of a tree in front of her face, and shivered in the dry cabin air just as the small plane left the ground and soared into the dawn-filled sky. Unfortunately her spirits didn’t soar with it, but she comforted herself that at least she wasn’t arriving back in Athens with her tail between her legs...just yet.
Serena was very aware of Luca’s broad-shouldered physique at the front of the plane, but as much as she wanted to couldn’t quite drum up the antipathy she wanted to feel for him. After all, he had good reason to believe what he did about her—that she’d framed him.
Anyone else would have believed the same...except for her sister, who had just looked at her with that sad expression that had reminded Serena of how trapped they both were by their circumstances—and by Serena’s helpless descent into addiction to block out the pain.
Their father had simply been too powerful. And Siena had been too young for Serena to try anything drastic like running away. By the time Siena had come of age Serena had been in no shape to do anything drastic. Their father had seen to that effectively. And they’d been too well known. Any attempt to run would have been ended within hours, because their father would have sent his goons after them. They’d been bound as effectively as if their father had locked them in a tower.
‘Serena.’
Serena’s attention came back to the small plane and she looked forward, to see Luca staring back to her impatiently. He must have called her a couple of times. She felt raw from her memories.
‘What?’
‘I was letting you know that the flight will take four hours.’ He pointed to a bag on the floor near her and said, ‘You’ll find some information in there about the tribe and the mines. You should read up on them.’
He turned back to the front and Serena restrained herself from sticking her tongue out at him. She’d been bullied and controlled by one man for most of her life and she chafed at the thought of giving herself over to that treatment again.
As she dug for the documents she reiterated to herself that this was a means to an end. She’d chosen to come here with Luca, and she was going to get through it in one piece and prove herself to him if it was the last thing she did. She’d become adept in the past few years in focusing on the present, not looking back. And she’d need that skill now more than ever.
* * *
Just over four hours later Serena was feeling a little more in control of herself, and her head was bursting with information about where they were going. She was already fascinated and more excited about the trip, which felt like a minor victory in itself.
They’d landed in a private part of the airport and after a light breakfast, which had been laid out for them in a private VIP room, Luca was now loading bags and supplies into the back of a Jeep.
His backpack was about three times the size of hers. And there were walking poles. Nerves fluttered in Serena’s belly. Maybe she was being really stupid. How on earth was she going to last in the jungle? She was a city girl... That was the jungle she understood and knew how to navigate.
Luca must have caught her expression and he arched a questioning brow. Instantly fresh resolve filled Serena and she marched forward. ‘Is there anything I can do?’
He shut the Jeep’s boot door. ‘No, we’re good. Let’s go—we don’t have all day.’
A short time later, as Luca navigated the Manaus traffic, which eventually got less crazy as they hit the suburbs, he delivered a veritable lecture to Serena on safety in the jungle.
‘And whatever you do obey my commands. The jungle is perceived to be a very hostile environment, but it doesn’t have to be—as long as you use your head and you’re constantly on guard and aware of what’s around you.’
A devil inside Serena prompted her to say, ‘Are you always this bossy or is it just with me?’
To her surprise Luca’s mouth lifted ever so slightly on one side, causing a reaction of seismic proportions in Serena’s belly.
That dark navy glance slid to her for a second and he drawled, ‘I instruct and people obey.’
Serena let out a small sound of disdain. That had been her father’s philosophy too. ‘That must make life very boring.’
The glimmer of a smile vanished. ‘I find that people are generally compliant when it’s in their interests to gain something...as you yourself are demonstrating right now.’
There was an unmistakably cynical edge to his voice that had Serena’s gaze fixed on his face. Not liking the fact that she’d noticed it, and wondering about where such cynicism stemmed from, she said, ‘You offered me a chance to prove my commitment. That’s what I’m doing.’
He shrugged one wide shoulder. ‘Exactly my point. You have something to gain.’
‘Do I, though?’ Serena asked quietly, but Luca either didn’t hear or didn’t think it worth answering. Clearly the answer was no.
They were silent for the rest of the journey. Soon they’d left the city behind, and civilisation was slowly swallowed by greenery until they were surrounded by it. It gave Serena a very real sense of how ready the forest seemed to be to encroach upon its concrete rival given half a chance.
Her curiosity overcame her desire to limit her interaction with Luca. ‘How did you become interested in these particular mines?’
One of his hands was resting carelessly on the wheel, the other on his thigh. He was a good driver—unhurried, but fast. In control. He looked at her and she felt very conscious of being in a cocoon-like atmosphere with nothing but green around them.
He returned his attention to the road. ‘My grandfather opened them up when prospectors found bauxite. The area was plundered, forest cleared, and the native Indians moved on to allow for a camp to be set up. It was the first of my family’s mines...and so the first one that I wanted to focus on to try and undo the damage.’
Serena recalled what she’d read. ‘But you’re still mining?’
He frowned at her and put both hands on the wheel, as if that reminder had angered him. ‘Yes, but on a much smaller scale. The main camp has already been torn down. Miners commute in and out from a nearby town. If I was to shut down the mine completely it would affect the livelihoods of hundreds of people. I’d also be doing the workers out of government grants for miners, education for their children, and so on. As it is, we’re using this mine as a pilot project to develop ethical mining so that it becomes the standard.’
He continued. ‘The proceeds are all being funnelled into restoring huge swathes of the forest that were cleared—they’ll never be restored completely, but they can be used for other ends, and the native Indians who were taken off the land have moved back to farm that land and make a new living from it.’
‘It sounds like an ambitious project.’ Serena tried not to feel impressed. Her experience with her father had taught her that men could be masters in the art of altruism while hiding a soul so corrupt and black it would make the devil look like Mickey Mouse.
Luca glanced at her and she could see the fire of intent in his eyes—something she’d never seen in her father’s eyes unless it was for his own ends. Greedy for more power. Control. Causing pain.
‘It
