Cold as Ice (Ice 2)

It was healthy.

She’d been worried about him. He’d been instrumental in Bastien’s desertion of their ranks, and he had to have wondered whether that was the answer for him. Bastien had been weak enough to fall in love— she sincerely doubted that Peter Jensen was even capable of such a liability.

Which worked in her favor—she couldn’t afford to lose him right now, when so many lives were hanging in the balance.

But even well-oiled machines could break down, and robots could go haywire, and whether Peter wanted to believe it or not, he had a conscience, albeit one buried so deep it would be hard to find.

It seemed to be surfacing at an unfortunate moment, but Madame Lambert held the firm belief that there were no mistakes. If Peter was having doubts about his orders then he was probably right to question them.

And there was nothing she could do from five thousand miles away but trust him.

8

To her amazement Genevieve had fallen asleep. When she woke, the sun was lower on the horizon and she couldn’t remember where she was.

Until she heard that infuriating voice from the doorway. “I thought you’d be busy planning your escape, not taking a nap.”

She’d locked her door. She should have known it would be a futile gesture—she could barely summon

up a trace of outrage. She’d fallen asleep in one of the chairs, and now she kept her gaze trained on the shimmering blue waters ahead of her, refusing to give him any attention. The house had been built on a knoll, and the view was gorgeous. Including the tactfully camouflaged stone wall and the shark-infested waters just beyond.

“I don’t suppose you’d consider knocking,” she said in a deceptively mild voice. “I realize it’s too much to ask you to let me lock the door, but a moment of warning would be considerate.”

He came into the room. He’d showered and changed and she could have kicked herself. For a short period of time he’d been relatively inattentive, and she could have made a run for it. Instead, she’d fallen asleep.

“It’s a good thing you didn’t try,” he said. He’d read her mind again. Was she really that transparent? No, she was a decent enough poker player when called upon. Any lawyer had to be able to bluff.

Peter Jensen was just particularly good at sensing people’s reactions, or he knew her better than she knew herself. She was much happier believing it was an innate talent, and not something personal.

“Why not?” She turned to give him her full attention. “Do you expect me to just roll over and play dead?”

A shame the mind reading didn’t go both ways. His face was completely impassive—the notion of death hung in the air with neither of them wanting to claim it.

“The house has an experimental security system,” he said after a moment. “If you try to open one of the doors or windows you’ll get an electric shock. Quite a severe one, I’m afraid, and I don’t think there’s anyone left on the island trained in CPR.”

“What about you?” Her voice was caustic. “I thought you could do anything.”

“Not my area of expertise,” he said. “I take lives, not save them.”

There was nothing she could say to that flat statement. “So we just sit here and wait for you to demonstrate your area of expertise?” she asked.

“The security system keeps the others out as well. Count your blessings.”

“Oh, I’m absolutely showered with them.”

There was a faint light of amusement in his eyes. “I do like you better when you fight back,” he said.

“My purpose in life is not to make you like me,” she said. “Unless it means you’ll let me leave. And take Harry with me.”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”

“I don’t believe that. I expect you can do anything you want.”

“I’m charmed by your high opinion of me,” he said. “But the fact remains that I have a job to do and I’m going to see that it’s done. It’s a matter of professional pride.”

“Then why are we talking?” she snapped.

“The house is booby-trapped—you try to leave, and you’ll get one hell of a shock. And I warned you about the waters around here. But the French doors off the living room are safe, and there are two swimming pools within the walls—one freshwater, one saltwater. Exercise might help you relax.”