Part of me hopes he doesn’t. Part of me wishes I could be stuck on this boat with him for a little while longer. To not have to deal with my father, the Italians, or any other men trying to control my life. But I know we’re getting closer to shore every day, and I know this unwillingly nice break from reality must come to an end sooner or later.
I’d just prefer later.
“What can I say? I’m a popular girl.” I shrug.
“Callie,” Kane growls, keeping his eyes focused on mine.
I guess he was able to ignore the demanding text messages I’m sure he saw on my phone, but when there is a bounty on my head, he refuses to ignore it.
Fucking hypocrite.
I sigh loudly while I glance between the two of them. Liam is smiling like a little boy while Kane is getting angrier by the second. I don’t know what to tell them. If I say too much, there’s a good chance Kane will start a war against the Italians. But if I don’t say enough, he won’t trust me.
I close my eyes, asking for some help from the angel on my shoulder, hoping she has a quick answer to keep him satisfied.
As if my prayers are answered, Jeremy walks through the door with a stern look on his face.
“Sir?”
We all look his way, and Kane gives him a small nod, giving him permission to talk.
“Sir, we are being attacked by pirates. Two boats heading our way right now. About thirty men from what we can see. African, most likely.” He points his head out of the window, and we follow his eyes, finding two boats moving towards the yacht, getting closer by the second.
“Goddamnit.” Kane jumps up and Liam does the same. “Get her to her room, place two men in front of her door. Now!” he bellows as they move towards the door.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I get to my feet and stalk behind Kane. I grab his arm and tug him back, forcing him to stop walking.
“There are fucking pirates attacking us, and you want me to hide out in my room unarmed?” I ask incredulously. He must be fucking crazy, thinking I’m going to hide under my bed like a little girl.
“Callie, I don’t have time for this,” he barks.
“I know! We are under attack. Attack, Kane. Give me a goddamn gun!” I sass back, the rising tension filling the room.
“Oh, hell no,” Liam chimes in.
I snap my head towards his.
“Are you really going to leave me here unarmed? I’m pretty worthless to you if they kill me or worse, take me.”
“The last time you had your hands on a gun, you killed three of our men.”
“All the more reason you should give me one now. I can fucking help.”
“Yeah, what about when you’re done helping, and you shoot a bullet through our brains?”
“I gave you Fernando! Why the fuck would I do that?”
Liam’s jaw tics as he looks at Kane, who is clearly debating the pros and cons in his head.
“Kane, you can trust me,” I plead, my voice desperate to convince him.
“Kane,” Liam hisses.
Kane ignores him.
“Jeremy, give her a gun and then bring her back to her room with two men guarding the door. Make sure they never leave her sight,” he commands while his feet take him out of the room.
I let out a relieved breath I wasn’t aware I was holding in before I look at Liam.
“I’m going to cut you up if you pull anything, Reyes.”
32
Callie
Present Day
Have I ever mentioned that I don’t do well with orders?
That I hate being told what to do?
That son of a bitch pissed me off, sending me to my room like I’m some kind of toddler. The only reason I kept my mouth shut was because I knew he wouldn’t be able to think straight if he knew I was walking around the yacht.
Doesn’t mean I won’t be, though.
I’m not the type to sit around and wait for the bad guy to come in. To either run a bullet through my head or use me in any way possible. I don’t sit back.
I take control.
I can hear gunshots on the upper deck combined with shouting men, and I can feel the adrenaline build up in my body. I’m pacing around my room, the gun firmly in my grip while I twirl around a glass of whiskey in my other hand. My thoughts are making me more anxious by the second while my heart rate reaches an all-time high.
Fuck this shit.
I walk through our joint bathroom and tiptoe into Kane’s room. Being as quiet as possible, I open the wooden door and peak my head out in the hallway. Luckily, his door is around the corner from mine, keeping me out of sight of the two men guarding my door. I check both ways and listen carefully to make sure they don’t hear me before I quickly make my way towards one of the glass staircases, being as stealthy as possible. I try to control my breathing, making sure the blood running through my veins doesn’t get too loud in my ears. My feet carefully make it up the stairs to the highest level, then I sneak into the staff kitchen where I’m welcomed by a scary yellow grin. His skin is dark, and he has a disgusting scruff that looks greasy. He says something in a language I don’t understand, probably not offering me a better deal than I have now.
The corner of my mouth raises in a cocky smile before I point the gun at this head.
His eyes turn to saucers like he didn’t expect this, but before he can make another move, I pull the trigger, leaving nothing to chance.
His head jerks back, and I’m surprised by the amount of blood that is covering the wall behind him. I let out a satisfying breath while my heart feels like it’s jumping out of my chest. My palms feel sweaty, but the adrenaline keeps my hand locked in a tight hold around the grip of the gun.
“Sa’uqtalik!” A loud, raucous voice startles me from behind, and before I know it, a massive arm is clasped around my neck, keeping me in a headlock. I instantly can’t breathe and drop the gun, holding onto his arm with two hands. He tightens his grip a little more every second, like a boa suffocating its prey. I can feel the panic raise inside of me, knowing he possesses ten times my strength.
