The Billionaire's Prize: Taken & Tempted: (Book 3 Billionaire Bodyguard Series) Read online

  A breeze tossed his hair as he mounted the steps to the next deck, the captain’s deck. Sunlight drenched the seating at the rear behind the ship’s central control room, the whitewashed teak floors blending with the white cushions so passengers’ attention remained on the ocean views. Still no Kylie.

  He tapped on the door of the captain’s cockpit. “There is a woman onboard this boat, right?”

  The captain nodded and pointed to the ceiling.

  “Thanks.” He headed up to the top level, the sundeck.

  Strong wind streaked through his hair, whipping it into his eyes. He tucked the longer strands behind his ears. Lifting a hand, he shielded his eyes from full sun. And he found his own personal destination.

  Chapter 6

  Cade frowned watching Antonio lift Kylie onto the bow’s metal railings.

  Any minute she could topple onto the deck below. And why was Antonio hoisting her up with his hands planted on her delectable tush?

  Hard strides chewed up the distance between them. “Kylie.”

  Wearing the most carefree grin he’d ever seen on her face, she glanced at him over her shoulder. “I’m doing the Titanic move.” She faced into the wind. “‘I’m the king of the world!’”

  “Congratulations, oh sovereign one. Now, get down from there.” He nudged Antonio out of the way. His hands cupped her ass, slowly sliding up around her waist as he guided her down from her perch.

  “That was amazing.” The pink glow in her cheeks made him wish he’s put that flush there. Instead, he had to war with the ocean wind to win her attention.

  “It took me forever to find you. What happened between boarding the yacht and coming up here on the sun deck?”

  Smiling, she shrugged. “I changed. Antonio was waiting outside my door, so I asked him to show me around. This yacht is incredible. Did you know you can cook a four course dinner in the kitchen downstairs? And look.” She pointed at the sunken pool on the sundeck. “You can cool off with a swim during the day, and at night it turns into a hot tub where you can sail surrounded by warm bubbles and watch the stars.” Her enthusiasm struck a chord in Cade.

  When had he started taking everything for granted? He couldn’t remember.

  Maybe it was after he’d earned his first million. Back in college at the University of California, Berkeley, he’d gone to the beach most weekends and met fellow surfer Carter Stratton. They’d been friends from the start. Cade appreciated Stratton’s vision when it came to investing in coastal hotels. He’d used the leftover money from his scholarships and side jobs to buy into several hotels with Stratton. By the time he turned twenty five, Cade owned half a million in hotel real estate stock.

  Stratton went on to create a name for himself in the industry, building and financing hotels along the U.S. coasts and throughout the Virgin Islands. Cade had continued to invest, and when they docked at St. Thomas in a few days, he’d get to appreciate the perks. At twenty six, Cade returned to his family in Las Vegas. Between his financing and his brother Trey’s vision, over seven years the two of them transformed Dad and Uncle Joe’s bail bond and bounty hunting business from a mom and pop shop to a full blown enterprise, with franchises in fifteen cities and counting. Before they went on to sell it to Jack Atlas and bought the bodyguard company.

  Years ago, his world had been ordinary. A nice, decent, acceptable day-to-day existence. Then the money came in, half a million here, two million there, until he was used to riding in limousines, taking yacht trips, investing in more hotels with Stratton. Used to the finer things in life.

  Seeing the yacht from Kylie’s point of view altered his typical expectations that everything would continue to get bigger and better. She created a curious shift inside him.

  In one crystalline moment, everything became so clear.

  He was chasing what he no longer wanted. The wealth, the women, the world at his fingertips… Who cared? What did it matter if he had nothing to connect to, no one to grab hold of life alongside him?

  As he assisted Kylie down from the rungs of the railing, he recognized his thoughts were getting ahead of him. He still didn’t know that much about her. He knew little about her past and nothing about her family.

