“I have no idea. I’ve never been on a boat or in the sea.”
But I’m getting nerve-sick… Does that count?
He laughed and amended his question. “Do you get sick riding in a car or flying?”
“No.”
“Good. Going out will be rough, but if you keep looking straight ahead, you should be okay.”
Rough? Should be okay?
Callie swallowed the ball of nerves blocking her throat and glanced to Wade. She really wanted to sit next to him and hold his hand, but that would be pushing too far, so she put on her brave face and nodded to Alex. “Okay, thanks.” Looking around the edges of her seat, she said, “I don’t suppose there’s a seatbelt on here anywhere.”
She’d said it laughing, as a joke, and fortunately, Alex took the comment as intended. “My driving isn’t nearly as bad as Wade’s. You’ll be fine.”
Despite her efforts to appear relaxed, or at least not overly concerned, she sighed with relief when Wade stepped up behind her and latched his hands over her shoulders. Leaning in close to speak directly in her ear, he said, “I might be pissed as hell, but I’d never let anything happen to you.”
The heat of his body wrapping around her, as well as his words of assurance, sent a strong signal to her heart, but the pain—not anger—filtering through his voice caused a rising tide of tears in her eyes. She bit down on her lip to stop the quivering and blinked back the excessive moisture blurring her vision. “Thanks. I’m sure I’ll be fine once we get underway.”
As they motored out of the marina and into Intercoastal waterway, Callie grew slightly more comfortable with the gentle rocking of the boat. She couldn’t say she was relaxed, but she’d just started to believe the trip wouldn’t be as bad as she’d expected when they rounded the end of the island and all hell broke loose.
Small, choppy waves rolled at them from all sides, tossing the boat to and fro, here and there. From the sky, she imagined they looked like the little silver ball bouncing around on a roulette wheel. An appropriate image, because making it back to shore alive seemed like a real gamble.
Panic quickly settled into her chest and stole her breath, then gave it back in short, jerky snatches. If the entire trip was like this, she’d never survive. She needed to get off. Now. Under the influence of a panic attack, one’s thoughts weren’t always logical, and this was one of those times. She grabbed the railing and, desperate for an escape from the washing machine, considered jumping overboard.
Either sensing her panic or reading her thoughts, Wade pressed down hard on one shoulder, then used his other hand to grab the hair at the nape of her neck, locking her in place. Bending over so he filled her field of vision, he said, “Breathe, Callie.” His tone was firm and commanding. “This’ll only last a minute. Once we get out of the inlet and into the open water, it’ll be much smoother.”
She latched onto Wade’s voice and gaze and used them as grounding devices. She also grabbed the hand still holding her shoulder and squeezed until her fingers were white. She didn’t calm completely, but he said he’d never let anything happen to her, and she believed him.
Sure enough, as soon as they left the inlet, the water changed into big, slow-rolling waves. It didn’t take long to lose sight of land, and a quick check of her cell phone confirmed her suspicions… They were in the middle of nowhere. Her anxiety battled the peaceful sway of the boat to keep her in a slightly agitated state, but she forced herself to appear relaxed and at ease.
After an hour of cruising, Tyler tossed the mini torpedo into the water and gave Alex directions on which way to go. Wade explained to her that the magnetometer would pick up large pieces of debris on the ocean floor. While Alex drove the boat back and forth in a crisscross pattern, Wade and Tyler marked large red Xs on a laminated map. Once satisfied they had enough locations to work with—a total of five—Tyler pulled in the magnetometer, and he and Alex got to work exploring.
Four times, using GPS to locate the positions they’d previously marked on the map, Alex steered them to each spot, Wade dropped anchor, and Alex and Tyler suited up. They dropped into the water, spent approximately ten minutes exploring the ocean floor, then returned to the surface without having found Tyler’s missing ship. Tyler’s irritation grew with each unsuccessful dive, and while there wasn’t enough money in the world to get her into the water, she found herself desperately hoping the fifth and final dive allowed Tyler to find what he’d so desperately been searching for.
Alex stopped the boat on the last red X, Wade dropped the anchor, and Tyler suited up. Rather than grabbing the single tank he’d been using, Tyler grabbed a double tank off the rack and slung it over his shoulders. “Get your double, Alex. I’ve got a good feeling about this one, and we’re going prepared to explore.”
Alex rolled his eyes but didn’t argue against Tyler’s optimism. Without saying a word, he pulled his dry suit on over his clothes, slipped on his tanks, then followed Tyler to the back of the boat.
