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‘It’ll take us about half an hour to get to Estiva,’ he said jauntily. There was something so perfect about having Cade’s prickly sister-in-law in his boat, he was not about to give up the buzz just yet. Holding her hostage and needling her might even make this enforced break more amusing.
‘I’ll scream,’ she declared, pointlessly, because they both knew no one would hear her.
‘Go ahead,’ he said, calling her bluff.
Her glare became radioactive, but her lips remained firmly shut, probably because she was no fool.
She dropped onto the bench seat that surrounded the deck, the kick of the waves in the open sea becoming choppier. She looked dejected for about a nanosecond, then she whipped out her phone.
‘How aboutIcall thepolizia?’ she said, brandishing the smartphone like a lethal weapon. ‘And tell them I’ve been kidnapped?’
‘Good luck,’ he replied. ‘Don’t forget to mention Roman Garner is kidnapping you, for stealing his boat,’ he supplied helpfully. ‘And taking you to Isola Estiva for punishment. They can pick you up tomorrow, if you’d rather be arrested.’
He pursed his lips to hold onto the laugh that wanted to burst out at her confused expression. Then turned back to the console, to concentrate on navigating the boat.
‘Roman Garner?’ she murmured, behind him. ‘I think my sister, Lacey, might have interviewed for a job with you. I’m sure I’ve heard that name. She’s a journalist.’
‘Possibly,’ he said as it occurred to him she really didn’t know he was her brother-in-law’s biggest rival. Either that or she was an award-winning actress. ‘Although I wouldn’t know anything about your sister’s job prospects,’ he added. ‘I don’t involve myself with the day-to-day operations of the business.’
Which wasn’t entirely true...
He hated himself for the small white lie. Why should he care that Lacey Carstairs—the byline she had used before her big reunion with Cade—hadn’t accepted the job atBuzzonline magazine. Breaking the story of her hasty marriage to Cade after Cade’s ‘surprise’ discovery he was the father of Lacey’s four-year-old daughter had been just one of Roman’s attempts to humiliate the man over the years. The offer of a job had been a way for Roman to keep tabs on what he suspected was a fake marriage. But it hadn’t surprised him when Cade’s new bride had turned it down. After all, the woman would surely haverealised keeping the pretence of a happy marriage to Brandon Cade was a much better meal ticket than an opportunity to becomeBuzz’s main celebrity correspondent.
In the early days of Garner’s growth, when it had still been called Blackbeard Media, Roman had made it his business to get on Cade’s radar and annoy the hell out of the guy. And having Cade’s new wife working for him would have been quite the coup. But Garner Media Group had more important things to concentrate on these days—such as taking over Cade Inc’s top spot in the world of media conglomerates.
‘I can’t believe I accidentally borrowed your boat,’ she mumbled. ‘Lacey and Brandon are going to be so unimpressed.’
He glanced round, to find her staring out to sea, but where he had expected to see contempt—because he knew Cade despised him as much as he despised Cade—what he saw on her face was dejection. As if the person Cade and his wife would be unimpressed with was her... Not Roman.
So, Cade had never mentioned their feud to his family? Or the real reason for their mutual animosity? Why did that not surprise him? He’d always been the Cade family’s dirty little secret, after all.
‘Why don’t you ring Cade and tell him whose boat you just tried to steal tonight?’ he goaded, all his old resentments against the man resurfacing—as well as that vague feeling of being not enough, which he’d thought he’d banished a long time ago. How irritating to realise those feelings were still there in some hidden corner of his psyche. ‘That should really make his night.’
‘No thanks,’ she said, but her glare had downgraded considerably. ‘I’ll take my chances,’ she added, sounding a lot less sure of herself.
Interesting...He’d given her a chance to call her brother-in-law to come to her rescue, and she hadn’t taken it. Why?
Tonight, surely, had the potential to be very fortuitous for him. Once he figured out how to use this woman’s connection to Cade. But somehow the thought only made him feel more exhausted. He turned his attention back to the console. Perhaps he should concentrate on getting them back to Estiva in one piece, first.
Luckily for Milly Devlin, he didn’t take advantage of defenceless women. But she still owed him.
After all, she’d just tried to steal his boat and given him a head injury and a bruised arse in the process. And for that he would require payback.
Of all the boats, in all the docks, in all the world, why the heck did I have to accidentally steal the boat of another flipping media mogul?
Milly stared in dismay at the rigid back of the man standing at the controls of the motor launch, and handling it with consummate ease, as they shot through the night towards who knew where.
Roman Garner.
She’d heard Lacey mention him before... And she wished she’d listened more carefully. All she really remembered from when Lacey had been offered the job atBuzzwas that she hadn’t ended up taking it. She’d also described Roman Garner as a ‘playboy’. And she could vaguely remember Brandon once describing his business practices as ruthless. But then, didn’t that go with the territory, if you were a billionaire media baron?
From what she’d seen of him so far, Garner certainly seemed to be the perfect fit as a ‘ruthless playboy’.
Except...
Shivering violently, she wrapped his jacket tighter around herself—which was still warm from his skin—and inhaled a lungful of clean soap and sea salt and a delicious sandalwood cologne.
Delicious? Really, Milly?
