A Perfect Husband (11 page)

* * *

Almost immediately she was accosted by a uniformed security guard, a holstered gun on one thigh.

Exhausted from the long nerve-racking flight, during which she had only been able to sleep in snatches, she accompanied the officer to a smal , sterile interview room.

Several fruitless questions later, because the guard’s English was limited and her Medinian was close to nonexistent, she resigned herself to wait. The one piece of information she had gleaned was that, apparently, they were waiting for a member of the Atraeus family.

Minutes later, her frustration levels rising, her luggage, along with a foam cup of coffee, was delivered to the interview room and an airport official showed up to personal y process her arrival papers. As the official handed her stamped passport back, the door opened.

Zane, dressed in dark jeans and a loose white shirt, his hair ruffled as if he’d dragged his fingers through it repeatedly, strol ed into the room.

For a confused moment Lilah had difficulty grasping that Zane was actual y here, then the meaning of his presence sank in. “You’re the Atraeus who had me detained.”

The official left, the door closing quietly behind him.

Zane frowned. “Who were you expecting? Lucas?”

The flatness of Zane’s voice was faintly shocking. Lilah couldn’t help thinking it was a long way from the teasing grin and the seductive huskiness of Saturday night. “As far as I know, Lucas is stil in Sydney.”

Zane placed a newspaper, which had been tucked under one arm, down on the desktop.

The glaring headline,
Lucas Atraeus Installs Mistress on
Isle of Medinos,
made her bristle. When she had flown out of Sydney, she had hoped she was leaving al of that behind.

Folding the paper over, she threw it in the trashcan beside the desk. “I haven’t seen that one. They don’t hand out Sydney gossip sheets as part of the in-flight entertainment.”

Zane perched on the edge of the desk, arms folded across his chest. “Who knew that you were flying out to Medinos?”

Lilah located her handbag and stored her passport in a secure pocket. Making a quick exit lugging a large suitcase, a carry-on bag, her laptop and her handbag would be difficult, but she was ready to give it a go. “Quite a lot of people. It wasn’t a secret.”

Zane looked briefly irritated as she tried to harness her laptop to the suitcase using a set of buckles that was clearly inadequate for the job. “That’s not helpful.”

“It wasn’t meant to be.” She hauled on a dainty strap and final y had the laptop secure.

“So who do you think could have leaked the information that you were moving to Medinos to the press?”

She moved on to the carry-on case, which posed a problem. She was going to need a trol ey after al .

“You don’t have to worry about the luggage. I’l carry it for you.”

Anger flowed through her at the implication that
she
could have sold the story. “I prefer to manage on my own.”

“You don’t have to, since I’m here to pick you up.” With efficient movements, Zane unhooked the laptop and used the straps to neatly attach the carry-on case to the large suitcase.

Lilah reclaimed her laptop. “I don’t get it. You didn’t come around or cal , and now—”

“I cal ed. Your phone didn’t seem to be working.”

She tried to get her tired brain around the astounding fact that Zane hadn’t abandoned her, entirely. Although, there was nothing loverlike about his demeanor now. A lightbulb went on in her head. “Don’t tel me you thought I could have leaked the story because I’m angling to be Lucas’s mistress?”

“Or to break Lucas and Carla up.”

For a vibrating moment she struggled against the desire to empty what was left of her coffee down his front. Instead, she set her laptop down and, stepping close, ran her finger down Zane’s chest, pausing over the steady thud of his heart. “Why would I, when as you so eloquently put it, I’ve already got the real thing?”

Heat flared in his gaze. His fingers closed around her wrist, trapping her palm against the wal of his chest. “Past tense, Lilah. You were the one who walked out.”

Shock reverberated through her that he could possibly have wanted her to stay. “I didn’t think you were…serious.”

His gaze was unnervingly steady. “One-night stands are not exactly my thing.”

The heat from his chest burned into her palm. “So al those stories in the press about you and who knows how many gorgeous women are untrue?”

His free hand curled around her nape. He reeled her in a little closer. “Mostly.”

Honest, but stil dangerous. Distantly, she registered that this was what she had so badly wanted from Zane two days ago. He had final y come after her and in true pirate fashion was seemingly intent on dragging her back to bed. “So, in theory then, the press could have lied about me.”

