The Ruthless Gentleman

Surely this wasn’t connected to Cannon. Bribing someone for information was one thing, but breaking and entering? It all seemed to reek of some kind of underground, criminal gang. James Cannon was a pig, but his collar was white. Perhaps it was graying in his old age.

“It could be nothing. But I’m going to check your flat and we’re going to check it for surveillance devices.”

“Jesus, Landon. This sounds like it’s getting out of control. Should the police be involved?”

“I’m on it. I’m probably being paranoid because of what that guy did to Dad, but I’m not taking any chances.” We hadn’t talked much about James Cannon being at the helm of Cannon. The man who’d tried to destroy my father and succeeded in many ways. We didn’t need to go over old ground. Landon understood how serious the situation was. We’d lived the aftermath of James Cannon our whole lives.

“Thanks, Landon. I appreciate it.”

“Okay, well I’m too busy to chat like sisters, so fuck off,” Landon said.

“Actually, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about. I want to get off this boat.” Even saying the words lifted my spirits. Avery still used my satellite phone periodically, and she was in the office and my bedroom to change sheets and towels, fiddle with the loo paper, folding it into shapes and whatever else she did. Her perfume surrounded me at every turn. Everywhere I looked on this boat, there was a shadow or a memory of her—a sign she’d been there and would be back soon. If I couldn’t have her, I needed a break.

“What do you mean ‘get off the boat’?” Landon asked.

“Like, experience dry land for a day or something.”

I wasn’t used to not getting what I wanted, and I wanted Avery Walker. I respected Avery’s decision, but it didn’t make it any easier.

We arrived in Taormina tomorrow and Avery still hadn’t had a day off. If I offered the crew the evening off as I’d done before, Avery wouldn’t go with them. She might even think I was trying to engineer some alone time with her. I might be a manipulative bastard in business, but I wasn’t about to trick a woman into letting me kiss her again. I reckoned the only way Avery would take a break would be if I wasn’t onboard. If I was ashore for the night then she’d have no possible excuse to keep working. And she needed a break. I couldn’t give her much, but I could give her that.

And I could give myself a break from wanting her. Maybe even find an Italian woman to seduce and bury myself in. Perhaps that would push Avery out of my mind.

“Are you fucking crazy? Everything is working. You’re making good progress with your deal, Cannon haven’t figured out what you’re doing and we’re eliminating potential leaks. Why would you jeopardize that?”

Why indeed?

“I’m not suggesting I come back to London,” I replied. “I’m just feeling a little stir crazy. I want to go ashore. Overnight.” True, but it was only part of the story.

“What? Stay in a hotel or something?”

“Yeah. Maybe get rid of my sea legs. I’ve been on this thing a month and I just want to get back on dry land for a few hours.”

Landon was right—I was in one of the most beautiful places on earth. As well as trying to make things easier on myself, maybe I could enjoy it if I was away from the yacht and everything connected to the Phoenix deal. I had a day or two while I waited for the lawyers to review everything. I could afford to catch my breath. I wanted to see the place Avery was so keen to visit.

“You mean you want to get laid,” he said. I didn’t respond. I had no desire to discuss my need to fuck Avery Walker out of my system with Landon. “I don’t know. We’d need some time to set it up. I’d want to check out the hotel before you got there, and you’d have to do a full sweep for bugs when you got back.”

“I do a full sweep twice a day on the yacht anyway so that’s not a problem. And I won’t do any business on shore or make any calls. I want you to set this up.”

He sighed, and I could almost hear the cogs in his brain trying to process what I was saying, trying to find a solution. “I could send in someone to conduct surveillance while you’re there. You never know, if we get lucky someone might be following you.”

“Lucky?” My brother was a twisted fucker.

“When were you thinking?”

“Day after tomorrow.”

I could almost hear the eye roll.

“Okay, leave it with me. I’ll find a hotel. I’ll also get some security for the boat while you’re ashore. It’s a good job you’ve got money. This is going to cost you.”