CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

 

 

 

Marissa felt like a total idiot. She couldn’t believe that she had stormed off like a petulant teenager over a comment that was technically accurate. The truth was that Payne and Jones had done more for history over the past decade than all of her former professors combined. And even though the duo’s methods were far from traditional, it was hard to argue with their results.

They weren’t risking their lives to write a research paper.

They were searching for a long-lost treasure.

And thanks to her dramatic exit, she had blown her chance to help.

She cursed under her breath as she stared at the surrounding harbor. From the cushioned seat in front of the helm, she could see the rising grandeur of the Corinthia Hotel on her left and the neon lights of Dragonara Casino to her right. But as her gaze swept along the waters of St. George’s Bay, she wasn’t truly seeing anything.

Her mind was too focused on the events of the day.

Over the past twelve hours so much had happened that it was tough for her to believe. It had started with an urgent text message from Petr Ulster, followed by an amazing opportunity to work with two men that she admired, topped off with a gunfight in one of the few places that she used to feel safe. To say her day had been an emotional rollercoaster would be the understatement of the year.

No wonder she had lost control inside.

She was still surging with adrenaline.

And yet, she couldn’t stop beating herself up over the way she had stormed out. She was a fighter, not a quitter, but in this case, she had practically run from the confrontation as she scorched the earth beyond her with a series of fiery barbs.

She had no idea why she had done that.

To figure things out, she tried to block out the rest of her day to focus solely on her interactions with Payne. Until things had fallen apart at the very end, she had found him to be everything she had imagined and more.

During her time at the Ulster Archives, she had heard so many stories about his exploits from Ulster that it had been impossible not to be impressed. For her, it was more than just his recent adventures with Jones, but also his career as a highly decorated soldier and his position as CEO of Payne Industries, where he seemed to spend most of his time doing charity work. She didn’t care about his money. She cared about his deeds and the man himself. Like a schoolgirl with a crush, she had followed his exploits from afar, never expecting to have the opportunity to meet him in person, let alone work with him on one of his missions.

Her heart had leapt with joy when she saw him standing outside of the library. Somehow she had managed to play it cool when she had introduced herself to Jarkko, partly because she was in character as Lara Croft at the time. But her façade had started to crumble during her conversation with Jones. She was nearly as familiar with him as she was with Payne, but she had kept it together until she shook his hand and called him “David freakin’ Jones”.

That’s when she had started to lose it.

That’s when the fangirl had surfaced.

By the time she had reached Payne in the greeting line, she knew she was in serious trouble. Her heart was pounding, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were as wide as saucers. For someone like Marissa, who went through life with headphones on in order to keep people away, these emotions were as foreign to her as the Maltese language was to Payne.

She didn’t have the first clue how to proceed.

Growing up in boarding schools around the world, she didn’t have much experience with the opposite sex, and the encounters that she’d had were mostly unpleasant. Because of her extreme beauty, she had been targeted by every creep who saw her from the moment that she hit puberty. At the age of thirteen, she was being propositioned by men of all ages, who had offered her everything imaginable for unspeakable deeds in return.

Most people assume that beautiful women have it easy.

But beauty has its drawbacks, too.

To keep the predators at bay, she had built up walls, and she had been hiding behind them for years. Unlike many social-minded women who traveled in packs and used velvet ropes to separate themselves from undesirables, Marissa avoided cliques and clubs altogether, preferring the company of books to those who were only drawn to her looks. Although she’d had a boyfriend or two at Stanford—a school where the best and brightest intermingled, allowing her to temporarily experience human interaction without being placed on a pedestal by her classmates—she had very little familiarity with the feelings that had surfaced today with Payne.

When their eyes had locked and their hands had touched, she had experienced a rush of emotions that was so electric that she was afraid she was going to fry. And as their gaze had lingered, she had sensed that Payne had felt it, too. That he had somehow looked past her beauty and the towering walls that she had built to protect herself, and had seen the real person inside, the one who longed for the type of connection that her parents never had. Although she wasn’t a romantic at heart, she still wanted to find someone who made her feel alive.

And she had felt that way and more when they had met.

But less than twelve hours later, she was pushing him away.

Marissa cursed again, this time in Maltese, a trait she had picked up from her mother before her untimely passing. It didn’t take a degree in psychology to figure out why Marissa had lashed out at Payne the way that she did. She had interpreted his comments about finding treasures without her as a sign that he was going to discard her, much like Marissa’s father had done with her and her mother. So instead of waiting for the axe to fall, Marissa had done the chopping herself, cutting Payne out of her life even though it was the last thing that she wanted.

And to make matters worse, she had done it in front of his friends.

She knew very little about men, but she knew that was a no-no.

The male ego was such a fragile thing.

Marissa was tempted to dust herself off and return to the scene of the crime to make her amends before his wounds had a chance to fester, but before she found the courage to do that, she heard the gentle creak of the side door, the same one she had stormed out of only minutes before. When she glanced over and saw Payne squeezing through the narrow portal, she felt her cheeks flush once again. But this time, she was better prepared to handle it. She took a deep, cleansing breath to calm her nerves, coolly brushed the hair away from her face, and tried to figure out what she was going to say to apologize for her outburst.

