Page 87 of Billionaire's Coastal Haven

A smile tugs at the corner of her mouth. She spins me and shoves me toward the first step. “If there are spiders, I’m not going first.”

“I’ll protect you.” I grab a broken chair leg to clear the cobwebs, and we begin our descent.

Stale air breezes past us with a hint of ocean salt on the back end. Zoe’s grip tightens as we plunge deeper into the earth. The clock on my phone says we’ve been walking for about five minutes when we reach the door bolted into the rock wall blocking our path.

Zoe brushes her finger over the rusty, medieval-looking latch. She squeezes the handle, but nothing happens. “It won’t budge.”

I lift the toolbox. “I came prepared.”

Thankfully, it doesn’t appear to need a key. I don’t know what’s waiting on the other side of this door, but I’m not ready to share it with anyone but Zoe. I was right not to ask Archer and Collin.

This isouradventure. Her mom studied this house. If anyone should discover its secrets, it’s Zoe.

And I’m glad it helps her ignore the stress of small-town busy bodies who don’t appreciate her worth. They don’t get a vote when it comes to who Zoe is and what she’s worth.

She’s priceless.

If they don’t see that, they can go to hell.

She holds the light on the latch, and I chisel away the rust. With several hard whacks of the hammer, the latch spins free. It takes all our strength to budge the door open enough for Zoe to fit through.

“Do you see anything?” I ask.

“It’s a cave. Come on.” She sits on the ground and uses her legs to shove the door open the rest of the way, allowing me to follow her.

I kiss her forehead. “You’re brilliant.”

“We opened a door. Not much of an accomplishment.”

“You’re still brilliant. I never would have been able to open the door without your strength.”

She pokes my biceps. “Those muscles aren’t always helpful in tight spaces?”

I cup the back of her head and bring her ear to my lips. “You like me in your tight spaces.”

“Eww. Gross. No innuendo, please.”

“But you blush so beautifully.”

She shakes her head and grabs my hand. “Let’s see what we find.”

The narrow cave angles down, and the scent of the ocean intensifies. Rushing waves echo off the walls in the distance. “What is this place?” Awe fills her voice.

We follow the path toward the waves. Around a corner, visible in a trickle of light from another cave across the way, our path opens into a massive cavern the size of the ballroom upstairs.

An old wooden dinghy rots amongst half a dozen broken crates.

Zoe presses her hand to her chest. “Oh, my word. It’s here.”

Chapter 23

Zoe

Landon and I have stumbled into a pirate romance novel, but instead of the jolly roger skull and crossbones, a feminine angel is branded onto the boxes around us. Wings spread, hands folded, her billowing gown ripples behind her like the figurehead I heard described when people spun tales about the mysteriousSiren’s Callschooner.

“What is this?” Landon picks at the crumbling wood on one of the crates.

I point to the angel image on the boxes. “This is what the figurehead was supposed to look like on theSiren’s Call. Remember the ship I told you about?”