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Brandon, was it? Was she one of the Cades’ inner circle, then? A mistress, perhaps? Was that why the wife had been having that whispering altercation with her much earlier in the evening? Although it seemed odd to bring this girl to the Cade Ball if she was sleeping with her husband.
But whatever way he looked at it, this situation could have potential. Unless, of course, it was some kind of a set-up. His usual cynicism kicked in. Because what were the chances this girl would have chosen to stealhisboat? And why the hell was she such a mess, when she’d looked pretty hot earlier...?
Whoa, boy? Hot? Seriously?
He admonished his unruly libido for the second time in one night. Which was a record. Hedefinitelyneeded to get laid if he was finding one of Cade’s cast-offs hot.
‘Yes. I know of Cade,’ he said, cryptically. ‘We share similar business interests,’ he added, although he and Cade shared a whole lot more. The familiar resentment twisted in his gut. But he let it go.
That Cade had always refused to acknowledge their connection was Roman’s strength now, not his weakness. After sixteen years of hard work, Roman was now a major player in the same field the Cade family had ruled for generations in the UK. But unlike Cade, who had inherited everything he had, Roman had earned his position.
‘Who...? Who are you?’ she asked again, as if she didn’t know.
He scowled.Cagey.No question about it.
If this girl worked for Cade, shehadto know exactly who Roman was—because he’d made it his business to get on Cade Inc’s radar and headhunt their best staff, just to annoy the man. But even in her dishevelled state and with her inclination to boat piracy, she did the innocent look very well.
‘As I’m the injured party here, I demand you identify yourself first,’ he said with his best Captain of the Universe voice. He had given her more than enough information already.
She was on his boat, in the middle of the Gulf of Naples, without his permission and she’d just given him a sizeable bruise on his arse thanks to her antics. There was a major power imbalance here—which she seemed to be wilfully ignoring with her ballsy attitude.
Annoyingly, he found himself becoming intrigued by her stubborn expression. Why didn’t she want to tell him her name? And why did it only make her seem more...hot? Because he didn’t usually find antagonism and inconvenience a turn-on.
‘Injured, how?’ she demanded, because she clearly had not got the message who the captain of this universe was. Another new experience for Roman, who was used to having women do exactly what he told them.
‘Okay, that’s it.’ Roman yanked his phone out of his jacket pocket—resolutely refusing to be impressed by her attitude problem. ‘You’ve got two seconds to tell me who the hell you are, what you are to Cade and why you stole my boat, or I’m callingthe Polizia Municipale and having you arrested for piracy and assault.’
‘Piracy and...’ She huffed out a shocked breath—which made her breasts bounce, distractingly. ‘You have got to be kidding? And how exactly did I assault you?’
He tapped a contact on his phone—to call Giovanni, his estate manager on Isola Estiva, not the cops, but she didn’t need to know that. ‘That’ll be one second now,’ he said, lifting the phone to his ear.
‘Ciao, la polizia?’he said, when Giovanni picked up on the second ring.
And at the exact time that Giovanni said, ‘Signor Garner, is that you?’ his uninvited passenger threw up her hands.
‘Okay, wait. My name’s Milly Devlin, I’m Lacey Cade’s sister.’
She was Brandon Cade’s sister-in-law? So not his mistress...
Relief washed over him. Then he frowned. Why on earth was he pleased the girl wasn’t his rival’s extramarital squeeze, when that would have made a much better tabloid exclusive?
‘Va bene, signor...’he said into his phone, cutting off Giovanni, who was still trying to establish what the hell was going on. That made two of them, he thought ruefully as he ended the stunt call and shoved the phone into his trouser pocket.
‘That’s more like it,’ he said, but was careful not to lose the frown.
He was much more intrigued now than mad. But he had no plans to let her off the hook—because her family connection to Cade could only enhance the potential of this situation.
So that explained why she and Cade’s wife had come to the event together. But it did not explain the argument he’d witnessed. Not that her domestic situation interested him per se. Families were not his forte—he knew nothing of their dynamics and he did not want to know. But if there was troublein the Cade paradise he might be able to use it to his advantage. Cade’s much publicised marital bliss—ever since the man had finally deigned to recognise his own child and marry the mother, four years too late—had not convinced Roman in the slightest. Roman had bought Drystar to break the story, and had then had his tabloid journalists looking for another juicy exposé ever since. But, annoyingly, Cade had managed to turn the revelation of his secret love child to his advantage, by marrying the girl’s mother and then pretending to be in love with the woman.
Getting to know Cade’s sister-in-law might help him get to the truth about that. Of course, he didn’t usually bother doing any of the dirty work himself, that was the job of his editors, reporters and columnists. And he had also stopped caring about Cade—because he had decided it was not good for his mental health to be so focussed on the guy... But this scoop had landed in his lap. Like, literally. And he had the bruises to prove it.
‘Now tell me why you stole my boat,’ he demanded.
The girl wrapped her arms around herself, a gust of wind slapping the hull. The tissue-thin dress didn’t give her much protection against the night air. If he were a gentleman, he would have offered her his jacket. But he wasn’t.
She looked away, a shiver running through her. ‘Borrowingyour boat was a stupid impulse that I now deeply regret. But I genuinely thought this was the Cade launch,’ she offered, her tone a tad more contrite.
Progress.
