Cold As Ice. Anne Stuart

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      It was getting dark when she came out of the shower, and she could see lights from the shoreline through the filmy curtains. She wasn’t sure they were a reassurance that land was nearby or a reminder that she wasn’t on it, but she left the curtains closed anyway as she dressed in the new clothes, pulling off the tags that had been left on. Size eights. She didn’t know whether to be annoyed or relieved.

      She reached for her bottle of pills, and at the last minute popped two in her mouth. It had to be the ocean water that was making her paranoid, uneasy, convinced that something, somehow, was wrong. But the pills would take care of that, and after tomorrow she could throw them away. Or at least pack them until she had to return to the city and the way of life she’d chosen.

      She sank down in one of the oversize chairs, closing her eyes as she waited for the Zenlike calm to envelope her. It would all be all right. It would be lovely. And then she’d be gone.

      She was a pretty little thing, Harry Van Dorn thought, watching her on the closed-circuit television in his stateroom. A little too padded for her clothes, but stripped she was just right. He’d gotten tired of bone-thin models who performed tirelessly.

      But then, that was normal for him. He was a creature of impulse, and he had a short attention span. He became obsessed with something, overindulged, and then lost interest. He’d gone through virgins, older women, ugly women and handsome men. He’d stayed longest with the children, but they tended to cry too much, and even when he found a good one they had an unfortunate tendency to age, and he’d never cared for anyone over eleven.

      His taste for models had been a fortunate alternative—it was socially acceptable, even encouraged, and he had no trouble attracting them. He was just as much a trophy as they were, and the relationships were mutually beneficial.

      The only problem was he couldn’t hurt them without paying a huge price. Their bodies were their livelihood, and any kind of scarring, any broken bones or bruising would diminish their value. He’d gone a bit overboard with one, and then had to try to buy her off. She’d made the very grave mistake of refusing, and no one had thought it the slightest bit strange that an anorexic supermodel had been found starved to death in a little French château.

      But that was in the past. He looked at Genevieve Spenser’s creamy, beautiful skin and knew he was going to have her. His lawyers knew how to quiet things up, and if he made a mistake, went a bit too far, his ass would be covered. No, Ms. Genevieve Spenser was a downright thoughtful gift from the universe, as well as those contracts she’d brought with her. The ones that severed his connections to some of his most lucrative oil fields. The ones that were going to be blown up in just about two weeks’ time.

      The Rule of Seven, his lucky number. Seven disasters to throw the financial world into an uproar, the kind of uproar a smart man could benefit from. And he considered himself a smart man. The decimation of the oil fields was number three, and nothing would stop it. Nothing would stop him.

      Until he had everything he wanted.

      And the nice thing about that was, he always wanted more.

      3

      Of course it had to be tonight, Peter thought savagely, closing the communication device that was so visionary it didn’t even have a name. Word had come down from Madame Lambert—the time for waiting was past, and tonight was the night. There was no wiggle room; at midnight, when the harbor patrol changed, they were taking over Harry’s Seven Sins and disappearing. The course had been plotted long ago, and the men in the wheelhouse were some of the best. No one would be able to find them, even with the most advanced surveillance systems.

      Then again, no one would be looking for them. Harry Van Dorn was known to take off when the mood struck him, and the time he spent aboard the Seven Sins usually involved the world’s idea of romance. If he disappeared, it would first be assumed he had some sort of assignation, probably at his private island. And Peter Jensen had been on-site long enough to know how to steer nosy people in the wrong direction.

      Harry did have an assignation on Little Fox Island, all right. But it wasn’t with a leggy model. He had an appointment with death, and the longer Jensen was around him the more he knew it was long overdue.

      But why the hell did Madame Lambert have to pick tonight? When a relative innocent had strayed into their path? He was used to dealing with anomalies, but his choices had never been quite so clear cut. He had to get her off the boat. Or she had to die.

      And he had only a few hours to make that happen.

      Questioning orders was frowned upon by the Committee, and Peter didn’t even consider it. He did his job with single-minded determination and ignored the larger ramifications. He didn’t want to be the one making the life-or-death decisions. If he had to make them, he might have trouble carrying them out, and the world couldn’t afford that.

      Saving the world, one murder at a time, Peter thought, putting his wire-rimmed glasses back on his face. The funny thing was, he really didn’t want to kill Harry Van Dorn. For the simple reason that he was afraid he might enjoy it, and then he’d really be lost.

      It was going to be an antiseptic, long-distance hit, and he’d let Renaud do the honors. Renaud had no qualms about his work; he reveled in it a bit too much, which could always be a liability. Peter’s icy control was money in the bank—the job got done with deadly efficiency and no fuckups.

      There’d be no fuckups on this one either. But he had to get rid of Genevieve Spenser. Now.

      She’d miscalculated. Genevieve sat in one of the elegant lounges on Harry Van Dorn’s megayacht, forcing herself to eat sparingly of the food that was far too good for a pick-up chef, and drank too much wine. She should have paid attention, but even by her recently pampered standards the wine was extraordinary, and it would have been a crime to ignore it. She knew herself well enough to know when she’d had enough, but it was too late at that point, and her only choice was to manage a dignified retreat.

      It hadn’t been a bad evening—Harry was charming, full of flattering attention and entertaining stories that poked fun at both himself and the high and mighty. At some other time Genevieve might have felt like reciprocating that flattery—he was movie-star handsome, and she hadn’t been involved with anyone in longer than she wanted to remember. The firm would approve, and she could have a night of pleasure to send her on her way to the rain forest.

      The problem, of course, was that it wouldn’t be particularly pleasurable. The first time she slept with a man it tended to be uncomfortable, nerve-racking, even unpleasant. Even with the wine and the tranquilizers she would only manage to relax enough to do it but not enjoy it. No, Harry Van Dorn was flirting heavily, but he didn’t seem likely to push it, and she was just as happy to be able to keep a relative distance.

      “I’ve got a busy day tomorrow,” she said, rising on thankfully steady feet. “I’ve had a lovely evening, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to say good-night.”

      Harry rose, towering over her, his big Texas grin almost tempting. “Are you sure I can’t talk you into an after-dinner liqueur? Maybe view my etchings?”

      She laughed, as she was supposed to. “I think I’ll take a rain check on the etchings,” she said. “I’m so exhausted I’ll probably fall asleep on my feet.”

      “We can’t have that. I suppose I’d better call Jensen!”

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