Make Her Pay (22 page)

“I am,” she admitted.

“Not yet, you’re not.” He flattened his tongue over her breast, then sucked again, shooting sparks behind her eyes, in her belly, between her legs. His thumb twirled over her, his fingers flicked and fluttered, over and over until the need to free her hands was long forgotten, her brain only able to focus on bits and pieces.

The smell of salt on his skin. The achy thrum in her core. The zing of her nerve endings, the tickle of his leg hair, the wetness of his kisses, the moans from his chest, the feel of flesh against flesh, mouth against mouth, man against woman. His erection pressed against her thigh, burning and branding and making her beg to touch him-but he didn’t relent.

“Now you come apart.” One more shocking kiss.
“Now.”

The demand was incendiary, intoxicating, impossible to ignore as he stroked her inside, licked her outside, fired her everywhere.

She panted breathlessly as the shudder started low inside her and built, the orgasm almost within reach.

Her eyes closed, she couldn’t think, couldn’t let go of the sensation about to overtake her.

She felt his fingers withdraw, heard a condom packet rip, and opened her eyes to see him position his hardon between her legs. He thrust into her, all the way, shocking her, taking her, owning her.

He plunged in again, holding perfectly still, suspending them both, then pumped fast and furious until her orgasm exploded deep and intense and long, making her cry out.

Then he finally let go, releasing himself into her with crushing, insistent strokes and a sweet, sweet moan of satisfaction.

Lax and spent, he laid on her, their breathing labored and ragged, their skin heated from the rush.

After they finally quieted, he said, “Now you can ask questions.”

She smiled. “You answered them all.”

Con shifted to his side. “But I need to tell you something, Lizzie. I shouldn’t have waited, but I couldn’t help it.”

She put her hand on his lips. “Don’t.”

“You don’t know what I’m going to say.”

“It doesn’t matter what you’re going to say. I want to say something first, without you making any speeches or statements or confessions or announcements.”

He fought a smile. “You’d like the one I’m about to make, trust me.”

“You’ll like the one
I’m
about to make,” she countered, sliding over him to pull his whole body into hers. “It doesn’t matter.”

He waited for her to continue. “That’s it?”

“What else is there? The past is past? You’re clearly doing everything to change your life?” She stroked his cheek gently. “Your colors are true, Con. You risked your life to save my sister. You couldn’t have shown me what you’re made of better than that.”

“Funny thing. I was thinking the same thing about you.”

She smiled. “We’re a good pair.”

“We are.”

“And you…” She just had to know this. “You aren’t planning to take my scepter and diamond and give it to Paxton.”

“No.”

There was just enough hesitation to give her a squeeze of doubt. “Con? Are you lying?”

“No, I’m not. That
was
my plan, but not now-I swear it. The truth will come out. I promise.”

She saw nothing but honesty in his eyes. “Then you’re going to prove it.”

“How?”

“I’ll tell you who has it. I’m going to trust you with that information, and you’re not going to do anything with it.”

“All right.”

“I gave it to Sam Gorman.”

“And he’ll keep it safe?”

“Of course. He certainly won’t give it to Paxton. He’s on my-our side.”

“I give you my word I won’t touch it.” He kissed her softly.

She smiled. “We
are
a good pair. Now, what were you going to tell me?”

“You know that box I brought in?”

She rose up a little to see it on the floor. “Yeah. What is it?”

“The original manifest of
El Falcone
. Letters between Bettencourt and Captain Dare. Proof that your great-times-many-grandfather was legit. Everything you need to clear his name when you take your scepter and diamond on its exhibit tour.”

For a few seconds, she couldn’t even process what he was saying. “Letters? Proof?”

“And if the other one is ever found, then you have a claim to it, wherever it is.”

She pushed herself up, the words still barely sinking in. “You have proof and you didn’t tell me when you walked in?”

He smiled. “I knew that once you opened that box, you’d forget all about me.”

She nearly shoved him off her, rolling out of the little bed and landing on her feet, pouncing on the box. She kneeled in front of it, staring, then turned to Con.

He sat on the bed, as naked as she, grinning. “Go ahead. Open it.”

She did, almost afraid to touch the parchment papers inside. She lifted the first one, the words swimming as if they were underwater, the Spanish slowly making sense.

El completos manfiestan El Falcone, Aramis Dare, el capitán.
Sin registrada.

She blinked, sending a tear down her cheek, and she automatically moved the paper so it wouldn’t get wet.

“I told you you’d forget about me when you saw it.”

She looked up at him, another tear escaping. “No, Con. Nothing in the world could
ever
make me forget about you. I believe in you. And I know you’d never do anything to break that trust.”

