Page 40 of Chasing Paradise

Violet eyed me for a long moment.

“What’s the catch?”

“No catch. We get my proof. I let you take me in, so you can collect your money.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Did you saywe?”

“Yes. We get my proof.”

“We.Wefeels like a big catch. You expect me to trek through the rainforest with you?”

“Yes.”

“Because I’ve been such pleasant company so far?” she asked, rolling her eyes.

“Because I want someone else who can testify to what I saw. If it comes to that.”

“I can’t testify.”

“Why not?”

“Because then it will be clear that I broke the law by pursuing you here.”

“Or… you just so happened to be on vacation, saw me, kept an eye on me, then when I went back to Miami willingly, you apprehended me.”

“That’s… a stretch.”

“If I get the proof I think I will, believe me, the SEC and DOJ won’t give a damn about you bending the law. They will have much bigger fish to fry. Besides, who is going to contradict you? If I confirm it happened that way…”

“That’s true. But why do I need to trek into the rainforest? Can’t I go stay at a nice hotel with a comfy bed and fresh coffee while you do all that, then you come back, and we go back to Miami together?”

“Duchess, where’s the fun in that?”

“Fun? The rainforest? With its panthers and a billion types of venomous snakes.”

“Nah, not a billion. Just the Fer-de-lance, Bushmaster, Green Jararaca, Eyelash Viper, Palm viper, Pit viper, ground and aquatic Coral Snakes…”

“That’s not helping your case.”

“We have Marco. I’ve got a well-packed bag. It should just be a day or two.”

Violet sucked in a deep breath and huffed it out.

“Fine. But if I get bit by anything, I am going to make it your problem.”

It would be fucked up to say what I was thinking out loud.

That I had a sneaking suspicion I would enjoy having a woman like Violet being my problem.

So, yeah, I kept that shit to myself.

CHAPTER NINE

Violet

“Keep your eyes open,” Wick said as mine squeezed shut the second the speedboat lurched forward. “It’s like when you are a little too drunk. When you close your eyes, it makes the spinning worse.”

I forced my eyelids open as my stomach whirled around ominously. And I really, really didn’t want to lose those two plates of carbs I’d just shoveled in my mouth.

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