She Shouldnt, But She Will (26 page)

She found herself watching the stairs, waiting for Derek to come down and join her.

Chapter 13

Sylvester and Derek talked about their boats during breakfast, while Lei, Lilly and Thia discussed renovations on the house. Over coffee, Derek and Sylvester joined in, planning for the next set of paintings Derek would begin creating. The theme of slave girl would be carried on, but he suggested adding a subtle Oriental touch. Lilly thought the idea was wonderful, and when Derek saw the hint of a smile as Lei looked at him through her thick, dark lashes, he knew his idea had her approval, too.

“If you have some time, Derek, I’d like to talk to you about something.” Sylvester leaned his elbows on the table.

“Sin, would you like to see the colors I’ve selected for the back parlor?” Lilly placed her coffee cup in the saucer and looked across the table to where Thia sat next to Lei. “Or we can take advantage of the morning sun and sit out by the pool?”

“Oh, that would be—” Thia looked to Derek, one brow raised.

“We have a little while before we need to be back in the city, so enjoy yourself.” Derek couldn’t tell from the look in Thia’s eyes if she wanted to go, but he had a feeling Sylvester wouldn’t talk with Thia around.

She hesitated. Why? She seemed to be getting along well with Lilly and he already knew she liked Lei.

“Okay,” she finally relented.

“Wonderful,” Lilly said, and stood. Lei and Thia followed suit and after a few moments of refilling coffee cups and non-stop chatter by Lilly, they left the room.

When the men were alone Sylvester topped off their coffee and settled back in his chair, crossing his legs. “What do you know about the girls we auctioned off at the masquerade?”

This is what Derek had waited for. One revelation—the girls—would lead to another, he hoped. The drugs.

“Peter didn’t tell me anything about the girls. Don’t tell me that auction was real?”

“That was for the week only, as I explained. But—” here Sylvester steepled his fingers and studied Derek as he spoke “—in my investigation of you—and I hope you knew I would look into who you are before I invited you into my home.” He shot a questioning look at Derek and Derek nodded. “Well, it’s obvious you’re rather well off, and you have a profession that enables you to travel a great deal. It struck me you might be interested in joining a small, elite group.”

Derek leaned back and tried to look interested. “Intriguing. What group would that be?”

Sylvester smiled. “A group of people who purchases our girls.” He gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Or lease would be more accurate.”

“Buy a woman? Damn, Sylvester, I’d have to think about it. I’m a little uncomfortable at the thought of owning a slave.”

“We call the girls slaves sometimes but we really don’t think of them that way. If they want to go, they are free to do just that. However, we do talk to them, to make sure they’re going
to
something, not just away from something.”

“Who
are
these women? Where do they come from?”

Sylvester seemed to weigh his words. “You know about the laws related to the number of children in China?”

Derek nodded. “One child per family.”

“Exactly. And even in this modern day, female children are often regarded as useless. They’re frequently abandoned, left to die. We have contacts in many villages and towns who rescue the babies and spirit them to Korea. There, they’re raised and schooled, and prepared for life.”

“A life of servitude? Is that fair?”

“They
live
, and after they are sold or leased or given—take your pick—to the right person, their lives are good. My clientele is select, discrete and very wealthy, with specialized needs. The girls are well educated in math, literature, and the social virtues. Most are fluent in as many as six languages, and can get by in others. They are also schooled in the culture of the countries that speak those languages. The girls make excellent administrative assistants and since most of my clients travel for business, their skills are quite valuable.”

He took a sip of coffee and shot an amused look at Derek. “I assure you, they are purchased for much more than sex. Though they are well-schooled in that area as well.”

Derek shook his head and pursed his lips. “I hardly know what to say. I’m not sure I’d—”

“I understand it may not sound appealing right now, but I wanted to let you know, after seeing you and Sin and the way you’re handling her, you seem the right kind of man to join my exclusive clientele list.”

