Bea blushes and swats lightly at his chest. “Stop. We’re going to repulse Zan and Nick, and we’ll be back to doing things alone.” She adds in a confidential voice, “None of the other couples can stand us. They find our love nauseating.”
Zan laughs as she releases my hand and leads the way onto the dock, past the smaller boats to our day-trip sized vessel, chugging away in the second to last slip. The captain hasn’t turned off the engine, and two local men in tattered khakis and light blue polo shirts stand beside the docking lines, ready to free them at a moment’s notice.
I try to think of some way to signal that they should shove our unwanted company into the water before we board, but I don’t speak Balinese, and these men have no idea what kind of voyage they’ve been hired to crew. In accordance with Union Ten protocols, only the captain will be aware that we’re special customers, and even then, they won’t know the entire story, only that we’re important passengers with associates willing to spend boatloads of money to keep us out of trouble.
“That isn’t very charitable of them,” Zan tells Bea. “But don’t worry. Nick and I aren’t like that. We love love. The cheesier, the better. Right, Dimples?”
“Absolutely, Zanny Wanny.” I lift a hand to the two men by the ropes and start toward the gangplank from the dock to the boat’s main deck.
Alexandra groans behind me. “See? So cheesy. We’ll be nauseating you before the day’s over.”
I stop at the end of the gangway, extending a hand toward the boat as I meet Stefano’s gaze. “She’s right. Last chance to bail while we’re still on dry land.”
Stefano smiles, a hard curve of his lips that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Never. I’m looking forward to this.”
“Me, too,” Beatrice says, grinning a much sweeter grin. “I’m so glad we’ll all get to know each other better. It will make the wedding even more fun this summer.”
Beatrice starts aboard with Zan close behind her, chattering away about wedding venues and travel plans and insisting Zan and I should fly in a few days early so she can show us around Capri.
“After you,” I murmur to Stefano as he stops in front of me.
His dark eyes glitter with more pure, annoying-as-fuck smugness. “No, after you. I insist.”
God, I want to punch him in his stupid mouth. So much.
But I don’t.
I’m a law-abiding citizen. When I take Stefano into custody, I’ll do so with a clear recitation of his rights and firmly applied handcuffs.
Dammit, I really hope I can take him into custody today. If I don’t, I’ll likely never be this close to him again. It won’t be safe. If I want to remain alive, I’ll have to stay far away from Stefano and his people.
Once he has a chance to grass on me to other criminal organizations, my days of undercover work may be over for good.
Strangely, the thought doesn’t upset me.
But just now, it’s hard to feel anything but anxious and angry. I don’t want to turn my back on this man, not even for the few seconds it will take to walk up the plank to the deck.
“Nick, come on,” Zan calls from above. “I want to show you something. Beatrice found binoculars.”
I glance up to see her leaning over the railing by the gangway with a pair of heavy-looking black binoculars in one hand. As far as weapons go, it isn’t much, but it’s enough to cause a nasty bruise on Stefano’s skull if he tries something while my back is turned.
Zan’s got my six.
I’m not alone, and we’re going to get through this.
Together.
Hope threads through the anxiety that fills my chest, making it easier to draw breath. I inhale deeply and call, “Be right there.”
I glance back at Stefano and force a tight smile.
And then I board the boat, and it’s…fine.
Fine aside from the fact that Stefano’s smugness-level keeps climbing as the female captain comes over the speakers from the helm on the deck above ours, announcing in accented English, “Prepare for departure. Life jackets are under the bench seats if you’d like them. We should be arriving in Tuban in half an hour.”
“Tuban?” Beatrice echoes with a frown. “I thought we were going fishing?”
“We are, but the boat stops in Tuban first,” Zan explains. “Maybe we’re picking up more people or something?”
“I think so,” I confirm.
“Oh. Okay.” Beatrice casts a pointed look Stefano’s way. “Honey, are you okay?”
Stefano remains by the railing, watching the two men cast off and toss the ropes onto the deck. “I’m wonderful. Really looking forward to this.”
Beatrice’s forehead furrows again—clearly, she’s finding Stefano’s smugness a bit strange, too—but then she shakes her head and crosses to join Zan by the railing on the opposite side of the vessel. Bea says something I can’t make out over the surge of the engine as the boat pulls away from the dock.