Free Riptide by Cherry Adair Page A

on the whole diamond-smuggling scenario.
    “Halkias better hope he kept his dick in his pants,” Nick told his friend, his voice savage and low. He didn’t like how fragile she looked lying in his arms, eyes closed. A fairy-tale Snow White. God. He didn’t like this one fucking bit. “Have two of the men make sure he stays where you put him. I’ll be down to deal with him shortly.”
    His arms tightened around Bria’s rib cage, right beneath the gentle swell of her breast, and under her knees as she shifted in his arms. Her naturally husky voice was more so as she croaked, “Put me down, I can walk.”
    “Shut up.”
    His head steward, Khoi, waited outside Nick’s suite. He opened the door the minute he saw them, his eyes shadowed with concern. “Tea, boss?”
    Nick didn’t know what the hell she’d need. Not to be attacked in a place where he was responsible for her safety was probably a start. God damn it to hell. “Tea would be great. Leave it in here.”
    He strode through his office and into the suite, where the stars winked through the octagonal skylight over the neatly turned down bed.
    “Please put me—” Nick set her gently on the edge of the mattress. “Oh!” Her face was pale, her eyes very dark as she put a delicate hand to her throat. Her manner, her dress, her go-to-hell attitude, all spoke volumes about who she thought she was. But her long-lashed dark eyes as she looked up at him were filled with vulnerability.
    She’d lost her shoes somewhere along the way, and she rubbed her bare feet together as though she needed some sort of physical comfort, even if it was only from herself. For a moment, he stared at her toes with their flashy bright red polish and sassy gold toe ring. Damn it all to hell. He dragged his attention away from her slender feet, and from the brink of doing something damned stupid, like wrapping her in his arms and burying his face in her midnight hair.
    Fuckingfuckingfucking hell.
    Why would a man whom they’d hired a world away, and a year ago, try to kill a woman who’d barely been on board four hours? It made absolutely no sense.
    Logic dictated that the attempt had something to do with the diamonds. But he’d only made contact with Najeeb Qassem and Kadar Gamali Tamiz in the last week. Agreed to bring the diamonds on board twenty-four hours ago.
    Still, they’d seen her at the café. Perhaps recognized her…?
    Maybe. Wouldn’t that mean she wasn’t involved with the diamonds?
    Or maybe it meant she was, and was an outside player they didn’t want horning in on their territory?
    A long shot by any stretch of the imagination.
    But why was she attacked? That was the question.
    Hell, none of it made sense.
    But for the Moroccans to get to the Greek crew member hired almost a year ago on the Ca Mau province salvage? It was a big leap, and just didn’t add up.
    A sexual assault made more sense. Stunning and sexy as she was, Gabriella Visconti was also the only female on board.
    “Were you raped?” Nick kept his tone noninflammatory with a great deal of control. He’d already noted that her jeans were still done up, now he saw the lacy edge of a nude-colored bra peeking from the scooped neck of her white T-shirt. The relief he felt was profound.
    She shook her head, causing the silky black fall of her hair to spill like ink over her shoulders. She winced at the movement and massaged the darkening fingerprints at her throat. “No,” she whispered. “I think he had something else in mind.”
    “Like what?”
    Her eyes met his. “Like trying to kill me.”
    “How did you manage to piss off someone after only being on board a few hours?” Nick asked lightly, studying Bria’s face. Maybe it was a gift—she’d gotten his back up in the first twenty seconds. Quite a feat.
    She gave him an arch look. “Funny.”
    Savage was closer to how he felt. “Do you need a doctor?”
    “I’m angry as hell,” she said crossly. “Not hurt.”
    Her color was high, and