Was it that he was more calm because he’d…orgasmed earlier? Or possibly he was being really nice because I’d been sick and he still blamed himself? The change was nice, though.
I took a couple of bites of dry toast, just to test out my stomach. It growled in response, letting me know that a couple of bites weren’t enough.
Axel looked up from his reading and gazed at my face almost as though he was seeing me for the first time. “How are you this morning?” he asked.
I swallowed and wiped my lips with the napkin. “To be honest, I was a little seasick this morning, I think. I ended up taking something...something for seasickness.”
“The boat was calm last night,” he said, a dark eyebrow rising over the crest of his glasses, giving him a funny, curious appearance. “Are you sure it was seasickness?”
“I’m guessing it was seasickness, since the medicine worked. One of those packets they’ve got in the drawer?”
“She was dying,” Raven said, his mouth still partially full of eggs.
Axel put his tablet down. He took up my wrist, checking my pulse, and then tapped something on the tablet to make a clock appear. He waited a minute and then circled his hand around my wrist fully, placing his other hand over my forehead. “Your pulse is a little high but no fever.”
“I’m sleepy because of the medication,” I said, letting him hold onto my wrist. I brushed my fingers smoothly over the back of his hand. I want to instill some confidence that I was fine and could handle things. I hoped that was true. “I feel better. I just hope it won’t affect anything going on today.”
“Maybe you should stay on shore,” he said. “If you can trust us to gather the information you need, there’s no reason you need to be here directly.”
My eyes widened. If being a little seasick had him wanting to push me out the door, what would he say once I told him Blake was onboard?
“If we’re going to continue working with Ethan,” I said, “My first choice is not to walk away and let other people handle it. Not if we want me to be the commanding influence in how things progress. I should stay.” I glanced at Raven and Kevin and then leaned in to Axel, whispering to him. “To be honest, though, if it looks like I’m spacing out, I hope you’ll help.” It was a dirty trick, asking the guys for help. Not like they could resist; Southern gentlemen never say no to a girl if they could help it.
“Of course,” he said.
I lifted a piece of bacon to my lips, but Axel shot out a hand, blocking it. “Although if you have been sick, I’d recommend staying away from the bacon. The extra grease isn’t easy on the stomach.”
He was probably right. I sighed, putting the slice of bacon and the rest from my plate over to Raven’s. “Please tell me I can at least eat the eggs.”
“Eggs should be fine,” he said. He released my wrist and picked up his tablet again. “I had Corey dig up information about your Nightingale team.”
“Anything unusual? A bank account in the Cayman Islands, maybe?”
“That would take more time to uncover,” he said. He filed through a few documents on his tablet and then opened one. He tilted the screen toward me and showed me the page. It was a picture of one of the women from the manifest, the younger one with sharp steel eyes and hair pulled back into a bun. “This one right here. She’s a member of three nonprofit boards.”
“All under Murdock?”
“No,” he said. “The two others are smaller, and belong to politicians of South Carolina.”
“Is it unusual that she belongs to three? Is being on a board like being on a full time job?”
“It can be, but usually not,” he said. “The Nightingale nonprofit runs pretty light. They do more fundraisers than actual managing. They have semi-monthly meetings, put out quarterly reports and once a year at their Annual General Meeting, they do a summary and state their plans for next year. It is unusual to belong to three at once.”
“And they get paid to do this?”
“Usually, you wouldn’t,” he said. “Not unless it was really a full time job and a complicated nonprofit to run. Otherwise the IRS would be watching you very carefully. The only one that pays her is Nightingale. The salary is around sixty thousand dollars.”
I blinked, chewing on a bit of chocolate muffin. “That doesn’t sound like a lot of money, I mean not what I thought for an executive type of position. Times that by three, maybe.”
“That’s about as high as you could get away with before the IRS would really begin snooping around,” he said. “Usually you have another job, and this is more like volunteer work. If you raise the salary too high, then you become under heat of the IRS division that handles nonprofits. It’s best to keep compensation low, usually nothing. The job itself looks good if you’re trying for publicly visible positions, or to gain political power.”
“Is this woman looking for political power?” I asked, pointing to her sharp nose and piercing eyes. “Is that why she’s on three boards?”
“It could be,” he said. “Although when we looked into it, she didn’t seem to have run for any political offices. She does write books and articles on hot political topics, but it doesn’t really gain her much more additional income. Most of her money comes from being on the board of Nightingale.”
“It would give her motive to be funneling money into a private piggy bank. What’s her name again?”
“Tara,” he said. “Tara Wayward.”
I studied her face and then nodded. “There was another one I thought we should talk to, too. The one with the glasses? He looked young.”
“Colt Baker,” he said. He went through his files again and brought up the face, green eyes, dark glasses and dark curly hair cut short to his head. Seeing it blown up on his tablet, he wasn’t a nerdling like Corey. He gave the appearance of flat out nerd—more like a chess playing, sticks to numbers and data sort of person, without having much fun. “Why do you think we should talk to him?”
