Page 7 of Hiding out with a Royal Billionaire

They slowed and a section of the greenery shifted, and then slid to the side, leaving a narrow canal open. She felt Brooks watching her, but she refused to look at him. She was too excited to take in all the mystery. She would have words later. But could he not have secrets? No, she hated that he had secrets. He always acted like she knew everything about him.

As soon as the boat was inside, the greenery slid back, hiding the entrance. They followed the canal, surrounded by what seemed like swamp land. It was dark. Trees towered overhead. All she saw in every direction were trees coming up out of the water. And wildlife. Something very large and thick lowered itself slowly back down into the water. She drank it in. Everywhere she looked something completely new stood out to her.

After about ten minutes, the trees opened up to an island within the island. It was refreshing to see a sandy beach, to feel the sun, after such darkness, but they didn’t stop, the canal wrapped around the sandy island and she saw that their destination was the base of the volcano. No smoke rose from the top.

As they grew closer, a door, like a garage door, slid open, and they pulled into the center of a mountain. The door closed behind them, and lights turned on. She felt her mouth drop. “Okay, what, is this?”

They were docked at an indoor marina. Brooks kept ski boats, sail boats, wave runners, and now, his very large yacht, all in slips. They exited the boat and the staff began work, getting it all cleaned up.

Two men wearing white uniforms carried the trunk in between them.

“Be careful.” Brooks and Skye said together.

“It can’t be made of wood.” Brooks frowned. “Or it would have shown more evidence of rotting. But I’m still nervous.” He waved toward the other end of the cavernous space and a man came running with what looked like a wagon Skye had seen at other marinas.

“Oh, that’s better.” Skye smiled.

They shifted the trunk into the wagon. The men were panting with exertion.

They followed the wagon down the dock and up a paved pathway. Paul and Anthony saluted and ran off down another path.

“They seem to know their way around.”

Brooks side-eyed her but said nothing.

The path turned a corner and then oddly enough, through a pair of sliding glass doors. The air was deliciously air conditioned and the floor covered in marble tile. “Now this is something.”

Brooks directed the guys to leave the trunk in the rec room. Then as soon as they moved on ahead and around the next corner, Brooks turned to her. “I can hear your thoughts all the way over here. I know. I know.” He rested a hand on her arm. “I know.”

“Which part do you know? The part about how come you have this whole thing? Or the part about me over here thinking you have a whole lotta stuff going on in your life you have deliberately kept out of mine. Holy heck Brooks! I can’t believe this. Who gets to come party here? Is it like a total guys only club? Is this the new location for the Princes Society?”

He breathed out slowly, and Skye was confused by what seemed to be a hint of relief. She logged that information away. Because she knew there was more to everything she was seeing, but she also suspected she’d learn more by observation.

“Just trust me. I’m involved in some activities that required me to have a safe place to hid. I’ll explain as much as I can later. For now, should we go check out our treasure?”

“You know it!” She logged that tiny bit of information away.

They started walking again, and he led her into a large and comfortable room, divided into different seating areas with overstuffed plush furniture. A ping pong table, video arcade type games, fuzzball, and air hockey filled the open space on the opposite side of the room. “I think this would have been even better when I was ten.”

“Can you imagine how much fun we would have had!”

They hurried over to the trunk. A large tarp was laid out beside it. Skye put on the gloves offered and then she and Brooks began digging coins out of the trunk. The gold was in excellent shape with only a few scratches here and there. Skye knew that was possible with the coolness of their water and the depth. But she was still amazed that something over three hundred years old could be remarkably new looking. After about ten handfuls of coins each, they started to get down to the bottom of the treasure. Her hands grabbed something different. A chain. She pulled it and it was attached to a cross. “Whoa, this is beautiful.” It was roughly the size of her hand, bedecked with jewels, greens, blues, reds, and in the center, a case with a bone. “Is this a relic?” She touched it gently, somewhat in awe. A relic found at the bottom of the ocean in a trunk full of gold was likely someone important, and perhaps it could also be authentic.

Brooks’ gaze sharpened. “Interesting.” That’s all he said, but Skye knew something about this cross was much more than just interesting.

They dug some more and cleared out all of the gold coins, a handful of jewels, and some writings on an old metal plate. “This is probably the coolest thing I’ve ever done.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket and snapped a picture of it from both sides.

Brooks’ eyes were lit with the same excitement she felt. “Let’s have a look at that cross.”

“Is there a way to tell who it belonged to? Or what relic this is?”

He ran his fingers up and down over the jewels. “This might be a family crest. Carved into the metal.” It had been rubbed mostly smooth. “Does that look like the Spanish crest?”

She peered over his shoulder. “A little bit. But it’s hard to tell. We’ve got to get some experts in to see this.”

“No.” His voice came out abrupt, almost harsh.

“What?” She tried to keep the hurt from her face but it was quickly followed by irritation. “What do you mean, no? We have to get this stuff to experts who can help us date it, place it, and figure out who it is. I for one want to know what that relic is…”

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