He leaned forward; his lips feathered her jaw sending a hot tingle of sensation through her. “It’s possible.”

“I’m not interested in breaking Lucas and Carla up.”

“Good, because I have a proposition for you.” He bit down gently on her lobe. “Two days on an island paradise.

You and me.”

Sensation shimmered through her, briefly blanking her mind. So that was what it was like, she thought a little breathlessly. She had read that the earlobe was an erogenous zone. Now, final y, she could attest to that fact.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The idea of an exciting interlude with Zane before she started work and became once more embroiled in her search for a stable, trustworthy husband, was unbearably seductive. There were no good reasons to go, only bad ones. “Yes.”

She caught the quick flash of his grin before his mouth closed on hers, and for long seconds she forgot to breathe.

Ten minutes later, Lilah found herself instal ed in the rear seat of a limousine, Zane beside her and the familiar figure of Spiros behind the wheel. A short drive later and they pul ed into a picturesque marina.

She examined the ranks of gleaming superyachts, launches and sailboats tied up to a neat series of jetties.

“This doesn’t look like the Atraeus Resort.”

“It’s a nice day. I thought you might enjoy the boat ride.”

Spiros opened her door, distracting her. When she turned back to Zane, the seat next to her was empty. Zane was already out of the limousine, his jacket off and draped over one shoulder. Fol owing suit, she climbed out, wincing at the dazzling brightness of sunlight reflecting off white boats. Finding her sunglasses, she slid them onto the bridge of her nose.

By that time, Spiros, who she had noticed had not met her gaze once during the last few minutes, had her cases out of the trunk. Zane was already halfway down the jetty and untying ropes. The boat trip to the resort seemed to be a fait accompli, so Lilah fol owed in Spiros’s wake, determined to enjoy the sunny day and the spectacular sea views.

By the time she reached the sleek white yacht, her cases were already stowed. Zane extended his hand and helped her climb aboard.

Almost instantly the engine hummed to life. Spiros walked along the jetty, released the last rope and tossed it over the stern. Lilah couldn’t help noticing that he seemed to be in a hurry. When he didn’t climb aboard she frowned.

“Isn’t Spiros coming?”

“Not on this trip.” With deft skil , Zane maneuvered the yacht out of its berth.

Minutes later, they cleared the marina and the boat picked up speed, wal owing slightly in the chop. Feeling faintly queasy with the motion, Lilah sat down and tried to enjoy the scenery.

Twenty minutes later, her unease turned to suspicion.

Instead of hugging the coastline they seemed to be heading for open sea. The coastline of Medinos had receded, and the island of Ambrus loomed ahead.

Dragging strands of hair out of her eyes, she pushed to her feet, gripping the back of her seat to stay upright. “This is not the way to the resort.”

“I’m taking you to Ambrus.”

“There’s nothing
on
Ambrus.”

His gaze rested briefly on hers. “That’s not strictly true.

There’s an unfinished resort on the northern headland.”

The yacht rounded a point and sailed into calmer water.

Lilah stared at the curve of the beach ahead and the tumbled wreckage of the old pearl facility, which had been destroyed in the Second World War. It was, literal y, a bombsite. In a flash, Spiros’s odd behavior and his hurried exit made sense. Zane had planned this. She gestured at the looming beach. “I didn’t agree to that. You said two days. Paradise.”

Zane throttled back on the engine. “Maybe I wasn’t talking about the scenery.”

An instant flashback to the heated few minutes on Zane’s couch made her blush. “I didn’t exactly find paradise in your hotel room.”

“There wasn’t time. If you’l recal , you ran out on me.”

Her jaw firmed. When she had landed on Medinos her life had been firmly under control. Somehow in the space of an hour everything had gone to hel in a handbasket again.

“I’m booked in at the Atraeus Resort. That’s where I’m staying for the next few weeks.”

“You agreed. Two days.” His jaw tightened. “Or did you want another media furor when Lucas arrives tomorrow?”

She stared at the tough line of his jaw. The dazzling few moments in the customs interview room when she’d been weak enough to al ow him to kiss her replayed in her mind.

