The Girl Nobody Wanted

“You wouldn’t.”

Her arms folded over her prim grey suit, her chin thrusting forward in challenge. Clearly, Anna Constantinides didn’t know him very well. No matter how successful he’d become, he’d never shaken that raw, edgy side of his personality that liked to push barriers to their limit. No doubt it came from trying to fit into the Jackson household when he’d been young and motherless and uncertain of his place in their lives. He’d pushed and rebelled, certain his father would throw him out, but Bobby had never wavered in his acceptance once he’d stepped up and admitted paternity.

“I would, in fact,” Leo replied. “I’ve got nothing to lose.”

Her jaw clenched tight and he felt suddenly wrong for phrasing it that way. She had everything to lose, or so she thought. A trip to Sicily with him would be devastating in Anna’s world. Because she was already the focus of attention and she couldn’t fathom drawing yet more. Never mind that if she were only to behave as if she didn’t care, the media would soon leave her alone. He knew from experience that they liked nothing better than a victim—and Anna was a perfect victim right now.

“I don’t want to go to Sicily, Leo. I want to go to Amanti.”

“Tell the truth, Anna. You don’t want to do that, either. But you’ve committed to it and so you want to get there without giving the media anything else to speculate about.”

She made a frustrated noise. “Yes. This is precisely the truth. If I could run to Sicily or Egypt or Timbuktu and not have to endure another moment of this shame, I would do it. But I can’t run, Leo. I have to carry on as always and wait for the scandal to pass.”

It was perhaps the most honest thing she’d said yet. But he wanted more. “Tell me this, then. If you could have an affair, no consequences, no one the wiser, would you do so?”

She didn’t say anything for the longest time. “I… I…”

But whatever she was about to say was lost as a light on the instrument panel flashed on. A tight knot formed in Leo’s stomach as he turned his focus to the plane. He’d checked everything before they’d left Santa Maria, and everything had been fine. He wouldn’t have taken off otherwise.

But something had changed in the half hour since.

CHAPTER THREE

THE plane shuddered and Anna’s heart leaped. Whatever she’d been about to say was forgotten as she took in Leo’s sudden concentration. “What’s happening?”

He didn’t look at her. “We’re losing fuel pressure,” he said as he did something with the switches. The plane shuddered again, and the engine made a high-pitched whining noise that sent her heart into her throat.

“What does that mean?” Because she needed to know, precisely, what he was saying to her. It didn’t sound good, and she didn’t like the sensation of being out of control. Whatever happened, she was in a plane with Leo, high above the Mediterranean, and there was nothing she could do to fix the problem.

But that didn’t mean she intended to sit quietly and hope for the best.

“It means there’s a problem in the fuel line. We need to land before we run out of gas.”

“Land? Where?” She scanned the horizon, saw nothing but water for kilometers. Her stomach churned. “Leo, there’s nothing out here.”

He checked the GPS, his long fingers flexing against the controls. “We’re too far from Amanti,” he finally said, concentrating on the screen. “But there’s another island a few miles distant.”

Another island? She didn’t know what it could be, but she began to pray fervently that they would make it there. The plane bucked again, the engine sputtering before smoothing out once more. Anna gripped her seat, her fingers pressing into the leather so hard that they ached.

“Are we going to die?”

“No.” His answer was swift, sure, and she took comfort in it. But doubts began to creep in. What if he was wrong? What if he was only trying to keep her calm? She couldn’t abide that. She had to know.

“Tell me the truth, Leo,” she finally said, unable to stand it a moment longer. “Please.”

Leo’s dark eyes glinted with determination as he looked over at her. How could her heart flip at the look on his face when this was serious? How could heat blossom between her thighs at a moment like this?

Because she had regrets, that’s why. Because she’d saved herself for years for a husband who had cast her aside before they’d ever even wed. Now that she might die, she fervently wished she’d experienced passion, even if it had just been for one night.

