Chapter 19
Had he played his entire hand during one scene?
That was the question at the forefront of Saul’s mind right now. Not the auction. Not whether his life was in danger. Not how he was going to find and eliminate the threat from Jimenez.
Oh no, all his thoughts were on Sadie and whether he’d been so keen to prove he could meet her needs that there was nothing new left to show her.
On the other hand, she’d been playing within the narrowest of parameters for years - almost her entire adult life, so did it matter?
“I think I’ve located the dark web signature of the auction.”
Yes, it did matter. He wanted her to know he was more than a one-trick pony. To reinforce that there were more ways for him to satisfy her needs.
“Are you listening to me?” Zack demanded, pinning him with a glare.
Luca looked on in amusement. “If I didn’t know better, I might almost think you were distracted by a certain blonde, blue-eyed beauty,” he added to the conversation that had gone right over Saul’s head.
Fuck! He needed to concentrate.
When was the last time a woman had this much of an effect on him?
He shifted uncomfortably and switched his attention to the two men. The answer to that was easy. Never.
Never before had he had the urge to spend time with a woman outside of the bedroom.
Outside of the demands of his job. To understand what made her tick.
To help her slay the demons so obviously haunting her.
To spend time doing simple, everyday things like cooking and eating together.
Watch a movie. Explore their kink interests.
“Saul!?”
Shit, he was doing it again.
He shook the thoughts away, though not as easily as he would have liked. “That’s fantastic,” he answered Zack. “Can we hack into it?”
Zack pursed his lips. “It’s heavily protected and there are a lot of separate encryptions, but nothing this baby can’t handle.” He patted the computer setup, taking up most of the lounge area in his cabana. “But it will take time.”
Saul drew in a calming breath. “We have three days. Is that enough?”
He really did need to pay more attention. His whole life was at stake here.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
Scratching his chin, Zack was contemplative. “Well, it would speed things up if we had another machine to run codes on. I could get one here easily enough, but where would we put it?”
“I might be able to help there,” Luca declared, and both Saul and Zack turned to look at him. “Ryan has a pretty sweet set up back on Syèl La. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind it being used if you come over to set it up…”
He paused, and it was clear he had another idea, but was thinking about how to handle it.
Finally, he sighed and just said it. “And there’s the island mainframe computer.
Dani has a backup for emergencies, inferior, but good enough for her to manage with for a couple of days.
Both of those can be up and running just as soon as you can input the breach codes. ”
There was an inscrutable look on Zack’s face at the mention of Luca’s cousin Daniella Moreno, but one glance at the codes that were running in long strings of numbers across the screen, then back at Saul, seemed to decide him.
“Thank you, Luca. That really would make a big difference, and Saul’s life pretty much depends on it.”
It was a harsh reminder of how things might be if this wasn’t successful.
Saul nodded grimly, the weight of his predicament settling heavily on his shoulders once more. He couldn't afford to let his newfound feelings for Sadie distract him from the dire situation at hand. His very life hung in the balance.
"Alright, let's get moving then," Saul said, standing up and grabbing his jacket. "The sooner we can get those additional systems up and running, the better our chances."
As they made their way out of Zack's cabana, Luca pulled out his phone to make the necessary arrangements before they all got onto an ATV. Saul's mind raced, trying to focus on the task ahead while pushing thoughts of Sadie to the back of his mind. It wasn't easy.
But then again, his part in all this was done now. His need to remain incognito meant he had no choice but to let Luca and Zack continue with the plan without him while he returned to Sadie’s cabana… where he could consider all the ways he could push her boundaries.
For now, though, he turned his attention to Zack. “So, you and Dani…”
“There is no me and Dani,” the other man returned forcefully enough to have Luca raise his eyebrows and turn his glance on Zack.
Saul pierced him with an intense look. “You know, twenty years is almost up now. You can annul your marriage and win Dani back.”
