Riptide (43 page)

The illumination lasted seconds, then they were plunged into intimate darkness.

Aries shifted away from the rail. “I’ve gotta—”

“Go,” Nick told him, hearing the almost imperceptible chatter on the other man’s headset. There were bad guys to apprehend. More men to fish out of the water.

“Is it over?” Bria asked softly.

“Yeah.” His voice was hoarse as he rubbed his chin on her wet hair. Over.

Dozens of human lives, and millions of dollars’ worth of ship and equipment. More millions of his salvaged treasure, and a boatload of uncut diamonds. Yeah. Over. He didn’t give a rat’s ass.

Nick adjusted the blanket around her shoulders. He was bare-chested, his pants wet, he wasn’t cold. He felt … nothing.

“I’m so, so sorry.”

“Why? None of this was your fault.”

“Maybe not initially. But if I hadn’t called him in a temper, he wouldn’t have come…”

“Maybe. People like that have trouble following them wherever they go. Your faux brother. The Moroccans. I’d rather sink the
Scorpion
out here in the middle of nowhere than have them follow me to Cutter Cay. She was just a ship, Bria. Just a toy.”

“A pretty expensive toy,” she murmured, turning to wrap her arms around him. “And what about your treasure that you spent months finding and cataloging?”

He shrugged. “It’s not going anywhere.”

For several minutes she remained still as the waves swirled and eddied beneath the boat. Nick felt the warm kiss of her breath, and the soft press of her breasts against his bare chest. She stroked her palm over his chest.

“I presume that was the late Max Aries?” She stood on her toes to brush a kiss to his rigid jaw. “Can I be the first to punch him in the nose?”

“Bloodthirsty, Bria.” Nick smiled, tightening his arms around her. “Be my guest.”

“Jonah’s all right, right?”

Nick didn’t know. He didn’t like not knowing. Damned fool.

Aries came back to join them. “Jesus, buddy. Wasn’t that extreme?” he asked, sounding pained, as he stared out at the dark water.

Bobbing in the water were men clinging to the flotsam and jetsam of his ship. Was Jonah one of them? “Only way I could come up with at short notice that leveled the playing field.”

“It certainly did that,” Aries said dryly, his dark hair blowing around his head. “Must say, the pyrotechnics were impressive.” He paused. “I don’t suppose the diamonds are on you?” And when Nick shot him a “Fuck you” look, Aries grunted in response. “How much is it going to cost us for you to head the salvage op?”

“I don’t have a ship, remember?”

Aries winced. “That’ll cost us.”

“Ya think? Try upward of two hundred and fifty mil. Yeah, that would be
million
. Better break into the T-FLAC piggy bank, pal.”

Nick was already figuring out what he wanted on the
Scorpion Two
. T-FLAC was going to pay, and pay dearly, for the “small favor” he’d performed for them.

“As for heading the salvage, Cutter Salvage doesn’t take on private salvage jobs. I’ll let you know if we’re interested.”

They both knew he’d be right there to do the job. Not just to retrieve the fucking diamonds that had caused so much death and chaos, but for his own treasure, retrieved and then sunk. Yeah. He’d be back to bring both to the surface.

But he’d let the counterterrorist operative sweat for a while.

“Shit, Cutter. I’m so fucking s—”

“I’d rather hear a lengthy apology over a beer. Later. Much later.”

“You got it. We arrested Prunella Baumgartner a few hours ago, and—”

“Who?” Nick asked blankly.

Tucked against him, Bria laughed. “Please tell me that’s Dafne’s real name.”

“It is. The fake Visconti was her husband, Roland. Both from Johannesburg. I’m sorry to inform you, Princess, your brother died ten years ago in a riding accident.”

“We don’t believe that was the case,” Nick told him as he watched the motor launch closest to them pick up half a dozen men from the water. It was almost as bright as daylight with all the searchlights. He could see that none of them was Jonah.

“Yeah. Too coincidental. My people are looking into it. Baumgartner was into petty larceny from a young age. He and your brother attended school together and became friends. This crime of the Baumgartners’ was years of painstaking attention to detail in the making. Certainly it started in Johannesburg when he encountered your brother. He got deeply involved with the conflict diamond trade several years ago. According to his wife, he saw an article about Cutter Salvage in the paper, decided one of your ships would be a perfect mule to transport the diamonds to the Americas.”

