Billionaire's Island Bride (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (15 page)

He knew he'd found
success when she smiled again and said, “I'm not going anywhere.  Let's have
the long version.”

And so it was that
he told her about his two hundred and fifty million dollar dilemma.

“Oh, my God. 
Dare, you're joking.”  Her eyes were wide with wonder.  “Right?”

He chuckled.  “I
wish.”

“My God,” she
whispered, her eyes never leaving his face.  “I can’t even begin to imagine
that amount of money.  And you lost all that?”

He shrugged. 
“Pretty much.  I still have the property but most of the buildings are only fit
to be bulldozed.  I guess I’ll have to start from scratch with this one.”

“Oh, no,” she said
then she looked back at him with a worried expression.  “Does that mean you're
bankrupt?  Will you lose your house?”

She looked so
distressed that Dare burst out laughing.  “No need to worry your little head. 
You won’t be put out on the street.  I’ll still be able to buy you little
trinkets.”

That got him a
glare from Erin.  “I’m not worried about me, you idiot.  I’m worried about
you.  I’m used to being poor.  You’re not.”

“So sweet of you,
cherie,” he said in a teasing tone, hoping to get another rise from her.  She
was so cute when she was angry.  “But I’ll be fine.  It’s a lot of money but it
won’t make me go broke.”

“Wow.” The word
was filled with awe.  “I can’t imagine being so rich that I could say words
like that.”

“Oh, but you are,
my dear.”

“I’m what?”

“Rich.  You’re my
wife.  We didn’t sign a prenuptial agreement so you are part owner of the
estate.”  Then he looked at her through narrowed eyes, trying to gauge her reaction. 
“That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”

For a moment Erin
stared at him, a confused look on her face, then as his meaning sank in her
face turned red and she shot up from her chair.  “Dare DeSouza, you’re the one
who came looking for me.  You’re the one who forced me to marry you so don’t
you accuse me of pursuing you for your money.  You’ve got some nerve-”

“Okay, calm down. 
I was only joking.”  He reached out to grasp her wrist and tug gently until she
sank back into her chair.

“Your joke was in bad
taste.”

“Yes, I can see
that,” he said, trying to look sorry although inside he was grinning.  That had
certainly put the pink back into her cheeks.  He much preferred the passion of
her anger to seeing her sad and defeated. 

“But seriously,”
he continued, “do you know the worst part?”

“What?  Isn’t
losing all that money the worst part?”

“No, losing a
friend.”  He hoped she could see that this part was no joke.  “I lost someone
I’ve known for years, someone I thought I could trust.”  He clenched his fists
and just stopped short of pounding it on the table.  “If you can’t rely on
someone so close to you, who else can you trust?”  He lifted his head and
looked at her.  “If there’s one thing I expect from my friends it’s honesty,
you know?”

For a second Erin
looked nonplussed then she nodded quickly but he could see the blood rising up
her neck and to her cheeks.  She looked like she wanted to say something but no
words came.  Instead she carefully placed her napkin beside her empty plate and
for the second time that night she stood up.  “I’m feeling a bit tired.  I
think I’ll go to bed now.”

She didn’t even wait
for him to reply.  She walked away, leaving Dare staring after her in
confusion.

Now what had he
said to upset her?  He shook his head.  If he lived a million years he would
never understand women.

***

After her dinner
with Dare, Erin went back to her old strategy - avoid him as much as possible. 
That seemed to have been working fine until Robyn came and spoiled everything.

She knew she was
being foolish but she still hadn’t gotten over the shock of Dare’s last
statement at the dinner table.  It was like he’d been talking about her.  The
guilt would not let her sit still and she’d had to leave as fast as she could
before she broke down and told all.

It was five days
since Robyn left the island and she hadn’t heard a whisper since then.  With
each day that passed she breathed a sigh but she could guess that the girl
would drop her bombshell at a strategic moment, at that point when it would
hurt most.  It was only a matter of time.

After a week
passed and then two without any word from Robyn, the tension in Erin’s belly
began to dissipate.  The threat still hung over her head but how long could she
remain on edge?  She willed herself to be calm.  She had her baby to think
about and she would not let anything - neither high blood pressure nor negative
emotions - consume her and jeopardize the health of her unborn child.

She signed up for
classes at the local Mommy Yoga Center and fell into a comfortable routine of
yoga and birthing classes in the mornings and daily swims in the pool in the
cool of the evenings.  Eventually she stopped thinking about Robyn and the
threat she posed.

With the passing
of time Erin grew rounder and rounder until she looked like she had swallowed a
basketball.  When Dare teased her, calling her his panda bear, Francine came to
her defense and laughingly found names for him, too.  It didn’t help that those
names were in Spanish so Erin had no idea what she was talking about.  She
didn’t care, though.  It felt good to have another woman on her side.  She and
Dare fell into a comfortable rhythm that made Erin sometimes forget that her
marriage was not quite the norm.  From observing them no one would guess that
their marriage was in name only.

Their idyllic life
on the island hit a snag when it was announced that a hurricane was on the
way.  At the news Erin became filled with a sense of dread.  She tackled
Francine in the kitchen.

“What’s a hurricane
like?  Will it destroy the island?  Will we be in great danger?”  The words
shot out in rapid succession, clear evidence of her fright.  She was not afraid
to admit it.  She’d never experienced a hurricane before and she was scared.

She’d heard horror
stories of tidal waves taller than ten storey buildings and people getting
sucked out to sea.  She’d heard of heavy winds flattening houses, people
getting electrocuted by downed power lines and people getting sick from
contaminated water supplies.  Nothing she’d heard about hurricanes was good.

“Ah, nina,”
Francine sighed, “hurricanes are dangerous but we will survive.   And you, in
this well built house, you will be safe.  I’m happy that you have a strong man
to protect you.”

