Caribbean Rescue (Destination Billionaire Romance) Read online

  Caribbean Rescue

  Cami Checketts

  Contents

  Copyright

  Free Book

  Introduction

  Foreward

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Free Book

  Additional Works

  Try These Other Destination Billionaire Romance books

  Book Excerpt

  Book Excerpt

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2016 by Cami Checketts

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Free Book

  Thank you for purchasing Caribbean Rescue from Gelato Publishing. Read on to find out how you can receive a free book!

  If you’d like to be alerted when the next book in the Destination Billionaire Romance series is released and receive a free book, The Busy Woman’s Guide to Getting It All Done, click here.

  For a special sneak peek at the next two books in the Destination Billionaire Romance series, continue reading.

  Introduction

  Dear Reader,

  When I hear the word destination, my imagination sparks with dreams of exotic landscapes, beautiful settings, and the anticipation of arriving at a new and exciting place. Opening one of the Destination Billionaire Romances brings up the same happy feelings. Each story is a destination--of the heart, of the senses, and a new facet of this amazing world. It might not always be feasible to get to the perfect destination vacation, but by turning the pages of these books, you'll arrive at dozens of locations with scenery and storylines as opulent as a world-class resort. The characters will invite you into their lives, their struggles, and their joys, and show you a new space in the world that you might not have been able to imagine before. All this with tender romance, sweet kisses, and swoon-worthy love stories. What more could a traveler want? I love opening up these books and falling into the rhythm of beautiful words leading me to the next destination.

  I hope you enjoy your next reading destination with the Destination Billionaire Romance series.

  Rachelle J. Christensen, author of Hawaiian Masquerade & The Wedding Planner Mystery Series

  Foreward

  Cami Checketts writes in a fast-paced style with swoon-worthy heroes, strong heroins, and intrigue. Caribbean Rescue is no exception. This book will have you flipping pages well into the night because you won’t want to put it down.

  Happy reading,

  Lucy McConnell, author of the Billionaire Marriage Broker series.

  Dedication

  It’s interesting to write a book with two deadbeat fathers when I had the most amazing dad that I know. Thank you, Dad, for making everything fun and always being there for me. You are the most patient person I know, and I’ll be forever grateful for all the times you demonstrated that patience. I can’t believe I blew up your truck motor, and you never even raised your voice. I love you.

  1

  Madeline Panetto rushed down the lower hallway of the yacht, praying she wouldn’t run into one of her father’s men. A hand snaked around her arm and pulled her to a stop. Madeline swung a fist and connected with a muscular shoulder. The man grunted and yanked her against his chest.

  “Don’t worry, la mia bella donna.” Bello breathed into her neck. Maddie cringed, wanting to punch him again. “It is only me.”

  He was exactly who she’d been hoping to avoid. Bello made her skin crawl with his insinuations that she should be into him. Where was her father when she needed him? Bello had been quick to tell Maddie that his name meant handsome in Italian as he gave her a leering wink. During the past week and a half, she’d worked hard to avoid his wandering hands and suggestive looks, but it was a full-time job. He was handsome, tall, and dark, but his soul was twisted and ugly. She’d figured out his true character within her first five minutes on the yacht and changed his name to Bello the Barbaric. It had a nice rhythm, and it completely fit.

  “I need to get dressed for dinner.” Maddie succeeded in pulling her arm free.

  “I could help you change.” Bello winked and trailed his fingers along her collarbone.

  Maddie shivered and backed up a step. “I’m a big girl; I think I can handle it.”

  “You are a big girl.” His eyes slithered over her body.

  Yuck. Maddie felt like she’d been dunked in a tub of manure.

  “You know, every time we … stop a boat …” He cleared his throat and grinned like they were sharing some secret, like she didn’t know what kind of vicious and despicable scumball he was. “The women beg for me to take care of them. I think you’ll find you enjoy the experience.”

  Maddie barely stopped herself from slapping him. Hands trembling with rage at what those poor women had gone through—what she might go through if she didn’t get off this ship—she scurried around him and ran down the hallway. Tripping on nothing, she righted herself quickly and kept moving.

  “See you at dinner. I hope you’re wearing something special for me.”

  “I hope you burn in purgatory!” Maddie screamed back, hating the smirk on his lips and knowing look in his eyes. He was going to force himself on her if she wasn’t very, very careful.

  Her heart rate didn’t return to normal until she reached her own room and locked the door. Dressing quickly, she secured the heavy diamond necklace around her throat; a graduation gift from her father. She wished she could avoid facing Bello at dinner, but she’d be safe if she stayed close to her father. Bello acted like a gentleman when his boss was within ear’s length.

  She checked her reflection, liking the floor-length, teal-colored lace dress. Teal worked with her dark hair and olive skin. She supposed she was a good combination of her Italian father and Spanish mother, but hoped she was nothing like them in moral structure. Maybe it was wrong to blame her mother for lying to her for twenty-four years. She had been a decent single parent and a good example of a hardworking, well-educated woman, but the lying … It made Maddie want to disown both her parents.

