Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 53081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Caesar had told Jack the basics—that Isla had a map from her grandfather that had led her on this adventure, but he didn’t mention a treasure. To be fair, Caesar thought it was a long shot anyway.
The map certainly looked legit, and Caesar was inclined to believe that there might very well have been a treasure at one point, but by now, it was surely long gone.
After putting his regulator in, Caesar signaled Isla, and the two of them jumped into the water. He’d been in this location before, looking for this very cave entrance when the team had been charged with protecting Juniper, but today, the water was clearer, just as Jack had said.
The exhilaration Caesar got every time filled him with joy, and it doubled when he glanced over to see Isla’s eyes lit up with the same excitement behind her face mask. She was still wearing the braids he’d put in, and they looked so cute floating around her.
He also knew that under the wetsuit was the sexiest skimpy bikini he’d ever seen, and he was already looking forward to removing it later after this dive.
Isla pointed toward a school of fish as they floated by, which calmed him considerably. Even though Caesar was certain she was his Little girl, it was impossible not to experience flashes of the last time he’d taken a woman down to look for a buried treasure.
He kept reminding himself this was entirely different. Mindy hadn’t even told him she’d been looking for a treasure when she’d suggested a dive in the particular area where he’d taken her, whereas Isla had been upfront from the start. She hadn’t lied about anything. She’d told him straight out about her grandfather’s ambitions and the map. She’d even shared it with him.
Isla reached over and stroked his arm, and when he met her gaze, he saw everything in her expression. She was reassuring him with her eyes.
He smiled around the mouthpiece and pointed toward the entrance to the cave. He would take her down a few yards to the opening but wouldn’t risk going in too far. They could do that on foot from the inside later when the tide was low.
The two of them explored around the entrance, enjoying the fish and the rock formations until Caesar heard the clanking of metal above him. It was a signal from Jack that they needed to come back up.
Caesar looked at his watch and his gauge. They had plenty of time and oxygen left, so there must have been another reason Jack was luring them back to the surface.
Caesar would never in a million years ignore the advice of his assistant, so he waved a hand to get Isla’s attention before pointing toward the surface. When her brows furrowed in question, he shrugged, hoping she would understand.
She nodded and proceeded him toward the sunshine.
They hadn’t been so deep that they needed to take their time and decompress, so they were able to pop up out of the water’s surface quickly.
“I’m sorry, boss,” Jack said as he leaned over the side of the boat. “I’ve been watching another boat go by us several times, and I don’t like how they’re watching me.”
All the hairs on Caesar’s body would have stood on end if they hadn’t been trapped by the wetsuit. He was grateful Isla took Jack’s warning just as seriously and used her fins to hurry toward the back of the boat.
Jack reached down to take Isla’s fins from her. She unclipped her BCD—buoyancy control device—so that Jack could pick up the tank and haul it out of the water.
In less than a minute, they were both back onboard and pulling off masks.
Isla looked around nervously. “Do you really think someone is watching us?”
The usually jovial and fun-loving Jack had a deeply furrowed brow. “Can’t say for sure. I just don’t like it when I see someone watching me through binoculars. And I really don’t like it when they swing back by and do it two more times.”
Caesar didn’t like it either. Not one bit. His danger antennae came all the way out.
Jack held out his phone. “I got a few pictures of the boat. Maybe that will help.”
Caesar enlarged the pictures. “Let’s get back to the dock. I’ll call Magnus and see if he’s seen anything.”
Isla took a seat next to Caesar and grabbed his hand. “I met with a few experts about the map before I left the States. They all acted like I was wasting my time. Do you suppose one of them lied to me and is following me? It’s spooky to think they would.”
When she leaned her head against his bicep, he wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her shoulder. “Let’s try not to panic, Little Fish.” He didn’t even hide his nickname for her from Jack. He really didn’t care if Jack found out she was Little. He would eventually. No way could they keep that part of their relationship a secret from the man Caesar dove with most days.