Page 3 of The Billionaire’s Siren (S.E. Smith Signature Romance: Heart & Soul #1)

“And where do you plan to go?” he asked, his voice cool, low, and disturbingly steady. “In case you haven’t realized it, you’ve reached the end. There’s nowhere else to go.”

“That may stop other people,” she said, one foot sliding closer to the railing. “It won’t stop me.”

Her hand slid behind her, feeling for the curved fiberglass housing of the lower lifeboat. If she could just hop onto it, she could dive without breaking her neck.

“You, uh… you’ve got a little fish egg… right here,” she said, motioning vaguely to her cheekbone, trying to buy herself a few seconds of distraction.

He raised a hand and wiped at the spot she pointed to. He flicked the gooey remains of caviar onto the deck with a grimace.

“I hate the stuff,” Dani added helpfully. “I have no idea why people eat it. It’s like eating baitfish, only worse.”

He didn’t laugh.

I wonder if the Devil looks this yummy. If he does, I can see why people keep making poor decisions .

“Will you just shut up already?” she hissed, backing further along the railing. “I’m in enough trouble without you making it worse.”

He blinked. “Who are you talking to?”

“My idiot side,” she confessed, shooting him a wry smile. “We talk frequently… not that it helps.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Are you… wired? Is that what all this drama is about? A story for tomorrow’s tabloids?”

“Wired? Tabloids?” Dani gave him a bewildered frown. “No! I’m a mechanic. The only wiring I deal with is on engines.”

“A mechanic? You expect me to believe you are a mechanic?” he repeated, incredulous, like she’d just claimed to be a dolphin trainer or a time traveler.

“Yes, a mechanic,” she snapped, tugging the work boots tighter under her arm. “I fix engines. I was hired to fix this yacht’s engine. Which, by the way, had nothing wrong with it except its sleazy owner.”

“You mean Vito.”

“ Ding-ding-ding , we have a winner!” she replied, giving him a sarcastic thumbs up.

The man’s jaw ticked. “And your name is?—?”

“Not relevant right now,” she said, gritting her teeth. “Tell Vito I want my tool bag back. And he’s getting a whopper of a bill. I charge by the hour.”

“I bet you do,” the man retorted, his voice dipping into dangerous territory. “How much?”

Her brow furrowed in confusion. “How much for what?”

“How much do you charge per hour?”

“Two twenty-five,” she said without hesitation, doubling her normal price.

His eyebrows lifted slightly. “I’ll triple it.”

Her lips parted in surprise. “Triple what?—?”

“Hell, I’ll pay you a flat fee. One hundred thousand.”

Her mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.

“One hundred?—?”

“Okay, five hundred. ”

That did it. The fog in her brain thickened, descended like a San Francisco summer. She shook her head like a dog coming out of water. “Five hundred thousand? What are you—what are we talking about right now?”

“You,” he said, taking another step toward her. “One night. And me. Five hundred thousand.”

Dani stared at him like he’d grown an extra head, possibly a golden one.

“I—what? No. No. I’m not— no way !” she stammered, scrambling sideways along the railing, her boots thumping against her ribs. “This isn’t that kind of party. I don’t do that. I’m just?—”

His gaze dropped to her mouth, before moving lower. She backed away faster.

“You’re insane. You know that, right?”

He gave a half-shrug, as if that was a perfectly acceptable accusation.

Dani stared at the man as if he had just proposed they duel with chainsaws at dawn.

“Five hundred thousand dollars,” he repeated, his voice low, steady, and absurdly confident. “One night. You and me. Or do you want more?”

She blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Her brain, reeling from his absurd proposal, finally caught up and translated the fire in his eyes—it wasn’t fury, not even righteous male ego—it was something far more dangerous.

Heat.

Desire. Full, primal, rip-her-clothes-off-on-the-deck desire.

It hit her like a rogue wave. A wild rush of heat flushed through her core, stealing the breath right from her lungs.

And if there was going to be death, it would be from pleasure. She was sure of that now. Sweet, delicious pleasure that would leave her melted like chocolate in the sun.

Or his eyes. Yeah, definitely his eyes .

“Oh no. Oh no! I’m not… You think that… I’m still a… Okay, I’m going now,” she choked out, panic and hormones doing battle in her throat.

Without waiting for a response, Dani spun and scrambled up onto the fiberglass housing. Her hand fumbled for the hem of her slipping gown. With one hand clutching her dress and the other gripping her work boots…

This is it. One heartbeat, one leap. Maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow bruised but free ? —

She tried not to think about the fact that she might not wake up at all. Taking a deep breath, she launched herself into the night before she could change her mind.

