Crossing the Line (20 page)

“That’s the boat.” Aleksei pointed to
Penny’s From Heaven,
a sixty foot cruiser moored halfway along the pontoon. He’d had difficulty persuading Katya to take the day off work but this time he’d had to insist. When she saw Natasha and Anna waiting in the parking lot, she’d frowned but he couldn’t explain anything.

“What does the name mean?” Katya asked.

“A private joke,” he said.

“Is your wife called Penny?”

He rubbed his thumb over Katya’s lips and smiled. “You’re too quick.”

His wife thought he’d named the boat for her but he hadn’t. He’d made good use of the craft to launder money. Ostensibly hired out on a regular basis, he banked cash deposits for charter trips that never happened but paid tax on them.

“Take off those shoes, Anna,” he called. “You’ll break your neck or even worse damage my deck and then
I’ll
break your neck.”

Anna rushed from one side of the boat to the other. “Oh my God, this fabulous.”

She and Natasha went exploring while Katya waited at the stern to help him lift the bags of food and drink on board.

“Don’t drop the beer or we’ll have to feed you to the fish,” he said.

Katya’s face lit in a smile and his heart clenched. He’d been so sure of her until fucking Viktor put the doubt back in his mind. In the middle of a raging row about substituting Katya for Sylvie, Viktor had dropped his bombshell about the call to Hastings. Aleksei didn’t want to believe a word that bastard said, but…but…

He and Katya carried the bags into the airy interior.

“Shall I make coffee?” she asked.

“That would be good.”

By the time Katya brought drinks on deck, Anna had stripped to reveal a tiny silver bikini. Natasha sat in the early morning sun in an equally minute pink version, her back against the cabin wall, a baseball cap on her head. Aleksei wondered if Katya would take off her clothes. Her body was still a mess, covered with bruises and bite marks. Every time he saw them, fury and guilt bubbled inside him.

Anna leaned over the side of the boat, her almost naked butt stuck up in the air, no doubt for his benefit.

“Hey, look at fish,” she said. “There is big one right by boat.”

Katya took her coffee to Anna’s side.

Aleksei heard the splash.
Fuck.
He hadn’t seen Anna push her but guessed that’s what she’d done. Katya swam to the back of the boat and he hoisted her on board.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I fell.”

“You better shower. The water’s filthy.”

“I’m sorry, I lost the mug and—my sandal.”

Anna guffawed.

“Perhaps you’d like to dive in and find them, Anna,” he snapped.

When Katya came out of the shower he sat waiting in the cabin. She was in the bikini she’d worn in Phoenix. He held out his arms and felt a rush of relief when she let him hold her. He was worried about this trip, worried that even if she was innocent of phoning that bastard Hastings, he might not be able to protect her despite his promise. His worst fear of all was that she was not what she seemed. She pressed her face against his chest and clutched his back.

“Did she push you in?”

“I slipped.”

“You can’t be more frightened of her than you are of me.”

She didn’t answer.

“You’re very quiet, Katya.”

“It’s just that Anna is very noisy.”

He pulled her to sit beside him and held her hand. “What’s the matter?”

“Do you have a shirt I can wear?”

He touched the bite mark above her breast then bent his head and kissed it. He raised her sore wrists to his lips and kissed those too. When she kissed the marks on his wrists, something shifted inside him. How could he blame her if she
had
made the call after what that fucker had done? She didn’t seem interested in money, but five million was a lot. Worth rejecting his diamond for. But his heart told him she was innocent. Did she even know Max Hastings’s name?

His cock stirred in his pants and he pushed her back onto the bed and slipped his fingers inside her bikini bottoms. She groaned in his ear and clutched him more tightly.

“Aleksei,” Anna snapped from the doorway.

“Fuck off.”

“I came to tell you other guests arriving.”

“Shit.” He sat up and sighed.

He didn’t miss the glare Anna gave Katya. Maybe that was enough of a motive. Anna wanting to land Katya in the shit. The sooner this was all done the better. He took a white linen shirt from the closet, tossed it to Katya and went on deck.

As Katya fastened the buttons on the shirt, Anna caught her arm and dug in her nails. “Keep away from him.”

Katya jerked free. “
Poydi k chertu
.” Go to hell.

“I mean it,” Anna whispered. “You play dangerous game but I better than you.”

“It’s not a game.”

She pushed past Anna, but as she walked onto the deck her stomach went into free fall and she staggered against the bulkhead.

Viktor Petrenko.

There were others with him, but she could do nothing but stare at the gray-haired man she’d come all this way to find. She felt as though she’d been dropped into a lake with a huge alligator that hadn’t yet noticed her. Everything screamed get out of there, but she waited like a dangling chicken.

Aleksei put his arm over her shoulder. “Katya, this is Viktor Petrenko.”

Petrenko reached for her limp hand, brought it to his lips and kissed her fingers. “Delighted to meet you.”

His face showed no sign of recognition. She didn’t look much like her sister.

“Katya’s been asking about you,” Anna blurted. “She told me you owe her money.”

Oh God.

Petrenko cocked his head. “I owe you money?”

She forced the words out in an even voice. “My uncle stole my money to give to you.”

“Oh yes, Uncle Vasily. But he never gave it me. Are you going to pay me?”

He knows I’m lying
. Katya pulled herself together. “The police have it. Anna told them it wasn’t mine. If you want it, ask them for it. In any case, I don’t owe you anything. Now my uncle is dead, his debt is dead too.”

“Do you think I was responsible for that?”

“I’m sure you’re an expert at getting rid of people who cause you problems, but I killed my uncle myself.”

Her pulse raced. There was silence for a moment and then Petrenko roared with laughter, along with the other men. She had a flicker of hope he might choke to death and save her a lot of trouble. The flicker died as he stared at her. His smile broadened.

