Read Three's a Crowd for Free Online

Cat.
    She had to repeat the question, miming, partly because of the noise that still raged around us, partly to help Cat understand what she meant. Cat’s face broke into a smile.
    “No,” she said. “Señor Ripley is good boss. He only have one rule. No make problem for guests.”
    Ryan nodded. “Yeah, we heard. Plus hands off his daughter.”
    This had to be repeated to Cat several times as well. At last she grinned again. “ Si . The boys are telling me this new rule.”
    Ryan caught my eye. “At least you don’t have to worry about any other guys while we’re here,” he said.
    Marco came back with a clutch of beer bottles in his hands. He offered them round. We sat chatting for a while. Then Ryan and Chloe went off to dance and some of Marco’s other friends came and sat down. They spoke less English than Marco or Cat, but smiled and nodded at me. I was onto my second beer, leaning back in my chair, soaking in all the smells and sounds, when I realised they were talking about Eve.
    I couldn’t follow their rapid Spanish, of course. But I was sure I could make out her name being repeated, like I’d heard Marco say it when we arrived. “Eva, Eva” , though it came out “Ay-va”.
    I stared at them. I didn’t know what any of their words meant. But from the looks on their faces and their hand gestures, I was pretty sure I understood what they were saying.
    One of the boys, a thickset guy standing next to Marco, reminded me of Eve’s ex-boyfriend, Ben. I shuddered, my mind temporarily dragged back to the night he’d beaten me up.
    At the time Eve had been two-timing him with me, so he’d had a right to be angry. But he’d gone well over the top – attacking me with two friends, leaving me bleeding and semi-conscious on the ground. I still got jittery sometimes at night – when I was out late on my own.
    I forced my mind back to the Spanish boys’ conversation.
    “Eva. Eva.”
    They were definitely talking about her.
    I looked over at the thickset guy. He had this horrible leering expression on his face.
    “ Quisiera morrearla ,” he growled suggestively.
    The others all laughed.
    “ Estás loco .” That was Marco. “ Eva es la hija del jefe .”
    I turned to Cat. “What are they talking about? What does ‘lyee-ha-del-effy’ mean?”
    Cat stretched out her slim arms in front of her. “ La hija del jefe ,” she said. “The boss’s daughter. Eva? They are saying she is – it is a bit rude – they are saying she is good to look at. Do things to. Except her father say ‘no’. You know?”
    I nodded, grimly.
    “You like her?” Cat’s hand brushed lightly across my leg. “You like la hija del jefe ?”
    I stared at her. Her eyes were laughing at me. They were a deep, dark brown, the colour of chocolate.
    “She’s my friend,” I said, uncertainly.
    Cat narrowed her eyes again.“Just the friend?”
    I nodded, feeling only slightly guilty.
    It wasn’t like I was pretending I didn’t have a girlfriend out of choice. Anyway, for all I knew, Jonno could be paying his staff to spy on us.
    Better just to keep it quiet.
    Soon after that, Marco dragged Catalina off to dance. I wandered around for a bit longer. The music was still playing loudly and more people kept arriving, presumably those who’d been on later shifts. I didn’t recognise anyone any more. And there was no sign of Ryan or Chloe. I guessed they were outside, somewhere on the beach.
    I trudged back to the room, alone.

 
6
Jobs for everyone
    I woke up the next morning feeling far better than I had when I’d got back to the room the night before. The sun was shining. Apart from Jonno himself, I liked everything about La Villa Bonita. And, on top of all that, I was going to see Eve: this morning; then, again, this afternoon – once I’d got my homework for Mum out of the way; and – with a bit of luck – this evening as well.
    I glanced across at Ryan’s bed. He was lying half in and half out of it, one arm hanging down