Page 16 of Stilettos & Secrets on the 7 Seas

The man pressed his lips firmly together. “This is a personal matter, or, ehm, delivery for Miss Cloud.”

Better to be in public with this mystery man, I thought. I motioned for him to sit down. “It’s fine, really. I don’t have any secrets from my friends.” I slid into my seat, glancing at Caiyan over my shoulder and wondering if the irony of my words were lost on him.

The man scooted into the chair on my left, placing his brown bag on his lap. Gertie sat beside him, forgetting about the buffet. Jake and Angel followed. Caiyan continued to stand since the guy was in his chair, but I felt him glowering over my right shoulder.

“First, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Alexander Hamilton IX. I have,” he paused. “I guess you could say I was assigned to deliver a special gift to Miss Cloud.”

“LiketheAlexander Hamilton?” Gertie’s eyes grew wide, filled with curiosity. I’d seen the musical about the frisky United States founding father but had no idea why Gertie was so intrigued.

“Yes.” Alexander shrugged off the question. “He’s in my gene pool, but please, call me Alex.”

Jake leaned back in his chair, doing his CIA analysis of the guy. He lowered his hand to his side, keeping it close to the gun.

Alex turned toward me, and I got a full view of his Bahamas-blue eyes. When he spoke, they sparkled like the summer sun’s reflection off a cresting wave. “This delivery has been in my family since the beginning. You see, I am a banker.”

I sent Gertie a Fifty-Shades-my-ass scowl. She lifted a wait-and-see shoulder.

Knives and forks clanged against china plates as the wedding guests dug into the roasted ham and beef, little round potatoes, coq au vin, steamed carrots cut into works of art, and tiny soufflés that made my mouth water like a busted faucet. I lifted my linen napkin and dabbed the corner of my mouth. “A banker?”

Alex folded his hands on the table. “Yes. I come from a long line of bankers.”

“What does this have to do with Jennifer?” Caiyan leaned against the back of my chair, keeping the high ground.

“Yeah,” Jake kept his hands under the table. “And why here, at this wedding? You could have delivered the package any time.”

“Yes. I thought of that, too. But my instructions were specific. At least they have been for the last three hundred years.”

Six

“Three hundred years?” Angel’s eyebrows shot up under her new sweepy bangs.

“You don’t look a day over thirty-five.” Gertie gave a flirty laugh but sent me a concerned glance.

“You’re almost right. I’ll be thirty-eight next month. But I appreciate the compliment.” Alex chuckled, and those blue eyes twinkled. “My family had its start in the banking business thanks to a loan from a pirate.”

I swallowed hard. “A pirate?”

“My great, great, well, lots of greats, but I’ll refer to him as my great-grandfather. He started as a poor Scottish farmer trying to give it a go in the New Providence colony of the Bahamas. He was good at math and hiding bootlegger’s rum.” Alex shifted the bag in his lap.

“The Bahamas?” Jake sent me an uneasy look.

I looked away and tried to hold my shit together, praying Marco didn’t send a three-hundred-year-old message in a brown shopping bag.

Alex cleared his throat and continued. “My great-grandfather befriended a pirate. Together, they sailed the Caribbean and discovered a treasure.”

“A Scottish pirate,” Caiyan grumbled behind me.

“My great-grandfather was killed during the recovery of the treasure and never had the chance to make something of himself. Lucky for me, the pirate delivered his share to my pregnant great-grandmother.”

“Oh, she was pregnant?” Angel’s face fell. “Poor thing, losing her husband to piracy.”

“Yes, well, thanks to this sudden wealth, my great-grandmother returned to Scotland, remarried, and my great-grandfather’s son received a top-notch education. Unfortunately, the son was a complete idiot and fled with a married woman to Saint Kitts. Of course, you know that his grandson persevered and opened the First National Bank of the United States, passing the legacy down the pipe to me.”

“Alexander Hamilton.” Gertie bounced up and down on her chair.

“Yes. The pirate also left this with my great-grandmother.” He lifted a small chest from the bag. “It’s all that’s left of the treasure.”

Gertie frowned at the box. “If there’s a treasure inside, it’s not a very big one.”

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