Nick raised a brow. “Are you telling me he planned to use the
Scorpion
as early as my arrival in Vietnam almost two
years
ago?”

“He knew how and when you hired on new crew. Many of the men working for you reported directly to Baumgartner.”

“Jesus.” It was hard to comprehend that kind of cunning and patience. “What happens should he be out there alive?”

“Impersonating royalty is considered treason. If Baumgartner is still alive, he’ll get the death penalty for that alone. After the United Nations and T-FLAC are done with him, he’ll be begging to tell us all his sources and connections in his blood diamond–trafficking operation.

“The rest—the Moroccans et cetera—will be prosecuted by several countries to the full extent of their laws.” Aries glanced out over the water, and his tone hardened. “Those of them that make it.”

“Good!” Bria said with alacrity.

“We figured that Halkias saw the princess and panicked. Baumgartner had already been unpleasantly surprised when you showed up unexpectedly for his coronation two years ago. You were one of the few people who knew him well enough to suspect something was wrong. He didn’t want you around. When his man saw you on board, he must’ve panicked and tried to get rid of you.”

“My bodyguard taught me how to protect myself.” Bria slipped her arm from beneath the blanket to wrap it around Nick’s waist. “But I never for a moment suspected that he
wasn’t
my brother when I went home. He played his role really, really well.”

“Only thing I don’t get,” Aries said to Nick. “How did he fool
you
? Accents are your superpower, why didn’t you hear that he wasn’t who everyone thought he was?”

“I’d never spoken with him. Logan does all the investor relations. And he wasn’t on the island when Bria and I went.”

“The landslide on Marrezo was set by cousins of your chef, Alfonso. We believe for the same reason. They believed that the princess was about to blow the whistle. Baumgartner promised all these men a large cut of the diamond payoff.”

“Apparently everyone was getting a large percentage payoff,” Bria pointed out. “The Moroccans, the people working for Drav—for the
Baumgartners
.”

“Which was why Baumgartner went to Tenerife to kill the Moroccans so he’d have
their
slice of the pie, and why they in turn were going to off him.” Bria rested her head against Nick’s chest. “Greedy.”

Aries looked up from Bria’s profile and met Nick’s gaze. “Want to be airlifted, or stay put?”

She turned her head to give Aries the evil eye, then said firmly, “Stay put if there’s a hot shower to be had. I think taking a helicopter to dry land would give me the bends.”

“The bends?” Aries asked, puzzled.

Nick got it. “She needs time to adjust to being safe.”

“Take the main cabin. No one will disturb you.”

Nick shifted Bria in his arms. She felt solid and real and, thank God, blessedly unharmed. Other than the whop-whop-whop sound of the rotors, and the powerful beam from the low-flying chopper, the excitement was over. Aries and his team would scoop up everyone clinging to whatever they’d been able to find in the water. He didn’t give a shit what happened to any of them.

“Don’t leave the area until I have confirmation that you have my brother.”

Aries shot him a look of surprise. “Your brother? Hell, how did
he
get involved? Logan or Zane?”

“
Jonah
. Let me know when you have him. Alive and well.
Not optional
. I’m going down to get Bria into a hot shower. Clothes?”

“In the cabin.”

“Where are we heading?”

“Tenerife,” the counterterrorist operative said absently, watching his men hauling bad guys into their vessels. He glanced over at Nick. “After everyone is picked up. Give or take a couple of hours. Sure you don’t want the chopper to take you in?”

Nick cocked a brow at Bria, and when she shook her head, told Aries, “We’ll be below.”

Nick took Bria to the compact cabin. The bunk took up most of the floor space, which suited him just fine. He turned her, nudging her back against the locked door. The blanket dropped to the floor. He indicated she raise her arms, and when she did, pulled the wet, inside-out T-shirt over her head.

As soon as he tossed it aside, she pressed her cool breasts against his chest. “How come you’re so warm?” she demanded, nuzzling his chest.

“I’ll have you toasty in no time.” He undid her jeans and unzipped them, then shoved the wet denim down her legs. “Step.”

He made short work of his own jeans and nudged her into the tiny head, then turned on the shower; there was barely enough floor space for the two of them to stand toe-to-toe.

She slid her arms around his waist and met his eyes. “Aries will find Jonah.”

