Alex Ryder - Shores Of Love

He eyed her darkly for a moment then reluctantly he fastened his belt. ‘It had better be the truth,’ he warned her. ‘Because if I do decide to take you as my wife and I find out on our wedding night that you’ve been lying to me you’ll live to regret it.’

‘Well, you’ve got no worries on that score,’ she grated. ‘I’ve no intention of marrying you. In fact, if you were the only man left on this planet I’d stay as far away from you as possible. You’re the most detestable, arrogant—’

‘I don’t think you’ve got any choice in the matter, Miss Rivers,’ he broke in coldly. ‘Your fate is entirely in my hands and you’re going to stay here until I’ve made up my mind whether you’re worthy or not to become First Lady of this Clan.’

She put her hands on her hips, tossed her head and scoffed at him, ‘Is that a fact? And what’s to stop me leaving here right now? If I walk far enough I’ll be bound to reach a main road and get a lift south. Or perhaps you’re hoping that your fairies will turn me into a frog or something?’

A thin smile twisted his lips. ‘Nothing quite as drastic as that. But it’s forty miles of single-track road before you’d ever have a chance of getting a lift. Perhaps two cars a week use the road out of here. The only other way is by boat and since I own all the boats here I merely have to give orders that you’re not to be allowed aboard in any circumstances.’

Filled with a sense of outrage, she spluttered at him, ‘You can’t do that! You can’t keep me here a prisoner against my will!’

His blue eyes mocked her. ‘I can do anything I like with you, my dear girl,’ he said softly. ‘Who’s going to stop me? Your friends from the Caprice? ’ He saw her bite her lip and he laughed. ‘I don’t think we need worry about them coming here. Anyway, we’ll talk about them later. At the moment it’s you I’m interested in.’

She shivered and looked at him helplessly. ‘Look—I’m freezing. Are we going to stand here all day?’

‘Yes, if necessary.’ He leaned into the Land Rover, then took out a travelling-rug and handed it to her. ‘Put this around your shoulders.’

She wrapped herself up then wondered if it would do any good appealing to his better nature—always assuming that he had such a thing. ‘Look,’ she said quietly, ‘there isn’t any sense in this, is there? If you want a wife why don’t you choose a local girl? I mean—apart from needing a personality transplant—I’m sure most women find you attractive. But you and I? We don’t even like each other, do we? And please don’t give me all that rubbish about legends and magic fires and fairies. I wasn’t born yesterday.’

The blue eyes measured her coldly, sending another shiver through her in spite of the rug around her shoulders. ‘Kirsty is the one who believes in fairies,’ he snapped. ‘I believe in hard facts. Nevertheless, I respect Kirsty. Everyone here does. That’s why I’ve promised her that I’ll look after you.’

‘Until you’ve made up your mind whether I’m worth marrying or not,’ she observed drily. ‘My feelings don’t even matter to you, do they?’

‘You’ve only got yourself to blame for the position you’re in,’ he said coldly. ‘No one invited you here. I’ve got better things to do than play nursemaid to a bad-tempered little teenager. Your presence here is going to cause me considerable problems.’

‘Well, I’m sorry. If I’d known I was going to be all this trouble I’d have just let myself drown instead of swimming.’

He ignored her sarcasm. ‘One fact I can’t ignore is that Kirsty seems to like you. Whatever it is she sees in you eludes me for the moment, but I’m going to find out.’

She challenged him again, indignantly. I’m sure there are plenty of women here who’d jump at the chance of being your wife. Why pick on me? I’m entitled to know that, at least.’

‘You’re still a stranger,’ he told her bluntly. ‘All a stranger is entitled to here is food, shelter and hospitality—which you’ve been given.’

She glared at him in silent exasperation, then tried a new idea. ‘I don’t know anything about you, this part of the country, or the people. I wouldn’t fit in here and I’m certainly not worthy enough to be the First Lady of anything. I was shunted from one foster home to another when I was a kid. I’ve got no breeding whatsoever. You’re just wasting your time with me.’

Those damned eyes of his mocked her again and he growled, ‘Aye. I suspect you’re right. But I’m the one who decides, not you. So from now on, Miss Rivers, you’ll answer my questions without resorting to lies or evasion. Is that clear?’

‘I’m not in the habit of telling lies,’ she retorted angrily. ‘And I object to the way you—’

His voice cut through her protestation like a blade of cold steel. ‘Like you, I wasn’t born yesterday. If a boat has only got five crew and one of them suddenly disappears the others are bound to notice sooner or later, wouldn’t you agree? First thing this morning I contacted the nearest coastguard station to find out if any ship had reported a missing crew member. Well, no such report had been made. How do you account for that, Miss Rivers?’

‘Perhaps they…they haven’t got round to reporting it yet,’ she said evasively.

Suddenly her shoulder was grabbed in a vice-like grip and he thrust his face closer to hers. ‘They didn’t make any report because they didn’t want to draw attention to themselves. That’s the truth, isn’t it, Miss Rivers?’

She ran her tongue nervously over her lips. The man’s anger was like an icy blast from the polar wastes, chilling her to the marrow. ‘L-look,’ she stammered. ‘I—I—’

‘Save your breath,’ he grated. ‘Two hours after you were found on this beach last night a motor-cruiser called Caprice tied up at a deserted pier fifteen miles north of here. The police and Customs were waiting and your friends are now in custody.’

Her feeling of relief that Smith and his confederates had been caught was short-lived at the realisation that she was now being accused of being part of the gang. In wide-eyed consternation she blurted, ‘You…you’ve got it all wrong.’

‘Have I?’ he asked, with harsh scepticism. ‘By your own admission you were a member of the crew. And if you hadn’t “accidentally” fallen overboard you, too, would be in custody.’

She winced at the pressure of his hand. ‘Let go my shoulder, damn you. You’re hurting me.’

When he let her go she glared up at him. ‘All right! So I did lie to you. But I was just the cook on that damned boat. I didn’t know what they were up to. And I didn’t fall overboard. I jumped.’ She paused and gave a bitter sigh. ‘It’s a long story and you probably wouldn’t believe a word of it, anyway.’

He studied her shrewdly, then growled, ‘I might. But no more lies. Understand? If you aren’t part of that gang then what were you doing on the boat in the first place?’

‘I told you,’ she muttered. ‘I was just the cook.’ ‘So you say,’ he derided. ‘But you’ll have to do better than that.’

‘Dammit! I’m telling you the truth.’

‘How long had you been working for them?’

She sighed. ‘Only a few days. I met them in Portugal. My hotel room—’

‘What were you doing in Portugal?’

It was obvious that he wasn’t going to be satisfied until he’d wrung every last detail from her so she began again. ‘After the row with my ex-boyfriend I quit my job and decided to take a holiday.’

‘To mend your broken heart, no doubt.’

She ignored the sarcastic interruption and went on. ‘I drew all my savings from the bank, locked up my flat and caught the first available plane. Anyway, I spent the next two weeks swimming and lazing around on the beach and vowing that no man would ever use me or make a fool of me again.’ She paused and eyed him bitterly. ‘Of course I was wrong, as usual, wasn’t I?’