still until he released my hand. My mind raced like a herd of wild horses, my fingers pressing onto the spot where Andrew’s lips had brushed against my skin. His lips. Again. On my skin. I was about to combust from being unable to climb onto his lap and cover his mouth with mine.

“You shouldn’t get your hands dirty,” he said firmly, but a tiny flicker of amusement lit his eyes, “but I can.”

With a quick move, he stabbed the knife against the rubber, then slapped the butt of the handle, driving the blade into the tire. Then he walked to the other side and did the same thing.