“He’d better.” He stuck his hand under the spray. Tepid.

“How long—”

“It’s pitch dark. I have no idea what, if any, equipment Jonah might have.”
Or none.
The thought chilled him. “With any luck he grabbed the other inflatable and is bobbing about, ready for pickup.”

She shivered, stroking her hands up and down his back. “That’s what I think too.”

He shifted her under the tepid spray, hoping it would warm up soon. Nick could hear the chopper out there, flying in a low search pattern. He lifted a strand of her hair, then brushed his lips with it. He could act as casually as he needed to, but he found he wasn’t as cool, calm, and collected inside.

He poured shampoo from the tiny bottle into his palm and lathered her hair while she soaped his chest with scrupulous attention to detail. She didn’t need to work so hard; he already had an erection. But God, he loved the way she petted him.

“Will your cousin, Antonio, be king?” He’d never wanted a woman as much as he wanted Bria. Not just sexual want, although God only knew that was a constant driving force. Nick slicked back her soapy hair, then nudged her under the spray.

Eyes closed, she shrugged. Foam slid in a maddening glide down one gleaming breast as the water sluiced over her. Steam drifted to the ceiling. “He’s a vintner. I don’t know if it’s something he’d want to do. But he loves Marrezo, and would do anything to bring it back to its former glory. So yes, maybe. I think he’d be good for the country.”

“Yeah.” He exchanged shampoo for soap, lathering it between his hands. “I do too.” He soaped her shoulders, and curved his palms around the globes of her breasts, then down the gentle indentation of her waist.

He had no doubt Bria would help her cousin, utilizing her education and experience in public relations, as Marvin Ginsberg had intended her to do. “With this turn of events, will you consider going back to your island to live?” he asked casually, maintaining his distance with sheer, bloody willpower alone. His dick was a heat-seeking missile, and she was the target.

She shook her head, then took the soap back from him. His entire body braced for contact as her palms filled with lather. “I’ll help Antonio if he asks. And it’s somewhere that will always hold a piece of my heart. But I’m not that princess. I haven’t been for a long, long time. My life is elsewhere.”

“Sacramento?” he said lightly, as he took back the soap. Her hands glided down his chest, around his back. Soapy and slick. “They probably held that job for you.”

“Maybe.”

“You like islands.” Nick felt a little desperate. He had no idea how to read a placid, and cool, princess. “And extinct volcanoes, right? We have both at Cutter Cay.”

Her soapy hands stroked across his ass. She murmured, “We have other things in common, don’t we?” She tasted his shoulder with her open mouth. Despite her wandering lips, frustration of a different kind ate at him.

He turned off the water and reached behind her for a towel. They both still had soap all over them. He didn’t give a damn. “I’m more interested in our differences.”

Lifting her head, she laughed, then punched his chest. “I’m in love with you, Nick Cutter. Madly, crazily, insanely in love with you. I didn’t plan this—
any
of it. But I’m not sorry for any of it either.”

In spite of everything that had happened that day, and the catalog was long and hellishly eventful, Nick smiled too. Her words made him feel ridiculously euphoric. He wrapped the towel around her hair, and shifted her out of the shower stall. “That’s my Gabriella! Cut straight to the chase.” Thank God. His frayed nerves couldn’t have handled this much longer. They were both dripping on the carpet. Nick toppled her backward onto the tightly made-up bunk.

“I was seeing just how long it would take you to beat around the bush.”

He felt her smile against his throat. “Life’s too short to waste time dancing around what I really, truly want. You. I understand that emotions are anathema to you, Nick.” Her dark eyes were luminous as she put her hand over his heart. “But give us a try. Please give us a try. I can live without you if I have to. But God, I don’t
want
to.” Her fingers played in his chest hair when he was silent for several long seconds. She smacked her palm on his chest. “Say something. Damn it.”

Nick pressed his lips against her forehead, inhaling her unique salted-peach fragrance, which he’d recognize anywhere.

“I wasn’t looking,” he admitted softly, his heart swelling with emotion that felt as bright and effervescent as champagne. “Wasn’t even thinking about meeting someone—
anyone
like you. But there’s a moment in a man’s life when he stops and says: ‘There she is,’” he told her softly. “I saw you walking toward me in the medina, and subconsciously I thought—Ah!
There
she is.”