Ivorie's Surprise [Golden Dolphin] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Skye Michaels Page B

Do you want to come? Or do you just want to stay here and rant and rave?”
    “You go. I’m going to think. We’ll talk when you come back.”
    When Frank got back from dinner, Eugenia was ready for him with an idea, and she jumped right in. “I’ve got it. If we can catch Ivorie alone, you can detain her while I use her bracelet to get on board. If I can get Drew alone, I know I can talk him out of this breakup business.”
    “Are you nuts? You want to kidnap a foreign tourist from a bazillion-dollar boat, board the boat, and fuck some guy’s brains out? Baby, you’re losing it.”
    “Frank, wait. Just think a minute. This can work. The next port of call for the Golden Dolphin is tomorrow in Castries, St. Lucia. That’s too soon for us to get into position and locate a safe hiding place for Ivorie until the boat leaves port again. But by next Tuesday they will be in Santarém, Brazil and some other small Amazon River towns. There are several Brazilian ports of call, and I bet we can find just the right place. We have time to get there ahead of them and set something up.”
    “I still think it’s nuts, but I guess we can go there and scope it out.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Frank couldn’t believe that Eugenia, rather than calming down, had revved up even more while he was out to dinner. She was definitely on a tear, and it was scary. She was losing touch with reality. Frank, a veteran of the New York streets, wished he’d never come down here and gotten involved in this nonsense. He’d thought it would be good for a few good lays, a free vacation, and a few bucks. Now, he thought it might be good for a few years in a South American prison. He’d play along for a while and see if her plan was feasible. But it better damn well be a great plan because he wasn’t risking his neck for Eugenia.

Chapter Twenty-One
     
    The Golden Dolphin —Castries, St. Lucia Harbor, October 10, 2013—Thursday Morning, Day Five of the Cruise
     
    The Golden Dolphin had anchored off St. Lucia on schedule, the captain had presented passports and credentials to the port authorities, and most of the passengers were going ashore for the day. Drew had a cup of coffee in his suite to give Ivorie time to get into the office. He wasn’t in the mood to eat, and he certainly wasn’t in the mood for a shore excursion. He’d been awake most of the night thinking. He had worried that she might have another nightmare, and he wouldn’t be there. This spat was a wake-up call. He realized that he had been so immersed in his own emotional problems and in business matters for such a long time that he hadn’t seen what his sour attitude was doing to other people. That wasn’t the leadership ethic his father had tried to teach him, and he was ashamed of himself. All the money he had made aside, his dad would not have been proud of his performance. His dad had been someone who cared a great deal about the people who worked for him and had always been there for them. That was one thing that he was going to change about himself when he got back from this trip. His parents’ deaths had just been the final straw in the change of his personality. He wanted to be the person he had been before 9/11, when the responsibility for the businesses fell on his shoulders. He also wanted to be the person he was when he was with Ivorie.
    While this thing with Eugenia at the dock wasn’t completely his fault as far as he was concerned, Ivorie’s expectations of him were entirely his fault. He wished he had considered what his spur-of-the-moment words to Eugenia would do to Ivorie, but he had just spit them out without thinking of the consequences. He realized that she had learned from bitter and long experience what to expect from him, and it made him sick. It broke his heart.
    Drew went down to the office and opened the door. Ivorie was at her desk just as she’d said she would be. He’d known she wouldn’t hide in her cabin and sulk. That just wasn’t Ivorie,