When she turned back to him, she nodded. “Yes. Yes, we will.” Then she took another long swallow of her cocktail. “I will find it. I have to.”
Something drove her. It was almost as if she was desperate to make this find.
Maybe funds were tight for her and she needed the resources. He could help her out there.
“Don’t push yourself so hard. I have plenty of time to kill this summer, so there’s no hurry to get this done.”
“I appreciate that more than I can say, but it’s not just the money.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s personal.” She finished her drink, and once again Dimitri was right there with another, though unobtrusive and barely obvious except to Dalton.
“Personal in what way?”
She grasped the new drink and took a sip. “I have to be successful.”
“Why is it so important to you?”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
Dalton didn’t continue, sensing if he pushed too hard right now he’d lose her. Instead, he let her watch the sun-set, sip her cocktail, and mull over her own thoughts. He did the same, plotting his next move. She finished that drink and Dimitri brought another, this time sliding it onto the table with their dinner.
Isabelle picked at the food, but downed her drink. Dalton made sure her glass stayed full.
Yeah, he was trying to get her drunk, mainly so she’d loosen up and possibly reveal something. And she did seem to be relaxing. By the time the sun was down and the moon came up, Isabelle seemed to have lost that rigid edge she’d carried since they surfaced this afternoon. She was even smiling. They finished their meal and he dismissed the staff to their quarters, turned on music, and directed her to the lounge chairs. There was a light breeze, the night was balmy, and no other boats were nearby. Perfect.
“Are you tired?” he asked.
Isabelle slid into one of the chairs, stretching out her legs. “Not at all. This is perfect, Dalton.”
He took the chair next to her. “It’s natural to be disappointed when something doesn’t go your way. Happens to me all the time. I can be a real sonofabitch when I don’t win.”
She nodded. “I do like to win. And I’m a bitch when I don’t.”
“You don’t like anything getting in your way.”
“No, I don’t. I see something I want and I go for it. More than once that’s gotten me into trouble.”
“I know how that is. It’s hard not to want.”
“Damn hard.” She sat up, swung her legs over the side of the chaise to face him. “I want so much, Dalton. So many things it’s almost painful.” She fisted her stomach. “Right here. Sometimes I think that isn’t normal.”
More normal than she thought. “It just means you’re ambitious.”
She sniffed. “I’ve been accused of being greedy, of wanting things I shouldn’t want, shouldn’t have.”
Damn. It was like having a conversation with himself. “What happens when you don’t get what you want?”
She lifted her gaze to his. “I find a way to have it anyway.”
“No matter what?”
“No matter what. Life’s too short to let the things I want pass me by.”
His lips lifted. Despite the intel about her, he liked this woman. Maybe because she reminded him of himself. Which wasn’t necessarily a good thing. There were things he’d been determined to have, too. And they had cost him dearly.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe I should learn patience. My sis. . my friends and associates say I should.”
She’d almost slipped and said “sister,” which meant the alcohol was talking. Good. “Patience doesn’t get you what you want.”
“People walk over the patient. Ambition wins the prize.”
“And if people get hurt in the process?”
She shrugged, leaned back in the chaise again. “So be it. Sometimes you have to walk over a few bodies on your way to the top.”
Ouch. Did she really mean that, or was that false bravado? Her voice had changed, gone cold as she stared straight ahead and out to sea. Dalton felt the chill as if a winter wind had blanketed the yacht. An unnatural, icy coldness that evaporated when she seemed to snap out of her daze and turned to him.
“We’ll find the treasure,” she said, her smile once again warm and welcoming. “I’m sure of it.”
Interesting. Like a complete personality change that also affected the ambient temperature. There was much more to Isabelle than Dalton thought.
Though he wasn’t surprised to discover that tinge of darkness within her. He should be wary of her, but it only intrigued him more.
After all, he rarely met people like himself. But he’d wager she wasn’t even aware of what had happened.