“But what about
you, Francine?  You will stay here with us, right?  I want you to be safe." 
Erin grabbed the older woman’s hand.  Although Francine spent a lot of time in
Dare's house she also had her own home on the island.  Erin was worried that
she would go back there.  She could not explain it but she felt an affinity
with Francine that was far more than an employer-employee relationship.

“No, nina.  Senor
Dare, he arranged for me to go to Atlanta to be with my son.  I will leave long
before the storm hits.”

Erin breathed a
sigh of relief.  One less person to worry about.

Next day Erin
accompanied Francine into the airport where they hugged and shared well
wishes.   The housekeeper waved goodbye as she stood at the entrance to the
international departure lounge and her eyes glistened with tears.  Erin, too,
felt choked up but she bit her lip and held on.  She would not give in to
tears.  She was not the emotional type and couldn’t figure out why tears seemed
to come so easily these days.  It must be the baby hormones.

Erin spent the
rest of the day shopping.  Like everyone else she was making sure to have
adequate supplies in case the hurricane devastated the island.  It was not
unheard of that, following a natural disaster such as this, electrical power
would be out for weeks.  With that in mind she stocked up on flashlights,
lanterns and batteries, canned and packaged foods and dozens of cases of
drinking water.  When the chauffeur bundled her into the car to take her home
there was hardly enough room left for her to sit.  She didn’t mind, though. 
She’d much rather be over prepared than in need.

That evening when
Dare got home he told her he’d arranged for workmen to come in and board up the
huge bay windows and French doors.  The hurricane winds would easily shatter
the panes, sending glass flying.  They had to prevent that at all costs.  He
spoke calmly, almost casually, as if boarding up a house was the most natural
thing to do.  Meanwhile, Erin was quaking in her shoes.

Dare must have
seen her fear because he stepped forward, looking like he was about to take her
in his arms.  But then he let his hands fall to his sides.  Instead, he gave
her a gentle smile.  “It will be alright.  This isn’t the first hurricane to
hit Santa Marta.  We’ll pull through just fine.”

"But they say
this will be the worst one in a decade.  And what if we get a tidal wave? 
We’re so close to the ocean.”  She spoke quietly, her voice steady, but she
felt far from it.  Her eyes searched his, desperately seeking the reassurance
she needed right then.  At that moment she would have welcomed his embrace so
she could feel the strength and power of his body against hers and revel in the
comfort of his arms.

But it was not to
be.  She’d set her boundary, one he’d vowed never to cross until she made the
first move.  And she wanted to.  Even now as he stood looking down at her she
wanted to.

But she could not.

Dare shoved his
hands into his pockets and on his face was a look of determination.  “We’ll
beat this, Erin.  We just have to prepare the best way we can.  I’ve already
taken the necessary precautions at the resort.  They’re the ones that are close
to the ocean, not us.  This house is on a hill, remember?”

“You’re right,”
Erin said, frowning.  She hadn’t thought about the resort at all.  “What about
the guests?  How will they manage?”

“Half of them have
already left and a few more will go tomorrow.  For the ones who decided to stay
we’ve moved them to the villas farthest from the beach.  They’ll be on a grade
so they should be fine.”  He gave a sigh.  “Thank God for loyal employees. 
We’ve got a skeleton staff staying on to serve them.  They’ll all be paid
triple time for staying."

“Because they’ll
be away from their families?”

“Yes.  I want them
to know I appreciate the sacrifice they're making.”  He smiled.  “They don’t
know it yet but I already spoke to the director of finance to factor in an
extra bonus for them at the end of the year.”

“That’s generous
of you,” she said and her heart warmed to him.  He’d been a jerk, no doubt about
that, but after seeing this other side of him how could she stay mad?

And how could she
stay unaffected by this enticingly sexy man?  She’d vowed to keep saying no but
with her pregnant hormones raging she seemed to constantly be in a heightened
state of arousal.  She wanted him so badly she could almost taste it.

But she had to
stay strong.  For the sake of her heart she could not put herself at risk a
second time.

The next day
dawned clear and bright.  You would never know a hurricane was on the way.  It
was perfect weather for the workmen to complete their task and within just a
few hours they were done.

That evening she
and Dare went through their list of supplies, making sure they had everything
they needed.  At the last minute Dare remembered one critical piece - they
hadn’t checked the first aid kit.  When they found it they realized that all
the painkillers had expired and had to be thrown out.  Dare made a quick dash
to the local drug store, arriving just ten minutes before it closed.  After
that, with the kit filled with bandages, iodine for cuts and bruises, painkillers,
gauze and a splint they were ready. 

On the third day
Erin and Dare woke to a sky that hung low and gray like an ominous shroud.  Everywhere
was still.  There was no chirping or whistling in the trees this morning.  Not
a single bird had remained behind.  Even the tree frogs seemed to have disappeared. 
The animals knew what was coming and they, too, had gone to seek shelter from
the coming onslaught.

Even the air had
stilled.  Gone was the usual tropical breeze, the trade winds that would shake
the leaves in the trees.  It was as if they were in a vacuum-sealed flask.

Then the evening
came and with it the first taste of what was to come.  The air that had
previously been so still now began to stir and within an hour of the first
breeze a strong wind began to blow.  With each passing hour it grew stronger
until by nightfall the force of the wind had the palm trees bending low,
practically kissing ground.  What had started out as a whistling in the trees
had now turned to a deafening howl that was almost human, making the hair on
Erin’s nape stand on end.

“Come,” Dare said
and she was grateful when this time he took her hand in his.  His strength
surged through her and she stepped closer to him.

Dare led her down
the hallway and toward his suite and this time she was eager to go.  There was
a mighty beast outside pummeling the trees and battering the house and she was
too frightened to stay alone.