Flawless Danger (The Spencer & Sione #1) (7 page)

Ten years away from Richard Tuiali’i’s persuasion should have been proof enough that he’d changed. There hadn’t been any relapses in the past decade.

And yet, part of him, a huge, significant part, wondered if the changes he’d made had only been surface repairs, like a fresh coat of paint over a bloodstained floor. Over time, the paint would begin to chip and the truth would be revealed.

Staring out at the jungle beyond the windows, Sione worried he was only one bad situation away from turning back into the person he used to be, the person he wanted to forget and to pretend he’d never been.

One wrong circumstance could turn him into the man Richard had raised him to be, and all his uncle’s efforts to save him from that vicious, cold-hearted life would have been in vain, wasted.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Sione called out, turning toward the door as it opened.

Marie poked her head into the office. “I’m getting ready to leave,” she said. “Need anything before I go?”

“No thanks, I’m okay.”

Pushing the door back, his secretary stepped into the office. “Sorry it was such a weird day for you today.”

“Well, even the worse days have to come to an end, right?”

Nodding, she gave him a sympathetic smile and then asked, “Did the police find the guy who broke into the honeymoon casita?”

“Unfortunately, they didn’t,” he said, remembering his disappointment when the head of security had shown him the surveillance tapes. The cameras were positioned at odd angles, and the intruder had been able to avoid being captured on film. “But I’m sure they will.”

“Marco said there was no forced entry.”

“No, there wasn’t,” he confirmed, making a mental note to remind the security team not to divulge any information about the investigation, especially to any staff personnel who were prone to gossip.

Speculation had to be contained before it got out of control and spread to his guests, who might allow unfounded fears to drive them away from the resort.

“This mess with some man breaking into the honeymoon casita is not good for business,” Marie said. “You don’t need people thinking the resort isn’t safe. Folks don’t go on vacation to get robbed. They will stay away from places where people get slapped around and tied up.”

After Marie left and he was alone in his office, with nothing but the ceiling fan whirring above him, chaotic thoughts swirled through his mind, from the attack on Spencer Edwards to the lapses in his security to his ex-fiancée’s ridiculous story. Mostly, Marie’s dire predictions took precedence.

Sione rubbed his eyes, then opened the bottom drawer, and took out a bottle of Blue Label and a shot glass. He couldn’t take Marie’s unfounded worries as a criticism of his abilities to manage and maintain the level of success his uncle had obtained. But there was a warning in her ominous words he couldn’t ignore. Nothing could jeopardize the success of the resort. Failure would ruin him.

San Ignacio, Belize

Belizean Banyan Resort – Honeymoon Casita

“You asshole!” Spencer screamed into the burner phone seconds after Ben answered. “First you steal my passport so I can’t leave the country! Then you have some psycho break into my casita and tie me up!”

“Sweet girl, please,” Ben said. “You need to relax.”

“Why don’t you just call the cops on me,” she said, stalking back and forth across the bedroom. “Just go down to the D.A.’s office and tell them you want to file a formal complaint against me and give them that damn video tape!”

“Sweet girl, calm down,” Ben said. “Think rationally. You don’t want me to show the video to the police.”

“Yeah, I do! Because I would rather go to jail than be forced to do a favor for a man who hates me so much that he would steal from me and have someone break into my casita!” she yelled as she cried. “I already feel like I’m in prison anyway!”

“Sweet girl, do not be melodramatic,” he said. “You need to get ahold of yourself. You are not in prison. If you were, you would be out of your mind or dead.”

“I feel like I’m out of my mind,” she raved, her head spinning with hysteria as she stomped toward the bureau chest across from the bed. “I feel like I have died and gone to hell!”

“Will you stop these damn histrionics!” Ben thundered.

His deep lilting roar broke something within her and she burst into tears.

After a moment, Ben said, “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

Clutching one of the bamboo bedposts, she held on for support as she sobbed. “No, you’re not.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“I already told you,” she sniffed. “That guy you told me about, the one with the green snake on his face? He broke into my casita, and he tied me up like an animal, and I know you told him to terrorize me!”

