“What are you doing?” It came out harsh and demanding from the giant American man.
She raised an eyebrow. “I’m going on the game drive.”
“I recommend that you don’t.”
“Why’s that?”
He shot her a condescending look. “You want to witness a kill?”
“I thought this was a safari. No hunting.”
His face was blank, but damn . . . those eyes. “I meant one animal killing another. There might be blood.”
She couldn’t help but laugh in his face. If he only knew. “I’ll be fine.”
He straightened to his full height and his face darkened, eerie and beautiful. “It could be dangerous.”
Oh, God. Those words cut right into her, heating her body. “Maybe I like a little danger.”
She followed Giovanni through the lodge to the game vehicle, leaving Nathan in stunned silence.
Besides the money and concern about the consequences of refusing the Abramos offer, this was the final reason for taking the job. The darkest part of her
liked
the thrill of danger.
When Olivia reached the open-air vehicle, Giovanni said something over his shoulder. He must have thought she was Nathan, for his eyes widened in surprise when he noticed her. And then his lips pulled back into a smile.
Giovanni Abramo was wealthy and privileged, and she assumed he had never had to work a day in his thirty years of life. Everything about him screamed spoiled and entitled. Her Italian employer was pleasantly attractive. He had a mop of black, curly hair that he constantly pushed back to keep out of his dark eyes. He could just cut it, but he seemed to like the action that had become habit. A shadow fell on her.
Once again, she hadn’t heard Nathan’s arrival. Pleasantly attractive wasn’t a label she’d use for that man. Unconventionally handsome? Yes. Rugged? Sure. Strikingly intense? Oh, yeah.
Giovanni climbed into the modified Land Cruiser that had no roof, windows or workable doors. He held out his hand, offering to help her in. It was completely unnecessary because there was a handhold right beside his outstretched hand, but she accepted it, not wanting to be rude.
His hand was soft and off-putting, like he got manicures. Olivia would rather a man had rough, strong hands with calloused palms and dry skin. She liked someone who worked hard and knew how to handle himself. Giovanni was definitely not that kind of man.
The Land Cruiser had tiered seating rows for optimal game viewing. She sat down behind Phillip, who was seated at the steering wheel on the right side of the vehicle, ready to serve as their guide. A large rifle was clipped to the dash, easily in reach of almost anyone, including her. Giovanni sat in the same row as she did, but on the left side of the bench.
Giovanni had yet to make a move toward her, and maybe he wouldn’t. Perhaps he had a girlfriend, or two, back in Rome that kept him satisfied. But occasionally she’d catch a glance from him that hinted lust, and it made her stomach turn. It was kind of sad. She should be flattered that an attractive man was interested, and she hadn’t been with anyone in a long time. It’d been quite a dry spell for her. Her gaze drifted to the tall man who stood beside the vehicle.
Nathan had confirmed what she knew from the minute she stepped foot in Vitale Abramo’s ostentatious home office. Criminals. She’d hoped they were only the white-collar kind, and hadn’t seen much to make her suspect otherwise. Holy hell, the money was good and steady. The Abramos traveled a lot. But just a few more flights and she’d be facing a scary decision. Where would she go next? Back to flying a regional route in Spain? And would the Abramos let her go? They were clearly used to getting what they wanted.
Did Nathan have any room to judge her? He admitted he was used to working for criminals. Why did he care if she did, too? Why did she care what he thought of her?
The vehicle rocked slightly when Nathan climbed in and sat down behind her, and she could feel the tension rolling off him. He had a brief conversation with Giovanni and she couldn’t help but listen as the Italian tumbled out of his American mouth. It sounded delicious. The rise and fall of the words were like waves on a sea, and it was impossible to ignore. She wanted to know what he was saying. She wanted to know why he spoke Italian so well. Why he was working for Giovanni. She wanted . . .
She knew
exactly
what she wanted, and she frowned at herself. Nathan hadn’t argued with her yesterday when they met and she told him he was the most dangerous thing on her plane. She’d have to force those thoughts from her ridiculous mind.
No mixing business with your personal life, remember? That includes the American sitting behind you.
The wide Land Cruiser sped across a sandy path through the short trees and bush. The CB radio mounted below the dash buzzed with Afrikaans or another language she didn’t know, and Phillip snatched up the receiver, gave a short reply, and returned the receiver to its rest.
“There’s a pride of lionesses hunting a kilometer from here,” the South African said.
The vehicle lurched forward as he stepped on the gas. The landscaped changed quickly around them. One minute it was thorny, dense bush and the next it was open, grassy plain.
“Giraffe,” she said to no one in particular, pointing down the hill as they flew by. The lanky animal stood on its long legs, eating leaves from a treetop and paid no attention to them.
“And zebra,” Phillip replied, although he pronounced it
zeh-bra
. “Giraffe and zebra are old friends. You usually see them together.”
She didn’t care what the men thought of her reaction, it was impossible not to be dazzled seeing something she’d only seen behind fences at a zoo. “He’s beautiful.”
“She, actually,” Phillip said. “They are elegant, no?”
“Yes.” Elegant was the perfect word.
They crossed over a dry creek bed and the Land Cruiser scaled the rocky hill on the other side, leading them to where another vehicle sat, the logo of a different lodge displayed on its side. The vehicles were similar in style, but the back of the other one was full of passengers, all with camera straps slung around their necks.
Phillip pulled alongside the driver and chatted with the burly, tough looking black man, in what sounded like friendly conversation. Then, as they parted, Phillip yelled to the other vehicle’s passengers, “Make sure you ask him why he’s called Gentle Creature!”
The driver gave an embarrassed smile when he pulled away.
“Why is he called that?” she asked.
