Chapter 12

"What are you talking about?" I asked, irritated by the intrusion.

"There's something I need to show you, it's important." His dark eyes looked sincere. Beside me I saw Gio tug on his suit and lean closer.

"What's this about?" He asked. Will pressed a finger to his mouth.

"I'll tell you later. I need Eva to come with me." So, we were back to calling me Eva and not Ms. Westfield now? I crossed my arms.

"I can't leave now!" I admonished. Realizing that my voice was drawing attention I lowered it. "Wait until after dinner."

"Fine." He dug into his salmon, taking large bites. I shook my head.

By the time dessert came I was full. Dessert was my favorite part of any meal, but part of the rising excitement in seeing what Will had to show me caused me to lose my appetite. On the other side of me, Austin leaned in next to my ear.

"What would you like to do tomorrow?" He whispered. I sighed. The answer should have come easy but suddenly I wasn't sure how to answer. All of the emotions pulling me in different directions were more than I could handle. I needed friends like Holly in times like this.

"I don't know." I whispered back looking into his eyes.

"How about another swim? This time with nothing but your little diamond necklace." His thumb caressed my bare shoulder, next to where the diamonds lay. I remembered suddenly what I had to do tomorrow.

"I forgot." I shook my head sadly. "I'm leaving for Santorini tomorrow."

"What? Why?"

I couldn't tell him, could I? I chewed on my bottom lip. "It has to do with my Dad—I'll explain another time."

He nodded slowly. "Alright, but I hope you'll be free in time for the wedding day after tomorrow."

"Wedding?" I was distracted, unable to focus on our conversation.

"Yes, my sister's, remember? I sort of need a date." His face was inches away from mine and he pecked my nose playfully.

"Oh yes! I would love to meet your sister." Another question floated through my head. "Why isn't she here tonight?"

"She and her fiancé haven't flown in from Australia yet." Oh. On the opposite side, Will gently nudged me. Oh, for heaven's sake... The loud speakers screeched, sending everyone's hands to their ears.

"Apologies ladies and gentlemen. The music and silent auction is now being resumed in the ballroom."

"Come on!" Will prodded impatiently. I pursed my lips at him. If this was his idea of a joke—

"Where is the bathroom?" I turned to Austin. We all stood waiting for the crowd to disperse.

"It's right down the hall to the left." I nodded my thanks and left the room, Will no doubt at my heels.

When we were a safe distance down the hall I turned around sharply.

"What the hell kind of game are you playing because I-" He pressed his finger to my lips and pulled me into the women's bathroom.

"Seriously?" I ripped my arm out of his grasp. Our voices echoed in the empty Victorian-Style restroom. I was distracted by the beauty of it for a moment.

"Shh, listen." He commanded. "I found something important. It has to do with Plymouth."

I placed my hands on my hips. "Well then what is it, Sherlock? Tell me quick."

"He's building something. Big."

"What?" I asked, my patience waning thin.

He closed his eyes. "He's building some kind of factory or warehouse—here—In Greece."

"What do you mean warehouse?" I leaned back against the wall, hoping no one was about to discover us. "You mean sort of like WWM?"

He nodded.

"I'll show you upstairs." He took my hand and led me out of the bathroom, carefully looking right and left. I snatched my hand away yet again.

"How did you get upstairs?"

He smirked. "I learned a thing or two about sneaking around in MI6."

I stopped mid-step. "I should have guessed you were a spy too."

He sighed and ran his hand through his dark wavy hair. "How else did you think Gio knew me?"

"Gio?!" I asked, incredulous. He never told me he was a spy! He also never told me his first name was Giovani.

We continued down the carpeted hallway and I caught myself staring at some of the elaborate paintings. I followed him towards the flight of stairs he must have traversed earlier.

"So," I asked. "Are there any other secrets you're hiding?" I could think of one big one.

He arched and eyebrow. Voices were coming from the stairs, both of us darted behind a set of velvet curtains lining one of the outside balconies. Our bodies were almost completely pressed together, breathing shallow as we waited. His breath moved my hair.

"You didn't answer my question." I said.

"Your hair smells lovely."

I closed my eyes, resisting the urge of pushing him and exposing both of us.

"Shut it!" I hissed. Whoever had passed by disappeared and I pushed him away.

