The panel closed.
She could feel them traveling down a slope and around several curves. Then the limo came to a full stop.
“We have arrived at the ship.”
Olivia’s heart was ready to burst from its cavity.
“Please step out of the car.”
The door flew open on her side to reveal a glorious stretch of beach. Trembling because she knew Luc was waiting for her, she got to her feet and climbed out, expecting him to pull her into his arms. She would put up an initial struggle, then cave.
But to her surprise he was nowhere around. All she could see was a private pier and a sailboat.
Good grief. Had the car actually driven them here by itself? Her legs started to buckle.
“Piper?” she murmured.
There was no answer.
“Piper?” She cried and wheeled around.
No one. Nothing. It was as if her sister had disappeared off the face of the earth. All she could see was dense foliage interspersed with gorgeous flowering trees of all kinds.
“Luc?” She was starting to get nervous. “Luc?” she cried louder.
“I’m over here.”
Cog’s voice had been replaced by the real thing.
Her eyes swerved back to the pier. There he stood. Tall and rock solid. You would never know he’d had to rely on a cane for so many months.
“Come aboard the Olivier.”
That was the name he called her in French. His compelling male voice had her walking to the pier. She stopped a few feet short of him. In well-worn denims and a white crew neck cotton sweater, his powerful male body was so appealing, she averted her hungry eyes.
“I—it kind of looks like the Gabbiano,” she faltered.
“It is the Gabbiano. But when you sailed her, you made her your own, so I bought it from Giovanni to give to you.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “I would have thought this was a brand-new sailboat. I love the blue color.”
“It matches your eyes.”
Luc—
“Someone did a beautiful job restoring it.”
“Thank you.”
“You?” she cried.
He gave an elegant shrug of his broad shoulders. “I had help. It’s my peace offering to you. The first step in delicate negotiations.”
“For what purpose?”
“To see if we can’t find a new starting point.”
Pain knifed through her once more. “That would be impossible. I’m your brother’s pit babe, remember? Because if you don’t, I can give you chapter and verse of every cruel thing you ever said to me.”