The Reef

instilling a sense of discipline. And certainly respect. I demand respect. I’ve earned it. Do try one of these olives, dear.” The avuncular host once more, he offered her a crystal dish. “They’re from one of my groves in Greece.”
    Because her hands were shaking badly she kept them locked under the table. What kind of man threatened to inflict pain one moment, and offered exotic tidbits the next? A mad one.
    “What do you want?”
    “First, to share a congenial meal in a lovely spot with an attractive woman.” His brow lifted when her cheeks went white. “Don’t fret, dear Tate. My feelings for you are much too paternal for me to entertain any sexual notions. Your honor, as you might think of it, is more than safe.”
    “I’m supposed to be relieved that rape isn’t on your itinerary?”
    “Another ugly word.” Mildly annoyed with her choice of it, he helped himself to the dish of olives and the antipasto. “A man who stoops to forcing himself on a woman sexually isn’t a man at all in my opinion. One of my executives in New York browbeat and intimidated his assistant into having sex with him. She had to be hospitalized when he’d finished.”
    VanDyke sliced through a piece of prosciutto. “I arranged to have him fired—after I’d had him castrated.” He dabbed at his mouth with a pale blue linen napkin. “I like to think she would have thanked me. Please, try the lobster. I guarantee it’s superb.”
    “I don’t seem to have much of an appetite.” Tate shoved her plate aside in a gesture she knew was foolishly defiant. “You got me here, VanDyke, and obviously you can keep me here. At least until Matthew and my familystart looking for me.” Lifting her chin, she stared directly into his eyes. “Why don’t you tell me what you want?”
    “We will have to discuss Matthew,” he mused, “but that can wait. I want what I’ve always wanted. I want what belongs to me. Angelique’s Curse.”
     
    Worry gnawed at her stomach as Marla paced the hotel lobby. No matter how many times she told herself that Tate couldn’t have simply disappeared, she was terrified. She watched people come and go, staff bustling along to perform duties, guests strolling from pool to lounge to garden.
    She heard laughter, the splash of children swimming, the whirl of the blender that mixed frosty island drinks for those waiting at the bar.
    She and Matthew had separated—she, to ask at the front desk, to question the doormen, the cabdrivers, anyone who might have seen Tate leave the resort, he to check the beach and the dock.
    When she spotted Matthew coming toward her, Marla’s heart leapt. Only when she saw that he was alone, when she saw the grim look in his eyes, did it sink again.
    “Tate.”
    “Several people saw her. She met someone, left with him by tender.”
    “Left? Who did she meet? Are you sure it was her?”
    “It was her.” The panic that raced through him could be controlled. But not so easy was it to control the need to kill. “The description I got fits VanDyke.”
    “No.” Weak with fear, she reached out to take his arm. “She wouldn’t have gone with him.”
    “She wouldn’t unless he hadn’t given her a choice.”
    “The police,” she said faintly. “We’ll call the police.”
    “And tell them that she left the island, without putting up any struggle, with the man who endowed her last project?” Eyes hard and hot, he shook his head. “We don’t know how many cops he owns either. We do this my way.”
    “Matthew, if he hurts her . . .”
    “He won’t.” But they both knew he said it only tosoothe. “He has no reason to. Let’s get back. My guess is that he won’t be far from where we’re moored.”
     
    He doesn’t know. Tate’s mind whirled with possibilities. He’d known where to find them. Had somehow known what they were doing. But he didn’t know what they’d found. Stalling, she reached for her glass again.
    “Do you think, if I had it, I’d give it to you?”
    “Oh, I think when you have it you’ll give it to me to save Matthew and the others. It’s time we worked together, Tate, as I’ve planned for some time.”
    “You’ve planned?”
    “Yes. Though not in quite the way I had hoped.” He brooded over that for a moment, then brushed it aside. “I’m willing to overlook your mistakes, I’m even willing to let you and your team reap the rewards of the Isabella. All I want is the amulet.”
    “You’d take it and walk away? What