Leo stared at her so intently that she could almost forget where they were, what was happening. For a moment, she could almost wish they’d had that day in Sicily.

“If we can find this island, we’ll be fine,” Leo said shortly.

She wanted to believe him, but she couldn’t simply accept it without question. “But what if there’s nowhere to land?”

“There’s definitely somewhere to land,” he said. “Look around you.”

There was nothing but blue as far as the eye could see. She gasped as she finally took his meaning. “The sea?”

“Yes. Now put on your life jacket, and grab that orange backpack from where it’s stowed behind my seat.”

“But, Leo,” she said, panic rising inside her as she thought of them marooned at sea. Assuming they survived the impact. Oh, God.

“Anna, trust me,” he said firmly. “Get the pack. Get your life jacket.”

“What about you?”

“Grab mine, too. I can’t put it on yet, but I will.”

Anna unbuckled her seat belt and found the life jackets. She clipped hers on with shaky fingers, and then grabbed the heavy orange pack he’d told her to get and brought everything back to her seat. Leo was saying something into the headset, but he didn’t appear to be getting an answer.

“No,” he said when she started to sit down again. “Sit in one of the seats behind me. It’ll be safer on impact.”

Anna hesitated only a moment before sinking into the seat beside him and buckling her seat belt. “I want to be here with you,” she said. “I insist on it.”

She didn’t expect him to laugh, but he did. A short, sharp bark of laughter that stole into her soul and made her feel good, if only for a moment. “Dragon lady,” he said, and her heart skipped again. At a time like this, how did he make her feel as if she were formidable? As if she mattered? How did he cut through the pain and anger and make her feel important again?

“There it is,” Leo said, and she squinted into the distance, searching the horizon. A small gray bump rose up from the sea, growing bigger the closer they got. There were many small islands out here, some of which were inhabited and some not. Any hope she’d had this might be one of the inhabited ones faded quickly when she saw the size of the island.

It was long, narrow and rocky, with a green area at one end and a white sandy beach on one side.

“There’s nowhere to land,” she said.

“I’m taking us down,” he replied. “It might be rough.”

That was the only warning he gave her as he pointed the nose down and began his descent. Anna’s stomach twisted as the plane dropped in the sky. Sweat broke out on her forehead, between her breasts. Her heart went into free fall as the sea grew bigger and bigger with every passing minute.

The engine sputtered and whined, and Leo’s hands were white on the controls. But the plane continued to descend in a controlled manner. Anna grasped her pearls in her fingers, twisted hard and then chided herself for doing so. This was no time to break them. They’d been her grandmother’s, the only link she had left to the woman she’d most admired. She would not destroy them.

“Leo,” she said helplessly as they sank lower in the sky. She reached for him, put her hand on his shoulder, squeezed. She hoped she was imparting strength, courage, but she had the feeling he didn’t need any of those things. No, it was she who needed them and Leo who provided them to her.

She could do nothing but sit there and watch powerlessly as the island got bigger. But the sea was bigger still, so big and azure that it filled her vision from all sides. She focused on the island. There were a few trees, she noted, a wooded copse that might provide shelter—and might have fresh water if the rain had a place to collect. Assuming it rained.

If only they survived the plunge into the sea. First things first, Anna. She was so used to planning that she couldn’t help herself, when in fact there was nothing to plan if they didn’t make it out alive.

“Brace for landing,” Leo said as he took the plane dangerously close to the island. Anna closed her eyes at the last minute and gripped her seat for dear life. So many feelings went through her at once that she couldn’t process them all. Fear, regret, anger, sadness, love, passion…

Anna’s head snapped back as the plane shuddered into the water with a bone-jarring splash. It glided along the surface before coming to an abrupt stop that would have jerked her forward in the seat if not for the belt holding her tightly in place. There was a surreal moment of complete silence as the craft pitched and rolled with the waves. Anna’s stomach lodged in her throat. How would they ever escape with the motion throwing them around so much? Once the seat belt was off, two steps forward would turn into four steps back.