Page 73 of The Billionaire's Demand

And then he smiled. A smile that was dazzling and beautiful and which somehow managed to assuage all her doubts and anxieties. ‘Follow me.’

In that moment she was pretty sure she’d follow him into the very fires of hell if he asked it of her...

CHAPTER TWO

HE WAS LIKE a hurricane, a phenomenon of strength and precision that came almost entirely out of nowhere, bursting into the control room of his mega yacht as though he’d been born fighting. There were four men and only one Raul, but Raul went for the biggest teenager, clearly the ringleader, shoving him away from the controls and standing with his legs braced, eyeing up the group, who looked shocked and, yes, drunk.

‘Right—’ he spoke with stern command ‘—get over there.’

The oldest, rubbing his shoulder, where it had connected with the wall, glared back. ‘Who’s gonna make us?’

‘Believe me, you don’t want the answer to that question.’ His accent grew thicker. ‘I am giving you a chance to end this peacefully,’ he said, reaching behind them and bringing the boat to a halt. Libby saw him remove the key and slip it in his pocket.

Clever.

The feeling of stillness after such a chaotic and wild ride was a huge relief. She held her ground, wary and watchful but oddly not feeling in any danger.

Raul just seemed so completely in control, it was mesmerising.

‘Yeah, well, you’re outnumbered,’ one of the smaller teens said, bravely approaching Raul. ‘Come on, we can take him.’

‘I wouldn’t bet on it,’ Raul replied, and when the teen lifted his fist and attempted to land another punch, Raul caught it, twisting it quickly and sharply up the boy’s back.

‘Stay back,’ he warned another of the group, who’d made to move closer. Then, turning to Libby, ‘Come here, please.’

It took her a moment to galvanise her feet into action, but after a small pause, she skirted around the edge of the group towards Raul.

‘Take the rope. Tie this one up.’

She nodded, moving as quickly as she could with fingers that were shaking, while Raul continued to restrain the teen’s hands and stare down the rest of the thieves, who were clearly running out of fight.

‘We didn’t know you’d be on board,’ the fourth one to speak muttered. ‘It was meant to be empty.’

‘My plans changed,’ Raul snapped. ‘But, either way, this was not an open invitation for you to take my boat and almost destroy it.’

‘We didn’t—’

He glared at the ringleader. ‘Enough. Go and sit down against the wall, hands behind your back.’

Libby’s pulse was racing in her ears. Was it really possible this could be over so easily?

Apparently not. At the exact moment she began to relax, one of the smaller teens lunged towards her, grabbing her around the neck, and she startled and might have screamed, except she had Raul’s warning in her mind that she would be a liability and she didn’t want to prove him right.

And so she thought quickly, stomped her foot down onto the boy’s toes as hard as she could, then lifted her knee and connected it with a sensitive part of his anatomy. He dropped to the ground, curled into a ball.

‘Effective technique,’ Raul drawled with approval. ‘Anyone else want a lesson from Libby?’

‘We didn’t know you’d be on board,’ the ringleader said again.

‘And how exactly did you become privy to his schedule?’ Libby demanded, emboldened by her success in subduing the would-be attacker.

‘I—’

‘Shut up, Jerry,’ the smallest of the group shouted.

Raul’s eyes locked onto Libby’s with something like admiration.

‘Let me guess. One of you has a friend who works at the marina.’ Her eyes widened. ‘Or for the cleaning contractor!’ she said, snapping her fingers. ‘Of course. How else would you know anything about the boat owner’s commitments?’

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