Midnight Shadows Read Online Free Page B

were big guys and had on expensive suits tailored to hide the weapons in their shoulder holsters. Kowalski had a professional curiosity as to what weapons they carried but they were hidden under summer-weight virgin wool. They fanned out covering 280°, facing out. Then an elderly gentleman with a tired, drawn, refined face stood for a second in the helo’s doorway.
    Good God. Kowalski stared.
    Allegra stirred at his side. She touched his arm. “Who is it, Douglas, do you know him?”
    He broke his stare and hurried her to their rooms. “Yeah, I know who he is. Lorenz Esterhaze. One of the richest men in the world. Escaped from Soviet-run Hungary when he was a boy. Made a fortune so big no one can count it. He once made a billion dollars in one day. The guy can make or break entire markets.”
    Allegra raised her eyebrows. Yannis hadn’t known who the bigwig was, or he’d have told Kowalski, as a courtesy. Whatever pow-wow was going down, it was going to be at the top levels of global finance. The global economy could be repaired or broken in the next couple of days.
    Kowalski didn’t want any part of it.
    The world had taken great big bites out of him and Allegra, with sharp teeth. This was precisely what he and Allegra were here to avoid, the pressures of the outside world.
    This was to be their time out of time, the world on hold. For the next three days of the mini summit he was going to avoid as much of the resort as he could. He’d have their meals catered on their huge terrace, such lush plants climbing the walls it was like being in a secret garden with a sea view. Maybe he’d rent a boat and take Allegra out to sea, spend the day on the boat with a picnic lunch, making sure she slathered that beautiful pale Irish skin with a billion SPF sun block. Maybe they’d go up to that gorgeous little white city at the top of the island with its small buildings tumbling down the hillside like grains of sugar.
    As long as it was away from here and the men who were going to negotiate the world economy.
    He turned his mind to the beauty of the grounds, walking through a rose and ivy-covered archway, turning at the end along a tufa-stoned walkway to the portico of their suite. It had a front porch held up by Doric columns—he knew they were Doric only because Yannis had told him, what the fuck did he know?—great clumps of deep purple and red bougainvillea framing the doorway.
    When the door to their luxurious suite closed behind them, he and Allegra both breathed a sigh of relief. Inside was an oasis of beauty and comfort. The entire back wall opened onto a huge tiled terrace looking out over the Mediterranean. The sound of the heavy door closing at their back left them cocooned in their own space, high over the sea, safe and together.
    Allegra smiled and pointed at the coffee table made from olive wood. “Look darling, Yannis was true to his word.”
    Yannis was always true to his word. He was a former SEAL, after all. Sure enough, a wine cooler with a bottle of rosè retsina rested next to two crystal glasses and small terracotta bowls of green and black olives.
    Allegra kissed his biceps and moved away. “I’m going to shower. Let’s have our wine on the terrace.”
    Kowalski froze, but she didn’t notice. The bathroom door closed behind her and a few seconds later he heard the sound of the multiple showerheads in the luxury shower start up.
    Allegra was always doing that to him. Showing signs of great affection, and it still blew his mind. She was totally unselfconscious about it, clearly a woman who had grown up well-loved, with no problems expressing what she felt.
    It was a kick in the head when they were out. Everyone just assumed he was her bodyguard, muscle to keep the beautiful, famous musician safe. Jaws dropped when Allegra made it clear from the start that they were a couple.
    When she’d been blind, she’d considered herself a burden to him. Jesus. A burden. He had never managed to get across to her