"Enough of all these secrets, I'm sick of your secrets, Will!" I stormed up the carpeted staircase.

"What do you mean secrets?"

I turned down to face him, all of my emotions running unchecked. "I know about Ally."

A look of horror came over him. He backed down one of the steps.

"What-"

"Oh yes, I know about her. I saw you two meet in Athens the other day. Although maybe I should be 'thanking you' actually, I met Austin because of you."

He looked so pale and for a moment I regretted saying anything.

"You...you mean Loraine?"

"Oh, is that the other one's name? Boy, you really get around don't you? Ally, Loraine, Eva!!!" I ran back up the staircase until I reached the top. Two security detail were roaming the back hall. I pulled him back towards the corner.

"It's not what you think!" He wiped his forehead with one hand, his eyes remaining focused on me.

I frowned. "Yes, if only I could believe that—Is this the door there?"

He nodded, but switched focus. "You think you have me figured out." The hand he kept wrapped on my arm slackened, he was losing what little control he had. "You know nothing about me, Eva, so stop trying to pretend you do."

I backed away, his hand releasing me.

"Yes. Yes, you're right, Will." I kept my eyes on his. "I don't know you. And maybe I never will. But I suppose none of that matters now does it?"

There was a silent pause as I quickly turned and made my way to the door he nodded towards, slipping inside unnoticed. It was an enormous library—dark, except for the spotlights surrounding a single large piece of white paper centered on a mahogany desk.

"What do you think of Plymouth's nephew now that you know who he is?" Will's sarcastic remark made me cringe.

I tried to ignore him, but he just stood there. I put my hands on my hips. "He's nothing like that—uncle of his. Austin's a real gentleman, unlike some people I know."

Will pursed his lips. I could tell he was angry. His gaze traveled from my eyes down to my necklace. I touched it self-consciously.

"Why does everyone keep staring at it? It's only a piece of jewelry." His eyes traveled up my neck, I could feel the heat following his gaze.

"We both know it's more than that. Now look who's keeping secrets."

It became so silent I could hear my thumping heartbeat.

"Look, what are you here to show me—this?" I waved at the desk. The contents on it caught my eye. It was a well-sketched blueprint laid out flat. but I didn't know much about blueprints. He sighed and rubbed his chin.

"It's here in Greece, maybe on one of the other islands. It looks like he's building a new weapons manufacturing warehouse or distribution center or something."

Somehow, I wasn't surprised to see this. "Well now we know why he wanted to lead the charge."

"Why?"

"Even if he only holds the position at WWM for a short time, it gives him enough time to get whatever information he might need to build this... monstrosity."

Realization struck me fast. This could mean so many things: he could be stealing from the company, he could be trying to duplicate, creating competition and selling products for cheaper. He seemed like the go-getter type and likely to mow over anyone who stood in front of him.

I gasped. Was that a good enough reason to have someone killed? Someone who may have known this plan was all along? Dad.

"We need to tell Edward Fitzgerald about this." I said.

"Shh!" Will moved to the door and peaked through. "Shit, I think someone's coming."

"Who?" I looked around, there was no other doorway out. "Now look what you did!" I hissed. "You couldn't figure this out in your little equation, could you?"

"Me?" He asked. "If you hadn't argued we'd be out of here by now."

He frantically searched the room. I rubbed the temples of my forehead, trying to think.

"You get under the desk." He commanded. It was a low empty space where the chair was sitting.

"What about you?"

"I'll figure it out. Just go." I quickly obeyed and picked up my dress to slide underneath the desk, bringing my knees to my chest. My hands were trembling and I couldn't shake the thought of them discovering Will. I closed my eyes tight when the door creaked open.

"This has to be out and it has to be out now." The voice was raspy, I didn't recognize it.

"Don't worry, I'll have him out of the way soon." Two men. Nobody had seen Will so far.

"Well It's not soon enough." The other voice barked. The harsh sound of handmade shoes against the wooden floor came closer until I could see them through the legs of the chair. My hands were shaking more violently. I couldn't tell who's shoes they were. Only that one pair was velvety black with a tassel and the others were shiny black.

"Everyone is fucking losing their mind, especially the Westfield girl. If we don't act now, they'll know."

"He's working on it as quickly as he can. Once we have what we need, he'll get rid of her, like he promised me."

There was a sharp exhale and someone fumbling through their clothes pockets.