But I’m not dying today.
Especially not by the hand of some lowlife sailor.
I close my eyes, trying to clear my head before I snap them open. I stomp on his foot, making him loosen his grip a little bit before I slam my elbow right into his kidney. He lets go of me while letting out a cry of pain.
“Eahira!” he hisses, bent over a bit while his hand reaches for the sore spot in his side. His skin is more mocha, unlike his buddy, but I can still see his complexion turn red.
Wasting no time, I bring my knee up and hit him straight in the nose, knocking him on his ass.
“I’m sure that means whore or bitch. But it looks like to me like you are the only bitch in the room.” I mock while I quickly reach for the gun. Without hesitation, I aim it at him, then run a set of bullets through his thick flesh.
After five bullets, he doesn’t even flinch anymore, and I take a deep breath, expecting someone else to walk through the door any second now. I try to listen for noises, and when I don’t hear any, I look through the small window in the kitchen door, having a clear view of the upper deck. There are two dead bodies in the living area, all wearing worn cutoff shorts and tank tops. Men from both sides are on the floor outside, dead or fatally wounded. Kane is fighting two dark-skinned men close to the outside door, while Liam’s wrestling with someone more to the left. Jeremy is holding an AK-47, shooting any men still standing that aren’t on our side. His face is filled with frustration when he realizes he can’t get a clear shot of the two fighting Kane without hitting him in the process.
I push the door open, determined to shoot a bullet through the head of one of them as soon as I have a clear shot. I keep my gaze focused on the three of them, slowly walking towards them before I notice movement in the corner of my right eye. I look over and notice one of the pirates sneaking behind Liam, trying to get a clear shot while he is still fighting the other one
. My heart drops at the sight, knowing Liam is unaware of the lurking threat behind him.
Without a second thought, I quickly run back to the kitchen, into the hallway, and sprint towards the door that leads to the front of the side deck. My gut is filled with nervousness laced with terror, fearing I’ll be too late. I push the door open, raise my gun, take a deep breath and focus my eyes on hitting my mark. The squatting man is moving his body up, readying to pull the trigger on the man I would have loved to see in a casket two weeks ago.
For just a brief second I feel conflicted, not knowing what to do, but only for a moment. When I think about Liam being dead, something happens in my heart that I want to ignore.
But I can’t.
As soon as the man reaches his full height, I pull the trigger.
33
Kane
Present Day
Remind me to never cross the Atlantic by ocean again.
I bend over to throw the one on my back against his buddy. They are both slim and lean, so strength-wise they’re no match. But they are smarter and quicker than I had anticipated. I let out an annoyed sigh, feeling the fatigue hit my body. If I’d known this was coming my way, I wouldn’t have kicked Liam’s ass in that sparring session an hour ago.
I roll my eyes when one of the guys gets on his feet again, fed up with this fucking situation. The rest of their buddies are all dead or bleeding out, but these fuckers just won’t die.
I straighten my body, trying to anticipate his next move before his head jerks forward, covering me with blood spatter. When his body falls to the floor, I look at Jeremy with his machine gun in his hand. He looks at me with a huge grin before he unloads a stream of bullets through the asshole trying to crawl to safety.
Too late for that, motherfucker.
With the sound of fighting grunts still surrounding me, I pick up my gun from the floor. I quickly look behind and watch how Liam is firing his gun at one of the pirates in front of him, unaware of the sneaky one behind his back.
As Liam points the gun at the head of the guy in front of him, I raise my gun even though I know I won’t be quick enough. Fear wraps around my heart while I focus and aim when the sharp cracking sound of a gunshot going off enters my ears. The fear I have for my brother’s life is indescribable as I wait for his head to jerk back in defeat. I suck in a breath when I notice it’s not his head that is jerking forward, watching life instantly leave the pirate’s body.
Liam looks behind him, triggered by the sound of the gunshot, before his eyes widen in shock.
My eyes do the same when Callie appears. She looks at us with arrogant triumph in her eyes.
“What the fuck!” I yell at her. “Why are you not in your room? Are they dead?” My eyes roam the upper deck, wanting to make sure there aren’t any bastards still breathing now that she’s here out in the open.
“What? You mean the two dumbasses in front of my door? No, they’re fine. Your security team really is shit, though,” she mocks while she walks back inside.
Liam gives me a confused look.
“What the fuck?”
“I have no idea,” I murmur before we both follow her inside. When we walk through the door, she’s pouring herself two fingers of bourbon, her gun still in her hand. Her eyes are beaming, but not in a good way. She is livid.
“You knocked them out?” I ask, keeping my distance, knowing she is damn quick with a gun. I’m not scared of her, but she’s obviously upset, and I don’t want to startle her.
“I didn’t have to.” She swallows the liquid gold all in one before her eyes trail back to me. “I snuck out of your room.”
“They’re still standing in front of your door?” I close my eyes for a second, knowing exactly what her answer will be. She is like a wild mustang.
You can’t put any reigns on her.
She just gives me a smile, pouring herself another drink.