Callie watched them disappear into the dark water, then turned to Wade. “I’ve figured out if they don’t find anything, they’ll be back in ten minutes. If they do find something, how long will they be?”
Wade shrugged. “About thirty minutes.”
“That’s it?” They’d spent four hours looking for a boat he’d only explore for twenty minutes?
“Yeah, this time.” He glanced to the sky and frowned. “We’re running out of time with this approaching storm. But if it’s here, he’ll have the exact GPS coordinates so he can come back whenever he wants.”
Wow, so much work for such a small payoff. She shook off the thought and refocused on her purpose for being here. Regardless of whether or not they found the boat, this was her last opportunity to talk to Wade without an audience, and she’d be damned if she’d gone through all of this for nothing. With a deep breath, she swiped her sweaty palms on her jeans and started.
“All right. I guess I better talk fast.”
Chapter Eighteen
Wade propped himself against the boat railing and patiently waited while Callie chewed on her fingernail and composed her thoughts. Part of him wanted to tell her to get on with it, but another, larger part of him feared this might be the last meaningful conversation he had with Callie, and he didn’t mind waiting a few more minutes.
She’d been a trooper all morning and he couldn’t have been more proud of the way she’d handled her fears. He’d known it would take tremendous courage for her to get on the boat, and for a brief, heart-stopping moment, he’d thought she might back out. His stomach plummeted when she slammed on the brakes at the entrance, and it took everything in him to stay at his truck and let her work through her fears on her own, without his intervention or reassurances.
He couldn’t hand over his man card by letting her see how glad he was that she’d come, but his heart expanded and thumped a little harder when she finally pulled into the lot, parked, and actually got out. At that point, he knew, unless she admitted to something heinous, he’d be taking her home as soon as they got back on shore, and he probably wouldn’t let her leave again until Monday morning.
“Okay,” she said, dropping her hands to her sides and shaking them out like a boxer preparing to go a few rounds. “I have money from two difference sources.”
He wanted to say only two, but kept his sarcasm under wraps.
“The first came from the sale of the Anticue Fishing Pier.”
A cough and laugh caught in his throat, choking him. “I’m sorry. You owned…?” No way. Callie owning a fishing pier was wrong on so many levels. He couldn’t even finish the sentence.
She smiled, but her expression lacked humor and her eyes were dull and tired. “Yes.” When he didn’t reply, because he had no idea how to respond to something so ludicrous, she continued. “My father wanted to build a resort on Anticue, but there are ordinances in place to prevent large developments. From what I understand, it took him several years and several rounds of elections to fi
nd the right people”—she made air quotes with her fingers—“who would be willing to change the ordinances in his favor.”
Let’s just break it down, shall we? “You mean people he could bribe.”
“Right. He also needed to acquire enough property on which to build the resort. So, while getting the political components in place, he started buying property at the end of the island where the fishing pier and the Blackout Bar and Grill are. He acted on his own, without the blessing of Holden’s board of directors, so rather than deed the property to Holden Enterprises, which would throw up flags, he put some of the parcels in my name and some in my mother’s name.”
“If he owned the company, why did he need the blessing of the board?”
“It’s a long, complicated story, but he didn’t really own”—more of the air quotes—“the company. My mother’s father started Holden Enterprises, but back then it was called Pelletier Resorts. None of my uncles wanted to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps. They mostly just wanted to spend the money.”
She cast her eyes to the ground and shifted from foot to foot. She’d mentioned several times that she used to be like Miranda, and he wondered if this was a moment of introspection for her, where she saw herself in the comment.
She took a deep breath and continued. “After my parents married, my grandfather made my father the CEO. The board eventually agreed to change the name to Holden Enterprises, since my father was the face of the company, but my mother retained controlling interest and Daddy still had to report to the board. At the end of the day, my mother had the ability to fire my father. Something she did swiftly when everything came to light.”
Again, he had no idea how to respond to that information, so he settled on a generic, “Damn.”
She smiled weakly. “Yeah. So anyway, as Gavin started unraveling the mess, he discovered the fishing pier was in my name. In a power play of our own, I sold the fishing pier to Gavin, which gave him possession of the largest piece of property on the island. Sunny refused to sell, and since the Blackout adjoins the fishing pier parcel, there wasn’t any way Holden could build a resort. Which stopped my father in his tracks.” Her throat jumped as she swallowed roughly. “And sent him on a rampage.”
