I was annoyed she wasn’t jumping at the chance to take this job. Didn’t she want to stay with me? Stay here and keep doing what we were doing? I could whisk her off to anywhere she wanted to go and blame it on work. Or business trips. Or meetings. Or take the fucking vacation time I was afforded but never did. I could give her a wonderful life and provide her with a substantial paycheck in the process.
We could be an unstoppable team if she stopped fighting me every step of the way.
Before I could voice any of that, however, the fireworks began. She turned her head up toward the sky and took a step away from me. Creating distance, which was exactly what she was good at. I reached out and took her hand, making sure she understood I wasn’
t going anywhere. Even though she wanted physical distance between us when things got serious, I wasn’t letting her go that easily. I hadn’t before, and I wasn’t planning on stopping now.
But once the fireworks picked up, there was a loud bang.
“What was that?” I asked.
Sam turned her head out toward the ocean as the boat tilted.
“Listing,” Sam whispered.
“What?” I asked.
People were scrambling on the boat to keep things steady as Sam pulled her hand away from mine. She whipped her head around as fireworks burst above our heads, and then another loud bang erupted. The boat jolted again, tilting dangerously close to the water’s edge.
“Stay here,” Sam said.
“I’m coming with you.”
“No,” she said as she whipped around. “You stay right here. There’s a gun in the drawer behind you against the railing of the boat. If anyone other than myself or the staff of this boat comes for you, shoot them on the spot. That’s an order.”
“You want me to what?” I asked.
“Stay here!”
Then I watched as she took off into the night, her hair fluttering behind her and her dress wafting against her legs.
And her hand pulling her gun from her thigh holster.
Chapter 18
Sam
I RAN ALONG THE EDGE of the ship, slipping my gun from my holster. The boat was listing far to the right, and it made it hard to trek the deck without having to hang on. No matter what the hell had happened, we were going to have to abandon the boat. Derek’s yacht was going down no matter if this was an accident or intentional.
But I had a feeling it was intentional.
I found the staircase heading downstairs, and the crew was scurrying up it. There was smoke pouring from the opening as I holstered my gun. I held my hand out, dragging the crew up the last of the steps as they ran for the lifeboats. People were coughing and screaming, and I could see tongues of fire flickering from below.
An explosion had occurred, and the entire lower portion of the ship was being engulfed.
“Call for the Coast Guard! We’re going to need help!”
I covered my face with my arm and ran down below the deck. If anyone else was trapped down there, I still had some time to get to them. I walked around, hacking and coughing as my eyes began to water. I could hear the security guards above the deck yelling for people to get into their lifeboats.
Then I heard Derek yelling for me.
“Sam! Sam! Where are you!?”
I had to ignore his voice. I knew he was panicked and worried, but I had to make sure no one was trapped down here. I walked around, darting into the small kitchen to see if I could find where the fire originated from. My first thought was the kitchen. That would’ve been the easiest to conceal, especially with having gas stoves on board. I rushed over through the thick haze of smoke, knowing I was getting closer as the smoke grew thicker.
And still, Derek was yelling for me.
“I’m not getting off this damn boat without you, Sam! I’m coming down!”