Page 61 of Winter’s Fire

With Lucy safely delivered for her massage—although he harboured major misgivings about her ability to take his warning seriously—Logan headed back to the bungalow to log his regular report with Sir Guy, and also set the wheels in motion to track down Sasha’s friends. He hoped like hell there was an innocent explanation for their radio silence, because the only alternatives he could see were about as ugly as they could get.

“Master Lucan, I’ve been looking for you. I hope you and your delightful submissive are enjoying your stay with us.”

The cultured tone set Logan’s teeth on edge, just as it had at the Dominants’ welcome session. Master Hugo, as obnoxious as ever. Logan relaxed into the persona of the corporate arsehole he was supposed to be and turned around to face the voice.

“Yes, thank you, we are. It’s already been… a revelation. Brought us closer together.”

That much was true.

“That’s what we like to hear.” Hugo came to a halt a couple of feet away from him. “Surroundings like this can often make—or indeed, break—a relationship. I’m very glad the latter isn’t the case for you.”

“No, we’re having a great time. I’ve introduced my girl to a few different activities since we arrived.” And the sex had been off the charts, but he wasn’t about to reveal that in a hurry.

“As a matter of fact, in a way, that’s why I’ve been looking for you. On your profile, you list one of your interests as Florentine flogging. In a couple of days’ time, we’re holding one of our demonstration evenings, and I wondered if you and Lisa would do us the honour of giving us a display.”

On the face of it, the request was innocent enough, but Logan couldn’t help but wonder at the motive behind it. Had his questions aroused suspicions, and this was some kind of test?

And while passing such a test would be a breeze for him, he couldn’t and wouldn’t speak for Lucy. She’d made it clear she wanted to try it, but on show here? That was asking too much of her incredible courage.

“Lisa isn’t a natural exhibitionist—back home, it’s a hard limit for her. Here though… All I can do is ask her to consider it. When do you need to know?”

“If you could confirm by 5 p.m. today, that would be ideal—it’ll give us a chance to work out the best running order. If Lisa isn’t comfortable with the idea, I’m sure we’d have no end of willing volunteers among the staff.”

“Unfortunately, that’s a hard limit of mine. I only scene with my girl. I’ll let you know.”

In the privacy of the bungalow, he contacted headquarters to make his daily report and obtain an up-to-date picture of the situation at home. The duty officer didn’t have much to tell him—Diana and her boyfriend hadn’t miraculously turned up out of the blue in the last twenty-four hours. Adding Sasha’s missing friends to the mix made the matter even more disturbing.

His report filed, Logan took another look at the website gallery, at the picture of Diana with the beautician, and the one where the arguing couple on the background could have been her and her boyfriend.

So what the hell was going on? Two couples, unknown and unrelated to each other, had come here for a vacation, only to vanish from the face of the earth. Coincidence? His gut said no, but then again, his gut also demanded the impossible—to get Lucy off the island and to safety within the hour.

For now, Logan parked the issue at the back of his mind. He had just enough time to get to the spa to pick her up. After this, he wasn’t letting her out of his sight again.

A few minutes later, and faking an air of relaxed good humour, he ambled into the spa’s reception area, acknowledged the receptionist behind the desk, and took a seat. The sooner Lucy joined him, the better.

He didn’t have long to wait. Nor did he miss how the weight lifted from his shoulders when he saw her smiling face. He greeted her with a kiss and made a point of wrapping his arm around her. “Okay, babe? Did you have a good time?”

“The best, Sir—it was wonderful!” She turned to Tani. “Thank you for suggesting the treatment—I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so relaxed.”

He’d have to congratulate her on her acting skills later. “Thanks for taking care of her. Let’s go, sweets.”

On the way back to their bungalow, Logan remained vigilant, constantly on the lookout for any possible threat. Now that his suspicions were truly aroused, he wasn’t about to take anything for granted. Lucy maintained her cover, giving him a detailed account of her pampering session, until they were safely inside. As soon as he closed the door behind them, her demeanour underwent a sea change.

“Logan, I’m sorry.” She dropped to her knees in front of him. “I know you told me not to do anything, but the opportunity was too good to miss.”

He knew it. “What did you do?”

“I described Diana to her, and told her she was my friend, and she’d recommended coming here. Tani remembered her. She told me Diana and her boyfriend had had a lot of arguments. So many, they’d gone to von Brandt for counselling—before they went home. Logan, we know they never got home—they must have gone missing here. Anywhere else, surely they’d have shown up on CCTV footage?”

He should have been mad at her, but if she hadn’t taken the chance, they might have ended up leaving the island a couple of days from now with nothing more to show for their investigation than more unanswered questions. “Come here.”

She felt so good in his arms. For a moment he just held her, using the silence to gather his thoughts. “The couple you saw in the photo on the website must have been them having one of those rows. Our cover’s still intact. As far as they know, we’re just nosey civilians, asking a lot of questions about friends.”

“Time’s running out—we need to up the ante, force their hand.” Her arms tightened around him.

“What are you thinking?” Whatever it was, he was pretty damn sure he wasn’t going to like it.

“I don’t know why, but I believe the men were collateral damage in these disappearances. I think they were after the women. But why?” Her brow furrowed in frustrated thought.