Chapter 42
Goddamn it. He should have known that Zara wouldn’t just keep out of the way.
Even though Lincoln went rigid with fear at the thought of all the ways Zara could be putting herself at risk, he couldn’t stop the wave of joy that flooded his heart at the sight of her.
Her hair flew behind her like the flag of a bikini-wearing warrior queen riding into battle.
Her natural curls were coming back, and without the expensive clothes she looked like herself, not Zaharina.
God, she was sexy. And amazing. The one and only.
He opened his arms to her, but she stopped short of the headlong embrace he longed for.
“We have to talk,” she said sternly, her hands on her hips. “You can’t make a deal with Tanaka.”
“Zara.” His heart ached. She was going to hate the agreement he’d made. “This doesn’t concern you.”
“So you’re about to hand over Mia’s lucky charm to that man so he can make a weapon?”
“No, of course not. I’m going to hand it over to some weapons experts so they can know what we’re dealing with.”
“We? Who’s we? You and Tanaka?”
The look of betrayal in her eyes wrenched at his heart.
“No. Yes. I mean, no. Tanaka doesn’t know we have the chip.
He didn’t mention it and neither did I. But…
” He hesitated, not wanting to tell her anything that would put her in danger.
But he couldn’t lie to her, not ever again.
“If I work with him, I can make sure he doesn’t get far with that weapon of his. I need to be on the inside to do that.”
Her honey eyes grew shadowed, and she drew back. “How could you? You said he was some kind of crime lord.”
“To be fair, many of the folks I work with ought to be in jail.” He meant it as a joke, but it fell a little flat.
“Come on, Lincoln. You know that’s not what you want. You want to develop the CHUM as an energy source, and I don’t even think it’s about the profit for you anymore. You’re entranced by it. You said it was magical. You want to offer it to the world, don’t you?”
He pressed his lips together. He wasn’t sure how she knew that, but she was right.
That understanding had been building for some time, maybe ever since he’d crashed in the jungle.
His dreams had been sending him messages about the lonely little boy he’d been.
He’d built a fortune to feel like someone who mattered.
But he didn’t need that anymore. He wanted something more, something different.
“It’s not that simple,” he finally said. “I made an agreement. It’s the only way to protect everyone and keep that weapon from happening. I’ve already set things in motion.”
Any minute now, months of Higher Ground’s work would be heading into the virtual shredder. His father had promised to be thorough. Anything to get back at Tanaka.
“What if you had someone on your side who could back you up? An ally?” She beckoned to someone to join them—a blond woman in a leopard-print one-piece, wearing a starched white linen shirt as a coverup. With a shock, he saw it was Maureen.
Maureen, an ally? No, Zara had it all wrong. She didn’t know—
He broke off that train of thought when Zara squeezed his hand. “You grew up in the same jungle,” she said softly. “You have more in common than you realize.”
The same jungle? No. His had been lonely and isolated. Hers…
He met Maureen’s eyes as she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head. With her makeup washed away by the ocean, eyes reddened from salt, or maybe tears, and her hair freed from its smooth bob, she looked…vulnerable. Real. Nervous.
He remembered how she used to gnaw at her fingernails as a teenager, until Violet took her phone away, then her car. Anxiety? He wondered. Was that why she’d wanted that survival bunker so badly?
“She’s unhappy with how things have played out,” Zara was saying. “All she wanted was that bunker, and now she’s stuck with more than she expected. That’s why she came here to Hawaii. You said it was because of the hack, but I knew it had to be more. I told her about the CHUM.”
“What?”
“It’s okay.” She put a hand on his arm. “She wants to be part of developing it. We discussed it on the way over here. Of course it’s up to you, but she wants to talk.”
“What?” He couldn’t seem to think of anything else to say.
“She’s open to different possibilities. You can go back as CEO, or let her stay on and focus on the CHUM. She doesn’t want the company to miss out.”
Maureen cleared her throat. “It’s my fiduciary responsibility to bring you back onboard, Lincoln.
The company isn’t the same without you. I can help you stop this Tanaka.
He saw an opportunity with you on your own, with only Higher Ground’s resources to fight back with.
Tanaka probably offered you a deal. But did he offer you an entire company? ”
The prospect of getting Kerr Enterprises back danced before him. If he could really delve into the promise of the CHUM, the sky was the limit. The only problem was…
“Give us a minute,” he told Maureen, and drew Zara aside to speak more privately.
“Take your time. I know this is a shock. I’ll be on that cozy beach blanket up there.” She strolled down the beach.
When they were out of earshot, he said softly, “I appreciate what you’re doing, but it’s not going to work.”
“Why not?”
“For one thing, I already made a deal with Tanaka. I told him I’d sign Higher Ground over to him.”
“But is it done? Have you signed the paperwork?”
“It’s as good as done.” He’d never go back on that deal. To do so would be death. “Our agreement guarantees Rory’s safety, and yours, and your family’s.”
“Okay, but Kerr can do that too. They’re huge, much bigger than just Higher Ground, right?”
“It’s not just that. My father’s about to tamper with all of Higher Ground’s research. I told him to, to keep it out of Tanaka’s hands.”
“You’re sabotaging your own company?”
“Technically, my father is. But yes. We’ll be back to square one with the CHUM research. I’m banking on Rory’s Crystal Collective to keep the dream alive. All I want now is to keep Tanaka from making that weapon.”
Her eyes glowed like stars. “You really are trying to save the world.”
He made a face, since that sounded much more heroic than he deserved. “Also trying to keep you safe, because I couldn’t bear it if—”
She flung her arms around him. “I love you, Lincoln.”
He trembled from the impact of her body against his, or maybe from her words. He’d craved those words from her, unsure if he’d ever hear them. “You do?”
“Of course I do! I’m crazy about you, and I knew you’d do the right thing, and I’m just so happy that I haven’t fallen madly in love with a callous billionaire. So not my style.”
A seed of joy bloomed in his heart. It quickly blossomed into a full-grown sunflower bursting with euphoria.
Then it all shattered as a shadow fell over them.