Derek narrowed his eyes and allowed a bit of pique show through. “I don’t ‘handle’ Sin. Believe me, she’s her own woman. She’s amusing herself with me as much as I am with her.”

Sylvester nodded. “My apologies for the assumption. However, the offer is still open, especially as there may not be a lasting connection between you and Sin. Your artistic ventures take you overseas enough to appreciate the idea of a guide, interpreter and assistant.” He folded his hands in his lap. “I also wanted to let you know our supply is limited. The need for rescue is diminishing because there’s an upsurge in adoption of babies. We’re training fewer girls each year.”

“You’ve given me a lot to think about, and I appreciate your trust in considering me as one of your special clients.” He paused, letting Sylvester think he was thinking about the offer. “But I worry a little about drugs. How are the girls raised and what about their living conditions there? The availability of opium in the Far East is high. Are drugs used with the girls at all?”

Sylvester uncrossed his legs and shot forward in his seat. “I do not use drugs, and neither does anyone on my staff. The girls are clean and healthy when we bring them in, and they’re instructed in what to look for in the households they move into.” He narrowed his eyes now and his voice dropped to a growl. “But I’ll tell you now, if I hear about one of our girls being mistreated, I take action. No one owns my girls. No one harms them if I can help it.”

Derek believed him. How could he not with such conviction clear in the man’s voice and fierce expression? So why was he bringing in drugs? There seemed to be no question, the arrival of the
Natant Revel
initiated an influx of opiates in the Bay area. So what part did the Ogelthorpes play?

“I’d like to see where they live here and their conditions onboard ship. You said the auction at the masquerade wasn’t the real thing. Explain about the real sales.”

“That all sounds fair.” Sylvester’s anger receded from his tone. He stood and waited for Derek to precede him out of the dining room.

* * * *

Little more than two hours later, Derek and Sylvester strolled onto the patio talking and laughing like old friends. And what was that all about, Thia wondered. She thought Sylvester was suspected of smuggling drugs. Not to mention
human trafficking
, as Derek had put it.

When Lilly suggested earlier “the girls” retire to the patio, she’d wanted to refuse. First, she was half afraid Lilly would abandon her and Lei, who had been stroking her thigh during breakfast, and she wasn’t at all sure she wanted to repeat their experience. Not while other people were around, anyway. That realization sent a shiver of awareness down Thia’s spine.

But she also wanted to stay and hear what Sylvester and Derek talked about because she thought it might lead to information about the case, and she was interested. There was something repugnant about bringing women into the country and selling them, and if Thia could think of a way to stop the Oglethorpes, she wanted to try. But how, if she wasn’t privy to the information Derek got from Sylvester?

She had no way of knowing that as Sylvester felt out Derek’s position as a possible client, Lilly would do the same to her. Now she had a lot to tell Derek about the slaves and how they came to be in America.

Lilly and Lei had stripped down to their panties and relaxed in the sun while they talked. Thia had remained dressed, although in her very short skirt and barely-there T-shirt, she had little more on than they did. When the men came out, Lilly slipped into a cover-up, but Lei, perhaps thinking the four wanted to talk, stood and dove into the pool. She swam to the other end, then pulled herself onto the edging and stretched out again.

Thia looked up and found Derek’s eyes on her. They heated, as though he could pierce the protection of the sunglasses she wore and knew she thought of their morning in bed. She wondered if he thought about it, too. The way his morning erection had brought them both wide awake. How they’d kissed before he’d sucked her nipples and then how his cock had slowly sunk inside her, caressing the lining of her vagina with sure, lazy strokes until she wanted to shriek with the need for completion. Then he’d given her a finish worth shrieking over. Is that what he thought now, looking at her?

He smiled and she knew he did.

He came to her but didn’t bend for a kiss or even touch her. Not with his hands, anyway. His eyes never left her.

“I think we’d better get our things together,” he said.

“All right,” she answered, standing.

“Oh, no! I thought you’d stay for lunch at least.” Lilly removed her sunglasses and stared at Thia, who looked for direction from Derek.