“No.” Con’s smiled wavered, then disappeared. “I wouldn’t.”

“I have to tell Bree. I have to show this to her.”

“Go ahead,” he said. “Take it. I need to hit the shower anyway.”

As she stood, her gaze fell on the open bag near the foot of the bed, her
Gold Digger
baseball cap tucked into the side pocket. Scooping it up, she bounded over to the bed.

“Here you go, sweetheart.” She placed it on his head, tugging on the bill. “For ‘first hands’ on the best recovery of the trip so far.”

He just smiled. “Thanks.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

FOR A LONG time after Lizzie left, Con sat on the bed folding the cap in his hands.

How did this get so freaking complicated?

Was it when he agreed to accept Lucy’s challenge and get that scepter from Lizzie and give it to Judd Paxton? Or just a few hours ago, when he found the second one, and cooked up a scheme that suited his needs but no one else’s?

Life was easier before he grew a conscience. Life was easier before Lizzie.

Empty, quiet, lonely, boring, and bland-but easier.

The bottom line was that as long as he gave either scepter to Judd Paxton, he was lying to her. And he cared too much for her to do that anymore.

Lucy wasn’t going to like it, but-

The phone vibrated in his hand, and he swore when he read the ID. He wanted to call her first, damn it.

“Hey, Luce. I was just about to call you.”

“It’s getting late and Avery has compiled a lot of information for you. I spoke with my contact at the Azorean police, and you’ll be cleared to leave there this afternoon.”

“Fine, we can do that, but I have to tell you something. There’s been a change-”

“Yes, there has, because I’m not finished.”

Damn, the woman liked control.

“Solange Bettencourt’s husband, Jaeger, is the man Judd Paxton has lined up to buy the scepters and diamonds should they be recovered from
El Falcone
.”

“Really.”

“In fact, he financed this dive, because he is the person who first found the map that pinpointed the location. Clearly there is a connection between his wife’s awareness of the recovery effort and her death.”

“There’s a connection, all right. She had the other scepter.”

“Excuse me?”

“I found it, hidden in her windmill.” It wasn’t how he’d wanted to tell Lucy, but all his plans seemed to implode the minute Lizzie forgave him his past.

“You’re serious?” Lucy said when he didn’t offer any more details. “You found it there?”

“Along with original documentation that supports Lizzie’s theory that Bettencourt tried to rob Aramis Dare, and in the process the scepters got separated.”

“Are you sure it’s authentic?”

“We can have it checked, but it looks real. And it explains a lot.”

“Like what?” Lucy asked.

“My guess is Jaeger Bettencourt didn’t know that one of his treasures had never made it to that ship, and that his ancestor had hidden it. Then, his estranged wife found it. And I don’t think she killed herself. Unless the police are complete morons, they are going to figure that out when they examine the body. I don’t know how long she was dead when we found her, but there was no one around, and no one passed us on the road down. I don’t know who could have been up there-”

“I do. The phone calls she made to the U.S. were to someone on
El Falcone
.”

“Who?”

“Sam Gorman.”

Sam…
who had the other scepter
. “How does he know Solange?”

“It’s not clear he did. But Charlotte Gorman did some conservator work for the Bettencourts’ art collection, and they may have stayed in touch. But there’s another connection that troubles me even more.”

“What’s that?”

“Recently, the Gormans donated a considerable amount of money to sponsor a diving expedition off the coast of Mexico.”

“Is that unusual?” Con asked.

“The expedition was run by Dylan Houser, the man who was with Malcolm Dare on his last fatal dive. So, what’s unusual is that the Gormans and Houser have at least a monetary connection. And the Bullet Catcher research database showed at least one other identity for Houser: a Douglas Haberstroh, who checks out as a freelance diver, mostly out of the country, where he allegedly is now. None of this proves anything, of course, but it all makes me uncomfortable-especially since Sam and Charlotte Gorman are on Corvo Island right now.”

“What?”

“They flew in directly and went through customs early today.”

“Then they couldn’t have killed Solange.” But the fact that they were there made him want to race to be sure Lizzie was safe.

“They still need to be brought in for questioning. I want you to find them and get them to the authorities, and arrange for them to be transported back to the States.”

“Will do.”

“And congratulations on getting both scepters,” Lucy added. “Judd will be thrilled. Great work.”

He was already checking his weapon and pulling a shirt over his head with one hand. “I’m not giving them to Judd Paxton, Lucy,” he said simply. “They belong to Lizzie Dare. The docs I found prove that. She’s keeping them.” End of discussion.