  Once she had her feet planted on the deck, he curled his hands around the top rail, keeping her trapped between his arms. “Kylie, is there anyone back home you want me to send a bodyguard to protect?”

  “Really? You’d do that?”

  “Give me the word and it’s done.”

  Her forehead crinkled. “Could you send someone to safeguard Dominique? Our conversation was awful. I almost thought she would un-friend me over the phone instead of doing it on Facebook.”

  His intrigue piqued. “Why, what did she say?”

  “She was short with me. One and two word sentences. That’s not like her.” She chewed on her lower lip. “I explained what happened in Denver, and where I am now, taking this yacht trip. Then there was this weird echoing noise. Suddenly, she said she had to go and told me not to call back.”

  On instinct Cade glanced over his shoulder, half expecting Slone to appear and brag that he was right to take away Kylie’s phone. He might have been.

  “Dominique admitted she revealed your location in Denver to the men who threatened her. This morning the bomb exploded.” Cade drew the conclusion for her. “She could be working with them.”

  Kylie’s eyes flashed with fire. “No. No way. Dominique would never. Even if she hates me for the danger I’ve caused, I don’t believe she’d betray me.”

  “People do the strangest things when their back is up against the wall. And they have a child to protect.”

  Kylie gasped. “What if Ramos tortured Dominique into giving away my location?”

  “It’s possible.”

  She shuddered. “A bodyguard could protect her, and might go a long way toward healing our friendship.”

  “Consider it done.” He typed in a text message with instructions to Adam then hit send. “Anyone else? What about family?”

  Shaking her head, she stared down at the deck. “There’s no one.”

  His heart wrenched. How did this beautiful, smart, brave, dedicated woman have no one else close in her life? It made him want to pull her into a hug, and hold her until she forced him to let her go.

  “My sister Lindsey is off in the Andes Mountains, teaching English to children in orphanages. It takes her postcards two weeks to arrive, and they’re from a different location every time. I’m not worried about her safety. I also don’t want to tell her what’s happened. She’d hop the next flight home, and that’s the last thing I want.”

  “Good call.” At least Kylie had a sibling. “Sounds like she’s safer where she is.”

  She could borrow his family any time. He had plenty to go around, especially now that Trey and Devon were adopting three kids. Hell, she could take Adam any day. The mental image rose of Adam hitting on Kylie. A sharp pang of possessiveness startled him. He scowled. N ot Adam .

  She took his hand. “I want to show you the fish tank in the wall downstairs.”

  Although he’d already seen it, he smiled and laced his fingers through hers. Not about to let go, he followed her lead to the main deck. She slid her sunglasses to the top of her head and released his hand to point out the different variations of fish and the blend of corals, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the colorful aquatic underworld.

  He watched her instead.

  Without her glasses she appeared to see just fine, and he wondered why she wore them. Absorbed in her features and the expressions playing out on her face, he found her more stunning than ever. The brief time she’d been exposed to the sun had turned the tip of her nose pink. She tucked her hair behind her ears. He wanted to nibble her earlobe, whisper all the naughty things he wanted to do to her, and then drag his mouth down the side of her neck.

  There was an innocence about her beauty, something he hadn’t seen in the women he’d met over the past few years. Those women knew th
ey were beautiful, knew how to use their assets to attract men. He suspected Kylie had no idea how gorgeous she was. He couldn’t wait to let her in on the secret. In his bed. All night long.

  Totally turned on, but cautious about moving too fast, he stepped behind her and slid his arms around her waist. He rested his chin against the top of her head. She smelled like Euphoria by Calvin Klein, traces of amber and black orchid and violet. Or maybe that was her natural scent and he found it euphoric. He wanted that scent on his sheets, on pillows, all over his body.

  Turning her face, she glanced up at him. Their lips almost met. Surprise and confusion tugged at her features. She blinked and her breath quickened. She cupped her hand over his where his fingers splayed over her waist. He flexed his hand and their fingers interlocked.