A few seconds of silence passed and then Ben said, “Did you call the police?”

“Sione Tuiali’i called the cops.”

“Why did Sione Tuiali’i call the police?” Ben asked. “Was he there when you were attacked?”

“He saved my life,” Spencer said. “He heard me screaming and he ran to my rescue. If not for him, your friend would have raped me and killed me. Or killed me and then raped me.”

“Tommy Fong is no friend of mine,” Ben muttered.

“Tommy Fong?” Her voice broke as fresh tears threatened to fall. “That’s the sick asshole who attacked me? His name is Tommy Fong?”

“Sweet girl, tell me this—you didn’t bring my name up to Sione Tuiali’i, did you?”

“I didn’t mention your name to him, or to the cops,” Spencer said. “I’m not stupid.”

“Are you sure you didn’t accidentally slip and mention my name?” Ben asked. “Because no one can know about our connection.”

“I didn’t mention your damn name!”

“Don’t take that tone with me,” he said. “You have had a difficult day, I understand that. And your experience has made you emotional. But you can get past this sweet girl.”

“No, I can’t,” she cried, sinking down onto the edge of the bed. “I thought he was going to kill me. I thought he was going to take me somewhere and rape me and—”

“You’re stronger than you think, sweet girl,” he said. “Now, get ahold of yourself. You can’t fall apart. There is too much at stake for you. You need to keep it together. You owe it to me to get your mind straight.”

“So I can do that favor for you.” She laughed softly, wiping away a tear. “That’s why you don’t want me to lose my mind. You don’t give a damn about my mental stability. You just want that damn favor done, right?”

“What I want is what I can’t have,” he said. “What I want is to understand why you stole from me. What I want is to understand how I could have been so wrong about you and about us. I thought you felt the same way I did. And I will never understand why you decided to destroy what we could have had.”

Shame and guilt rushed in, replacing the rage and frustration. At a loss for words, she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to ignore the sadness pooling in her chest. “Ben …” she started, still not sure what to say. “I, um …”

The line disconnected.

Instead of anger, Spencer felt only relief. His words had shocked and disturbed her. She’d never really realized the depths of his feelings for her. She’d figured he liked her but not enough to make any kind of real commitment to her.

He wanted to know why she’d sabotaged their relationship, but she couldn’t explain, not to his satisfaction. She could tell him her reasons, but she would never be able to make him understand.

San Ignacio, Belize

Belizean Banyan Resort - Honeymoon Casita

Standing under the rainforest showerhead, Spencer closed her eyes as water streamed down her face, over her nose and mouth, and down the back of her neck, feeling some of the tension leaving her body as she rubbed the washcloth over her shoulders.

Two days had passed since she’d arrived at the Belizean Banyan Resort, and she was still finding it difficult to relax, to get a good night’s sleep. The plush, king-sized bed didn’t provide the comfort it should have. Spencer figured she tossed and turned at night because she was anxious about
Step Two
and she was still suffering lingering post-traumatic effects from Tommy Fong’s vicious attack.

Scrubbing her body with coconut-scented soap, Spencer thought about the favor Ben wanted her to do.

Sweet girl gets close to the resort owner.

She’d have to make it happen, even though she wasn’t feeling very sure of herself at the moment. She had never been one of those women who pretended she didn’t know she was beautiful and sexy. She couldn’t pull off that false humility.

Men were usually mesmerized by her looks and her body, but somehow, the resort owner made her doubt her beauty, made her question the power of it. Usually, she could tell immediately what effect she had on a man, but she wasn’t quite sure what the resort owner’s “initial impressions” of her had been.

As she soaped her arms, she thought about something Ben had told her.

Remember how you tricked me.

Did Ben want her to trick the resort owner into thinking she liked him? Did he think she could do it because she’d tricked men before? That was true, but those men had been dirty old bastards, excited by even the slightest hint of interest from a young, good-looking woman. Men like that were easily fooled, that’s why Rae had a rule about “dating” much older men.