“Marissa?” Payne said as he peeked around the corner. “May I come out?”

She bit her lip and nodded. “Yes, of course. Believe it or not, I was actually getting ready to come inside.”

“Oh,” he said, disappointed. “Don’t let me keep you. If you want to go inside—”

“No!” she blurted, much louder than she intended. So she softened her voice and tried again. “No, that’s not what I meant. I was coming inside to speak to you.”

“Really? That’s great!” He pointed at the cushioned bench that she was sitting on. It was one of the few pieces of furniture that hadn’t been slashed by Volkov. “Do you mind if I join you?”

She patted the seat next to her. “Please, take a load off. It’s been a taxing day. And this bench is perhaps the most comfortable thing I’ve ever sat on. I’m not sure what it’s made of, but I’m guessing it’s the substance they would use to wrap a box of bubble wrap.”

Payne laughed as he sat down. “That’s a pretty sophisticated metaphor. Try not to use those in front of Jarkko. His head might explode.”

She smiled. “I don’t know about that. He pretends to be dumb for comic effect, but I get the sense that he may be smarter than the rest of us.”

Payne nodded as he squeezed the seat cushion with both of his hands. “You’re right about both things. This seat is unbelievably comfortable—so much so I want my coffin to be lined with this stuff. And Jarkko is highly intelligent. He speaks five or six languages and knows the seas better than any instructor I ever had at the Academy. I’m lucky to call him my friend.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear you say that.”

He glanced at her. “Why’s that?”

She smiled. “I like it when we agree on things.”

“Me, too,” he said as he turned his body to face her. “Listen, about my outburst inside. I honestly didn’t mean to—”

“No!” she blurted. “Stop right there! It’s totally my fault. I shouldn’t have reacted the way that I did. This is your mission—”

“No,” he said as he vigorously shook his head. “There’s no need to fall on your sword. I raised my voice in an inappropriate manner and said something I didn’t mean to say in the heat of the moment. Seriously, I have no idea where that came from. That’s not like me at all.”

She shook her head, too. “It wasn’t inappropriate! You were exactly right. You have accomplished more in your lifetime than I could possibly accomplish in mine, yet I was lecturing you about your methodology. Obviously your tactics work just fine, and it was foolish of me to insinuate otherwise.”

“Stop. Just stop. You know damn well that we don’t stand a chance in hell of finding the treasure without you. Sure, we’ve had some success in the past, but our team will be much stronger if you’re on it. So please accept my apology and come back to the squad.”

“Only if you accept my apology for storming out like a drama queen.”

He nodded and stuck out his hand. “Deal?”

She grabbed his hand and smiled. “Deal.”

For the briefest of moments, their hands lingered, skin on skin, as they stared at each other in the moonlight. But unlike the giddy awkwardness of their initial introduction, this somehow felt right, as if they were meant to be entwined—and that sensation freaked them out more than the gunfight at the library. They both let go at the exact same time, running from the feelings that both of them shared, while turning their attention to the undulating sea.

“You know,” Payne said just to fill the silence. “For a moment there…”

She glanced at him, hopeful. “What?”

His mind churned, looking for the right thing to say. “For a moment there, I thought we were going to get into a fight while we were trying to apologize.”

“Me, too!” she said with a disappointed smile. “We kept talking over each other, trying to take the blame, when both of us knew that you were clearly at fault.”

Payne laughed. “Hold up! Is that how you remember it? As a highly trained historian, you sure take a lot of liberties with the past. I think if you take a closer look at your terms of surrender, you’ll see that we agreed on joint custody of the blame.”

“My terms of surrender? I distinctly remember you offering your apology before I followed your lead, which means it was your surrender, not mine.”

“Holy crap,” Payne said. “We’re doing it again. What is wrong with us?”

She shook her head in frustration. “I have no idea.”

Then they sat in silence for several uncomfortable seconds.

“Anyway,” Payne said as he stood from the bench, “it’s great to have you back on the team. There are four cabins on board, so each of us will have our own space. Choose whichever one you want, and make yourself at home. I know Jarkko will try to offer you his stateroom, but for health reasons, I highly recommend one of the guest cabins.”

She stood as well. “Are you coming inside?”

Payne shook his head. “I’m a troubled sleeper, so I always take first watch. I’m ninety-nine percent confident that the Russians won’t be coming back tonight, but I need to make sure.”

“If you’d like, I could keep you company for a bit.”

Payne smiled. “As much as I appreciate the offer, I think it’s best if you got your rest. It’s been a long, emotionally draining day, and we’ll need you at the top of your game in the morning when we figure out our next move.”

She nodded. “You’re probably right. Some rest will do me good.”

“Jarkko has some clean clothes and supplies down below. After you take a shower, have DJ take a look at your wound. I know from personal experience that he’s a master at first aid.”

“Okay,” she said as she squeezed past him to get to the side door. As she did, they briefly touched, chest against chest. “Don’t stay up too late. You need your rest, too.”

Payne nodded. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. I’ve done this before.”

She sighed as she turned and walked away. “Yeah. Me, too.”