Donovans 03 - Pearl Cove

get it,” Hannah said with a confidence that was utterly false. The Black Trinity was gone.
    Chang started to object, but didn’t. Hannah would know soon enough that rebuilding Pearl Cove was beyond her means. With Len dead, no one would lend her money. If someone tried to, the Aussies would step in. But the Australian government wouldn’t take on the family of Chang. Not yet, anyway. Everyone was still pretending to be partners in the development of Pacific Rim assets.
    Automatically Chang reached for Hannah’s arm to escort her to the house. His irritation spiked when he realized that she was already walking away from him with the easy, lithe movements that never failed to arouse him.
    Coco saw his expression, laughed, and asked in French. “Did you think it would be that easy?”
    “Call Smithe.” Chang spoke in French even though his voice was too low to carry as far as Hannah. “I’ll own Pearl Cove before the bill comes due.”
    “The Aussies, they will not like that.”
    “They can get stuffed.”
    “Mmm, sounds like fun.” She stretched again, arching her back and pressing her full breasts against the thin fabric of her bikini top. At the height of her stretch she knew she had Ian’s full attention. Smiling, she let her fingertips trail lightly down his bare chest. “You going to get stuffed tonight?”
    “No. You are.”
    “The usual time?”
    “I’ve got a conference call with the States. We won’t be done until midnight.”
    “You will be done two minutes after I put my face in your lap.”
    “Care to wager on that?”
    Anticipation sent a faint curl of heat through Coco. Nothing turned her on like a sexual challenge. Men were usually too easy. One look at her ass and their palms sweated. “When does your call start?”
    “Ten o’clock.”
    “I will be there at five after. What do I get when I win?”
    “A black pearl.”
    “What do I get if I don’t win?”
    “Fucked.”
    Coco’s teasing, confident laughter drifted up the sand path to the house.
    Hearing the sexy, hot-woman sound, Hannah smiled. She often wished she could be more like Coco, utterly comfortable in her body, in her mind, in her sex. But she wasn’t. She never had been. She doubted that she ever would be. Some parts of her missionary upbringing went straight to the bone.
    Coco had been raised in a culture that was part expatriate French, part Polynesian, and one hundred percent sensual. Hannah’s parents would have called Coco a slut. Hannah didn’t. Coco was simply a physical female who ate when she was hungry, slept when she was tired, and had sex when she pleased with anyone she pleased. If Coco was also a ruthless tease, well, there weren’t all that many saints in Western Australia.
    When Hannah came to Chang’s car, she didn’t hesitate before walking on past it. Even in the unreasonable heat, she didn’t mind the half-kilometer path from high tide line to the house. Not that she would set any speed records. She didn’t want to. She just wanted to avoid being locked up by four walls. Since Len’s death, she had become claustrophobic.
    Locked in the shed. Waiting. Trapped.
    The weight of the sunlight was almost welcome on her skin. It was hot, bright, burning; everything that death was not.
    Chang caught up with Hannah halfway to the house, where the road cut across the path. Dust from the four-wheel-drive Mercedes settled over Hannah like a bad reputation.
    “Get in, darling,” Chang called through the open passenger window. “Much as I’d love to see your beautiful ass swing all the way to the house, I have appointments in Broome.”
    Instead of reaching for the door handle, she stood at the side of the road and watched him with remote indigo eyes. “Darling? Beautiful ass?” Her voice was neutral, as emotionless as her eyes. “You told me this was family business.”
    “You can let go of the nun act now. You’re not a married woman anymore. Pleasure and business, the best of both worlds. You’ll like it that way. I’ll see to it.”
    The impatience and irritation in his voice angered Hannah, though it didn’t show in her body, her eyes, her voice. “Business, Ian. That’s all. Just business.”
    Chang said something rude in Chinese, then leaned over and pushed the passenger door open. “Get in, Sister McGarry.”
    “I’ll get the leather wet.”
    “There’s not enough cloth on your butt to make a difference.”
    After a long, level look, Hannah slid in and closed the car