“The documentation has to be verified as authentic,” she said coolly. “And one was located during a dive sponsored and managed by Paxton Treasures.” She waited a beat. “Have you changed your mind about working for me?”

“I have had a change of heart, period. I’d very much like to work for you, but my position on this isn’t going to change.”

“That’s very noble, Con, but in this company, I call the shots. If you can’t work within those parameters, then you can’t work for me.”

“Fine.” The Bullet Catchers weren’t the only game in the world. Just the best.

He heard Lucy’s soft sigh of disappointment. “You told me you could do this. And I believed you wanted to dig deep and find the good man that lived inside a thief’s body.”

He laughed softly. “I did, Lucy. Only you weren’t the right woman to help me with that.” He hung up, and set off to finish the job-his way.

“You’re awake!” Lizzie peeked into the only patient room in the back of Corvo’s tiny clinic. “How do you feel?”

Her sister turned slowly, obviously still in pain. “Like I was shot at and blown into a gristmill.”

“Well, you were, sweetie.” Lizzie sighed with relief and love. Leaving the door open in case she needed a nurse, she approached the hospital bed, taking in Bree’s pale skin and heavily bandaged arm.

Bandaged and hurting, but alive. Once again, she closed her eyes and thanked Con.

“What’s that?” Bree asked, her gaze on the box.

Lizzie grinned and lifted it. “A little something to improve your mood.”

“Painkillers? Massive amounts. Street grade. Throw in a martini, and I’ll be happy.”

Lizzie laughed. “Okay, I’ll ask the nurse for meds.”

“Don’t worry, she just left to get them. What is it?”

“You will not believe what Con found.”

Even in her weakened condition, she managed a raised eyebrow. “Where did you find Con?
That’s
the question.”

“I told you, on the
Gold Digger
. And he’s not just another diver, Bree.”

“No shit. He’s a really hot diver.” “He’s a consultant for a security company. Like a high-end bodyguard and protection specialist.”

“Are you sleeping with him?”

She grinned enough to answer the question.

“So you got to go on the dive, find the most amazing treasure,
and
do some Greek god while I sifted through Daddy’s paperwork?
That
was fair.”

“Your sifting days are over. This is the
real
treasure.”

Bree tried to sit up and cringed in pain. “What is it?”

“Proof that everything Dad believed about Aramis Dare and
El Falcone
was absolutely true.”

She got up then, eyes widening, broken ribs forgotten. “What? How did you get it?”

“Con found it after he finished his interviews with the police.”

“Oh my God. Show it to me.”

“No, show it to
us
.”

Lizzie whipped around, shocked by the familiar voice as the door opened the rest of the way. “Sam! What are you doing here?”

Sam’s blue eyes twinkled as he stepped in, followed by a smiling but tearful Charlotte, who reached for Brianna. “Look at you! It’s even worse than they said.”

Lizzie stood, still trying to accept that they were there. “How did you ever find us?”

Sam nudged his wife. “Thank Miss Relentless here.”

Charlotte gave a gentle pat to Brianna, looking up at Lizzie. “Sam told me everything, and I was worried about you. After what happened to Alita and the whole dive going south, I just had a bad feeling. When he told me that you were planning to come here to fetch your sister, I just thought…” She angled her head, her eyes sympathetic. “You two have no parents. This is what your parents would do.”

Brianna gave her a strange look. “Did you even know my dad?”

“Not long enough,” she replied, ignoring the rude tone in Brianna’s voice.

Lizzie noticed it, though, and chalked it up to pain. And the fact that Charlotte and Sam hadn’t been married that long and Brianna might not have been on any of the dives they were on with Dad.

“You didn’t answer your door the next day, and this one had me on a flight in hours,” Sam said. He moved closer to the bed, glancing at the unopened strongbox. “You look pretty beat up, young lady. They told us you had an accident in a windmill.”

“Who told you?” Lizzie asked, still trying to figure out how they got there, and in so little time. It seemed impossible that they could have waited for her to leave.

“The men in customs,” Sam said. “As soon as we mentioned we were looking for two American women, they knew you’d been brought to this clinic.”

“It’s a very small island,” Charlotte said, sitting on the bed and stroking Brianna’s leg. “Everybody knows everybody’s business.”

“So what
is
that?” Sam pointed to the box.

“Treasure,” Lizzie said.

Sam’s eyes lit up as they always did at the mention of the word. “I like the sound of that. What kind of treasure?”

Lizzie hesitated. But after handing over the scepter to Sam, it seemed a little crazy not to tell him everything. She flipped the latch and slowly opened the box. “Everything we need to vindicate Aramis Dare is right here. All we need now is the other scepter and diamond, and all of Dad’s dreams will come true.”