"Fine." I heard the click of a cigarette lighter. "But remember, this isn't personal, especially with your unwanted baggage. Have what you need, by the end of this week or we're moving out, with or without you." Another pair of footsteps entered the room.

"What are you both doing in here?" Holy shit, it was Austin's voice.

"Nothing that concerns you, boy." The first voice snapped. There was a pause.

"Have you seen Eva?" Austin asked.

"No, I thought she was with you!" There was a deathly silence. "Well bloody find her! Now!"

I could hear Austin leaving the room.

"Have your men watch this door, I don't want her or her miserable leeches to come anywhere near here." Whoever had been standing there left, closing the door with a snick. I heard the familiar jolt of a lock.

Immediately I crawled out of the space. Shit shit shit. I needed to get out of here.

I saw Will sticking out like a sore thumb from behind a lounge chair.

"How were you a spy?? You're lucky they didn't see you, we'd both be dead and roasted on a stick by now!" I grasped his arm, pulling him upwards. "What the hell do I do? They're looking for me now!"

He stood up straight and placed his hands on each of my shoulders.

"Hold on, I have an idea." He rushed over to the large window and clicked the locks, opening it wide. I stared at him like he was a lunatic.

"This is the best you could come up with?" I quipped.

"Look, if you find a faster way I'm all ears. Just tell them you went for a walk."

He took my hand and hoisted me over the edge. I looked down. There was a white arbor within short jumping distance.

"What are you going to do?" I asked, still holding on to his forearms.

"I'll follow you in a while."

"What? No! If they find you-" I breathed in sharply when my foot slipped a little.

"If they find me, what?" He looked deep into my eyes.

I couldn't reply.

"Never stopped me before." He smirked. Then he reached gently behind my neck, pressing my lips to his. I pushed him back, breaking our contact, and jumped down.

"Miss me already?" He teased.

"No!" I replied angrily. "I hope they catch you!"

"No, you don't." He winked then disappeared, closing the window. I muttered a few expletives as I removed my heels on my way down the arbor, landing with a thump on the cold grass. I ran as fast out of the way as fast as I could, finding the perfect place to re-group at the entrance to a landscaped garden. I touched my hair in the reflection of a pool of water, checking to see if everything was still in place. Check.

"There you are!" I turned around, coming face to face with Austin.

"Hi." I breathed quickly. "This view was just too beautiful to pass up. I hope you weren't waiting long for me." I felt flushed and out of breath. Great, now I was lying to my potential boyfriend. He eyed me suspiciously for a second then visibly relaxed.

"No worries." The muscles around his jaw clenched. I grasped onto his outstretched arm and followed him slowly back to the house. All I could picture now was him entering the room upstairs, seemingly unaware of what his uncle had going on. What I felt for him was deep, real. Anything I felt for Will was just minor infatuation, I realized that now. Austin really cared for me, and I could tell his feelings were getting deeper. The moonlight danced off of his longer blond hair, I stopped both of us from walking reached up to touch his face.

He paused, looking into my eyes. "Come on." He said gently. "Let's go have one more dance before the party's over—have you bid on an item yet?"

"What? No, I haven't!" I said. "Maybe you could help me choose one." We walked hand in hand back across the damp grass. I took a sharp breath. Wait until Gio hears about what happened in the office... I was still reeling from the incident with shock. One of the men must have been Plymouth, but who was the other man in the room with him?

"There you are!" Mr. Plymouth waited for us at the entrance. He looked suspiciously from me to Austin.

"We were wondering where you'd run off to." Sure, you were. I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from saying those words.

"I just needed a walk." I shrugged. He looked at the shoes I was still holding in my hand.

"A walk that required no shoes I see?"

I stood next to him speaking in a low voice. "It's not easy walking in heels, you should try it sometime." His face turned sour. I glanced idly down at his shoes. They were black with tassels. Well, that solves half the problem—he was the first man I heard speaking upstairs.

"Eva, I'll show you what the bidding choices are." Austin took my hand and led me into the ballroom, one look back at Plymouth told me he was shakily reaching for a cigarette. Haha, gotcha. People danced in the center of the ballroom and the tables stood off by the left wall. There were biddings for at least ten different items. The sailboat caught my eye first so I put my name down for it. Austin arched an eyebrow.

"You know how to sail?"