  Enchanted by the variegated colors in her irises, he couldn’t take his eyes off hers. Striations of navy blue, sea green, turquoise and moss, flecked with gold. Incredible. Who had eyes like that?

  He pressed his lips to her jaw, her temple, her cheek, the corner of her mouth. Using the hand not entwined with hers, he coasted his palm down the hourglass curve of her waist, settling on her hip bone. She inhaled when he pressed her against his erection.

  I want you. I want every flawless inch of you. He hoped she read the unspoken words in his eyes. Let me take you to bed. I’ll be good to you. I’ll take it slow. Whatever you want it’s yours. Just let me have you.

  “Hey, have you guys seen—whoa, okay, bad timing.” Slone backed away. “Never mind.”

  Kylie extricated herself from Cade’s arms. Sharp disappointment left him longing and frustrated. He kept his back to her and Slone, calming himself down before he turned around.

  “What are you looking for?” she asked, sounding a little too eager to help.

  “The kit the doctor gave me. I need to change one of my bandages,” Slone said. “No big deal.”

  “That is a big deal,” she countered. “I’ll help you find it.” She disappeared down below.

  Cade exhaled a ragged breath. So close.

  Fortunately they had two more days trapped on this boat together. She couldn’t escape his seduction forever. He’d make sure of it.

  Since the mood had vanished, he went into the owner’s quarters and set up his laptop on the small table ringed by a half-circle booth. If he couldn’t have her now, they might as well work on his dad’s cold case together. That subject seemed to be within her comfort zone.

  Knowing his IT team had made his laptop untraceable, he went online and looked up the local Denver news outlets. The explosion outside his high rise building was front and center, as expected. To his relief, the police had no knowledge of who dropped the pipe bomb or who the intended victim was. No deaths or severe injuries resulted from the attack. One less thing weighing on Kylie’s conscience. And his.

  She joined him twenty minutes later. “How’s it going?” she asked casually, as if he hadn’t tried his damnedest to seduce her.

  Obviously, she didn’t want to discuss their intimate moment. “Yeah, just sending some emails for work. Slone all patched up?”

  She nodded. “I helped him with a few bandages he couldn’t reach.”

  The thought of Kylie touching another man’s bare back made him simmer. He ground his teeth. “Quite the nurse.”

  “Hardly.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s my fault he’s injured. The least I can do it help make it better.”

  I have something you can help make better. His gaze drifted to her mouth and his cock twitched.

  Damn. If he had any hope of working beside her this afternoon, he needed to scrape his mind out of the gutter. It wouldn’t be easy.

  “So, I thought we could work on my dad’s case for a while,” he said.

  “Sure.” Her face brightened. “I’ve had a few ideas since we last talked.”

  Too bad she didn’t light up like that for him. He glared at his computer screen. He’d never had trouble getting a woman naked. Ever.

  Typically all it took was a glance, a grin, a flirtatious exchange. And he had whoever he wanted wherever he wanted her. Not that he abused that privilege. He didn’t sleep around like a player. But this sudden change of pace grated on his libido. He hated waiting, when the woman he desired was right within reach.

  Then again, Kylie wasn’t just any woman. That’s what he adored about her, what drove him crazy, what made him crave her with shocking need that could make him lose his mind. What the hell was wrong with him?

  “Everything okay?” she asked, dragging him out of his thoughts.

  He didn’t answer her question. “I’m going to check through my old files from our bounty hunting days. The first year I came back to the family business, I created an intricate tracking system for prospective bounties, the price on their heads, dates of capture, details like that. I made some simple algorithms to make our searches easier.”

  “Sounds impressive.” She walked over to the narrow fridge in the kitchenette of the owner’s quarters. “Are you thirsty? Do you want something to drink?”

  A tall cool drink of you. “Water. Thanks.”

  She handed him a bottled water, cracked open a cola for herself, and slid into the booth beside him. “Looking for anything in particular?”

  He pulled up his old system, out of date by today’s standards but functional for their purposes. “I want to cross-reference the name Emilio Ramos in my database.”

