“Yes. If you’ll pay half price.”
“Seems to me if I pay half…”
She gave him a pointed look. “I don’t have to make the offer at all. Since you seem to be without a castle at the moment…”
She was going to hold the grudge about the way the chiefs had cleared the crofters from their lands in the old days.
“How much is half?” he asked.
“You’re a true Scot, I see.”
He ignored the jibe, not wanting her to know how poor his people were, but also he wouldn’t have ever agreed to a price without knowing what it was.
She sighed. “Five thousand.”
His mouth gaped. “Per day?”
She gave a little laugh, and if it hadn’t been at his expense, he would have loved hearing the melodic sound of it. “Per week.”
That wasn’t much better than per day. “Each?” He hoped she meant that was the total.
“Ah, yes, each of us has to pay $5,000. I had to have a villa where I would be isolated from others—because of my wolfish nature, of course.”
He scrubbed one hand over his face, which he noted was getting more whiskery by the moment. “If you have a grant covering part of your cost, and I’m getting the twin bed…”
“Two twin beds.” She stood firm. “You pay half or…”
“Or? You’ll be stuck for the whole ten grand,” he countered. If he paid $5,000 to stay in the villa, Ian would surely kick him out of the clan.
She chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes narrowed as she focused on him, both of them at a standstill.
“Think, lass, I have a rental car that I’ve paid for, and as long as I’m not taking care of business—”
“Banking,” she said, sounding skeptical.
“Aye, then I could take you where you’d like to go.”
“The Mastic Reserve,” she said.
“The what?”
“It’s an ancient dry forest.”
“Dry forest.” He envisioned a petrified forest or a deciduous one with no leaves in the dead of winter, but in the tropics, he couldn’t imagine such a thing.
“Yes, the reserve has examples of a deciduous semi-tropical dry forest. I want to see it, and take notes and pictures. I teach botany at West Texas A&M, so I’m taking the information to my classes when I start back the fall semester next year. Most of the West Indies have had substantial deforestation, so this is one of the last holdouts that has existed, growing and changing for two million years! You must appreciate ancient things if you live in a castle.”
“Dry forest.” He did feel the same way about the ancient Caledonian Forest in Scotland. He just hadn’t thought of her as a plant kind of person. “Sure. I can drop you off to check out the trees.”
“That would work. Tours last two and a half to three hours, but I plan to stay for longer than that to take notes.” She hesitated, then added, “If you’re to stay with me, it’ll cost five thousand dollars.”
He couldn’t believe she wasn’t budging on the price. With her agreement to his taxiing her around the island, he’d thought she’d cut him some slack. Now he was surprised she hadn’t tacked on additional charges!
When he didn’t respond quickly, she added, “You were in a movie. Had it filmed at your castle, even. Own a castle, for heaven’s sake. Are you trying to tell me that you’re the youngest son and your laird brother doesn’t support you like he should? You obviously have money or you wouldn’t be here doing banking business.”
He had never intended to tell the woman what his real business was here. That a wolf had financially taken advantage of his wolf pack, which was downright embarrassing. They had no intention of telling the world.
But he didn’t feel he had any other choice. “All right. The truth is that a man stole most of my clan’s savings, and I’m here to track him down and get it back.”
Her eyes widened. “Your money was stolen?” She was frowning now and seemed uneasy. “How do you plan to get the money back?”
“Any way that I can. He’s a wolf.”
Her mouth parted in surprise—that sweet mouth that he was wanting more and more to kiss.
But she was still waiting for him to explain his family’s predicament, and she wasn’t thinking of kisses. “We didn’t know it at the time since all the financial transactions were done either through correspondence or phone conversations and wire transfers.” He let out his breath, not sure how she’d feel about what he was telling her.
“We deal with our kind any way we have to. I have to admit, my brother, Guthrie, who got us into this financial mess in the first place, had been adamant that I not spend a lot of time or money on this effort. For one thing, he doesn’t believe I’d get the money out of one of those secured banks no matter how hard I try. Worse, nearly six hundred banks or trust companies are located in the Cayman Islands.”
“Wow,” Shelley said. “You’re kidding.”
