it swelled his chest with importance, and a dressed-up Cookie was the perfect girl by his side. Ina wouldn’t cut it — too obvious and trampy.
After finishing the task at hand, he pulled out and favoured Ina with a couple of hefty slaps on her generous butt.
‘You’re a sow,’ he growled, not unaffectionately.
‘’Scuse me?’ she said, reaching for her robe.
‘Big titties. Big ass,’ he guffawed. ‘I like it all.’
‘So does everyone else around here,’ she boasted, flouncing across the room, not sure she was down with his so-called compliments.
Sergei’s eyes went dead. ‘I’ve warned you, and so’s your brother. Stop paradin’ around the pool shakin’ your stuff at the workers.’
‘What’s wrong with them looking?’ Ina argued. ‘They can look, but they can’t touch.’
Sergei grabbed a fistful of her hair, causing her to cry out in pain. ‘
‘What’s that leafy shit your guys chew on all the time?’ Sergei wondered.
Cruz shrugged, a cigarette hanging precariously from his bottom lip. ‘Khat. It’s a stimulant — calms ’em, keeps ’em alert an’ happy.’
‘You want ’em calm? Happy?’ Sergei snorted his disgust. ‘What th’ fuck?’
‘I want ’em ready t’do anything I tell ’em to do,’ Cruz replied, taking a long drag on his cigarette, his small eyes ever-watchful.
Sergei nodded.
‘They’re dangerous men — stupid an’ reckless as shit,’ Cruz continued, blowing out a stream of smoke. ‘That’s th’way they get the job done.’
‘Should hope so,’ Sergei grumbled, the nerve in his left cheek starting to twitch. ‘This deal is costing.’
‘You’ll get it back an’ plenty more when we go for the ransom,’ Cruz assured him.
‘I fuckin’ expect so.’
‘Here’s the deal with my men,’ Cruz said, taking another long drag on his cigarette. ‘They’re driven by the money — it turns ’em into heroes when they take home the loot.’
‘Fuckin’ heroes?’ Sergei jeered.
‘You got it,’ Cruz replied, stamping his cigarette underfoot. ‘An’ believe me, in the shithouse towns they come from they
‘You got a wife?’ Sergei asked, thinking that he didn’t know much about Cruz’s personal life.
‘Who’s dumb enough to buy the cow when y’can suck the juicy
Sergei liked the sound of that, although he was well aware that you took your life in your hands if you visited Somalia. It was one of the most dangerous countries in the world, lawless, with a barely functioning government. The kidnapping of foreigners was a national pastime.
‘My men are scared of nothin’ ’cept hunger,’ Cruz announced. ‘That’s what makes ’em so fearless an’ strong.’
‘You really fell into it, didn’t you?’ Sergei commented.
‘You bet your ass,’ Cruz bragged. ‘Me — I live like a fuckin’ king. Got in at the right time with the right connections. I’m the only foreigner they trust. An’ as long as I keep makin’ ’em money, they’re gonna keep on trustin’ me.’
Sergei nodded again. He understood.
Chapter Sixty-Four
The evening plan was a dinner on another larger island, and this time Aleksandr expected everyone to attend. Instructions were to meet on the deck by the tenders at 7 p.m.
Bianca returned to the master suite and gave Aleksandr the silent treatment as she sat in front of the bedroom mirror braiding her long dark hair while wearing nothing more than a sexy leopard-print thong. She was well aware that seeing her naked always turned him on. He had a thing for her tits, so small and perfect. She’d already decided that tonight he wasn’t getting anything sexual, not until he apologized. Sex was definitely off the menu.
Aleksandr needed to realize that she wasn’t just another pretty face he could boss around. She was Bianca. She was a super-star, and he’d better get that in his head.
Aleksandr had no desire to continue their argument, such as it was, although he was still determined to hold his ground as far as Xuan was concerned. Bianca could sit in front of the mirror half-naked for as long as she wanted, he wasn’t about to touch her until she learned that she could not tell him what to do or who to talk to. He considered it outrageous that she thought she could, and he wasn’t accepting it. Bianca had a spoiled streak, and it was his job to make her see that she could not exhibit that kind of attitude with him.
He
‘What an adventure!’ Ashley exclaimed, getting ready for the evening’s activities.
Taye nodded his agreement. Sex with his wife on a daily basis was a hell of a lot more than he’d expected. As far as he was concerned, they could stay on the yacht for a couple more months. No problem.
‘Do you like these earrings?’ Ashley asked, holding up a pair of diamond-studded hoops to her earlobes.
‘Love ’em,’ Taye replied, thinking he’d love them even more when he got her naked later.
Ashley put on the earrings. She was busy thinking about Cliff Baxter. She was especially excited as Cliff had been extremely friendly at lunch, and now she was quite sure that he fancied her. Cliff Baxter had what her mum would call ‘bedroom eyes’, and those eyes had been all over her.
She fantasized about what she would do if he came onto her.
Well, she wouldn’t turn him down, that was for sure. And as far as Taye was concerned, it would be payback time for when he’d screwed that page three slag.
Ah yes, Ashley’s fantasies were in full bloom.
A feeling of helplessness overcame Sierra as she sat in their stateroom listening to Hammond drone on about exactly how he would deal with Flynn if she ever dared to talk to him again, or mention the word ‘divorce’.
‘You do know that I can have him killed any way I want,’ Hammond crowed, sweat beading his forehead. ‘Skinned alive. Shot in the head. Blown up in a car. And I might even give you the pleasure of choosing his fate, my dear wife — now wouldn’t
This torrent of threats had been going on for some time and she didn’t know what to do. Was Hammond completely psychotic? Had he lost his mind? Or could he actually arrange to have those threats carried out?
Was it possible?
Anything was possible. This was exactly how he’d kept her tied to him all these years. Threats against her personally. Threats against her family. But Flynn’s name had never entered into the equation, and once more it all seemed so horribly real.
‘Why are you doing this?’ she managed.
‘Why am
