Page 13

In which there is Yacht Regret and moments of What In The Hell Just Happened?

Logan…

“Did ye really have to blow up all three of them?”

Michael is looking all sorrowful as he watches the remains of Anselm’s yachts burn down to the waterline in the marina.

“I did warn ye I’d be using explosives,” I point out reasonably. “I dinnae want to risk anyone getting off the island.”

“Aye, but the middle one, the Adamas V, that was a beautiful thing. We could have re-outfitted her with a crew of twenty and sent her down to Naples with the-”

“Sorry lads, but we’re done here.” Da checks his G-Shock wristwatch. “Time for us to go. I’ve notified a contact in the DSIS that they should be moving in to collect all the bits and pieces. So they’ll likely be here within the next ten minutes. On the boat with ye.”

I pat Michael’s shoulder as I take Arabella’s hand. “You’ll just have to have your erotic fantasies about the Adamas V on your own time.”

“Feck off,” he says, but not like he really means it.

Arabella’s been silent this entire time. Her face is still pale and her pretty brown eyes are huge, as if she canna accept what she’s seeing.

“Come now, sweetheart,” I squeeze her to make sure she looks up at me. “Let’s get ye off this rock, aye?”

“Oh… That would be good,” she says blankly, as I hustle her around shattered stone and mountains of glass. Kai and another one of our men are keeping watch at the boat, gun up and sweeping the area as I help Arabella in. The black jetboat is a good one for operations like these, low to the water to avoid radar and equipped with an engine big enough to power a 747. I tuck her into a covered corner to keep her away from the ocean spray and we’re off and away from the smoldering ruins, shouting our goodbyes to the blazing compound and “Feck ye right up the arse!” as we tear across the water.

“Did everyone die?”

It’s the first thing Arabella’s said to me since we came ashore and settled into one of the safe houses. There’s four set closely together in the outskirts of Drag?r, a little fishing village just outside of Copenhagen.

She’s sitting very properly with her knees together and hands clutching a cup of coffee with a wee bit of whisky added in. Some of the color’s returned to her cheeks and that concerningly wide-eyed stare is gone.

“Ye mean in Anselm’s compound?” I’m itching to get the lass into a hot shower and some proper clothes, but I’m thinking she’s not ready to move just yet.

“Aye.” She takes a slow, careful sip of her drink. “Was the waitstaff, all the guests, were they all… ye know, were they all evil?”

Goddamn, I adore this woman.

“Danish Politiets Efterretningstjeneste, their version of MI6, is combing through what’s left of Anselm’s compound. Most of the female guests were separated after dinner, and they likely survived.” Tossing back two fingers of whisky, I try to push down my fury. “I promise ye, sweetheart. Anyone who worked for that piece of shite knew exactly what he was doing.”

She nods, looking down at her cup. “I have a million questions. Will ye be answering them?”

“Aye, of course,” I say gently. “Ye were minding your own business, tried to save my life and ended up in a firefight in Denmark.”

“Dinnae ye forget the whole bit with the eugenics-obsessed, organ-stealing Nazi bastard and may he burn in hell,” she adds, eyes narrowed. “I canna be sorry he’s dead. Though ye scared me half to death when he shot ye. I thought you’d come all that way just to be gunned down.”

I tapped my chest, ignoring the two bullet holes in my tactical jacket. “Kevlar vest. It’s a new mesh compound our lab has been working on. Lighter weight, moves with the body.”

“Good to know. I… still killed him, though. I killed a person.”

Michael and three of our loudest arseholes come barreling in, shouting and laughing as she rubs her forehead.

“Shut it!” I shout. They halt, looking all startled.

“Sorry,” Michael says, “just blowing off the usual post-mission steam but I’m thinking we can do that next door, aye, lads?”

They tuck a few bottles of whisky under their arms as they leave, but I dinnae mind. I already hid the good stuff in my room. I want to hold her hands, but she’s gripping that coffee mug like a life preserver and I dinnae know if she wants me to touch her right now.

“Ye saved my life. Again. He might have gotten a bullet in my skull before I reached ye. Him bleeding and pinwheeling all over the place gave me the time to pull my gun and shoot him. My bullets killed him. Your… what the hell was that?”

She gives a weak chuckle. “An obsidian arrowhead for protection and clearing negative energies. My friend Meera gave it to me.”

I remind myself to send this Meera a million pounds when we get back.

“Remember that ye saved me by cutting that bastard up good. But his death is on me, understand? I know there’s questions to be answered, sweetheart. But let’s get a shower and a good meal in ye first, aye?”

She nods gratefully. “That would be nice.”

Our big talk dinnae come for a while yet.

It’s sunrise by the time Arabella’s showered and Da and Kai share a meal with us, telling her a bit about the mission.

“Ye came all that way for me?” She’s incredulous.

“Ye saved my son,” Da says. “I owe ye a debt I canna repay. But if it makes ye feel better, we took away a huge amount of data about Anselm’s organ-trafficking business model.” He says the last two words with disgust.

“He may be dead,” adds Kai, “but his network is huge and we’re thinking the major players are already battling to take over the business.”

“Ye have to stop them.” Arabella’s beautiful when she’s furious, and right now? She’s incandescent, her full lips tight and furious and all that glossy black hair tumbling over her shoulders. She’s wearing a pair of my sweatpants and a t-shirt borrowed from Xenia. I want to take her into my room, peel those pants off her and kiss my way up the thin skin of her inner thighs until I put my mouth on her pink little-

Fecking hell. I push my erection down, crossing my legs before she notices.

“We will,” I manage to sound like a normal human being and not a giant, raging erection with all the blood drained into the lower half of my body. “I promise ye that. Why dinnae ye get some sleep, Bella? We’ll have that talk when ye wake up.”

She looks like she wants to argue, but the minute she opens her mouth to argue, a giant yawn takes over. “I guess you’re right.” She blushes.

Showing her to the room next to mine, I pause in the doorway. “Let me know if ye need extra blankets, or…” Feck, I’m floundering here like a teenage boy.

“Thank ye,” she nods, trying to smile.

“Get some rest.” I turn to leave.

“Logan?”

I look back. The sun’s lighting up her eyes, they’re a deep brown, but the center of her iris around the pupil is golden, I’d not seen that before. Beautiful. “Aye?”

“Are we…” she pushes back her hair, searching for the words. “Are we safe, then? Just like that? After… well, after everything?”

Touching her is a mistake, but my hand rises to cup her cheek anyway. “I will always keep ye safe, sweetheart. Ye have my word.”

Time to get my horny arse out of there before I lose what’s left of my self-control, and I stride out with her little, “Good night…” following me.