"No." I replied after signing. "But maybe this would encourage me to learn!" Over his shoulder I saw Gio looking like a nervous wreck in the corner. When he noticed me he rushed over, looking anxious.

"Could I have a quick word with Eva?" Austin nodded and excused himself, sensing the urgency.

"Eva, if you don't tell me what the bloody hell is going on I will-"

I shushed him, hoping no one heard. "Will found something. It has to do with WWM. He's still up in the room now... I think."

"Eva." He pursed his lips "If you would have been caught-"

"I wasn't!" I defended.

"You should have talked to me first." I put my hands on my hips, my eyes narrowing.

"Why didn't you tell me you were an MI6 spy?" His eyes almost bulged out of his head.

"How do you know about that?"

"Will told me about your 'history' together." He shook his head.

"That's confidential. He should have never said a word about that." Seeing that he was serious I shut up about it.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think I have enough evidence to be certain Plymouth is behind everything that's been going on." I said pointedly. He stood, not looking convinced.

"Eva, I know about what he's building."

My mouth dropped open.

He sighed. "It's part of the investigation being led by my team. I suppose it's no use keeping it from you now that I can tell you they're all British Government Agents." His voice turned into a whisper. "A new building appeared on the island of Crete about a month ago. The government caught sight of it on satellite images and got suspicious." He checked his watch. I crossed my arms.

"You always know everything before I do." I grumbled.

"I never had the chance to get the information to your Father before he-" He stopped himself. "Will doesn't know, but he was never a part of the investigation. His number 1 job is to keep you safe. Seems like he did a bang-up job tonight."

"It wasn't his fault." I admonished. "And anyways you should have told me about this a long time ago. Government or no government."

We both stopped talking, feeling the weight of the night suddenly.

"I also know you have a huge rip in that beautiful gown I picked out for you."

My eyes shot down. Sure enough, there was a rip almost as long as my calf. Holy crap, I must have got it climbing down from the arbor.

"You'd be lucky if Plymouth didn't notice that." He warned. I surveyed the room. Will wasn't back. Why was I so concerned? He knew what he was doing.

"I want to go home." I said.

"To the hotel?"

I thought about that for a second.

"No, Gio. I want to go back home to LA." It was a simple life. No being hunted down by creeps, a guaranteed job for life, two best friends and the McDowell's.

Gio scratched the bottom of his chin at my idea. "You need to be strong, Eva. You need to finish the job your Father couldn't."

"And what's that?" I asked, waving my hands up in surrender. "Now that Plymouth's the supreme leader, he gets to do whatever he wants. I can't stop him or whatever he's doing on Crete with that warehouse thing."

"That's the beauty of it-" Gio took hold of a passing shot whiskey and knocked it back. "You're the only one who can." All I could think about now was how Gio never seemed to made any sense.

"Okay, let's go." A voice said behind me. I closed my eyes. Will. I could feel his warmth, it was taking all of the oxygen out of my lungs. I tried to denounce it, but I was never more relived to feel his presence than now.

"You have a lot of explaining to do." Gio pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Later." He sounded breathless. I turned to face him. His dark wavy hair was a mess and he was panting.

"I had to take out a guy on the way down." He breathed.

Gio's face turned red. "Really? This is the fifth bloody time, William." He held up five fingers to prove it. "Don't make me send you back to the doghouse!"

"Hey, I did you a favor !" Will emphasized.

"We need to get out of here." Gio took my arm subtly and started moving toward the foyer. He spoke into his earpiece. "Bring the car to the front please."

"Eva!" When Austin saw me, he ran over. "What about our dance?" crap.

"I'm so sorry, Austin." I placed my hands in both of his. "Can I take a raincheck this time? We-" I looked back a Gio and Will. "Er, I have some business I need to take care of right away." Business that included ratting out your dirty uncle! He frowned.

"Alright. I'll stop by day after tomorrow then to pick you up for the wedding?" I could almost picture the daggers Will's gaze held in this moment.

"Yes, of course."

He brought my hand up to his lips and kissed it gently. "Until next time, then." I gazed into his sparkling blue eyes, they were captivating in every sense of the word, but somehow that feeling was beginning to slowly fade. I couldn't look at him now without thinking about his uncle. I blinked, feeling dizzy in the moment. I needed to get out of this place and fast.