  The luxurious Sussurro Yacht swayed slightly, but she’d gotten used to that after a few days. If only she could get used to being around her father and the awful men he called friends, business associates, pirate mates, mafia connections. Which name fit?

  Maddie shuddered. Her father was a pirate. Didn’t see that one coming. She’d never thought of herself as thick-headed, but obviously she must have been not to have realized who or what her father was and then agree to sail around the Caribbean with him as a graduation present. Oh, to go back to the simplicity of college life. Her master’s thesis had been much easier than this ploy of a trip. Faking that she was comfortable around Bello the Butthole made her want to wear baggy sweats to dinner and pretend she was deaf. But that wasn’t possible. Instead, she’d have to dress appropriately in her diamond necklace and Bergdorf Goodman evening gown—which was ridiculous, considering the price tag was probably over seven grand.

  Loud bangs and thumps came from above. Maddie jerked and glanced at the ceiling
as if it had the answer to the sudden disturbance. A gunshot rang out. Maddie ducked instinctively. Terror pricked at her spine as her hands grew clammy and her body trembled.

  Where could she go to be safe? They’d look in the closet, and the bed frame was attached to the floor. Could she jump overboard and hope she could make it to one of the many Caribbean islands? Oh, man! She’d been ticked at her father off and on throughout her life, usually because she wanted his attention and he wasn’t around, but at this moment, she truly hated him. Maybe she’d get lucky and her father’s employees would shoot each other and leave her alone. Maybe this was just another idiotic way these men passed the time. The only reason they hadn’t used her to pass the time was that her father would’ve slit their throats. Piece of dung pirates.

  Maddie grabbed a heavy picture frame off the table and crept toward the door. She wasn’t going to sit here and wait for somebody to come kill her. The walkie-talkie her father had given her to communicate onboard the ship buzzed as more shots and some loud thumps came from above. “Madeline,” her father panted out. “Meet me at my room. Now.”

  “Is everything—” she started, but he’d clicked off.

  Maddie clung to the walkie-talkie and the picture frame and slowly opened her door. There was no sound in the hallway. Hopefully all the action was upstairs, and she could make it down the passageway to her father’s room without being shot.

  Another gun discharged, and she jumped and screamed. Forget caution. She sprinted down the hall—not an easy feat in a tight evening gown. A rip of fabric informed her she’d damaged the dress. The only reason she cared was that she’d hoped to resell the gowns to fund some humanitarian trips.

  She banged through the door and into the suite at the rear of the boat. This yacht was massive. She’d never seen anything like it except on those television specials where they toured ridiculously wealthy people’s homes and yachts.

  Thankfully, her father’s room was quiet and dark. She didn’t dare flip on the lights, but called out softly, “Papa?” It wasn’t a term of endearment anymore, just what he’d expected her to call him during his infrequent visits. She’d taken to calling him father the past few years to tick him off, but in her terror, the old term came out.

  No answer.

  Maddie shut the door behind her and turned on a side lamp, not wanting the bright overhead light on. She set her picture frame down and crept toward his safe. He’d told her the combination when he gave her a tour of the ship and told her to take out the weapons, money, papers sealed in a waterproof packet, and the flash drive if there was ever an emergency.

  She wondered if they’d been attacked by another pirate ship; apparently there were a whole slew of them. Maybe his troops had started an uprising. Her father controlled them with an iron fist, and the fear in his staff’s eyes made her sick. Maybe they were finished being afraid.

  Quickly unlocking the safe, she pulled out a pistol first and inserted bullets into the chamber. Her hands only shook slightly. One of the few things her father had taught her when he’d visited—besides the fact he adored her mother, and Maddie was an unfortunate by-product of their romance—was how to shoot a sidearm.

  The door cracked open. Maddie whirled, her finger tightening on the trigger.

  “It’s me,” her father, Armando, whispered, sliding into the room. “Nice job getting the revolver.” He slid the deadbolt to secure the door, then pushed a heavy dresser in front of it.

  Maddie’s arm slackened to her side as she watched him. Finally, she found her voice. “What’s going on?”

  “Bello has made his play.”

  “I thought you trusted him. You said he was like a son to you.” Her voice escalated with her terror.

  “Lesson learned. Never trust anyone, my love.”

  He had no right to use terms of endearment. “What does he want?”

  “My money. My power.” He shook his head and strode past her to the safe, muttering, “And you.”

  Maddie’s entire body shuddered. She’d rather be ripped apart by a shark; at least she could retain her virtue and self-respect. “And you’re just going to barricade us in here and hope he changes his mind? Great plan, Pops.”

  “I’ve got a better one.” He pulled the flash drive that was sealed in plastic out of the safe and handed it to her. “This is the most important thing I will ever give you. Keep it safe until you can turn it over to Homeland Security. Hide it where you won’t lose it.”

  Maddie tucked it into her bra.

