Page 90 of Raul
“I’ve been doing the same,” he confessed. “Of course, the press office would have flagged it immediately, but I couldn’t stop myself from setting my own alerts.” He gave her a direct gaze. “We owe you a great deal for your insight. I’m sorry that only I know that.”
“For God’s sake, you don’t owe me anything.” She waved away his gratitude. “I was terrified my suggestion would backfire.”
“It was a gamble,” he said with a shrug. “But what did we have to lose?” He shifted in the chair, making it creak. “You helped me with something else as well.”
She waited.
“My father was not happy when I told him what I had done. He did not want me to meet with Odette again. He spoke out of love and concern,” Raul said firmly. “But I told him that it was my choice to make. And he agreed…after some arguing.”
Raul twisted his dragon ring a few times before he lifted his gaze to hers.
“You showed me that we can be different from our fathers. And that my father might be open to my ideas. Something shifted in the dynamic between us, as though our relationship had reached a different balance with more on my shoulders. But in a positive way.” He waved his hand. “It’s hard to explain.”
“I get it. It happened to me when I received my commercial pilot’s certificate.”
She had shown the plastic card to her mother, knowing Mama would be thrilled for her. Her father had casually strolled over to where her mother was hugging her and asked to see the certificate. He had turned it over in his hands a couple of times before he looked up at her. She had seen something in his face that she had always hoped for and never received before—respect. For a moment, they had faced each other as equals. Then he had handed her the card, saying,You’d think it would look more impressive after all that time and money.
“It was the first time my father saw me as a capable adult,” Erica continued. “Not a child to be ordered around.” She gave a tight smile. “Of course, that didn’t last long.”
Raul barked out a short laugh. “We’ll always be children to our parents. Maybe that’s not a terrible thing.”
A wave of loss swamped her. She would never get the chance to earn another glimpse of respect in her father’s eyes. And thenanger surged in another wave. He had chosen to leave her and her mother so he could die a hero’s death. He cared more about the sailors he’d gone back to rescue than about his own family. The pain of his abandonment swamped the anger, as it always did.
Raul must have caught some sign in her face. “I’m sorry you never got to see how your relationship with your father would grow and change.”
“At least I got to know my father,” Erica said. “You lost your mother before you could.”
“It’s hard to miss someone you never knew.” He lowered his injured foot to the patio. “Much as I would prefer to stay here with you, duty calls.”
His preference for her company was clearly genuine, and she hugged the knowledge tight as she stood.
Raul’s gaze skimmed down her body. “I wish…” He shook his head and crooked his elbow. “Shall we?”
She slipped her hand through his arm, lifting her head high. Walking back into the party escorted by the prince would be her little triumph.
As they started toward the door, it opened, and Pascal stepped onto the patio, nodding to Erica. “Señor,you asked to be kept apprised of al-Buya’s movements. He left the party half an hour ago, and his yacht just weighed anchor and departed from the harbor.”
“Joder!I must have spooked him when I asked for a tour,” Raul said. “This makes him look very guilty, but how did he get the dragon and her eggs onto his yacht?”
“A determined smuggler can almost always find a way to get things onto a boat,” Pascal said. “Yarza has been around for a long time. He may even have someone at Customs in his pocket.”
“Can’t you just send a police boat out to stop him?” Erica asked, her hand still resting on Raul’s arm.
Raul grimaced. “It gets touchy with a sovereign from another country. There’s a certain amount of diplomatic immunity unless there’s strong evidence of a crime. We’ve got virtually no evidence right now.”
“So Mikel can’t do anything?” Erica had a great deal of respect for Mikel Silva’s unorthodox methods.
“I can’t bother him right now,” Raul said. “He’s coordinating security for this party and all the other wedding guests who are still scattered around the island. It would be unwise to interfere with that. Pascal, any ideas?”
“I can get my hands on a fast boat, but I don’t know if it will be able to catch the yacht since we don’t know which direction it’s headed,” Pascal said. “I think we need a helicopter.”
Raul turned toward Erica. “Didn’t you say you could fly a helicopter?”
“I just got my rotorcraft license a few days ago.” Erica pulled her hand away from his arm and stepped back. He wanted her to land on the deck of a moving ship. At night. In the middle of the ocean. The idea was terrifying, especially with the weighty responsibility of having the prince as her passenger.
“I understand.” Raul gave her a half smile before he turned to Pascal. “Know any helicopter pilots you could contact right now?”
“They’d be military,” Pascal said.