“From what I’ve heard, he tries to change the way the nonprofit is run,” I said, recalling what Blake had told me. “In the meeting notes, it says he proposes actions to improve the efficiency, but gets rejected. I’m not totally sure why he’s even on the board if no one listens to him.”
“So you think he’s stealing the money?”
“It could be...or maybe he’s an ally for us because he wants positive changes. If that’s the case, we might be able to put him in charge after we’ve filtered out the bad ones.”
Axel nodded and then downed the rest of his coffee. “Well, we’ll pay attention to everyone. I’ll have to get someone to read the minutes from the meetings. We’re still catching up.”
I knew Blake had read the meeting notes. It’d be prudent they work together. “I know,” I said. “I am, too. But Ethan was right. This was a good opportunity to catch some info and to possibly introduce ourselves as potential bad guys or allies. No rush since they don’t know we’re coming.”
Raven grunted and scooped up the last of his food before pushing his plate aside. His stomach stuck out a little. He’d eaten enough for three people. I had to admire how much food he could pack away, and was partially jealous he didn’t have to unbutton his pants after he did so. “Kevin,” he said.
Kevin looked up from his cell phone. “Yeah?”
“I want to check in with Corey.”
“Go on,” Kevin said. “You don’t need my permission.”
“You should come with me.”
Kevin rolled his eyes. “Take Kayli.”
“I need to talk to Axel,” I said.
“Ugh,” Kevin said and then stood, scooting his chair out of the way and stuffing his phone into his pocket. “If we’re going to be at sea, we’re not going to get much signal. I’m trying to get everything taken care of, for us and for Mindy. I still don’t know what I am supposed to do while we’re here. I’m not exactly the right color among all these CEOs.”
“There might be some other CEOs that are your color,” I sa
id, trying to sound positive since he was bringing it up. “Maybe go over the roster? You might be able to make friends easier than the rest of us.”
He shrugged. “I guess. I’m just restless and want to get started. Plus, I’m not very good with rich people.”
If he wasn’t going to be comfortable, then it might be better to put him with crew instead. Then I had an idea. “Could you do me a favor, Kevin?” I asked.
Kevin looked at Axel. Axel nodded slightly. Kevin focused on me again. “What do you need?”
“One of the crew was giving Avery a hard time. A guy. Tan skin. Really blond hair. Bad attitude.”
Kevin frowned. “A snob?”
“Yeah. Maybe you can check him out. It could be he’s protective of his job and his teammates, or he might be easily bribed, maybe even by the bad guys. We should get to him first.”
“Hm,” Kevin said, brushing a palm across his chin. “He might just not like new kids on his turf. Still, if he’s just a jerk, may as well get on his case. I was talking with Avery earlier. He’s an okay guy. I need to help him with his spine. He’s too soft.”
“That’s a good idea.” Maybe Kevin didn’t like that I was in charge. I wasn’t sure if I’d fully earned his trust yet. At least this was utilizing his original idea and gave him something to do.
I eased back in my chair as the guys left. Raven turned once to look back at me, a hint of hesitation in his eyes. I nodded firmly. I needed Kevin gone and Raven needed to make sure the others didn’t come down here. I wasn’t sure if Kevin would be as angry about Blake as Brandon was. Corey said I should talk to Axel alone, so I was taking that advice seriously.
“You know,” Axel said, still browsing through his tablet. “This is actually not that bad of a mission.”
That sounded good. “Oh?”
“You’ve just got bad timing,” he said. “We were under orders not to be actively involved in anything for a while.”
I think he meant he wasn’t supposed to do anything for the Academy. Maybe they were told to take a vacation? “Well, it’s not like this is really a lot of work. No guns, right? Just a cruise ship. Food, sunshine and ocean. And there’s a spa. We talk, and we blend in. That means using the facilities, right?”
He looked up, his eyes lighting up with interest. “I didn’t know you’d be so interested in a cruise ship.”
“I’ve never been on one,” I said. “And if I could get over the seasickness, I might actually enjoy it. Sure, it’s a bit too much like a hotel and a mall in one for me. Still, I’ve never been to a spa.”
“There’s a movie theater, too,” he said.
At least he was getting into it. “Huh,” I said. I wasn’t sure if I should encourage this, but I couldn’t help myself. I liked that I was getting on his good side. I leaned in, pressing my arm against his. “You and I are going to have to check that out.” This was sinking into dangerous territory. Flirting with him to butter him up before revealing a surprise was another dirty girl trick, but I thought it was necessary.
Axel leaned back against my arm and then lifted his to wrap around the back of my chair, his face close to mine. “So you are feeling better?”
“Why do you keep asking me that?” I asked, knowing he was asking about more than the seasickness. “You ask me that all the time.”
“You were sick.”
“True,” I said. “So were you. But I’ve said I was fine for a while now.”
His hand on the chair shifted, and he relaxed a palm against my shoulder. He massaged it deeply. This was closer than he’d been to me in a while. “Listen, Kayli, I’m sorry if you felt like I was ignoring you.”
“I didn’t really notice until lately,” I said, although it was a bit of a fib. I’d noticed before but I thought he had his reasons. “You were right, I was sick, so I appreciated the space. But I was starting to think...” I wasn’t sure how to express it. Raven had suggested they’d been avoiding getting close. Despite this, Raven had been around much more than Axel. Plus, even when Axel was around, he had been rather distant most of the time.