“Young guys think they have plenty of other options, and they do,” Rae had told her. “There’s always some dumb twat who won’t make them pay for it. But these old farts don’t have as many choices, and they know it.”

The resort owner was not an old fart, though. He was young and smoking, sizzling, steaming hot.

As she rinsed the soap away, Spencer wondered what Ben might want her to trick the resort owner into doing. The only reason Spencer would trick a man was so she could steal from him. And the only way she would steal from a man was after she’d drugged him. If Ben wanted her to trick the resort owner, then he’d lied when he said the favor wouldn’t involve her doing anything criminal.

Son of a bitch.

Why the hell had she gotten involved with Ben?
 

Because he’d sat next to her on a park bench and was nice to her?
 

During the two months they’d spent getting to know each other, he’d listened to her rant and rave about money woes, how she’d never felt financially secure, and how the fear of never having enough to survive had started when she was a little girl.

She hadn’t revealed the miserable details of her unfortunate upbringing to him because it was too painful and shameful to admit the parental neglect and lack of affection. And she wasn’t willing to tell anyone about the physical abuse.

But she had hinted at dire circumstances, moments in her life she liked to forget, when there wasn’t enough money for food and shelter, the basic necessities.

She’d shared her secret belief that because she had been raised in lack and poverty, she wasn’t good enough to deserve someone who would provide for her.

Ben had claimed to understand her plight, but that wasn’t true. Ben didn’t care or understand.

Disgruntled, Spencer stepped away from the overhead stream to add more body wash to the towel. As water hit the tile and steam billowed around her, she chided herself for thinking she’d made some emotional connection with Ben. Most likely, she was fascinated because of the sex.

They’d only made love a handful of times, but he was always both fierce and tender, always demanding; he wanted so much from her, and even though she writhed and bucked and screamed, he wouldn’t relent until she was seething and clawing like some wild animal, and then he would kiss her flushed skin before moving away from her.

He left her feeling confused and as though she’d been conquered. He left her always craving more of him and yet feeling somewhat empty. Satisfied, but emotionally drained.

Irritated and worried, she dried off and then dropped the large white towel on the floor, leaving it for housekeeping to deal with. Heading out of the bathroom, she thought about breakfast. Should she try one of the three restaurants on the property or just call room service?

The burner phone rang. Spencer winced. Sighing, she put on a robe, walked to the bed table, and grabbed the phone. “Hello.”

“Good morning, sweet girl, how are you?”

“Ready to get this favor done so I can go back home.”

“I’m doing well this morning,” he said. “Thank you for asking.”

Refusing to engage in pretend niceties, she asked, “Why are you calling? You want to know how
Step Two
is going?”

“Before you commence with that,” Ben said. “I need you to help me with a little side venture.”

“Side venture?” Her heart thudding, Spencer walked to the foot of the bed, turned, and walked back toward the headboard. “What does that mean?”

“It means I have your passport so you can’t leave Belize until I allow you to go,” he said. “It means I have a video of you stealing money from me so I can have you arrested for grand larceny. It means you need to remember you owe me, sweet girl. So you shut your mouth and listen while I tell you what I need you to do.”

Enraged, Spencer sank down on the edge of the bed, praying she wouldn’t burst into tears. “What do you want me to do?”

“Tomorrow, I’m going to send you a package,” Ben said. “Call me when you get it, and I’ll tell you what needs to be done.”

The line disconnected.

Spencer sighed and massaged her temples. Tossing the burner phone on the night table, Spencer flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. She needed to take a few deep breaths and get herself together. Just concentrate on getting
Step Two
done. The quicker she could get the steps completed, the faster she could get back to Texas.

Without the fear of spending the next eight to ten years in jail, she might be able to concentrate on getting her life back together. Maybe find a job. Join a church. Become a productive, contributing member of society.

Spencer turned over on her stomach. Trying to ignore the dread growing within her, she thought about the steps Ben was forcing her to take. The steps were supposed to take her closer to freedom from Ben and his threats of blackmail. In her mind, she saw the steps like that strange painting where all the stairs appeared to lead up and down and sideways at the same time.