  “Good girl.” He entered a code and then yanked open a side door. Maddie found herself looking at a small boat. “Get in. Bello and I had planned to have you take the papers and flash drive to America when we dropped you off in San Juan next week and make us honest men, but apparently he has other plans. At least he doesn’t know about the escape boat. It’s nothing fancy, but should get you to the nearest island. Go west or south.” He actually smiled like this was funny.

  Maddie’s stomach dropped. How was she supposed to know what direction to go in the dark? “Me or us?”

  “Only you. I’ll hold them off as long as I can.” Her father shoved the sealed bag into her hands. “This is a paper copy of everything on the drive, some cash, and several different passports, social security cards, and birth certificates for you and your mother.”

  “What? Reverse a minute. Go back to why you aren’t coming with me.” She didn’t like her father, but she didn’t want Bello killing him, and she really, really didn’t want to be alone on the ocean at night.

  Her father grasped her upper arms in his thick hands. He was a strong man and had probably been good-looking before a life of thieving, lying, and too much alcohol robbed him of his youth and his daughter’s respect. “I’m dying.”

  Maddie’s mouth opened, but no words came out.

  “It’s all right, love. The liver’s gone. Cirrhosis. I’ll be glad to be done with all of this.” He gestured toward the door and the gunshots. “I’ll miss seeing your mother …” His eyes glossed over for a second before he focused in on her again. “And I’ll miss you.”

  Maddie knew that was a lie. Though he took her mother on extravagant vacations several times a year, he rarely came to see Maddie, and this was the first time she’d been invited to go anywhere with him. It was turning out fabulous.

  “But I’ve made my peace with God and man, and I’ll die protecting my beautiful daughter.”

  Maddie had to bite her tongue, not sure how a pirate who fed off others’ fears and misfortunes could make peace with anyone on heaven or earth. A banging on the door and a barrage of bullets into it announced Bello and his cronies. Maddie jumped but luckily didn’t scream this time.

  “The drive will explain everything, and it also has access to accounts that will make you a wealthy woman. Hold on to the papers if at all possible, but the drive is essential.” He bent down and kissed her forehead then gave her a brief hug. “You’re the best part of me, my love. Thank you for becoming so much better than I could’ve dreamed.” He directed her into the boat and sat her down. It wasn’t much bigger than a canoe, but it had a motor at the back. “When you get to land, follow the instructions. Someone I trust will come pick you up and help you create a new life and identity. Your mother too.”

  “But I just graduated.” Six years of hard work down the crapper because of her father. If he wasn’t dying, she’d be tempted to shoot him.

  He smiled that placating smile parents gave to two-year-olds. “You can pick whatever degree you want. Don’t go to Belize, Honduras, or Grand Cayman. Bello and the other pirate captains won’t stop looking for you until the Coast Guard uses that information to capture them. America should be safe. They’ll be more leery of the U.S. authorities.” He nodded to her. “Be safe and be happy, my love.”

  Another barrage of bullets came at the door. Maddie’s heart was in her throat. She had no clue how to say goodbye to a father who had caused her to doubt her worth her entire life. Yet she didn’
t want him to die from cirrhosis or Bello’s gun. This was the first time in her life that he’d seemed to care, and now he would die protecting her from Bello.

  Her father pushed a button, and before Maddie had time to say anything, the boat was lowered into the water. She clung to the sealed packet and the gun, watching her father’s face.

  “Start the motor,” he yelled. “There’s a pull cord at the back. Go.” The ropes released her boat, and it almost capsized from the force of the yacht’s wake. Maddie bit her lip to keep from crying out.

  The compartment closed and the yacht sped off, her little boat bobbing in the waves. She held on to the side and prayed. Maddie could see men on deck with guns drawn. Luckily, it was a dark night and they didn’t notice her. Soon the yacht was pinpricks of lights in the distance.

  Maddie shuddered, set the packet and pistol underneath a seat, and turned to figure out how to start the motor. It wasn’t cold, but her fingers felt like ice as she fumbled in the dark for switches and a pull cord. The boat reminded her of something she’d seen old men fishing in, a simple design with the motor and handle at the back that was used for steering.

  “All the money in the world and this is his escape plan,” she muttered. “If I built a secret compartment in a yacht, I would’ve put a James Bond boat in it, or something rocking cool. You’re pathetic!” she yelled at her father. Too much distance and noise separated them for him to hear her. He’d never hear her again. A tear traced down her face, and she brushed it angrily away.

  Tugging several times on the cord that would hopefully start the motor yielded nothing. She pulled out something she thought was a choke lever and yanked the pull cord again. The motor sounded but sputtered out after a few seconds. Maddie’s cry of joy turned quickly to despair. She sat there for a few seconds, watching where the yacht had disappeared. When they discovered she was gone, would they come for her? Had they already … killed her father? Another fat tear slid down her cheek, frustrating her. Ironic that all she’d wanted an hour ago was to disappear to any deserted island rather than spend another minute around her father and Bello. She should be more careful what she wished for.