Page 37 of How to Win the Wild Billionaire

“The penguin she wanted last week was also called Fluffy,” Roisin told him, sotto voce.

“I’m taking them to a luxurious beach resort in Mozambique,” Digby told Roisin. He’d thought long and hard on where to go, looking for a place that was both isolated and interesting, finally remembering that the Tempest-Vane Holdings leisure division was considering buying a five-star resort in Mozambique on one of the small islands in the Bazaruto Archipelago. He and Radd had been meaning to make a trip up there but hadn’t gotten that far...

Five minutes later, he had a number in his hand and ten minutes later, he had the excited owner promising him their best villa. He’d fly the Tempest-Vane helicopter to the airport, hop on their private jet and in a few hours the three of them could be sitting on the beach as the sun went down.

“I’m worried about her. She’s tired and stressed,” Digby told Roisin, remembering her blue-ringed eyes and gaunt face.

Roisin looked worried. “I know. She came to see Olivia earlier and I could tell she’d been crying.” Roisin tucked a long dark curl behind her ear. “If you take her away, you can’t let her work—she has to eat decent food and you have to make sure she relaxes and sleeps. She needs to be at her best next week.”

“Yes, mom,” Digby dryly responded. Roisin was acting like a mother hen. Then again, he was acting like one too.

Wait, she’d mentioned next week...

“So you know about the custody hearing?” Digby asked. If so, she and Roisin were closer than he’d realized.

“I do. And I made a witness statement saying what a great mom she is,” Roisin replied. Digby saw the concern in her eyes. “But how are you going to make sure that nobody knows she’s with you, Digby? She’s terrified of the press linking the two of you together.”

He was aware. While he knew it was necessary, it still pissed him off.

“I’ve snuck in many a high-profile guest for a press-free, low-key weekend at The Vane. I’m sure I can use those same skills to smuggle them off the premises without anyone knowing. Helicopters and private planes ensure privacy.”

“And what about clothes and toiletries?” Roisin asked.

“I put in a call to the manager of the boutique on the premises and if she needs to, she’ll employ the services of a personal shopper to get everything they need.”

Roisin, finally, looked impressed. “You’ve thought of everything.”

He hoped so. Now he just had to get Bay and Liv to the helipad at the back of the property. Digby, impatient to leave, turned back to the screen. His eyes fell to Olivia’s hands and he muttered a quiet curse when he saw she was drawing squiggles on his tie. How the hell had she managed to do that without either of them noticing?

Digby saw that Roisin was about to chastise Olivia but he lifted his hand to wave her off. “It’s just a tie.”

“It’s a damn expensive tie.”

Pale green and ever so slightly embossed with a fine gray pattern, it was Hermès and a limited edition. But still, just a tie.

Digby stood up and placed Olivia, who was still holding his ink-covered tie in her hand, on his hip. Roisin held out her arms to Liv and Digby transferred his sweet-smelling bundle to her. “Let’s go, princess, we’ve got stuff to do.”

Olivia pursed her rosebud mouth. “’Kay. Are we going to see Mommy Bay? ’Cos I want to ask her if I can have an elephant.”

Digby grinned and dropped a kiss on her nose. “You do that, kid. Maybe she’ll be more reasonable than Ro-Ro.”

“Funny,” Roisin said, as she left his office.

Again, no deference. And, again, he really didn’t mind.

CHAPTER EIGHT

OLIVIALOVEDTHEhelicopter ride to the airport, Bay not so much. It wasn’t that she didn’t like flying and, while she was fully confident of Digby’s ability to handle the craft—like everything else he did, he operated the helicopter with complete control and confidence—she just wasn’t crazy about the amount of space between her and the ground.

But the combination of a helicopter and private jet flying meant a quick trip to Bazaruto Island. They’d arrived way before sunset and had been able to take Olivia to the beach and to explore the rock pools directly below the house. There were, Bay thought, perks to being megarich.

She’d never been to Mozambique before and she was very happy to have been kidnapped and whisked away to this aqua playground with her two favorite people. The Bazaruto Archipelago was, as Radd had told her, a protected marine reserve and national park, a place where the sand dunes rolled onto the white sand beaches playing kiss-kiss with the clear, azure ocean.

It was all that and more. Stunningly beautiful and indescribably romantic.

The villa was also amazing. It was a modern, super luxurious open-plan building with four bedrooms, as many bathrooms and a huge living area with one-eighty-degree views of the sea and sand. The shaded entertainment area, dotted with comfortable loungers, overlooked the rock pools. It was a minute walk through the dune grass to a private beach. The next house, Digby told her, was a distance away; they were completely and utterly secluded.

Bay pulled a sheet up Olivia’s tiny body and pushed her curls off her forehead. She’d run herself ragged on the beach, and bathing and feeding the exhausted toddler had been a nightmare. But Bay managed both and, not two minutes after her head was on the pillow, she was deeply asleep.

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