The Power Trip

Surely he was married? And not only that, but his wife was on the trip with him.

‘Uh…’ she stuttered, unsure of what to say.

Before she could say anything at all, Hammond’s lips were upon hers, his tongue pushing its way aggressively into her mouth. She tried to gasp, but couldn’t. His hands were suddenly on her breasts. Everything felt dangerous and forbidden.

Was this really happening?

What if someone came along?

What if the Senator’s wife caught them?

Or Guy? He would fire her, for sure.

The day Guy had hired her he’d given her a strict lecture about never getting inappropriate with a guest.

Hammond’s hands had snaked their way under her uniform. He began manipulating her nipples through her bra, playing with them hard.

His lips left hers and this time she did gasp, a long drawn-out gasp of pure desire.

Hammond knew he had her.

Young girls were so easy.

Chapter Sixty-Nine

By the time they got back to the yacht, Bianca and Aleksandr were still not talking. Both strong personalities, neither of them was prepared to give in.

Bianca was livid that Aleksandr had spent the majority of the evening fraternizing with the enemy. Xuan. Asian bitch. Sneaky little man-stealer. Bianca hated her, and more than anything she wanted her off the boat.

Some of their guests had gone to the upper deck for after-dinner drinks. Bianca chose to join them. Aleksandr could do what he liked, she didn’t care.

Yet the truth was that she did care. A lot. He was her man and he was behaving like a stubborn asshole. Typical male behaviour.

On the upper deck Taye and Ashley were all over each other in one corner, Jeromy was boring the shit out of Flynn, who couldn’t stop agonizing over Sierra, and Luca was sitting with Lori and Cliff. Everyone else had gone to bed.

Bianca chose to join the Luca group. ‘What’s up?’ she asked Luca.

‘What’s up with you?’ he replied. ‘Are you an’ Mr Russia in a fight?’

Bianca tossed back her long braided hair, green eyes glowing. ‘What makes you think that?’

‘It doesn’t take a genius to see what’s going on.’

‘Nothing,’ Bianca said stubbornly. ‘Nothing is going on.’

‘Bullshit,’ Luca responded. ‘It’s me you’re talking to.’

‘I think it’s time for bed,’ Cliff said, standing up and stretching.

Lori followed his lead, said goodnight to everyone, and the two of them took off.

‘I wish you were straight,’ Bianca said wistfully, gazing at Luca.

‘How would that solve anything?’ he asked, never sure what kind of crazy logic Bianca would come up with.

‘’Cause then you an’ I could fuck all our cares away,’ Bianca said with a flippant laugh. ‘Wouldn’t that be fun?’

‘Spoken like a true princess,’ Luca said dryly.

Bianca frowned. ‘Do you think I’m being petty?’ she asked.

‘I dunno what you’re supposed to be being petty about,’ Luca said, getting a tad impatient, because as far as he could tell, Bianca had everything she could ever want — including a magnificent yacht named after her.

‘Aleksandr and Miss China Doll or whatever the hell she is,’ Bianca snapped. ‘She’s getting on my tits.’

‘Whoa!’ Luca objected, rolling his eyes. ‘Let’s not get racist here.’

‘Are you calling me a racist?’ Bianca objected. ‘I’m black, remember? I’ve been called more names—’

‘Okay, okay,’ Luca said, holding up his hand. ‘Tell me the problem.’

‘Only if you promise to dump Jeromy the moment we hit dry land,’ Bianca said. ‘Your boyfriend is a pompous prick and I hate seeing him bring you down.’

‘How’d we get onto the subject of Jeromy?’

‘Promise you’ll sayonara him?’

‘I already decided. It’s a done deal. Your turn.’

And so Bianca began to voice her complaints about Xuan and all the various projects she was trying to involve Aleksandr in.

Luca sat back and listened. It was good for Bianca to spill.

* * *

When the tenders returned to the yacht, Mercedes managed to stay out of Guy’s way. If he saw her she wouldn’t put it past him to expect her to help unload the dishes and all the other crap from the boats. Let Renee and Den deal with it. She’d accomplished everything she needed to, and now it was time to lie on her bunk bed and contemplate the adventure ahead.

She’d had a busy night making sure everything was set for Cruz’s takeover the following night. She knew exactly what she had to do, and number one was making sure Kyril was out of action. He was the only real threat, and his usual mug of hot chocolate loaded with horse tranquillizers should definitely take care of him.

She wondered what men Cruz would bring with him. Amiin for sure, he was always by Cruz’s side, and maybe Cashoo. She had a bit of a soft spot for Cashoo. He was young, although sexy as hell with his permanent boner which she enjoyed teasing him about, but that’s as far as it went. Cruz had taught her at an early age — never fuck where you do business.

Thanks, Poppa. Good advice.

Mercedes wasn’t nervous, she never got scared. In fact, she was looking forward to the ‘takeover’, which was always a tense and invigorating time. She’d seen people get shot or knifed for not doing what they were told, and although bloodshed wasn’t her favourite thing, if it happened it was because people didn’t listen.

Dumb people didn’t listen. If only they’d follow orders, everything would be okay and nobody would get hurt.

Who’s dumb on this trip?

All of them.

Eventually Mercedes drifted off into a semi-sleep, and did not awake until Renee came in. The Australian girl was making too much noise, which pissed Mercedes off.

‘What th’fuck—’ she mumbled. ‘I’m tryin’ t’sleep here.’

‘Sorry,’ Renee said, clambering into the top bunk. ‘It’s just that…’

‘What?’ Mercedes grumbled. ‘Spit it out!’

‘Well, uh…’

‘Did Guy tear you a new asshole? ’Cause if he did, you gotta learn to ignore it. I do.’

‘One of the passengers wants to sleep with me,’ Renee blurted out.

‘Whaaat?’ Mercedes sat up and burst out laughing. ‘You’re shittin’ me. Who?’

‘Oh gosh!’ Renee said, blushing crimson. ‘I don’t know if I should say anything.’

‘You just did,’ Mercedes pointed out. ‘Who’s the cabron with the hard dick? Gimme a name.’

‘I think he really likes me,’ Renee moaned. ‘And here’s the thing — he’s so sweet and nice and… and he’s very important.’

‘If you don’t tell me who it is, I’m going back to sleep,’ Mercedes threatened.

‘The Senator,’ Renee whispered. ‘And I think I like him back.’