Chapter 1
Tired of chasing sleep and battling memories, Shane silently rose from his bed shortly after six the next morning and headed for the shower. It was a good thing he didn’t need much sleep, he mused, as he stepped naked into the glass enclosure and turned the jets on full blast.
The pelting streams of water did little to take his mind from the reason for his inability to sleep. It was almost three months since he’d encountered Paige Albright, and his memory of her was as vivid as if it had happened last night.
Why her? Why was he unable to forget her?
Over the years he’d encountered many women, taken more than his fair share to bed. They’d enjoyed each other, but when he’d walked away he hadn’t looked back. His body had only covered Paige, yet the imprint was more indelible than any other woman’s.
His large hand paused in soaping his chest. He hadn’t been intimate with her; perhaps that was the reason she haunted him. He was shaking his dark head before the thought completely formed. Women passed through his life in large numbers. He didn’t fixate on them. Even when he’d discovered the woman he’d thought he loved, thought loved him until he caught her cheating, he’d walked out of her bedroom despite her frantic pleas for him to stay and erased her from his mind. No woman ever made him think twice about her.
Until Paige.
Ducking his head under the spray, he rinsed off the suds. He’d figure it out. Nothing and no one ever got the best of him. Shutting off the water, he grabbed a towel and absently ran it over his body. It wasn’t like him to live in the past. He did know the reason for that.
From his earliest childhood, when he’d learned that stealing and conning people wasn’t the way he wanted to live, he had been in a constant battle to rise above the sordid, wasteful lives of his parents and older brother. The army had been his way out, his salvation.
Tossing the towel into the open hamper, he went to the dresser and pulled on a pair of silk briefs. The light blue shirt he slipped on next was also silk. The tailored slacks were made of the finest cotton.
He didn’t care about clothes or shopping, but his job as head of security for Navarone Resorts and Spas, located around the world, meant that on occasion he mixed with some of the wealthiest and most influential people in the country. He had to dress the part.
Snorting, Shane put on his alligator belt and thought of Rio, a rule breaker if ever there was one, and Shane’s second in command. Rio conformed, but only to a certain degree. As groomsmen less than a week ago on this very property, they had both worn tuxedos for Blade and Sierra’s wedding on the beach at Blade’s compound. Only his love and respect for Blade had gotten Rio into the tux. “The supreme sacrifice,” he’d called it.
Finished dressing, Shane hooked on his cell phone and the radio that connected him to the various guards on duty at Blade’s estate. All of them knew it was only a matter of time before a relative let it slip or an inquisitive reporter learned billionaire real estate mogul Blade Navarone had married Sierra Grayson, his exclusive broker for Navarone Place in Dallas. When the news leaked, things would get crazy, but until that time Blade and Sierra wanted their privacy, and that was where he and Rio came in.
In the front room of the guest cottage on Blade’s estate, Shane glanced at the sofa. Rio’s long, muscular body was stretched out with a sheet up to his flat stomach, his eyes closed, one hand over his wide chest, the other on the floor. Shane knew the pose was deceptive.
Rio’s left hand was very likely near a concealed weapon under the sofa. He never let down his guard. Shane didn’t have a doubt in the world that Rio had heard every restless move Shane had made during the night and early morning. Rio had the ears of a bat and the eyes of a cat. Combine this with the tracking skills of a bloodhound, and he was a force to be reckoned with.
“I’m going to the main office.” Shane had moved the command center for the security of all the Navarone properties to Riviera Maya when he learned Blade and Sierra were getting married here. As long as he had a computer, he could connect with his security team wherever they were. As an Army Ranger he had learned to be flexible and mobile.
“Trouble sleeping.” Rio said without opening his eyes. It was a statement, not a question.
Shane glanced out the door. “A bit. See you later.”
Rio opened his eyes and uncoiled. His long bare feet hit the wooden floor. “For a time Blade was the same way, and we both know how that ended.”
Marriage to Sierra. “He was conflicted about Sierra.”
Rio kept his unreadable gaze on Shane. “That’s my point.”
Shane blew out a breath. They didn’t lie to each other even when the truth was uncomfortable. Shane didn’t question how Rio knew a woman was involved. Although he hadn’t been in the field when Shane met Paige, he’d read the report, and with his uncanny perception Rio had come up with the reason for Shane’s restlessness. “That’s not about to happen to me.”
Rio, his gaze intense, asked, “Is the impossibility the reason for the sleeplessness?”
Shane stared. “You always see too much.”
Rio came to his height of six-four, a scant quarter of an inch taller than Shane. The sheet fell heedless to the floor. “Keeps me from making the same mistakes as others.”
This time Shane had no ready comeback. All three of them, Shane, Rio, and Blade, had various reasons for steering clear of serious relationships with women. Sierra had helped Blade overcome his fears. Shane had little hope for himself, and none for Rio. The man simply did not forget or forgive. “You know where to find me.”
Not waiting for a response, Shane continued out the door and down the winding path that led to the front of the house. He paused by the driver’s door of one of the two black jeeps parked in front. He studied the darkened house for a moment. Inside Blade and Sierra were in bed, sleeping or not. His mouth curved into a smile. After all, it was their honeymoon. It hadn’t been easy for them, but here they were, and nothing this side of heaven could tear them apart.
For some, happy endings were possible. For others there wasn’t a chance in hell. Getting into the jeep, Shane pulled off. For the first time he was seeing his lonely life ahead of him and not liking what he saw.
* * *
A little after ten that morning Shane was leaving checkpoint five, the outer perimeter of Blade’s property on the beach, when his radio went off with two beeps. Yellow Alert. He’d been too restless to stay at the command center for more than an hour. He’d left and personally checked in with all of his men on patrol.
He snatched the radio from his belt. “Talk.”
“Checkpoint one. Three visitors without clearance. Dominique and Trent Masters. Joann Albright. They say Mr. Navarone expects them. Over.”
At the mention of Paige’s mother’s name, Shane’s heart thumped. It annoyed the hell out of him. While he was assessing his reaction, his cell went off. One note. Blade. “Hold. Over,” Shane said into the radio, then answered the phone. “Shane.”
“Shane, three guests are due to arrive this morning. Dominique and her husband, Trent, and Joann Albright,” Blade said.
“They’re at checkpoint one, awaiting clearance.”
“Sorry, I forgot to tell you last night.”
“My fault,” Sierra said, then giggled.
Copyright © 2008 by Francis Ray