  “I was going to suggest something similar, though I didn’t know you had a database. There’s a reason your dad wrote that name on the sign in sheet at the motel. It’s an important clue.”

  “My thoughts, too.” Delving into the database, he typed Emilio Ramos. An electric sensation went through him at what he found. “Check this out.” He angled the laptop toward her. “He’s right here.”

  “Excellent.” Her enthusiasm mirrored his. “Wow, that’s a lot of names, and alphabetically you’re only at the beginning of the R’s. You must’ve done well for yourselves as bounty hunters.”

  “We did.” He pointed at the screen. “Liam and Adam picked up Emilio Ramos for bail jumping eleven months—to the day—prior to Dad’s death.”

  “That’s no coincidence.”

  Running a hand through his hair, he agreed. “Let me check the date we brought Bruno into custody.” He typed the name into a new search screen. “Okay, Bruno was caught by us and jailed two months before Dad’s death.”

  “Where was Emilio sent? Is there some way to trace if he and Bruno were held in the same place at the same time?”

  “I have that kind of power.” He winked. “There’s software that links to public police records and sorts through them. It downloads fresh intel and updates daily, keeping track of the guys we hunted.”

  “You are really connected.” She rested her chin in her hand. “I had no idea this type of information was out there.”

  “It is if you know the right people. Okay, I’m bringing up the location of their stints in the system. Says here, Emilio Ramos was incarcerated at a federal prison. And Bruno…” He frowned. “Was still in county jail the entire time. Damn.”

  “Does it say what crime Emilio committed?”

  “Looks like he was in for a drug trafficking charge.”

  She tapped her finger against her lips, and he wondered if she had any idea how much her mouth drove him crazy. “Just curious, how old is Emilio?”

  He scrolled down. “Emilio was twenty when he entered prison. No record of his parole. He must still be behind bars.”

  “So that makes him twenty-six now.” She ran her thumb along the scooped neck of her top. If she wasn’t staring at the screen so intently he’d wonder if she was purposely taunting him. “Emilio seems young for this association. Bruno is older, right?”

  “I’d say he was at least in his mid thirties during his trial. So around forty by now.”

  “Then they aren’t brothers or close cousins.”

  “Bruno has three daughters, no sons. I
remember that detail.”

  She slipped her hand beneath her neckline, covering the upper swell of her breast, and he almost groaned out loud. “Can we figure out how they’re related?” she asked.

  “That’s going to take some time. I’ll have the software run a search on birth records. But if Bruno’s family were illegal immigrants in the past, like Maria, who eventually gained citizenship, there’s no guarantee there will even be records. Or that they’re accurate.”

  “Worth a try, right?”

  “Absolutely.” He punched the criteria into the search engine. “Now we sit back and wait.”

  Her nails left red marks across her cleavage, and he nearly went out of his mind. She squirmed. “I need to change my shirt. It’s itchy. I didn’t have time to try it on, now I wish I had. Since I already ripped off the tags, I’ll reimburse you.”

  “That word doesn’t exist in my vocabulary. Go change into whatever makes you comfortable.”

  As she left, he realized she hadn’t been deliberately turning him on, just wearing the wrong shirt. Damn, he was wound way too tight. Not good. For either of them.

  When she returned from her room, she approached him with a look of gratitude, wearing a v-neck shirt that triggered his attraction yet again. “Thank you for bringing my laptop case with all my books inside.”

  “I figured since it was the only thing you brought from Las Vegas, you’d want it with you.”

  She sent him a tired smile. “If you don’t mind, while we’re waiting for the database to search birth records, I’d like to do some studying in my room.”

  In the back of his mind, he knew she had a life. Before him. Beyond his dad’s cold case. He’d been so absorbed in his own wants and needs, he forgot to stop and ask her what she needed. Other than his protection. She deserved better. “Do whatever you need to do, honey. I’ll be here.”