“Johannes used to be a tracker for us. One day he came into a clearing and startled a rhino bull. The firing pin of his rifle had jammed, so he said he had to talk the rhino out of charging him.”
“How’d he do that?”
“Johannes told the rhino that he was a gentle creature and meant it no harm. We can’t let him get by without teasing.” He moved the gearshift. “Hang on, we’re going in.”
She wasn’t quite sure what he meant until the tires turned off the path and into the bush. Then Phillip drove right over a large sapling. Her hand latched onto the bar over the seatback in front of her.
“Duck down,” the South African yelled over the tree limbs snapping beneath the undercarriage.
Duck down because now he was going under a low-hanging tree with two-inch thorns on it. She flattened herself against the center seat as the thorns dragged and scraped over the hood, and continued relatively harmlessly over the shirt on her back. The problem with this was it brought her face to face with Giovanni.
She sat up quickly, but he asked her something. Nathan’s deep voice came from behind.
“He wants to know if you’re all right.”
“Buono, grazie,”
she nodded. She’d secretly been trying to learn Italian since taking the job, but had been flying so much she’d only learned a handful of phrases. Giovanni seemed pleased to hear her speak his language, and now she wished she hadn’t done it. Then the Cruiser pitched violently to the right on the uneven land and Giovanni was on top of her.
He scrambled to sit up when the vehicle righted, but his hands fumbled over her body, one brushing her breast. It happened so quickly, she didn’t comprehend it until it was over. Nathan had grabbed the back of Giovanni’s shirt and yanked him off of her, hurling the Italian back into his own seat. Giovanni sent a slew of angry words at Nathan, who replied indifferently.
She glanced over her shoulder, stunned. Surely Nathan’s boss didn’t like being pushed around.
“He’s sorry,” Nathan said. “He didn’t mean to put his hands on you.”
What a total line of bullshit. “He said that, huh?”
Nathan’s eyes were two black holes, pulling her in, making it difficult to breathe. “No, but he’s less likely to do that again.”
Less likely, but it was still a possibility. Perhaps next time she’d sit in Nathan’s row. Desire flooded through her when she considered the uneven ground propelling Nathan on top of her. The image of her body beneath his hands made her pulse jump.
“Maybe you should sit beside him next time.” She’d meant for it to sound strong and biting, but her voice wavered with her sudden craving, and she hoped Nathan hadn’t noticed.
“Maybe you don’t come along next time.”
The desire in her evaporated. Phillip said nothing, probably pretending he was too busy driving to pay attention. The Land Cruiser tackled a few more bushes, and Phillip cut the engine.
In the center of the thicket, three lionesses lifted their heads from their meal to focus on the visitors, bloody entrails dangling from their deadly jaws. The largest cat went back to eating and the others followed. They did not view the people or the vehicle as a threat.
Olivia couldn’t fight the instinct to press herself into the leather seat. There were no fences, no bars or glass separating her from these gorgeous beasts. She was only twenty feet from them. There was nothing to stop them if they wanted to pounce and rip out her throat.
“It’s all right,” Phillip said, sensing her apprehension. “They’re comfortable with us. We’ve been coming around for long enough that we’re just another part of the environment to them.”
The girlie-girl buried deep inside her would have preferred not to watch them eat some sort of dead antelope. But she knew what her father and brothers would say—circle of life. Growing up she’d gone hunting, mostly to please her father and prove to her brothers she was tough, so she knew she could stomach whatever happened.
These cats looked so different from the ones in captivity. Muscles stretched beneath their hides that were hardened through need. It could be days before their next meal. Scratches and scars dotted their faces. It was a tough life, even at the top of the food chain.
She could have stayed for hours, silently watching them. Lions had always been her favorite growing up. At one point, she turned to Nathan, although she was unsure why. Maybe since he was also American he was likely to feel the way she did.
“Isn’t this amazing?” she said.
His eyes slowly drifted away from the cats to settle on her. “Yes.”
It sent a delicious shiver up her spine. When she turned to Giovanni, she was surprised to find he looked bored. How could he not care? Wasn’t he the one who’d planned a stay at the game lodge? He could have chosen a trip to the south of France instead.
“
Rinoceronte,
” he said.
“Mr. Abramo would like to see a rhino,” Nathan said.
But after a brief conversation on the CB, Phillip announced there weren’t any signs of rhino in the reserve that afternoon. The controversial decision to take down the fences around Kruger National Park had been made a few years ago and it allowed game to roam freely. Plus, there was the issue of poaching.
“Last year was the worst,” Phillip said. “More than three a day, all for a horn made out of the same thing as your fingernail. No medicinal quality, but in the black market in Asia, it’s more valuable than heroine. The price is so high, it’s worth the risk to the poachers.” His expression was resigned. “It’s extremely difficult to prosecute someone caught poaching, but at least the rangers are now allowed to shoot-to-kill.”
He’d said it like he might have been pleased.
They drove to a herd of elephants. Phillip brought the Land Cruiser so close, the trunk of one of the gigantic beasts wandered over the hood as it searched for the best leaf. Behind its mother’s legs, a tiny little elephant’s ears wobbled on its head. Its toenails were still white, and Phillip explained that it would darken to match its hide in another few months as it grew to adolescence.
It was incredible, and yet somehow not enough for Giovanni. He checked his phone. Facebook. Really? When the sun sank down behind the landscape, the Land Cruiser rumbled to a start and headed back for the lodge. It got dark fast, and being in the bush, surrounded by these men and other predators, was perilous and exciting. The vehicle unexpectedly skidded to a stop.
“What’s happening?” Nathan’s alert voice came from behind her.
“Here,” Phillip said. He hopped out of the driver’s seat and darted to a nearby bush, retrieving something from a branch. “Give me your hand, miss.” He clicked on a flashlight.