“Nay. Not only that, but forty-three of fifty of the world’s largest banks are here.”
“I would never have imagined.”
With only about 56,000 residents on the island, the size of the banking industry was mind-boggling. Especially to Duncan because money and numbers were not his strong suit. Ownership was, though. What was his family’s would remain his family’s.
“Even though the banks subscribe to anti-laundering money regulations to avoid having proceeds from serious crimes deposited in accounts here, I assume Salisbury Silverman has enough connections he can still make the system work for himself. And he does have a home here. Guthrie had learned that foreign investment in property or homes was perfectly legal.”
Her lips were parted in an inviting way, but her brow was furrowed with concern. “Salisbury Silverman? He’s been on the news everywhere. He’s stolen from major players in several countries.” She swallowed hard. “Couldn’t it be dangerous? To confront him?”
“Aye. For him.”
She looked as though she was fighting a smile as she sat down on one of the floral couches. “I knew when I saw you that you couldn’t be here for fun and games. Will you find him before you leave, do you think?”
“I know where his estate is located. I just have to find a way to get to him. I don’t have time not to. We can’t afford for me to fly all over the world trying to catch up to this bastard.”
“What do you do back home? Do you have training in taking down criminals?”
“I am a Highland warrior.”
Her lips parted again, then she shook her head, sounding sarcastic when she responded. “I’m sure that will help you with this case.”
“If airport officials had allowed me to carry my sword on the plane, I would have ensured that the criminal got my point.” He smiled a little at his dark humor.
She didn’t smile but continued to frown at him. “You’re going to be trouble, aren’t you?”
“I won’t get you involved in this. I’ll just stay here as a stopping-off point, take care of my business, and drive you wherever you want to go to take care of yours when you need me to.”
“You say he’s a wolf?”
“Aye, an American gray wolf.”
The look on her face said it all. She just knew that Duncan was going to be real trouble and she’d regret the day she’d met him.
He attempted a smile that would convince her he was safe and that she had no worries where he was concerned.
She didn’t look like she believed it.
Chapter 4
“Do you still want to go out for a drink?” Duncan asked Shelley.
Feeling sorry for him and his clan, she was ready to reverse herself on making him pay the $5,000 rent on the villa. Even though she was irritated that he had a castle and was from a family of Scots who had kept their lands while kicking out their kinsmen, she couldn’t see using that as a reason to tell him he couldn’t stay at the villa. Her mother or uncles might feel a whole lot differently about Duncan’s family’s situation. She suspected they’d tell him to take a flying leap.
But he was a fellow wolf in need, and she didn’t like the fact that an American wolf had stolen his clan’s money.
Besides, she would be out all the money if she didn’t get him to pay at least $5,000.
“Do you still want me to pay for your drink?” she asked.
He had the balls to look chagrined, and she shook her head. “I’m going for a swim in the ocean. We can share cell phone numbers, and tomorrow you can drop me off at the forest reserve. I’ll call you when I’m ready to be picked up.”
As far as she was concerned, this was strictly a business proposition. He was subletting the place. End of story. Even if he was one damned sexy hunk of a wolf roommate. Mostly because he was one damned sexy hunk of a wolf roommate.
“I meant to buy your drink to thank you for allowing me to stay here, not the other way around, Shelley. And I’ll pay the $5,000.”
Her mouth gaped, but she needed the money so she quickly snapped her mouth shut.
She got the distinct impression that she’d cut him to the quick and he was displeased about it. She hadn’t meant to; her knee-jerk reaction had been due to being rather frugal herself and feeling a little put-out about her own financial woes. But she hadn’t expected him to cough up the rest of the money. She bit her tongue when she wanted to ask if he was sure he could afford it.
“But more importantly, nighttime is shark feeding time,” he said, looking like he thought the idea of her swimming in the ocean at this time of night was crazy. Apparently the issue of payment for the villa had been settled.
She stared at him in disbelief. “It’s an island paradise. The ocean is there to swim in. Day or night.”
“Right, and sharks feed more at night. It’s a proven fact.”
She rolled her eyes, yet she realized that as insistent as he was, he really was afraid for her, so she backed off and offered some of what she’d learned to ease his mind.