Page 38 of Savage Ruin
Her brow furrows while she scrutinizes my face, but doesn’t say anything, just nods her agreement.
I give Claire a call as I head back to the bedroom to change. “Hey, Claire, it’s Grayson Santos. I want to confirm a time to meet today.” Quickly calculating the time to get there, I add another thirty minutes in case we run into traffic. “How about sometime between ten and noon? Give me a call back if the time doesn’t work for you.”
Claire has thrown various events for us over the years, so I know she’ll do a great job. I dress quickly and head downstairs to meet Thomas and his men.
Several SUVs line the driveway, and I scowl at the sight of them. I hate traveling in a convoy. Smoothing my expression, I glance around to find the man in charge. “Thomas?”
Surprisingly, a short, stocky man steps forward. Instead of the suit Diego always wore, he’s dressed in black combat fatigues and boots. In addition, he’s armed to the teeth with a side pistol, a large knife, and a shoulder holster with two pistols in it. And probably several hidden weapons, too. A professional. I already like him.
“I’m Thomas Sanders. Nice to meet you,” he says, shaking my hand with a firm grip. “Grayson, right? I’ll introduce you to my team and walk through the security procedures for today. If everything sounds good to you, we can leave whenever you’re ready.”
Direct, too. “Yes, Grayson. Thanks, I appreciate it.”
With a short signal, each bodyguard steps up and introduces him or herself, and provides a brief summary of their expertise. I’m grateful to see a few women in the group. They can accompany Henley to areas men can’t go.
“We’ll travel in two SUVs and one sedan. The car allows us to hang back and see things from a different angle. Two will accompany you in your SUV. Four will ride in the second SUV and the sedan. We’ve got our route mapped. I’ve texted it to you,” he states the details with military precision. “Once we arrive, the team will spread out over the yacht and on the ground, but one man and woman will stay close to you and Henley. Everything sound good to you?” He waits for my nod.
“Sounds excellent, thank you,” I state firmly.
Henley walks out the door in a pair of silky shorts and the blue blouse that matches her eyes. The one I told her was designated for going on a date. I swallow.
“Henley, let me introduce you to Thomas, who’s heading our personal security.”
I watch him closely, and the man’s eyes never drop to the gorgeous legs she’s got on display, winning my wholehearted approval.
“Good morning, Henley. If you need anything, let me or one of the members of my team know,” Thomas says quickly before introducing everyone to her. “So, are we ready to go?”
“Shall we?” I open the door with a flourish and help her into the vehicle.
Once she’s in her seat, I lean over and whisper, “I knew that blouse would look good on you. If only this were a date.”
Pink creeps up her neck and graces her beautiful cheeks. She turns and stares into my eyes. “I don’t recall you asking me on a date.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Touché, sweet Rose. Does that mean you’d be interested in going on a date with me?”
“You’ll never know unless you ask,” she returns nonchalantly, but her fingers are nervously pleating the edges of her shorts.
“Maybe I needed some encouragement,” I quip and shut the door. Walking around to get in my seat, I can’t help but anticipate the day I’d originally dreaded.
It takes little time to get to the yacht. Once the security team clears it, we board.
“This is insane,” Henley murmurs. “It’s bigger than I imagined. Ninety million dollars. That’s a hell of a lot of money, Grayson. And this isn’t even the only one. You have the fast boat we took out a few weeks ago, a sailboat, and this one.”
I tilt my head. “How do you know how much I paid? Ah, wait, never mind. Thiago informed us you were snooping in our accounts.” I snicker at the look on her face. “It’s fine. I don’t care. Most of my precious boats were bought with the money I made from NFTs. I consider it… play money, I guess. Why? Does it bother you?”
To my astonishment, she has to think about it. “Yes. No. I guess not. I mean, I wouldn’t want you telling me what to do with my money, so why should I care what you do with yours?”
I grunt. “Would you like a tour of my gorgeous girl, or do you want to relax while we wait for Claire?”
She swivels her head around to look at the deck we’re standing on. “Tour, definitely. What did you name this one?”
I hand her a bottle of water. “It’s called Redemption.” Ignoring the look on her face, I keep going. “This 278-foot yacht has four decks. The entry deck on the bottom is where we house the toys and the dinghy.” I let her look around, then motion to the stairs. My phone pings, and I pull it out to see a text from Claire confirming a time for the meeting.
Her shorts flutter in the breeze, and I get a long look at her beautiful legs. I sigh. “When you get to the top of these stairs, swivel and keep going. We’ll start at the top and work our way down.”
She continues up to the top deck, but she doesn’t wait for me. Her feet are already carrying her to the edge to look out, then down. “Wow, we’re so high.” She rests her arms on the railing. “It’s an incredible view. It’s going to be spectacular at night with the Miami lights and buildings surrounding us.” Her hand waves toward the buildings nearby.
“It’s amazing,” I confide. “Okay. This deck is mainly a lounge, although we do have a small fridge up here. It’s all about the view on this deck. We’re meeting Claire on the entertainment deck, but I’ll show you the main deck first. It’s two levels down.”
