Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79328 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79328 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Shit. He was going to ask questions. And I was going to have to lie.
The realization settled heavily in my chest, but I knew it was the right call. Simon didn’t need to know what Chuck had offered me. Not now. Not when we were so close to achieving what we’d come here to accomplish.
This weekend was about proving to Alexander that Simon was the right partner for the expansion of Neptune’s Kingdom. That Powers Investment Group had the vision, the resources, and the integrity to help Alexander build something lasting. Chuck was competition, yes, but he was also a distraction, and if Simon found out about the bribe attempt, he wouldn’t just be distracted. He’d be furious.
I knew Simon well enough by now to predict exactly how he’d react. He’d confront Chuck, probably publicly, and whatever careful diplomacy we’d built with Alexander would crumble in the fallout. Alexander valued family, stability, trustworthiness. A shouting match between two potential business partners in the middle of his resort wouldn’t exactly inspire confidence.
And honestly? Chuck’s pathetic attempt at bribery wasn’t worth derailing everything we’d worked for.
Beyond the business implications, there was something else more personal that made me want to shield Simon from this. I didn’t know the details, but I was now aware that it was Chuck’s betrayal that had destroyed their first company. Learning that Chuck was still playing dirty, still willing to manipulate and scheme to get what he wanted, would only dredge up old wounds. And Simon deserved better than to spend this weekend seething over ancient grudges.
No, I decided. This was my problem, and I’d already handled it. Chuck had shown his hand, and I’d shut him down. He knew now that I couldn’t be bought, that his money meant nothing to me. With any luck, he’d slink back to his disinterested wife and unruly children and leave us alone for the rest of the weekend.
And if he didn’t—if he tried something else—I’d deal with that too.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Simon
I frowned as I spotted Raina and Chuck in the hallway just outside the restaurant while I was talking with Alexander. Her back was to me, so I couldn’t see her expression, but I had a clear view of Chuck’s face, and the smirk curving his lips set my teeth on edge. Something about the way he was looking at her, the predatory gleam in his eyes, made my protective instincts flare hot and immediate.
I excused myself from my conversation with Alexander, who was eager to rejoin his family anyway, and made my way toward them. Raina turned away from Chuck just as I approached, and I caught the flash of irritation tightening her features before she smoothed it away.
I slipped an arm around her waist, acutely aware that Chuck was watching. The gesture came naturally now—these casual touches that had started as performance and evolved into something I craved. She fit perfectly against me, her body molding to mine like we’d been doing this for years instead of just a week.
But she was stiff. Tense in a way that had nothing to do with me.
I guided her away from Chuck, keeping my pace unhurried even as questions burned on my tongue. Only when we were well out of earshot did I lean down to murmur near her ear.
“Everything okay?”
Raina exhaled slowly. “Just Chuck doing what he does best. Trying to undermine things.”
Vague. Deliberately so, I suspected. But while annoyance still lingered in her eyes, she didn’t seem shaken, just irritated. I knew Raina well enough by now to trust that she could hold her own against someone like Chuck. Whatever he’d said, she’d diffused the situation, so I didn’t press further. For now.
“It’s still early,” I said, changing the subject. “Want to check out the hot tubs?”
The tension in her shoulders eased, replaced by a small smile that made something warm unfurl in my chest. “That sounds perfect.”
We returned to the suite to change, and now that we were alone again I was very aware of the sexual tension that was still so evident between us. It had been almost an entire week since I’d touched her—really touched her, the way I’d been dying to. I’d kept my hands to myself deliberately, wanting to prove that what I felt went beyond physical attraction. Wanting her to understand that she was more than a woman to warm my bed.
But God, I still craved her.
Raina disappeared into the bathroom with her swimsuit, and I changed in the main room, pulling on board shorts and trying to steady my breathing. This was fine. We were just going to relax in a hot tub. Nothing had to happen. Then she walked out and my body responded instantly, blood rushing south so fast it made me dizzy.
She was wearing a one-piece. Not the most revealing swimsuit I’d ever seen, but it clung to her curves in a way that left absolutely nothing to my imagination. The sleek material was a deep sapphire blue that made her eyes brighter, with strategic cutouts at the sides revealing the smooth skin of her waist and hips.