Payback — Rose Middleton

Once upon a time, Alexis Benedict and Lorenzo De Luca were lovers and thick as thieves, literally, but the romance died when a job went wrong and Lorenzo left Alexis behind. Alexis has plotted her revenge for five years, and the privately owned cruise ship, the Lazarus, gives her the perfect opportunity. With the world's largest sapphire on display and Lorenzo guaranteed to be in attendance, Alexis has every step planned in the finest detail. Alexis never factored in the strength of the chemistry between her and Lorenzo, and when she discovers the life and death reason why he needs the sapphire, Alexis must decide between her desire for revenge and Lorenzo's freedom.

TO MY READER: According to my heroine, Alexis, revenge is a dish best served hot, on the high seas, and garnished with the biggest sapphire you can imagine. Our hero, Lorenzo, won't know what hit him!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rose Middleton's day job takes her surfing, hiking and climbing...albeit with a dozen teens in tow. Needing to escape adolescent hormones, she opted for the calmer waters of romance writing. If her mother only knew...

EXCERPT FROM PAYBACK:
“What the hell are you doing here, Alexis?”
She huffed. “Me? What am I doing here? Oh, you ask because I'm not rotting in some prison cell in Argentina.” Her frozen smile pinched his heart. “That's where I should be, right? I mean, you did leave me handcuffed for the cops to find so why wouldn't you think I'd be in prison?”
He frowned, wanting to ask what had happened after he left but he didn't. She was right. He'd handcuffed her to the railing of the exhibit and left when the alarms rang out. Not only had he lost the precious gem they were hired to obtain but he'd lost his lover, his friend, his partner in crime. No matter how hard he tried, he'd never been able to find out what happened to her. There was no recorded arrest, no reported escape. It was like she hadn't existed at all. Vanished into thin air.
Which, considering it was Alexis they were talking about, was probably right on the money.
“What? No apology?”
He shrugged and shook off the desire to do exactly that. “You wouldn't accept it anyway.”
Alexis stepped passed him. “You're an ass, Lorenzo. I'm glad it happened. I'm out of the lifestyle thanks to you. Clean as a whistle. Free as a bird.”
He didn't believe that for a second. “Me too.”
“Bullshit.”
The flash of fire in her eyes kicked him into gear. Powering into her space, he backed her up to the door, paused and then pressed his body against hers. The familiar shape of her made him grin. She might think him an ass but she was just as hot for him now as ever. The spark in her eyes and the glow in her cheeks said so. The question was whether he gave in to the urge to kiss her. Ruby red lips made the choice too hard.
His hesitation undermined him. She laughed and licked the very lips he couldn't take his eyes off. Far from intimidated, Alexis seemed confident and ready to kick his butt.
“Well, well. Look who's lost for words.”
“Screw you.”
She laughed louder. “You wish.”
Lorenzo's hands moved, clasping each side of her face and in the exact moment before their lips collided, he saw what he needed. That tiny spark of vulnerability in her gaze, the one that called her bluff.