Her Very Strict Captain by Carpenter, Maggie (best book club books of all time TXT) 📗

surveillance in the tiny bathroom. Not wanting to arouse suspicion, he didn’t inspect the brace closely, but tossed it blithely on the bed and stretched out.

Inside the plastic shell were wads of money, a tracker, and a transmitter. The thought of smuggling anything into Conchello’s house, let alone his private quarters, filled Ewen with dread, but it was the lesser of two evils. Anything was better than staying with the ruthless drug lord.

In a few short hours he’d be wrapping it around his chest and walking up to the VIP area. The terrifying part would be taking it off, removing the cash, and finding a secure hiding place.

Chapter 30

Standing on the balcony of his comfortable home above Coral Bay on St. John Island, Scott raised his binoculars and studied the two boats pulling into the dock. Not wanting to leave the motor launch behind, Danny had followed the speedboat Scott had sent to fetch Elizabeth. Watching him climb onto the dock, except for his physique, the man looked nothing like Dan Miller. Scott was amazed at the man’s ability to disguise himself.

Scott’s quiet sanctuary was only a thirty-minute drive from the bustling area on the other side of the island, yet the atmosphere could not be more different. Coral Bay wasn’t trendsetting or flashy, but a community of friendly, artistic types who cherished the beauty surrounding them. It reminded him of the canyon communities where he’d lived when he was a musician in Los Angeles.

He had left his car at the marina for Pete to drive Elizabeth and Danny up to the house when they arrived. Striding down the hall to the kitchen to brew a fresh pot of coffee, he silently ran through the questions he’d be asking Danny, but he needed to speak with Elizabeth first. When he heard the car roll up the driveway, he hurried to the foyer, opened the front door and greeted them.

“Pete, would you please take Danny through to the kitchen?” Scott asked, after shaking Danny’s surprisingly large hand. “There’s fresh coffee and a plate of pastries on the table. I need a quick word with Elizabeth.”

“Sure,” Pete replied. “Right this way, Danny.”

As they headed off, Scott guided Elizabeth to the staircase.

“This place is terrific,” she said as they climbed up to the second floor. “Is it another safehouse?”

“It’s my home, but I do use it for work sometimes.”

Leading her to the end of a hallway and passing through double doors into his expansive bedroom, he quickly closed them as they entered.

“Wow, this is amazing,” she exclaimed, walking to the sliding glass windows and gazing out at the bay.

“You’ll be staying in here while I speak with Dan,” he said, moving up behind her, “but before I talk to him we have some business to discuss.”

“We do? About—?”

Cutting her off, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the bed.

“I take care of things as they happen,” he said brusquely, sitting on the edge of the mattress and jerking her over his lap. “Even if the timing isn’t great.”

“Scott!”

“Not a word, no squealing and no yelling!” he ordered as he jerked off her shorts and panties. “If you worked for me, you’d be demoted, possibly even fired, but our relationship calls for other disciplinary measures.”

Picking up the hairbrush he’d left ready on the nightstand, he delivered several swift, stinging swats on her naked backside.

“Ow, ooh, what did I—?”

“I told you, not a word,” he retorted, delivering the hard wooden brush against her sit spots. “Speak again and I’ll gag you and spank you harder! What were you thinking?” he demanded, moving the makeshift paddle from cheek to cheek with a steady rhythm. “Taking someone into the house is bad enough, but the security room? You had no authority to do such a thing. I don’t care who he is or how long you’ve known him, you should have checked with me first. What you did is irresponsible and unprofessional,” he scolded as she writhed on his lap. “You’re supposed to be a trained federal agent. Start acting like one.”

As he paused, her gasps and urgent squirming reflected the fierce sting the hairbrush had delivered.

“You’re lucky I’m pressed for time,” he declared. “Crawl off my lap and kneel in front of me.”

* * *

Breathless and red-faced, her skin burning with prickling heat, Elizabeth slid off Scott’s hard thighs and shifted into position.

“Look at me.”

Shocked and mortified, she raised her eyes and stared up at him. A deep frown carved his forehead.

“You’re going to stay exactly where you are until I get back, and you’re going to think about the seriousness of what you did. Blithely allowing a stranger—that’s what he is to me, Elizabeth, a stranger—into that security room is inexcusable. When I return you’ll tell me why you did it, and why it was completely unacceptable. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Sir,” she mewled, feeling like a chastised child.

“I already had concerns about you being in the surveillance vehicle tonight. It’s entirely possible you may find yourself staying here.”

“I, uh, yes, Sir.”

As he strode past her and out the door, she quickly rubbed her scorched backside. On the trip from the island to St. John she’d been elated. The last thing she’d expected was a harsh spanking with a nasty hairbrush the moment she arrived. Tears brimmed in her eyes, but not from the sting left by the wicked implement. Scott had trusted her, and she’d let him down.

* * *

Gathering his thoughts as he trotted down the stairs, Scott marched into the kitchen, sat down at the table, and poured himself a mug of coffee. From the corner of his eye he saw Pete walk casually across the room and stand at the door.

“First things first,” Scott declared formally, placing a small recording device on the table. “Who exactly are you? Dan Miller or Dan Sullivan?”

“Both; my last name was Sullivan until my mother remarried, then it became Miller. When I joined the LAPD people called me Dan, but