Page 68 of The Virgin Clause (Caprice Langden)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

- Dante -

“WHEN YOU DIDN’T RETURNmy call, I thought you were stealing the damn plane,” Christian Delacroix growled in his lightly accented English as soon as he answered the phone.

I sought refuge in a private room at the resort’s business center. The hurt look on Noemi’s face when I said I was leaving was all I could see. Staring at a frosted glass wall with the words Grand Tropican painted on it suited me better.

“I have priorities. You’re not top of the list,” I bit back honestly.

I may have borrowed his multi-million-dollar private jet, but its use equaled the money he owed me. I didn’t owe him anything else and I sure as fuck didn’t owe him an explanation of my time. Delacroix was nowhere near the top of my list. If I had to number my priorities from one to ten, Noemi, or something concerning Noemi, were numbers one through eight.

Delacroix chuckled. “No,” he answered. “I wouldn’t expect to be. As always, I appreciate your candidness.” I knew he was serious again when his French accent dominated his English. Having known him for years, it was a tell that something was on his mind.

“Tell me, Calegari, are you traveling alone?”

“None of your damned business,” I snapped before I even thought to master my tone.

The question, as well as my immediate reaction, caught me off guard. It wasn’t like he didn’t already know the answer. It was his crew, his damn plane. He knew who was on it and where it went. He only owed me a favor because I found out that a contract I took was on a man who had been contracted for a hit onhim. I did the job I was hired to do then shared what little information I had, out of professional courtesy, not because I liked the man or anything. Like I told Noemi, he was a pretentious dick, but he was a powerful pretentious dick and staying on his good side was to my advantage. He used the information I gave him to start an investigation into who wanted him bad enough to hire someone to make it happen. I had no idea how successful he’d been with his inquiries but when I called in the favor he owed me, he didn’t hesitate to agree to it.

“I understand you like your privacy, Calegari, but as you once disclosed important information to me, I am now inclined to return the favor. Not out of any fealty to you, of course, but because, like you, I don’t like seeing innocent young women get hurt.”

Noemi. The bastard already knew I wasn’t travelling alone.

“Is that a threat?” I asked, my temper allowing me to slip back into my usual stoic demeanor.

“Not at all. I should laugh. It’s refreshing to see that someone has the power to affect you. The thing is, if she has that power over you, what will happen if someone decides to take advantage of that knowledge and wield that power against you?”

I was fully aware of the risks of getting close to Noemi. That’s why I used a private plane from someone I thought I could trust. That’s why I brought her to the Grand Tropican where guests were anonymous numbers and rarely interacted with each other. That’s why I drove her around with a blindfold over her eyes.

I needed people to think she was expendable, just another submissive here for a fun weekend, another toy to be used and discarded. I needed people to believe that she was a no one. One night. I just wanted one fucking night at the resort with her before I hid her aboard my yacht for the next week.

There was a reason Delacroix brought Noemi into the conversation. The idea of why he did it sent a cold chill down my spine.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “If you have something to tell me, get on with it.”

He was quiet, wisely choosing his words carefully. “There’s a rumor in the group. I haven’t confirmed it. I just heard it today, so I thought I’d do you the same favor you did me. Before it’s too late. They say that you’re a marked man.”

My stomach clenched. “There’s a contract?”

“Not that I’ve seen. Yet. It’s possible it is just a rumor. That someone has their information wrong.”

I had enemies. It wasn’t a shock to think that someone wanted me dead. The timing had to be coincidental. These rumors popped up just as I left the country with Noemi.

I looked at my watch. I still had three hours before I had to meet Noemi for dinner.

“Thanks for the information,” I said, already mentally preparing for what I needed to do next.

“I would have waited and told you after I confirmed the information, but under the circumstances, I thought you’d want to know as soon as possible. I know I would.”

If he thought I was going to stay on the phone and chat with him about the fact that someone was possibly trying to kill me, he was mistaken.

I let my silence be my response.

He chuckled when I didn’t answer him. “You realize this means you owemenow?”

I took the phone away from my ear and hung up on him. If he was going to gloat, fuck him.

I scrolled through my contacts and called the next man on my list.

“Calegari, it’s about fucking time.”

“Andy,” I drawled. “What can I do for you?”

“Are you sitting down?” he asked dramatically. “I have something you need to know.”

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