Zack’s head, his whole body, whipped around so fast that Luca jolted, wrenching on the steering wheel before he righted their trajectory with a muffled curse. He sped up, bouncing them roughly over the uneven ground, then slammed on the brakes so the vehicle skidded to a halt outside Sadie’s home.
“You’re married!” he accused, jumping out of the vehicle and rounding it towards a rather tired looking Zack. “I brought you here in good faith thinking you and Dani might be able to sort out your differences, and all this time you’ve been fucking married?”
Saul hurried out of the ATV and put himself between the two men.
This was his fault, after all. Although he hadn’t expected this kind of reaction from the ever-calm Luca.
He placed his hand on his Italian friend’s chest when it looked like Luca might reach around and try to flatten Zack.
“You need to hear the entire story before you jump to conclusions,” he cautioned as Zack himself scowled.
“Yeah, ‘cos god forbid anyone just mind their own business,” Zack growled angrily, as he levered his tall frame out from behind Saul, who belatedly realized he’d inadvertently thrown the cat amongst the pigeons just when Luca and Zack were going to have to continue their journey without him to mediate.
Nice going, dickhead.
“And how the fuck do you know, anyway?” Zack demanded, throwing a furious look Saul’s way.
“I work undercover for the agency. Did you really think I wouldn’t do my due diligence to investigate anyone admitted into my circle?”
Zack folded his arms across his broad chest. He didn’t look impressed.
“And since turnabout is fair play, since you’ve helped me, I might just be in a position to help you.”
Obviously, that changed things. “You can find her?” Zack asked, more eagerly than Saul had heard him talk about anything.
He inclined his head. “I have certain… connections, so I’m pretty sure I can.”
Zack sucked in a breath, his eyes wide with an odd vulnerability, which was erased the moment Luca interrupted. “Okay, what the hell am I missing here, people?”
Saul eyed Zack who stared back at him, clearly reluctant to say anything, so Saul did it for him. “Zack here was trapped into an ironclad arranged marriage twenty years ago,” he told Luca, never taking his gaze off Zack.
“Twenty years ago?” Luca sputtered, breaking the stare off between him and Zack as they both turned to look at Saul. “That’s impossible, you’d have only been…” He paused like he was doing the math.
“Fifteen,” Zack supplied, confirming it for him. “And my ‘bride’...” He said it using air quotes. “Was only fourteen.”
Luca sucked in a shocked breath, uncharacteristically lost for words. “And yes, it’s perfectly legal in certain parts of the US. I didn’t even know what was happening.”
The big man deflated right in front of them, shaking his head sadly.
“It took place in a judge's chambers. I saw the girl once - from a damn distance. I signed something, our parents signed something, then all hell let loose when some masked men stormed in and started shooting at us. We were all hustled out by the guards her father had brought along, and I never saw her again.”
“That’s…”
“Nuts,” Saul finished when it was clear Luca didn’t have the words.
“It wasn’t for another twelve years that I even worked out I was freaking married,” Zack added bitterly. “Not until one of my lawyers asked me about protecting my assets, since I was worth rather a lot of money by then.”
“But you knew when you were seeing Dani.” There was still a touch of accusation in Luca’s tone as he stared, half horrified, half reproachfully at Zack.
Zack steadily held the other man’s gaze. “I did. Which is why I never promised her more than scening together at a club.”
Luca winced like that was more information than he wanted to hear about the cousin who was more like a sister to him, but Zack continued. “It was Dani who wanted to take things further, and as much as I might have wanted to, that’s also when I told her why I couldn’t.”
“Let me guess, she freaked out and left without letting you give an explanation,” Luca offered.
“Pretty much,” Zack confirmed, dropping his head to look at the ground he scuffed with the toe of his shoe.
But not before Saul saw the pain in his eyes.
Yeah, he’d help Zack find his long-lost bride.
In fact, he had a pretty good idea where to start.
Certain things had come to his attention recently, when he’d been helping out his good friend Marcus Thorne, otherwise known as the Duke of Buckingham, and his now wife, Gabriella.
There were a few occurrences that were just too much to be coincidence.