“That would be nice, thanks. We have plans in the city, though, so we can’t stay long afterward.”

“Wonderful,” Lilly said.

“But let’s get our things ready now,” Derek added.

Sylvester took a seat beside Lilly. “I’ll have someone come up when you’re ready and load your bags onto your boat.”

“Great.” Derek guided Thia into the house and up to their room.

Thia turned to him as soon as the door closed, excited to share her information. “I found out so much!”

Derek’s lips came down on hers. After a kiss that melted her insides and made her want to rip off her clothes, he lifted his lips enough to say, “Watch how you tell me. We shouldn’t assume we’re the only ones listening to our conversation,” he murmured. Then he kissed her again.

When he broke away and began packing his bag, she did the same. “Derek, Lilly talked to me about whether we might be interested in having a companion.”

“Did she call her a companion?”

“Yes, that’s what she would be, plus Lilly said she could help you a lot in your business.” Thia went into the bathroom to gather her toiletries. “Did you know they educate these women amazingly well? Most of them know five or six languages. And they have enough math and business classes to work for me.”

“Sylvester mentioned the education.”

“And plus,” Thia said, excitement infusing her tone, “they’re saved from death in China. Derek, this is a mission to Lilly and Sylvester. They see it as a salvation project—” she stood with hands on hips, waiting for him to turn and face her “—I think I agree.”

He raised his brows in surprise. “Well, we have a lot to talk about, don’t we? Not the least of which is how you would feel having a third party in our little affair.”

Yes, that had set her back. When Lilly first started talking she’d been amazed Lilly and Sylvester obviously considered her and Derek a couple in a long-lasting relationship instead of a lonely, untutored woman and her instructor in the ways of love. Once she accepted Lilly’s view, she wondered, too, how she would feel having another woman around. Especially a woman well-trained in sensual matters.

“Well, there were three of us last night,” she ventured.

He shook his head. “Not the same thing. This woman would be living with me, not just around for a night of pleasure.”

Thia licked her lips, insecurity in her own sexuality bubbling up to the surface. “I know, and—”

His fingers stilled her lips. “We can talk about it later. I admit, having someone I could trust who is well-versed in foreign cultures and languages would be a big help at times, but I don’t feel the need for another woman. I’m perfectly happy with our arrangement. I’m especially happy with the woman I have right now.”

She couldn’t help the flush of pride she felt, and relief. She kissed his fingers and he winked at her.

She turned back to packing. “Did Sylvester tell you in the fifty or so years women have been saved and brought to the US, only fourteen have decided to leave the people they went with?”

“No. He did say they keep up with all of them and he’s very protective.”

“I got that impression from Lilly, too. They’ve been sheltered, so even with their education, they need a lot of care at the beginning. And when someone pays for a woman, a huge chunk of the money gets set aside for her for her retirement or if she wants to go out on her own. It’s all amazing, actually.”

“I know. Oglethorpe talked to me about acquiring one of them.”

“What?”

He grinned. “It’s expensive, I’ll grant you that. Fourteen-K a year, so they must really be something.”

“I think they must be. Lilly says they’re generally only returned when their buyers marry or their needs change. Hmm.” She stared out the window. “In a lot of ways, it’s a better situation than many women have in marriage. They’re really appreciated for their skills and talents, they have a set, large amount of money available if they need it, and there’s always a way out if they’re mistreated or unhappy.

“There is one thing, though. How do they bring the women into the States if they’re from China?”

“Sylvester didn’t go into details, and I have the feeling it’s best we don’t know too much about it. They travel as American’s though, so he must procure passports from somewhere.”

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an approaching helicopter. He joined Thia at the window to look at the flat concrete above the cascading pools.

“I wonder what’s going on,” Thia said.

The rotors slowed and a man stepped down the few steps as though he couldn’t wait to exit the machine and get away. As soon as he was free of the rotor backwash, he crossed himself. Thia gasped.