ELEVEN
Gaia smiled as she sipped from her glass of well-chilled champagne, settling deeper into the couch of her villa as her gaze settled on the eastern horizon, where Lorikeet Island lay. The sunset set the cliffs aglow, making the horizon look like a wall of fire over the water. Her island and her mine – those very cliffs were the ones her grandfather had mined back in the fifties.
The hotel manager had been properly apologetic, promising to arrange a dinner meeting for her with the owner, after she'd spoken to him to make sure he understood not only who she was, but how important her offer was.
He. Typical. There were too many businessmen in the world, and not enough businesswomen. Of course, that did make her job easier sometimes. Men frequently underestimated her. Once they'd re
