Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

“Ready?” Caesar asked Isla two hours later when they’d dropped anchor near the cave.

She nodded and held up a thumb.

Caesar could tell she was excited to get in the water. Sure, it was partly because she had the treasure-hunting bug, but she also had incredible joy for diving. He’d seen that in her on both of their dives the day he’d met her. She hadn’t been looking for a treasure that day.

Jack stood by the anchor. He would stay on the boat while the two of them explored. It was much safer having another staff member with them. “You two have fun. The water looks calm and clear. I bet you’ll see some amazing fish down there today, and hey, if you happened to find a buried treasure while you’re down there—bonus.” He chuckled.

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.

Jack handed Caesar his cell phone from the glove compartment, and Caesar dialed Magnus.

His teammate picked up on the first ring. “Why do I think I’m not going to like the fact that you’re calling me when you should be mid-dive?”

Caesar sighed. “You’re not. Jack noticed a boat pass several times. It has a distinctive graphic of a treasure chest on the side. They were staring at him through binoculars. It could be nothing. Maybe they just enjoy this section of the shoreline, but we came back up anyway. We’re heading to the dock.”

“Good. I’ll see if we got them on any camera around the dock.”

Caesar glanced around. “We’re almost back now.”

“Perfect.”

Caesar ended the call and turned his attention back to Isla. Her eyes were wide with fear, and tears were trailing down her cheeks. She hiccupped as she tried to speak. “I swear I didn’t know this would happen, Daddy.” She was trembling all over, and she stared at him with pleading eyes.

He pulled her in close and kissed her forehead. “I know you didn’t, Little Fish.”

She swiped at her tears and sobbed harder. “You must think I set you up.”

“I don’t, Isla. I promise.” He hated that she was hurting and scared, and there was very little he could do to reassure her except love her to pieces and remind her often how important she was to him.

If he hadn’t ever told her about Mindy, Isla wouldn’t be in such a panic. He was sure the majority of her panic and fears had to do with knowing he couldn’t avoid comparing the last time a woman had led him on a treasure hunt to this time.

But Caesar wasn’t doing any such thing. He knew in his heart Isla was it for him. She was his girl. His everything. She would never deceive him. She wouldn’t deceive anyone. It wasn’t in her blood. Her profession was one that involved saving lives, not putting them in danger.

Jack angled them perfectly into their spot along the dock and tied the boat off. All business, he turned around and scanned the area, holding up his binoculars as he slowly turned in a half circle.

“See anything?” Caesar asked as he lifted Isla out onto the dock.

“No, boss. Nothing. I feel bad for probably overreacting, but you said if anything at all made my hackles rise…”

“And I meant it, Jack. You did good. Thank you for listening to your instincts. I’m going to take Isla back to the resort. Can you call Magnus and give him a more thorough description of what you saw so he can be on the lookout?”

“Yes, boss. I’ll do so right now.”

“Thank you, Jack.” After Caesar stepped off the boat, he turned back to look at his employee. “I mean it, Jack. You did the right thing.”

Jack nodded, but he still looked concerned.

Caesar took Isla’s hand and led her toward the meeting area where he’d met her the first day she’d arrived. He helped her get her wetsuit off, and as sexy as she was in the string bikini, he immediately wrapped her in a huge fluffy towel and rubbed her biceps to help with the trembling.

It wasn’t enough. His Little girl was spooked. She needed a hot bath and a nap, in that order. Caesar would tend to his Little girl first. As soon as he got her calmed down and asleep, he would get in touch with Magnus and see what, if anything, his teammate might have seen on the cameras.

Caesar removed his own wetsuit, draped both suits across the table for Jack to take care of, and bent to put Isla’s flip-flops on her feet.

After pulling a T-shirt over his head and putting on his own shoes, he grabbed her shoulders and tipped her head back. “You’re safe with me, Isla.”

She nodded but said nothing.

“Let’s get you back to the apartment and into the bath. A soak in warm water will help you stop shaking.”

He hoped.

When her breathing evened out, Caesar continued to hold her close on the large bed. She hadn’t wanted to nap in her playroom but needed to be beside him. He held his breath as she turned over on her tummy to nestle into the pillow with Nado tucked under her chin. After a few more minutes passed, he rolled slowly over to ease himself to standing.

Looking over his shoulder as he tiptoed out of the room, Caesar expected Isla to ask where he was going at every slight sound. The sight of her cute bare bottom peeking from under the T-shirt he had dressed her in after her bath made him smile. Forcing himself forward, he reached the door and stepped through it to shut it quietly without waking her.

Caesar pulled his phone from his pocket as he stalked to the far side of the apartment and called Kingsley.

The elusive man picked up after the first ring. “Caesar. How’s Isla?”

“Freaked out. We did some diving today, where her map indicated. Nothing jumped out at us labeled with the word treasure , but we did have some observers. My assistant, Jack, signaled us to come up early. Two men on a boat were watching us with binoculars.”

“That’s concerning,” Kingsley murmured.

“Can you tell me what alerted you? Why did you think Isla was in danger?”

“Years ago, a very particular map was stolen from the family of an explorer. That map was sold for an exorbitant amount and disappeared before the new owner could take possession of it. It wasn’t seen again until a young woman showed it to someone. Her picture was broadcast as a joke over a treasure hunters’ group online.”

“Isla.” Caesar’s chest felt tight as he struggled to breathe. “So, they’ve been watching her since then.”

“Yes. Whoever ‘they’ are. I’m sure had she not come to New Zealand, someone would have stolen that map somehow,” Kingsley said. “I had others safe-guarding her in the States before she flew to you.”

“Another Daddy?” Caesar couldn’t stop the words that growled from his mouth.

“No.”

That single word deflated his anger. “Sorry.”

“Completely understandable. Is she yours?” Kingsley asked.

“Yes.”

“Protect her. Things will get worse.”

The phone clicked, and Caesar knew Kingsley was no longer on the line. He shook his head. Talking to Kingsley was like talking to someone from the future who always knew what lurked around the next corner. Caesar couldn’t help but wonder if they would ever know more than they knew about Kinglsey now. If Magnus hadn’t been able to find everything out about him, no one could. His mind boggled at the expertise and financial resources Kingsley had employed to disguise himself so thoroughly in the present. To have concealed a lifetime of facts and events from everyone was impossible to believe.

Shaking his thoughts about Kingsley from his mind, Caesar focused on Isla. How could he keep her safe? Refusing to help her with the map wouldn’t work. She’d find a way to explore without him. That could lead to disastrous events. He needed to keep her with him where she would be safe.

He returned to the bedroom to find her still curled in the same position. Caesar silently set his computer on the nightstand before easing himself back into place.

As he wrapped his arm back around her, Isla whispered, “What did Kingsley say?”

He smiled. Of course, she knew exactly what was going on. Caesar patted that tempting cute bottom before answering, “That I need to keep you safe.”

“I’ll do what you say, Daddy. I want you to be safe, too.”

“Thank you, Little girl. How about if we both nap a bit longer?”

“You’ll stay here this time?” she double-checked.

“I won’t move without you,” he promised.