“Put in the offer, River,” he rumbled.
“Thank you!” River muttered fervently. Henry reluctantly released my waist to shake his hand. “I promise you will not regret this! I’ll start the process with the owner.”
“And call Liv to set up a meeting time for next week, please,” Henry added. “We’ll need to have a partnership contract signed before we exchange on Staghorn. Are you still in Sydney next week? It can be done digitally, if not.”
River stood, and I made to get off Henry’s lap to return to my seat, but he tugged me back against him, his big hand splayed possessively over my belly, leaving me shivery and tingly.
“I’m here until the end of the month—I’ve got the launch of my clothing line then. Which reminds me, you two need to be there!” He leaned closer. “They’re making me walk the runway, if you can believe it. I’m nervous as hell, but having some mates in the front row might give me the confidence boost I need.”
How was this my life? I was sitting in the lap of my certified hot nerd billionaire fake husband, who had just bought an entire tropical island because I said it would be nice to go back there for our fake wedding anniversary. And I had an iconic celebrity environmentalist inviting me to his modelling debut because I was his ‘mate’.
“Send the details through to Liv, and she’ll add it to my calendar,” Henry said while my brain whirred and my stomach fluttered and my chest tightened.
You’re falling for a fantasy, Ri.I told myself.This is not a good thing.
River saluted and sauntered up to the counter. The waitress giggled, holding out a napkin and pen, and with a sunny grin, River scrawled something on the paper. When he left the café, Keep Cup in hand, several sets of eyes followed him, but an equal number stayed trained on Henry and me. I tried again to stand, but Henry held me fast, his lips grazing my cheek until they were at my ear.
“Don’t look now, but there’s a man sitting in the corner who has been showing us far too much attention,” he whispered. I forced myself not to immediately crane my neck in that direction as the fluttering in my stomach changed from butterflies to something sharp and jangling. “He’s wearing a Cockerels cap, like your friend at the bus stop the morning of the wedding.”
La naiba!
I hadn’t told Henry about what I’d seen from the window of the apartment the night before. To be fair, I hadn’t really had the opportunity, and now was definitely not the time to do it. When we were back at the yacht, safe and sound, I could explain about Rumi’s night-time dealings with Cockerels Cap.
It could just be a coincidence, I told myself. The Cockerels were a very popular team, and he might have just been staring because River Riley had been sitting at our table.
After we paid, as we walked back out into the April sunshine, I let my eyes rove around the café in the direction Henry had mentioned. My heart sank when I caught sight of the man. It wasn’t just the cap. It was the same puffer jacket, draped over his chair. And the same slope of the shoulders, and the once-muscular frame that had run to fat …
His eyes, dark and dirty grey, met mine. I shivered, turning quickly away. Henry’s hand was like a lifeline in mine as I willed my heart to return to normal. There was no coincidence here. This man was stalking me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
I Can’t Lose Her
HENRY
“She’s more trouble than she’s worth!” Lucian growled. I rubbed my eyes before adjusting my glasses to glare at him.
“Shecan hear every word you’re saying,” I reminded him coldly, tilting my head in Ri’s direction where she sat, chin resting on her hands, expression sombre.
I never wanted her to look like this again, but it seemed that external factors weren’t working in our favour. Cockerels Cap, as I’d begun to think of him, wasn’t just a guy at the bus stop. He was a man with a purpose, and we couldn’t quite put our finger on what that was. And that made my anxiety soar to new heights.
Lucian scowled, turned to meet Ri’s eyes, and enunciated, “You are more trouble than you’re worth.”
She managed a wan smile. “I’m just the right amount of trouble,” she argued, but there was none of her usual teasing tone in her words. She looked tired. A melancholy yowl erupted under the dining table, and Ri leaned down, reappearing to settle a smug-looking Abernathy on her lap. His rumbling purrs drowned out the tense silence.
“Regardless of your personal feelings on the matter,” I began, squeezing my knees surreptitiously under the table. “Your job is toprovide security for myself and my family. Ri is family, and this is a security risk.”
Lucian rolled his eyes but straightened, running a hand through his blonde hair. “Alright, so, what do we know about Rumi? What’s her motivation to have you tailed?” He was asking Ri, but he refused to look in her direction.
Ri shrugged, scratching Abernathy’s head. “I honestly have no fucking clue why she’d be going to these lengths. She has threatened to report me to immigration, but I’m pretty sure she was bluffing to try and get me to marry her.”
Lucian’s eyebrows shot up. “You already had someone willing to marry you for this bloody visa, and you turned it down?” he blasted. “Was this before or after you got your claws into Henry?”
Ri narrowed her eyes at him. “Firstly, I did not get myclawsinto anyone! Secondly, if you knew Rumi like I do, you’d understand why I would run a mile rather than tie myself to her. She’s controlling, coercive, manipulative and cruel.”
Her eyes were fierce, her jaw tight as she said those words, and I wondered what she’d experienced in her twenty-two years to recognise these things in a partner.
“Would you have run back to Romania to escape her, though?” Lucian pressed. Ri’s jaw snapped shut, and she glanced away. “Didn’t think so,” he muttered.
