permanently lodged in his retinas of her sunbathing in that tiny yellow bikini.
Thankfully, today she was fully covered in a simple blue knee-length dress, black fitted jacket and black heels, her dark hair plaited and coiled. She looked ready to step into a courtroom. She also looked as sexy as a siren.
Her light brown eyes widened a little at his tone but her poise remained. ‘I’m ready when you are.’
They collected Seb and James at their lodgings and then drove onto the airport, keeping conversation light and professional. If not for the gleam in her eyes every time she looked at him he could believe he’d mistaken the sensual undertone in her nightcap offer. But the gleam shone brightly. She shone brightly even though she was more together and composed than he had ever seen her.
When she met with the official in charge of the island’s medical service, who in turn expected his own bribe, he was impressed with the way she used a combination of facts, charm and intelligence to deflect him and get him to agree to naming a wing of the hospital after him in lieu of a backhander.
‘Weren’t you tempted to use that technique when dealing with the Governor?’ he asked on the drive back to the airport.
She shook her head and pulled her lips together ruefully. ‘I wish that meeting could be scrubbed away so I could pretend it never happened. I was so excited to get his agreement that, frankly, if he’d asked me to serve him the moon on a dish I would have accepted. I didn’t think the ramifications through clearly. I should have been a lot more prepared.’
He admired her ability not to pull punches at her own faults. The more he observed her, the more he found to admire, from her professionalism to that inherent zest for life she carried with her. ‘You didn’t make the same mistake this time.’
She met his eye and her lips curved. ‘I make it a point to learn from my mistakes, not repeat them.’
That was so close to his own personal beliefs that for a moment he was tempted to pull her to him...
Ever since those crazy, heady few minutes in her suite he’d done his damnedest not to think of it, not to remember the sweet heat of her passionate kisses or the softness of her lips and silkiness of her skin. It was the cry of surprise she’d made when she’d come with virtually one touch that he couldn’t eradicate. Remembering that sound made his every sinew tighten.
He knew he could never make the mistake of being alone in a room with her again.
‘Boss?’
James’s voice broke into his thoughts. They’d pulled into Caballeros airport where the pilot was waiting for them. ‘Yes?’
‘See that black Mondeo?’
Felipe followed his gaze. Roughly ten metres away from their Cessna sat the car that had followed them from the Governor’s house three days ago.
He thought quickly as he scanned their surroundings.
‘Stay here,’ he told Francesca before getting out of the car. Seb and James, who’d already recognised the danger and armed themselves, didn’t need to be told to stay with her or to keep the engine running.
Gun in hand, keeping the black car in his eyeline, he strolled with deceptive casualness to the Cessna. If this was an ambush he wouldn’t have Francesca caught in any crossfire.
‘How long has that Mondeo been there?’ he asked his man who he’d left with the pilot.
‘Three hours. Three men.’
‘Any activity?’
‘None. I’ve run a trace on the licence plate but you know what this island’s like—even before the hurricane I doubt I’d have got any information from it. We’re working on facial recognition as we speak.’
Felipe nodded grimly and said to the pilot, ‘Get ready to leave.’
The small plane’s engine was switched on before his feet hit the tarmac and he was heading back to Francesca.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked when he opened the car door. ‘Is it the men who were following us before?’
‘It appears so.’ He held out his hand, preparing to throw her over his shoulder if she gave any resistance. ‘Time to move.’
He gave her credit. She didn’t hesitate or demand more answers. Her eyes held his—he could almost read her thoughts, Francesca saying ‘Okay, I’m trusting you here,’—and she took his hand and held it tightly on the quick march back to the plane, James flanking her other side, Seb bringing up the rear.
Only when they were seated, their belts hardly buckled before the pilot had them airborne, did she quietly say, ‘I assume those men mean trouble.’
‘I have to assume that too.’
She nodded slowly. ‘Them being at the airport can’t be a coincidence. What do you think they want?’
‘That’s the million dollar question.’ A question he’d give one of his kidneys to answer.
She didn’t speak for the longest time. ‘Do you think they know about the money?’
‘I would put my savings on it.’ He wiped perspiration from his brow. He already knew what he would have to do.
Unbuckling himself, he moved to the front of the plane to share his thoughts with his men.
He waited until they arrived at James and Seb’s lodgings and the two men had got out of the car before sharing it with Francesca. She’d proved remarkably stoical about the situation. He must have made a dozen phone calls and she’d sat quietly beside him, not interrupting, not talking, letting him get on with what he needed to do.
‘James and Seb are getting their gear together. They’re coming with us.’
‘To our hotel?’
‘I’ve also arranged for three of my men staying in Caballeros to fly here. Between them they’ll cover all entry points to the hotel and keep watch.’ Now that the threat against Francesca was unequivocal he would not trust her safety in the hotel to the security guards. Guards could be bribed. His men could not. His men wouldn’t miss anything.
The face she pulled was sceptical. ‘You think those men at the airport are going to come here?’
‘I don’t know what those men are going to do so I’m preparing for any eventuality.’
‘Aguadilla has really tight security. Our hotel has really tight security. They haven’t got a hope of getting to us.’
‘You may be right but I’m not taking any risks.’ He wasn’t prepared to leave anything to chance. Security at Aguadilla airport was as tight as any in the US or Europe, its waters heavily patrolled. In theory Francesca should be safe for as long as she remained in Aguadilla. In theory.
Felipe had learned a long time ago that ‘in theory’ didn’t mean a damn thing. People were unpredictable, especially those under pressure.
His gut told him it was the money the men were after and not Francesca personally. They’d initially followed them from the Governor’s residence. That had to mean they’d been tipped off about the money from a member of the Governor’s personal staff.
But what if he was wrong? What if they wanted both, the cash and a hostage for ransom?
What if they weren’t merely staking them out, waiting for signs of the cash, and were instead only waiting for an opportunity to snatch her? He’d been at the forefront of a hostage situation that had gone wrong. The thought of Francesca being held...
His stomach roiled violently.
He’d watched the light die in Sergio’s eyes and the eyes of his other fallen comrades. He could not allow himself to imagine it draining from Francesca’s eyes too. To protect her and keep her safe he had to keep his focus.
There