That had been her first mistake. “I assumed you were taking me to my suite at the Atraeus Resort.”

“I apologize for the deception,” he said bluntly, although there was no hint of apology in his gaze. “I’l take you to Medinos in two days’ time. Once Lucas leaves.”

She stared at the deserted stretch of coastline then back at the distant view of Medinos. She had wanted out of the media circus and she had wanted peace and quiet. It looked like now she was getting both, with a vengeance. “Is there power, an internet connection?”

“There’s a generator. No internet.”

“Then we need to go back to Medinos. I’l be missed.

People wil be concerned. Questions wil be asked.”

Zane frowned. “Who, exactly, is going to ask these questions?”

Lilah stared fixedly at the horizon, aware that the conversation had drifted into dangerous waters. “I have…

friends.”

“It’s only two days.”

A little desperate now, Lilah tried for a vague look.

“Online friends. I need to keep in touch.”

Zane’s gaze was unnervingly piercing. “And being away from an internet connection for two days is an issue?”

She crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to be drawn. “It could be.”

After the disappointment with Lucas she had felt an urgency to move along with her marriage project and had committed to a series of dates with her list of potential y perfect husbands. Howard had only been the first. Up until that moment she had been too busy with making arrangements to leave Sydney, and preparing herself for a new life and a new job, to stop and think about the upcoming series of dates she had arranged for a scheduled holiday back home in two weeks’ time.

The sound of the engine changed as they neared shore.

The reality of what was happening sank in as the huge, deserted sweep of the crescent bay underlined their complete isolation. “You’re kidnapping me.”

Zane’s brows jerked together. “That’s a little dramatic.

We’re staying at a beach house where we can spend some time together, uninterrupted.”

Against al the odds her heart thumped wildly at his bad-tempered, rather blunt statement, which definitely indicated a desire to keep her to himself. She guessed she could excuse him, although not right away.

He had
kidnapped
her.

She clamped down on the dizzying delight that he wanted her enough to actual y commit a crime. After Zane’s behavior in Sydney and her misery when he had failed to come after her, it was a scenario she hadn’t dared consider.

The engine dropped to a low hum. Zane stabbed at a button. The rattle of a chain cut through the charged silence as he dropped anchor.

Lilah watched the grim set of Zane’s shoulders as he studied the chain for a few seconds to make sure the anchor had taken hold. “I suppose on Medinos, trying to get a conviction against an Atraeus is impossible.”

Zane went very stil . When he straightened, she realized the faint shaking of his shoulders was laughter. He grinned, suddenly looking rakish. “Not impossible, just highly improbable.”

Ten

The inflatable boat scraped ashore on the pristine white-sand beach. With a fluid movement, Zane climbed out and held it steady against the wash of waves. Ignoring the hand he offered her, Lilah clambered over the side, shoes in one hand, handbag gripped in the other.

Ankle-deep water splashed her calves, surprisingly cold as she stepped onto the firmly packed sand at the shoreline. With muscular ease, Zane pul ed the inflatable higher on the beach, unwound rope and tied it to an iron ring attached to a weathered post.

Shielding her eyes from the sun, which was almost directly overhead, Lilah examined the bay. Beyond the post was an expanse of tussock grass interspersed with darker patches of wild thyme and rosemary. Farther back, and to the right, she could see, fol owing the broad curve of an estuary, the remains of sheds. To the right, flanked by a grove of gnarled olive trees, was the ivy-encrusted remnant of what must have once been a grand vil a. She instantly knew that this had to be Sebastien Ambrosi’s vil a. Sienna and Carla Ambrosi’s grandfather had left Medinos in the 1940s and settled in Broome, Australia, where he had reestablished the Ambrosi Pearls business. “The house looks smal er than I imagined.”

“You knew Sebastien Ambrosi?”

“My mother used to work for him in Broome, seeding and grading pearls. He was very kind to us.” She lifted her shoulders. “I’ve always been fascinated by Ambrosi Pearls, and I’ve always longed to see Ambrus.”

While Zane unloaded their cases, she walked along the beach. From here nothing was visible except the misty line where sea met sky, no land, no Medinos or any other island, just water and isolation.