LITMIR.BIZ

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to gain some stability in his life, make his family proud of him, had landed him in this predicament in the first place.

      So much for good intentions.

      Connor squeezed the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes for a millisecond.

      That was all the time he had to breathe.

      In less than half an hour, the pit of venomous snakes he’d stirred up when he’d repossessed this Learjet might be within striking distance, if Maya’s warning was true. She claimed that a drug lord had taken her, that Connor had taken his plane, and that he—or his men—could be waiting for them upon their arrival.

      Was she for real? He wasn’t sure he could trust her, but considering what they’d been through so far, it seemed safer not to doubt her, at least on that point.

      And now...if they actually landed it wouldn’t be Miami as they’d planned. Not a big international port-of-entry airport where he could be sure he was dealing with the right people. Since it wasn’t a port of entry, a Customs and Border Protection officer would have to meet them there. A small secluded island for tourists and the wealthy meant you could count on a few corrupt individuals, give or take.

      In Connor’s experience, he’d learned that customs at JFK might snarl at you, striking fear in your heart even though you committed no crime, but it always seemed to him as though customs at places where the wealthy landed private jets operated under a different set of rules.

      Considering this drug lord’s capabilities, things could be as Maya described. The man might have someone waiting there to retrieve his Learjet and abduct Maya again. Waiting there for Connor and Jake. But how could Connor know for sure? Regardless, he needed to prepare for the worst.

      His brother returned to his seat and glowered.

      “We have to talk about this,” Jake said.

      No kidding. “Look, I’m sorry—”

      Jake cut him off. “But before we do, you need to visit with your girlfriend back there. She’s not looking too good and didn’t seem interested in giving me any information.”

      “My girlfriend? Hardly.”

      “Yeah, well, this whole thing was your idea. Now you’ve rescued a kidnapped woman—indirectly or accidentally, I’m not sure which, and I don’t care. Helping her is a good thing, but I’m not sure how things will go down. From where I’m sitting, this all looks bad. Really bad.”

      Connor thought Jake had wanted to talk later, but apparently he couldn’t hold his fury long enough. And Connor couldn’t sink any lower—now he had Jake berating him. But his younger brother had a point. They didn’t know what Maya would say when they landed. She could say they kidnapped her. At the moment, Connor needed to ensure that Jake gained control of his emotions.

      “Panicking isn’t going to help us.”

      “You’re crazy, you know that? Why do I ever listen to you?” Jake drew in a long breath. “What’s your plan now?”

      “Take one thing at a time. First, did you find the GPS?”

      Jake reached around his seat and held up a little box with a couple of wires hanging out. “With the way this day has gone, I’m surprised I didn’t need to climb around outside the jet to dismantle it. We’re fortunate it’s one of the mobile kind.”

      Connor didn’t want to voice his thoughts that their day wasn’t over yet. “Good. At least we can’t be followed. All we have to do now is make a safe landing. And as for everything else that’s happened, this isn’t anything we can’t handle, but I think we might have bigger worries than how this looks.” Connor shoved from his seat.

      “Great.”

      “I’m going to see if I can find out more from Maya, and I’ll let you know when I do.”

      “Don’t take too long. We’re about to start the landing sequence. I’m not sure how this thing is going to react.”

      Jake’s words resonated through Connor—he wasn’t sure what to expect from anything in his life anymore. This simple recovery of a Learjet had certainly not turned out as he’d expected.

      The plane continued to shake as he made his way to Maya, ordering himself to get some real answers from her this time. Her honey eyes and dark mane were an intoxicating combination and sent his breath catching in his throat every time he looked at her. It made him way too easily distracted.

      What was the matter with him? Okay, he’d admit that he was attracted to her, but that couldn’t go anywhere. He couldn’t let it. Not just because he wasn’t sure he could trust her, but because he knew—from long, hard experience—that she couldn’t count on him.

      If his life had been different, maybe he would want a chance to be friends, maybe even something more. But as things were, he wasn’t the kind of man women wanted for the long haul, and he would do good to remember that. He had the broken engagement to prove it.

      * * *

      Connor dropped into the seat across from her again, pulling her gaze and pensive thoughts from the window. The constant shaking unnerved her, and she feared they would end up in the azure depths of the Gulf of Mexico.

      The handsome pilot’s eyes swam with the blue-green of tropical waters, and though worry tugged at the corner of his lips, his soft smile reassured her. If she were a woman who believed in fairy tales, she could almost believe that he was destined to rescue her. That they were supposed to meet somehow, somewhere, but under different circumstances.

      Why couldn’t she have met him in the States, before she’d gone to Belize? Maybe he could have talked her out of going. But then again, once he learned the truth about her identity, he would have left her just as Eric had. Men could not be trusted.

      Not her father. Not Eric. Not Connor. He would try to protect his own interests. She just had to convince him that those interests didn’t include the truth about her, at least until she was free of him.

      Turbulence jolted the fuselage, adding to her anxiety.

      She squeezed the armrests, hating the vibration, the shaking, the turbulence—all of it—but holding on to her composure. She didn’t want him to think her weak. She needed to remain strong in his eyes so she would have more negotiating power, should she need it.

      “We haven’t crashed yet. Does that mean we’re going to live?” she asked, and even offered a smile. She needed to get on his good side, to convince him to listen to her plan.

      He nodded. “Yes. I think chances are good we’re going to live.”

      Maya wasn’t sure if he would tell her otherwise. “To face another day,” she added.

      To possibly face Roberto’s men when they landed. Of course, Roberto couldn’t so easily take his plane back upon landing in Miami, but she’d wanted to incite fear in Connor. If he didn’t know who he could trust, he wasn’t as likely to tell anyone about the kidnapped woman he’d found on the plane he’d taken, and Maya’s chances of walking away from this were much greater.

      “To face another day.” His smile grew wider, revealing two dimples on his left cheek.

      She didn’t trust his smile—he wanted her to let down her guard, using the same tactic she was using on him. She’d started it, after all, but sometimes a smile was all you had.

      Though she tried to resist, she liked the curve of his lips. When she thought about it, she couldn’t think of anyone she’d rather go through this with even though she knew little about him. But she knew enough—she sensed he was a champion inside.

      Someone’s champion, just not hers.

      He didn’t seem to realize that about himself, though, despite the confidence he projected.

      “We’ll be landing in a few minutes, an emergency landing at the Golden Key airstrip. It’s small, but adequate.”

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