Page 11 of Ruthless Commander
That was his name. I looked down at the black and white surveillance image of him in Mauritius on my phone. The photo had been taken a week ago by my own private investigator. One I'd paid very well indeed.
“Gotcha,” I whispered, staring at the image once more. I didn’t want to close it down, zooming the image of his face until it filled my screen. Those lips…those fucking lips I felt in my sleep.
I swiped my cell and pressed the unknown number, listening to it ring three times before it was answered. “I trust you received the file?”
“Yes. Is he still there?”
“Yes.”
I swallowed hard, trying to keep the tremble out of my voice. “Good. I’ll be sending you a bonus.”
“Pleasure doing business with you, Ms. Davies,” she said and hung up the call.
Ms. Davies…
Mateo’s voice echoed in my head. I’d give anything to hear it once more. I rose from my desk, listening to thebangof a door come from somewhere in the house.
“Fucking bitch!”my brother screamed.
“Another one bites the dust,” I murmured, and strode into my closet, pulling out my smaller suitcase. My brother was a controlling pain in the ass, almost as bad as my father. And right now, they both had their own problems. It sounded like my brother’s latest girlfriend had just left his ass and there'd been something about an attack at one of the shipping yards my family owned, an attack that had kept my father busy.
I didn’t really know about the attack…nor did I care.
I had my own project, getting to Mauritius and finding my not-so-secret lover once more.
I didn’t care if he was married or a goddamn priest. I didn’t care about whatever reason he'd had to run after our encounter in the first place. Short of him not wanting me, I was determined to take what was mine, and Mateo Ristaniwasmine. I wanted him. In averybad way. The only thing stopping us washim...and my escape out of here.
Thebangof a door came again and this time the sound of my brother’s Ferrari followed. “Sounds like one down. Now to get past good ‘ol cheating dad.”
I opened my small suitcase and started packing, loading my best lingerie, then stopped.What if he didn’t want me?What if I was flying halfway across the world to make a damn fool of myself? I froze, my heart booming, but I decided I didn’t care.
I yanked the zipper closed on my suitcase, then hurried to pack my passport and made a move to call our family’s jet, then stopped. My family’d know in an instant where I was heading. Maybe they wouldn’t know why, but the last thing I needed was them knowinganything.
With a wince, I grabbed my cell and made a call, booking a first-class seat to Mauritius, leaving in four hours. Plenty of time to get out of here. I called a taxi, grabbed my things, then walked out the door.
And was met with silence.
I made my way along the corridor, stopping at the sound of muffled sobs coming from my parents' wing in the house. A pang of agony tore through me with the sound, then I forced myself to move, to leave this mess of a damn family behind, and headed out the door.
Thirty minutes later, I was ignoring stares as I nursed a glass of Scotch in the private lounge at the airport. My damn hand shook as I lifted the glass, hating how memories of that night slammed into me with the touch of the rim against my lips. The truth was, everything reminded me of that night.
Life was my own private torture chamber ofalmost.I unlocked my cell and found the PI’s message and opened the attachment, looking at Mateo Ristani once more.Ms. Davies…
Christ, I hated how my heart fluttered when I stared into those dark, empty eyes, hated how a simple fucking hour had so much control over my life. I couldn’t move on, couldn’t have a relationship. I couldn’t plan a goddamn future, not until he was out of my system. I closed my eyes. Out of it or part of it. Either way, I was fucked…
The call for my flight came over the speaker overhead. I rose, drained my glass and grabbed my bag. Ten hours, ten hours and a shower and I guess I was going to find out one way or the other.
* * *
So this waswhere Mateo Ristani lived when he wasn’t hiding behind curtains waiting for unsuspecting women. I lifted my gaze to the expensive apartment building, my gaze lingering on the darkened penthouse windows. “You sure he’s not here.”
“Positive.”
I glanced at the PI standing behind me, leaning against the brick wall. “And your man knows what to do?”
He just gave a nod. I hoped so…he was taking a nice chunk of my money for the damn effort.
“He knows,” Liam answered. “You really want go through with this? You don’t really know the guy.”
