Page 90 of Pleasure Island

31

Liam

I had a million things on my mind, and none of them had to do with the wedding.

Okay, maybe a million was exaggerating.

Most of what I had on my mind was Mila…and her offer. Then there was Mila herself.

I couldn’t deny the fact that I’d enjoyed the past two days together. It was Friday, and the wedding was to take place tomorrow. I had to be back in New York City before my scheduled work shift Monday night. I hated to think about leaving.

Because I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do, after the rehearsal finished Friday afternoon, I headed back to the bungalow Mila used. She’d invited me to stay with her. I’d said yes. There was no point in me sneaking off to her place at night when a blind man could see what was going on between us.

I’d told Jake some of what happened between us. He’d been surprised to realize that the reason we were at the island was because I’d pulled a woman out of the water and her grandmother wanted to repay the favor. I’d confessed that Mila was the woman I’d been ordered to watch over, then I admitted to losing my job. I’d only skirted around the details previously, too embarrassed to tell Jake all of it.

He’d listened as I explained what really happened, then shook his head. “Guess that warning to be careful came a little too late,” was all he’d said.

I wouldn’t have listened to any warning anyway. Not when it came to Mila.

She was inside my head all the time and had been almost from the beginning.

It was a good thing that nothing seemed to have come of her father’s concerns about her being in danger. I would have thrown myself in front of a bullet for her, but it might be hard to notice one was coming when I was too busy trying to get her naked.

Those were the thoughts circling through my head as I let myself into her bungalow. The light was off, and I hit the switch, still preoccupied. But the moment light spilled through the room, my mind snapped into quick, immediate action.

Mila’s place had been trashed.

Clothes were strewn everywhere. Huge cracks fragmented the mirror, showing my reflection in splinters as I took one step deeper into the room. The mirror looked like something pretty solid had been thrown at the center. Skimming the area, I saw a heavy bookend laying on the floor in front of the mirror, surrounded by a few fragments of glass.

My senses went on red alert.

Moving to the wall, I circled the perimeter of the bungalow, focused on the doors that led to the bedroom, the kitchen, the bathroom, and one that opened out onto a small patio.

When I reached the patio, I saw the hole in the glass and knelt down, studying it. Somebody had busted the patio door and come in through here.

And then, whoever it was, had taken his time totally destroying the place.

Fury burned through my brain, along with worry for Mila. A quick look at the time told me she was still in session for the next thirty minutes – I’d seen her to the door myself so I knew exactly where she was.

Pulling my phone from my back pocket, I thumbed in a number.

As I waited for a response, I pushed up to my feet.

* * *

The headof the security team who handled things on Pleasure Island was a broad, bull-chested man who looked to be in his early fifties. He introduced himself as two of his men started to search the room.

His name was Juan Garcia, and I could tell that I was talking to somebody with a long history in law enforcement, just by the way he watched me.

He asked me a few questions, which I answered, and as soon as he came to a pause, I said, “I’d like to head out if that’s okay. I want to be the one to tell Mila about what happened here.”

“Policy insists we be the ones to handle that–”

“He can tell Mila,” Millie said from the door. Her hand rested on the door frame as she stared inside, concern stamped across her patrician features.

“Ms. Thatcher,” Garcia said, nodding at her. He gave me a quick look before focusing back on Millie. “The security team can–”

Millie held up a hand. “I’m aware of what the security team can do. Mila will take it better coming from Liam, and frankly, she’s my main concern.”

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