Page 38 of Palace of Betrayal

“Do I need to change?”

“No, you’re perfect as you are.”

“Charmer.”

Leo laid a hand over his chest. “It’s true.”

“Fine let’s go.”

Thirteen

Leo wasn’t sure where his desperation for Bebe to agree to keep their affair going came from, but he suspected it had something to do with the best sex of his life. He certainly wasn’t a boy scout and had definitely enjoyed more than his fair share of female company over the years but there was something unique about Bebe that called to him on a primal level that he couldn’t seem to walk away from. Not yet anyway.

“The Orchid Farm, I was dying to see this place. My sister’s favourite flower was orchids.”

He parked the car and turned in his seat to Bebe, to see her toying with the end of the plait she’d threaded her hair into. He fingered the soft strands as he smiled at her look of happiness. “I noticed the tattoo on your ankle.”

“I got it after I left Pakistan and our home so she’d always be close to me.”

“And the wolf on your ribs?”

Bebe placed a hand over her left rib and grinned. “All the Zenobi girls have one. It represents the pack mentality and how we’re all one family and look out for each other.”

“You always seem to show such joy in things. You never hide your enjoyment or try and temper it, do you?”

Bebe shook her head. “No, joy is a rare commodity. I’ve learned to relish it when I feel it.”

“Well, you’ll enjoy the Orchid Farm and as a bonus, it offers us complete privacy to try and figure this out.”

“Yeah, and boy, do we need it.”

Leo got out and walked around the front to open her car door, but Bebe was already out of the vehicle. She turned to reach in and grab her bag, which he now knew contained her wild array of weaponry. He’d never known such an assortment and would probably never look at a simple lipstick again without wondering if it could kill him.

Hooking an arm through his, she allowed him to lead them toward the rare variety section of the farm. It was vast and he knew only a few people would be there at this time of the day. He listened to her ooh and aah at the stunning blooms and relished the simple joy of being with her in the late afternoon, wishing her cover story was real and she was just here to check out the blooms for her perfume company.

Entering the field from the east, he kept his head on a swivel, making sure there was nobody around him before he led her further into a field filled with an array of rare orchids.

“This place is pure heaven. The scent alone is astonishing.”

“Did you know we’re the only growers in the world to offer these types of blooms for perfumes? Most orchid-based fragrances are manufactured.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Well, now you do.”

They strolled for a little longer, Bebe as aware of her surroundings as he was. The sea was to the south of them and the lush green of the hills to the north offered protection from the wind the island was prone to. It was also the perfect vantage point for a sniper and the thought had him feeling exposed in a way he didn’t like and steered her towards the opposite end of the field. “We need to go on the offensive with our approach. I originally thought it was best to be discreet and not openly challenge any suspects. But with there being so many now, we need to narrow things down.”

“I agree. Where do you want to start?”

Bebe looked at him, but her sunglasses were hiding her expressive eyes so he couldn’t read her. “You’re happy to let me lead?”

“You’re the expert.”

“Thank you. It’s nice to have that recognised. I’ve worked with a lot of people who only see a woman and think she’s weak or stupid, or worse, only good for one thing.”

“Oh, you’re definitely good at that, but your worth is multifaceted and beautiful, and I’d be a fool to ignore that.”

The way she dropped her head as if shy, made his body tingle all over with unknown feelings. “Well, given that, I think we need to speak to Brody James and see what he knows. It stands to reason that if he’s here, he probably has information that wasn’t shared with us. We thought we knew everything, but I think more is at play here than we realised.”