“Goddammit,” I hiss. “Are you out of your mind? This isn’t a game. You could have been killed, Callie.” I can feel the blood running through my veins, my heart pumping harder by the second. The adrenaline of the last twenty minutes is still giving me a high, and right now my anger is through the roof. My arms reach out for her, not sure if I want to strangle her for putting herself in danger or kiss her, thankful that she is safe.
And that my brother is safe.
I stop in my tracks when she dominantly lifts a finger, telling me to stop.
“SHUT. UP! You don’t get to speak right now,” she informs me.
I let out a frustrated breath while my dick instantly hardens in my blood covered jeans.
“You’re right, Kane. This is not a game, so how about you don’t treat me like I’m a goddamn PAWN!” she roars the last word, and I can feel her anger rising by the second, matching my own. The air is getting thicker with her palpable fury. My own anger is simmering down, replaced by lust the longer she’s staring at me like a wolf ready to catch her dinner.
“You can’t put me in a fucking corner,” she continues. “I know I don’t mean shit to either of you, but you still need me alive, and I’m not going to wait until some other guys storm on this yacht or any damn boat, using me like a goddamn dollar sign all over again. Let’s just ride this one out first before I get passed on to the next one, okay?”
“Baby, that’s not true,” I say, referring to the not caring part.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You should be fucking thanking me, instead of bitching about me sneaking out like I’m some goddamn Disney princess locked up in a tower. If I weren’t there, you would be scraping your brother’s head from the deck right now. You’re fucking welcome.” She picks up the bottle with her free hand while she holds up the one with the gun in the air.
“I’m taking this,” she advises before she switches hands. “And this. I’ll be in my room. Waiting for the next son of a bitch to come ruin my day. Do me a favor? Leave me the fuck alone.”
She walks past me, and I want to grab her arm, but she quickly moves out of my reach, stepping over the dead body on the floor in front of her like it’s nothing more than a cobblestone before she stops in front of Liam who just walked in.
“Still don’t trust me? Asshole,” she whispers.
The sound of her voice laced with venom is as exhilarating as it is menacing. She doesn’t wait for his reaction before she saunters out of the room, leaving us both stunned about what the fuck just happened.
“I have a weird sense of pride brooding inside me right now.” Liam drops his ass on the couch with a loud thump, his shocked eyes still focused on me. “She’s fucking scary when she goes all warrior. When Cristina threw a fit, she always sounded like a whining princess, but this girl … this girl sounds like a fucking Viking.”
“Yeah, I know.” I walk towards the liquor tray, pouring us both a glass of whiskey before I hand a glass to Liam and drop my ass next to him to look around the room. There is a dead body in the middle of the room, and all the windows are either damaged by bullet holes or covered in blood. Three of our men are checking the bodies for pulses while Julian is instructing the staff to clean everything up.
“I didn’t really see this one coming.”
“Yeah, you and me both, baby brother.” Liam clinks his glass against mine.
“She saved your life,” I add with a smug smile, pleased about that. I already trusted her for the most part, but this really seals the deal for me.
She is one of us.
“Yeah, fuck.” He purses his lips in annoyance while I continue staring at him, expecting him to admit he was wrong about her.
“What? I’m not going to admit shit,” he grumbles, reading my mind. I know he’s just saying this to piss me off, but his face isn’t laced with hate anymore while talking about her.
“You still think she’s a Reyes?”
“Doubtful. Doesn’t change anything, though.” He shrugs. “She was still raised by them, I still don’t fully trust her.”
“But?” I urge, pressing hi
m to say it out loud.
“But … she’s not that bad. If you tell her that, though, I will fucking deny it.”
“I’m not telling her shit for the next thirty minutes. She’d probably bite my head off.” I down the rest of my drink.
“Whatever, you like her that way.”
Nope, I fucking love her that way.
34
Callie
Present Day
I’m four glasses in, dancing to the newest Jason Derulo song in my room like I don’t have a care in the world. I really don’t have a care in the world.
At least, until the next douchebag thinks he can stake a claim on me.
Or when I get off this boat and get captured by the Italians.
Or when I finally have that dreaded Reyes reunion, and they start deciding what is best for me.
Or when I will have to say goodbye to Kane.
That last thought leaves a heavy rock laying in my stomach. He annoys the shit out of me ninety-five percent of the time. He is an asshole, most likely the biggest asshole I’ve ever met.
But there are feelings I can’t deny. Feelings I don’t want to deny.
A sharp object flies an inch from the side of my face, puncturing the wall behind me, making me stop in my tracks for just a second.
Speak of the devil.
I scowl at him, not even shocked anymore. Two weeks ago, my heart would’ve been halfway across the floor, my rage through the roof, and I’d probably be thinking about all the ways to torture him once I got the chance, actually believing I stood a chance.
Now I’m just annoyed.
He’s leaning in the doorway, his arms crossed in front of his body, highlighting the ink all over his muscled arms. His marine-colored t-shirt matches well with the blue in his eyes, and a small strand of his blond hair falls over his forehead.
“What? No screaming? Nothing?” he prods with a cute, boyish grin plastered on his face.
Chasing Fire (The Fire Duet Book 1) Page 24