For a split second, she wondered if she’d misjudged the height—because the fall seemed to stretch into eternity.

Seconds later, the lukewarm waters of the Mediterranean swallowed her whole.

The impact felt like an open-handed slap, threatening to steal the breath she had hastily gulped.

A momentary sense of disorientation wrapped around her before she kicked—hard, feeling the chill of the water seep into her skin.

Breaking the surface, she gasped and dragged the gown over her head.

Flipping onto her back, she wadded the fabric into a clumsy bundle, threading her bootlaces on either side of the material before she tied the thin material firmly around her waist. If she was lucky, the knot would hold until she reached the docks.

If not, she would be adding a new pair of work boots to Vito’s bill.

In less than a minute, she was doing an awkward crawl toward the lights of the dock in the distance.

Her muscles screamed in protest, but a sense of exhilaration filled her, lifting her spirits. She had done it! A triumphant laugh escaped her lips; she had done it, against all odds! She had officially pulled off her insane escape!

Now, to reach the dock.

Her spirit was buoyed until she heard loud shouts, followed by a splash echoing behind her.

Dani twisted in the water, her legs pumping to keep her afloat. The familiar theme song from every shark movie ever made started playing in her head. Her heart skipped a beat.

A sudden splash nearby made her whirl around, her heart pounding in her chest. Releasing a breath, she recoiled as a deep, furious male voice shattered the darkness just a few feet from her.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Have you lost your mind?” the man demanded, sputtering as he swam up beside her.

“You jumped in after me? Are you crazy?!” she shouted back, half-choking on seawater as she sank beneath the surface in surprise. She kicked upward and spat out a mouthful of saltwater. “Go back to the boat!”

“I should ask you the same thing, but I already know the answer!”

She turned and swam harder, fueled now by equal parts rage and disbelief. Her tied gown was weighing her down, and her boots felt like twin water anchors.

“Go away!” she barked over her shoulder.

“Why did you jump off the yacht?” he called out.

She twisted her head just enough to glare at him. “Maybe because I don’t like being kidnapped and locked up!”

His stroke faltered. “Kidnapped? Who the hell kidnapped you?”

“Vito Marino—after he dumped a bottle of champagne on me and tricked me into believing it was all a mistake!”

“What were you even doing on the yacht in the first place?”

Dani huffed, rolling onto her back. She fumbled, pulling her boots up and draining them so she could rest them on her stomach. She might have to ditch them. They weren’t worth drowning over. Neither was the gown. Her arms were starting to ache, and her body was so done with today.

“I told you—I’m a mechanic. I fix engines. I was hired to check the yacht’s system. Only it turned out there wasn’t anything wrong with them. Vito just wanted to meet the ‘pretty girl with the wrench’ he saw working on another boat. So congratulations, your buddy is a creep and a liar.”

The man swore—loudly and in Greek .

The string of words was so colorful, Dani barked a laugh mid-kick.

“Sounds like you’re not exactly Team Vito either.”

He grunted. “Considering that is my yacht… no, I’m not.”

Dani stopped swimming, letting herself float in the waves like a piece of driftwood. She twisted to stare at him in the dark, wide-eyed.

“Your yacht?!”

Before he could answer, a beam of light swept across the water from the right. She turned toward it, shielding her eyes against the spotlight as the soft purr of a motor approached.

“Over here!” the man called, lifting his arm.

Seconds later, a sleek black Zodiac skimmed up beside them. A crewman leaned over the edge, arm outstretched.

“I’ve got her, sir.”

“Hey—wait a minute!” Dani squeaked, twisting when firm hands wrapped around her waist and lifted her clean out of the water like she weighed nothing more than a sodden beach towel.

“I don’t need getting! I was going to the docks!” she snapped, wriggling.

“You’ll thank us when the sharks show up,” the man muttered.

Before she could properly argue, the man she’d punched hoisted himself up and swung over the side in one fluid motion. Water streamed from his soaked shirt down his forearms, while his trousers were molded to his frame. Dani hated how distracting that was.

She scowled, dripping and furious, but secretly a little impressed.

“Nice chase, by the way,” she muttered, tiredly sitting back to rest against the side of the boat.

He glanced at her, dark eyes narrowing. “Nice punch.”

“Touché,” she retorted with a cheeky grin.