Page 24

What just happened? One minute, Olivia was screaming to the heavens in ecstasy, and the next, she was storming off into the house, probably holed up in her guest room again. So much for getting a round two in our bed. In her current mood, I’d be lucky if she didn’t throw something at me if I dared try to speak to her. Better to let her cool off.

Which left me time to do that security check on the American woman who just happened to show up in the town we were hiding out near. Sure, that first guy had been a coincidence, and yes, the small village did get the occasional tourist. Wasn’t I counting on its charm and hospitality to make me another fortune when my new resort got off the ground?

Drying off and following the trail of my clothes, I put them back on and headed to my office, where I logged onto the computer and sent a message to my head of security. Then I called my brother.

“You’re lucky this town has a motel at all, let alone a vacancy,” he said, the sound of music in the background.

“That sounds more like you’re the lucky one,” I answered. “Why would I need a motel when I own a house down here? Now get your ass somewhere quiet and tell me everything you learned about that woman in the coffee shop.”

Ivan’s naturally friendly and flirtatious ways were perfect for secretive interrogations. The young woman wouldn’t have known she was getting grilled for information that could help in finding out a past she might be trying to hide.

The music faded into the background, and as Ivan rattled off everything he had learned during the afternoon they had spent together, I passed it on to my security expert, who never seemed to sleep and was always glued to his system.

“Hang on, I even got a picture of her,” Ivan said. A moment later, my phone pinged with a surreptitious shot of the woman’s profile.

“Hmm, just your type, pervert,” I said, shaking my head but grateful for the photo as it would keep her from being confused with anyone who had the same name.

“That’s all I’ve got,” he answered. “And since you’re not inviting me over…”

“No, I am not,” I said.

“Then I’m getting back to my party.” He hung up, and I waited for the report on the mystery woman.

It didn’t take long since there wasn’t much, and not a damn thing on her report raised my hackles. Zoey Andrews was freshly graduated twenty two year old who is about to start her first real job as a kindergarten teacher and is using her free time before that new chapter starts to write the next great American novel, something she always wanted to do. She had just chosen the same sleepy town Olivia and I had ended up in. Exactly what she said, and I had no reason to worry about her anymore.

With a long groan, I snapped the laptop shut and sat back. Olivia was simply bored and lonely while I was spending so much time working. I could remedy that myself and bring her along. She was the most capable assistant I’d ever met, after all, and it would help me out. But that meant she’d also become more deeply involved with things I would have rather kept her out of.

I could give up the plans for the new resort, or put it on the backburner, but I liked the idea of living here more permanently since Olivia clearly adored everything about the area.

How had I let any woman get under my skin, so deep that there was no extracting her? The thought of trying was laughable, because I wanted her there. Needed to make her happy.

If that meant letting her have lunch with this innocuous woman from Indiana, so be it. It would be perfectly safe if a guard was with her at all times. For the dozenth time in the last few days, I tried calling Benedikt, hoping for an answer that would put my mind at ease once and for all. If there was nothing to worry about and the Kuzmins weren’t biding their time for an attack, then Olivia and I could start living like a normal married couple.

And God, that sounded amazing. Even if she was upstairs, probably plotting my demise right now, most of the tension between us was most likely because of the hiding. Once she was accepted into my big, loving family as one of their own, she’d settle in.

Maybe even give my new niece and nephew a playmate.

Wait a minute. That was a new thought. Kids? They were fine, when they were someone else’s, but I’d never wanted any of my own. Until now. Until Olivia. Now, it not only didn’t seem like an utter nuisance, but something I longed for.

My phone pinged, dragging my attention from my thoughts about this house being overrun with sons and daughters, kids as fiercely independent, intelligent, and adorable as their mom. How would we raise them? What would they become?

The phone pinged again, and I grabbed it, expecting some kind of emergency but only seeing two pictures Ivan had sent. He was at the cantina, surrounded by new friends, all holding up glasses of beer or margaritas while the band played behind them. At least Zoey wasn’t one of them. It was comforting knowing she wasn’t a party animal like my younger brother, at least.

Fucking Ivan. What was I going to do about him, now that he knew everything? I messaged him back not to get too drunk because I wanted him to go to a meeting with me the next day.

He sent back a thumbs up, and I shook my head, knowing he’d get more serious about the project when he learned how lucrative it would be. He could be slightly immature sometimes, but he was reliable when push came to shove, and he knew how to be every bit as intimidating as he was charming.

I could foist off some of my new responsibilities on him and then spend more time with Olivia. Maybe I should never have gotten involved with the new venture in the first place, but it was rolling under its own steam now, and it was too late to back out. I loved it down here every bit as much as I did when I first stumbled across the place, and it was clear Olivia did, too. Would it really be so crazy to make it our permanent home if it meant keeping a smile on her beautiful face?