âLUCKY YOU!â Maria shouted, holding the punch bag as Lydia boxed away, repeating the words like some kind of chant as Lydia thumped ever harder.
Lydiaâs red curls had long since worked their way out of her hair tie, and moved in time as she pounded the punch bag, her pale, slender arms delivering surprisingly strong blows. The rhythmic, vigorous exercise was wonderfully cathartic as, egged on by Maria, Lydia vented some of her anger and frustration.
âLucky, lucky you! Come on, Lydia. Hit harder!â
âIâm done!â Lydia breathed, shaking her head and resting her gloved hands on her knees. âAnd lucky certainly isnât how Iâd describe myself, being stuck here for the next few nightsâI havenât had a day off for weeks!â
Even though the place was deserted, mindful that someone could be listening, Lydia spoke in low tones as she pulled off her gloves and turned the sink taps on full blast to distort their conversation. She needlessly refilled her water bottle and took a few moments to splash her face.
âWhat are you moaning about? Being joined at the hip with Anton Santini is my idea of an absolute dream job. Imagine how I feel!â Maria grinned, offering Lydia her own water bottle to fill. âBeing lumbered playing assistant to his female PA! Why couldnât they have given me Anton Santini to guard?â
Lydia held up a long strand of red curls in answer and gave a wry smile. âI donât somehow think Iâd make a very good undercover Italian PA, when the only Italian words I know are the names of pasta!â
âIâd go ginger in a moment if it meant sharing a bedroom with Anton Santini.â Maria giggled. âI still canât believe they chose you to pass off as his girlfriend!â
If it had been anyone other than Maria saying it Lydia would have thought the comment sounded catty, but Maria was simply speaking the truthâit was unbelievable that sheâd been considered the most suitable person to serve as Anton Santiniâs girlfriend during his whirlwind visit to Australia.
Anton Santini liked his women petite, stylishly groomed and demure.
Lydia was painfully aware that she failed on all three.
Although her body was slender and toned, she stood five feet eight without heelsâfive feet ten if her mass of red curls was running particularly wild! Lydia wore jeans and T-shirts like a second skin, and as for demureâwell, it wasnât exactly a prerequisite for a detective. Sure, she refused to buy into the beer-swilling, coarse language world of some of her colleagues, but she wasnât exactly afraid of expressing an opinionâ¦
âSmile, Lydia! Youâre a real misery this morning,â Maria observed. âThis is one of the top hotels in Melbourne, weâve been given full access to everything, and here you are moaningâ¦â Catching Lydiaâs frown, Maria looked around and, seeing a yawning man staggering into the massive pool area outside the gymnasium, abruptly ended the conversation.
âFancy a sauna?â Maria asked, and Lydia was about to shake her headâa sauna was the absolute last thing she fancied at this hour of the morningâbut she knew it was the one room in the place where it had been agreed detectives could meet and talk unhindered.
After rolling her eyes in protest, Lydia gave a very sweet, very false smile. âWhat a great idea!â
âHowâs Angelina?â Lydia asked, once they were wrapped in white towels with the door safely closed.
âEfficient.â Maria rolled her eyes. âAnd extremely talkative! I canât believe his entire team travels ahead of him to ensure that everything is to his liking!â
âItâs just as well that they do,â Lydia pointed out. âItâs thanks to Angelinaâs efficiency that weâre even aware of the security threat.â
âYeah, but itâs not much to go on though,â Maria mused. âA bunch of flowers sent to his hotel room before his arrivalâthey could just be from an old girlfriendââ
âI doubt it,â Lydia interrupted. âGiven that on the two previous occasions Santini was sent flowers he was involved in potentially life-threatening incidents! Itâs a bit of a coincidence, donât you think? Not forgetting all the abusive phone calls Angelinaâs been fielding. Itâs right the Feds are taking this seriously. Can you just imagine the negative publicity if something happens to him?â
âI guess.â Maria shrugged. âIt just seems a bit over the topâsenior detectives acting as bodyguards. Theyâve even got Kevin behind the bar fixing drinksâit just seems so extreme.â
âIf this deal Santiniâs looking to sign up goes ahead, then itâs going to be such a massive boost for tourism. Iâm not surprised that all the stops are being pulled out to protect him!â
Cheerfully ladling water onto the coals and upping the already stifling temperature several degrees, Maria, unlike Lydia, was only too happy to veer off the subject of work. âI love it here,â she rattled on happily. âWeâre going to look fabulous by the time this assignmentâs overâcan you feel your pores unclogging?â