“No,” he said. “I’ve made my intentions clear. Although you being sick did provide a way for me to let the others know to back off without causing a fight.”
I don’t know what sort of answer I was hoping for. After finding some new feelings again for Raven recently, I hadn’t considered that Axel might rekindle some of those same feelings in me just by telling me he was still intent on dating. My eyes widened, although I knew the answer to the question even before I asked it. “How?”
“I told them while you were sick to keep their paws off. At the same time, I had to keep away from you. That...that was difficult. But necessary.”
Raven had admitted as much. I fiddled with my fork, toying with a piece of egg on the plate. I had a problem choosing among them before, and I’d let myself forget about relationships while I was sick.
Still, I’d missed Axel. It made me feel selfish and impulsive about jumping into things with Raven. In that moment, I realized my feelings really hadn’t changed for any of them. They’d only been a little dormant.
And then there were Brandon and Marc. Was it really just friendship now with them? My heart raced, sorry and yet sort of happy that Axel still was interested. Despite his effort, I still had a bit of a mess to sort out, at least between Raven and Axel…and possibly Blake. I didn’t want to encourage a relationship yet with any of them since I was unsure. Raven had felt easier since he didn’t ask directly for a commitment and seemed to keep it pretty casual.
Axel was different. Axel had asked directly before.
I had just made it worse by flirting with Axel.
Axel watched me for a while, his hand still warming my shoulder. “Tell me if I’ve done anything wrong,” he said.
“No,” I said. It wasn’t his fault I was indecisive, and a little worried about picking one and causing jealousy. I hadn’t even had a chance to think through how things would work if I started dating one. The dynamics might change completely for the team. If I was dating Axel, it wasn’t like he’d be okay with me sleeping next to Raven or even Corey. There was so much to consider. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“That’s nice,” he said. “It might not be a realistic goal.”
I sighed. I was getting distracted. I needed to take over the conversation. He wasn’t going to like this part. I put my fork down and then planted a palm on his thigh. “Axel, we need to focus. And I’ve got more to tell you.”
He bent his head in and nuzzled his nose through my hair above my ear and whispered, “We’ve got a few hours before people arrive.”
“We’re not ready yet,” I said, squeezing his thigh gently.
He bent his head until his lips traced the edge of my ear. “We will be.”
Too far. There was a tug at my heart, wanting to relent to this flirtation, to explore these feelings I had for Axel and to see how he really felt about me. Had he missed me at all? I’d missed him. Did I feel stronger about him than Raven?
There were too many questions to answer for myself and I didn’t have the time. Still, I needed to get the difficult discussion out of the way. “Axel, be serious for a minute?”
He sighed and backed his head up. The seductive smolder gone as his face became more curious. “What do you need to tell me?”
I bit my lip, glancing at the other people around us. At least the boys were gone. “Avery and Fancy aren’t the only ones on board and a part of the team.”
Axel blinked. “Who else is there?”
“Well...there’s Doyle,” I said quietly.
Axel’s face was still placid for a moment, and I wondered if he didn’t remember the name at all. Then as recognition hit, while his face remained calm, there was a flash of lightning that crossed in his eyes. “Tell me he came alone.”
I shook my head slowly. Every muscle in my body tensed. I couldn’t force out the name, but I didn’t have to. Doyle was Blake’s friend.
At first, his hand on my shoulder gripped me a little too hard. Then he released it to ball up the material of my shirt into his fist and draw me into him. “Why didn’t you tell me this last night?”
“I wanted to get you alone,” I said, “without the boys around. I wanted you to get to know the job without prejudice.”
“If you’re thinking I wouldn’t be here knowing those two were here...you’re right.” He tugged me closer, the storm building in his eyes. “You shouldn’t be here either.”
I placed a palm on the table, pulling away from his tugging. “Axel, it’s every reason why I should be here.”
“Explain.”
I swallowed. I hated to make it sound like I was against Blake but if he was listening, I hoped he’d understand and forgive me. “Blake was in charge before I came on board. He specifically talked Ethan into including me.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
I tapped at my chest to punctuate my point. “Which is why I said if I was to sign up, I needed to be in charge.”
Axel stiffened. “So that he won’t go overboard and do what he tried to do with the drugs in Mexico.”
“Exactly,” I said. “Listen, I know there’s some sort of rivalry and you don’t like him. However, he’s placed himself in harm’s way for our sake twice now.”
Axel sunk lower into the seat, folding his arms over his chest. “Admirable, but still not good.”
“Right now, I’m a co-lead,” I said. “He offered to not make a move without my say so. That gives us control of how this goes down.”
“You being in the lead was the only reason I agreed to come on this boat,” he said. He opened up again, putting an arm behind my back and the one on the table in front of me, closing in on me. “I want to see how much Ethan will allow you to be in charge of how things go down. If he finds these people and makes the wrong moves, sweeping under the rug and covering things up more than helping, I was planning to pull you out. I was hoping he really would allow you to make the decisions.”