The Dare Collection: July 2018. Nicola Marsh

way that didn’t involve selling out to the vulture investors who’d been circling for months. Allie just needed time to figure it out.

      The very last thing she needed was to jet off to the Caribbean to some private island for a week. But if she admitted as much to Becka, then she’d have to admit everything else.

      She couldn’t. Not yet.

      Allie had just sunk what remained of her personal savings account into keeping the power bill paid at the shelter, which meant another month gone by without debt collectors calling. Or, worse in so many ways, without having to turn out any of the women currently living there.

      “Hello? Earth to Allie.” Becka waved a hand in front of her face, a frown marring her expression. “Where’d you go?”

      “Nowhere important.” She forced a smile and reached over to flick her friend’s hair. “The blue suits you.” It was just as bright as Becka’s personality, several shades melded together to create something beautiful.

      “Don’t change the subject.” Her friend frowned harder. “You aren’t going to cancel, are you? If you try, I will hog-tie you to your suitcase and haul your ass to the airport myself. You’re going to relax and enjoy yourself for a week even if it kills both of us.”

      Allie snorted. “If it kills both of us, that’s hardly relaxing, is it?”

      “Smart-ass.” Becka’s blue eyes were pleading. “I’ve already left our contact info with Claudia. I promise, if something happens and they need you, I’ll pay for your flight back to New York without bitching about it once. And I’ll never bully you into going on vacation again.”

      Allie raised her eyebrows. “How much did you have to pay Claudia to make sure she doesn’t call me?” That was the only way Becka would make a promise like that. Her friend played to win, and she wasn’t afraid to play dirty. Claudia was just as bad.

      Becka all but confirmed it. “Claudia is on the same page as I am. We both agree that you need to get the hell away from this place for a little bit.”

      She sighed again, but a small part of her looked forward to seven days with no email, no phone calls, no weight of the world on her shoulders. The island had no internet access except in the main lodge, so she’d have no choice but to relax. “I guess I have to go, then.”

      “Yes, you do!” Becka gave a little wiggle. “Now help me get the rest of these shoes put away before your class. I’m going to pop in if it doesn’t fill up. Seven days of drinking and sunning myself are going to add up quick.”

      Allie laughed and moved to help. She pushed away the worry and stress that had plagued her for months. It would still be here when she got back. What would it hurt to just cut loose for once in her adult life? “I’m looking forward to it.” And for the first time since she’d bought the tickets, she actually meant it.

      * * *

      Roman Bassani glared at the pretty Chinese woman behind the counter. “You’ve been giving me the runaround for weeks. I know for a fact that Allie Landers is in here daily and she’s actively dodging my calls. I just need to talk to her.” He couldn’t tender her an offer to invest in her business if he couldn’t pin her down, and he’d been having a hell of a time managing that since his initial call to propose the idea. Coaxing reluctant business owners into seeing things his way was something that usually came easily for him. But Allie Landers was a slipperier quarry than he’d expected.

      Apparently she’d successfully dodged him. Again.

      “I’m sorry, sir.” Claudia didn’t look the least bit sorry. “She’s out of town for the next seven days. Any business you have with her will have to wait until then.”

      “Out of town? Where the hell did she go? There’s got to be some way to get ahold of her.” He didn’t actually expect Claudia to answer, but apparently needling him was too much of a temptation.

      She leaned forward with a small smile. “She’s on a private island with no cell service or internet. If you want to contact her before she gets back, I suggest smoke signals.”

       Cheeky.

      He could use this. Roman plastered a disbelieving look on his face. “That’s bullshit. There isn’t a damn place in the Western Hemisphere without cell service or Wi-Fi, let alone without both.”

      “There is on West Island.”

      Aha. He didn’t let his expression shift. “If you say so. You tell Allie to call me when she gets back.”

      “I’m sure she’ll have you at the top of her list,” Claudia said sweetly.

      Roman turned without another word and stalked out of the gym. He breathed an audible sigh of relief once the door closed behind him. Everything about that place was so feminine, he couldn’t walk inside without feeling like a bull in a china shop. It was more than the tiny instructors that he seemed to argue with the second he asked after the owner. There wasn’t a single pink thing in sight, but the place was always packed with women.

      None of that was a bad thing, but the looks they gave him—as if they expected him to go on a rampage at any moment—and the subtle flinches they made if he moved too fast... It grated. It wasn’t their fault, and he applauded what Allie Landers was doing there, but their behavior left him painfully aware of how big his body was by comparison to theirs, and of the fact that no matter how carefully he spoke or how expensively he dressed, he was still a goddamn animal beneath the suit.

      He didn’t let anyone see it, but those women sensed it all the same.

      A predator.

      It didn’t matter that he’d chop off his hand before he raised it to a woman or child. To them, he was a threat.

      Roman cursed and started down the street. He should hail a cab, but he needed to work off his aggression more. The long strides helped clear his mind and ease his agitation, leaving nothing but cold purpose in its wake.

      This Allie thought she could skip town for a week and ignore the fact that his deadline was bearing down on them. Two weeks until she had to make a decision, or other investors would make the decision for her. Normally, Roman wouldn’t hesitate to play dirty, but his client wanted Allie to agree to the contract without him putting on undue pressure. An impossible task. He had a healthy bonus waiting for him if he could pull it off, but that was secondary. His client wanted full acquisition of the business with the shelter intact—the women in the shelter would scatter if they thought it was a hostile takeover. They trusted Allie, and they sure as fuck wouldn’t trust him.

      All of it boiled down to his needing the damn woman to go along with this buyout and he couldn’t convince her to get onboard if she wasn’t here.

      But he had a location.

      Roman fished his phone out of his pocket and did some quick searching, his frustration growing when he realized that the resort was booked for the next year straight. The website promised a discreet paradise, which translated to the staff being unwilling to move things around to accommodate him. Since giving him guest names so he could offer his own incentive was against company policy, he’d hit a dead end.

      Only one thing left to do. He called his best friend, Gideon Novak. “Hey, don’t suppose you have any connections with West Island in the Caribbean?”

      “Hello, Roman, so nice to hear from you. I’m doing well, thank you for asking.”

      Roman rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, I’m being a prick. We both know that’s not going to change. The island. It’s important.”

      The slightest of pauses on the other end wouldn’t have been there if he hadn’t fucked things up royally six months ago. He and Gideon were mending that bridge, but rebuilding the trust was slow going. It didn’t matter that Gideon understood where Roman was coming from—Roman had still almost cost his friend the love of his life, Lucy.

      Finally,