The Colombians offered to look after the lines and Aleksei was relieved to see they knew what they were doing. There was a chance they’d land some bait fish on their way out to the shelf. He beckoned Katya up to the wheel. If she kept opening her mouth, he wasn’t sure he could protect her despite his promise. The gun he’d hidden wasn’t enough against these guys who were all armed. Well, all but one, though that sociopathic freak had his own deadly weapon.

Katya sat on the bench in front of him gazing seaward as he negotiated his way out of the crowded marina. The day was already hot. The breeze coming off the ocean caught in his throat and thickened his breathing.

After Katya removed the shirt, he glared at the marks on her body. Pity Max Hastings hadn’t had a heart attack when he’d taken the call that precipitated today’s trip, though Viktor was killing two birds by inviting the Colombians. Hastings had demanded to know why he was being blackmailed and Viktor had screamed at Aleksei as if it were his fucking fault. Hastings wasn’t fooled by Viktor’s explanation that the recording had been done as a gift. The guy called his bluff and asked for a copy.
Fucking bastard.

Aleksei’s phone calls to Anna’s apartment told him little. Someone had used Katya’s phone but it didn’t have to be her. She wasn’t so stupid, but Viktor had suggested this trip as a way of teasing out the truth, and had brought Bruno and Sylvie along as well as Beth, although Aleksei hadn’t expected to see Kirill. He didn’t know the other guy. Viktor had never mentioned the name Constantine.

“Not very bright to antagonize Viktor,” Aleksei said.

“What was I supposed to say after Anna said that?”

“Not very bright to tell Anna either.”

“I told her before I told you and how did he know my uncle’s name was Vasily?”

“Be careful, Katya. Lies can trip you up.”

She turned to face him. “I’m not lying. I brought four thousand dollars with me. Everything I had. Do you think I came without money? That I’d have stayed in that dump of a hotel if I had money? I played at The Sturgeon because I was broke. Vasily stole my money to give Viktor Petrenko. That’s what he told me.”

“Calm down. Don’t upset Viktor. He likes to think he’s in charge. He wants people to be afraid of him. I guarantee you’re going to annoy him.”

Katya sagged. “Who are the others? I missed their names.”

“Beth is Viktor’s latest girlfriend. Sylvie and Bruno you know. Emilio and Javez are Colombians. The other two are Russian. The younger one is called Kirill. He works for Viktor. Stay away from him. He’s here to protect Viktor from the Colombians and probably you as well now.”

“Are the Colombians drug dealers?”

He rolled his eyes.

She was silent for a moment and then asked, “What about the other guy?”

“Constantin is a friend of Viktor’s. I’ve never met him before.”

She took a shaky breath. “Are we really just going fishing?”

She was too bright not to understand this was more than that. “What do you mean?”

“I’d rather throw myself overboard,” she whispered. “I can’t…”

“Hush.” He stroked her face. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“You said that before.”

How far would Viktor push him? He had the distinct feeling Katya was the sacrificial lamb, the rest just here to muddy the water. Viktor didn’t like that Aleksei wanted her. The switch in Phoenix had been making a point. The boat was taking it the rest of the way. Viktor wanted something from him that Aleksei wouldn’t do. It became clear to him then that Katya wouldn’t be chosen today. This was a lesson in what would happen if Aleksei said no again. Viktor had probably got Beth to phone Hastings to set all this in motion. That should have made him feel easier, but it didn’t.

He kissed Katya’s head and she turned her mouth to his and kissed him.
I’ll protect you. I swear it.
But Kirill was here. Trouble was coming. On a long list of things that worried him about Kirill, his devotion to Viktor was near the top.
What will I have to do to keep Katya safe?

Once they were out in open water, he stopped the boat and went down onto the deck. He used Anna to demonstrate how to clip onto the reel and wind in the fish. They each practiced in the chair while Aleksei put pressure on the line to simulate a strike. When he caught sight of Kirill climbing up and sitting next to Katya, he fought the urge to race back to her.

“We need to get bait fish in the tubes before we try for marlin,” Aleksei said. “Emilio and Javez, can you handle the outriggers?”

“Sure.” Emilio nodded.

Aleksei had one eye and ear on Kirill while he helped the others.

“You’re pretty,” Kirill said. “Apart from the bruises.”

“So are you. Apart from the Mickey Mouse T-shirt.”

Aleksei froze. No one teased Kirill, but he heard him chuckle.

“Don’t you like Mickey Mouse?” Kirill asked. “Everyone loves Mickey Mouse.”

“Not me. I don’t like little mice. Why would I like a big one?”

“An interesting point. You look a little like my mother.”

“I take it that’s a compliment.”

“Mama was the most beautiful woman in Russia.”

“Was?”

“She died.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Why should you be sorry? You didn’t know her.”

“I understand what it’s like to lose someone you love. My mother’s dead too.”

“You have my mother’s eyes.”

Aleksei vaulted up the steps to the wheel before Kirill decided he’d cut those eyes out of Katya’s head. “Don’t you have somewhere to be? Wings to pull off flies? Cats’ tails to set on fire?”

Kirill ignored him. “Do you think fish feel anything?”

“What?” Katya asked. “Hungry? Itchy? Sexy?”

“When the hook goes in.”

“Ah. I think so. They have nerves. They must feel something.”

“Pain, yes, but do they understand they’re going to die? Do they know fear?”

“I hope not,” she said. “That would be horrible.”

Kirill moved his mouth closer to her face and Aleksei tensed.

“I love Viktor.” Kirill stared into her eyes. “Do you love Aleksei?”

Aleksei found himself holding his breath.