All of this had taken place several years ago, so she was no longer in danger, but as the big picture started coming into focus, his knees weakened and he slumped against the railing. “Sooo you sold the fishing pier to Gavin without your father’s knowledge?” Considering he tried to kill Gavin and Sunny, Wade couldn’t imagine things had gone well for Callie, either, and cold dread over what she’d say next grabbed him by the throat.
She nodded and took a deep breath and even managed to flash a little dimple. “Yeah. To say he was furious is an understatement. Things with him and Gavin had gotten rough—at that point Gavin was involved with Sunny and his allegiance was no longer with my father—so I took Daddy to dinner and broke the news. My father is a big man.” She glanced at Wade. “Much like you. I’d never seen the monster I often heard other people whisper about.” She swallowed a few times as if she were having difficulty getting her throat to work. “That night, I saw it all. I thought he would have a heart attack or a stroke when I told him what Gavin and I had done. He swept everything off the table, threw his chair across a restaurant filled with people, and swore to everyone within a three-block radius that he’d kill Gavin and disown me if we didn’t cancel the sale.”
Holy shit.
He couldn’t imagine how terrifying that must’ve been for Callie, and thinking about her in danger—especially from her father—infuriated him. Unable to maintain his distance any longer, he reached for her hand.
Rather than accepting his hand, she launched herself into his arms and trembled against him. His protective instincts kicked in and he tightened his grip, reassuring her she was safe.
After the trembling stopped, she pulled away and began to pace. “Gavin warned me Daddy would threaten to disown me if I didn’t recant the sale, but I didn’t care. I didn’t agree with what my father had done, and owning the fishing pier meant the world to Gavin.” Her smile was sweet and sheepish. “At the time, his wishes were extremely important to me. I wanted to help Gavin, who was as desperate to shake free of my father’s control as I was. The sale also gave me the money I needed to get out of my parents’ house, so it was a win all the way around.” She rolled her head to the side. “Well, for everyone but my father. And I had no idea he’d follow through on his threats against Gavin and Sunny.”
She stopped pacing and looked Wade in the eye. “I told you Kevin saved me too, and I wasn’t lying. I’d gone to college, but I had no work experience. None. Ever. I wanted to get out and make my own way in the world, but I didn’t know how. I was like an exotic pet that suddenly found itself loose in the wild.” A real smile brushed across her lips, and Wade found himself smiling along with her at the quirky comparison. “My chances of survival weren’t good, but I was determined, and I had Gavin on my side. He introduced me to Kevin, and fortunately, he liked my suggestions. He was willing to give an inexperienced diva a chance.”
The broad smile spreading across her face reminded him of a brilliant sunrise brightening a dark, night sky. “I’ve never been prouder of myself than the day Kevin hired me. I loved the feeling of accomplishment, and I wanted to keep experiencing those small victories.”
Her excitement for the job and her achievements was evident in the way she bounced on her toes and in her growing smile.
“I used the money from the fishing pier to buy my condo and get a new car, so I wouldn’t have to worry about those payments. Then I took the rest of the proceeds to my friend Jason, who helped me invest it. I haven’t touched a penny since.”
She grabbed the flaps of his open shirt and tugged. “When I told you I was saving up for a pair of boots, I wasn’t lying. I only have the money from my paychecks in my bank account. I don’t have to pay rent, but I do pay association dues and insurance and utilities and food, just like everyone else. And if I want a new pair of boots, I have to give up something in order to get them.”
Her dark-brown eyes implored him to believe her, and even though he was trying to fight the tide, he felt himself being pulled under and carried away in their depths. He found it hard to believe that someone who’d lived a nice, cushy life would give it all up in favor of eating packaged noodles. But then he thought about his mother.
She didn’t have to work, and his father would’ve preferred she didn’t. But she wanted to, and when Wade started middle school, she went to work part time. When he started high school, she moved up to a full-time position.
Even though he was a breath from slip-sliding away in Callie’s explanations, she’d said there were two sources of income, and he still needed to know the second, largest part of the equation. “Where does the chump change… you know, the measly thirty mil come in?”
She narrowed her eyes like she didn’t appreciate his sarcasm, and he almost smiled. Almost.
“When I turned twenty-five, right after I went to work for Kevin, I gained control of my trust fund. I’ve never touched a penny of it. I’ve instructed the lawyers that unless someone’s life is in danger, they’re not to give me access to any of it.” She bit down on her lip and rolled her eyes to the side. “I’m not sure how I’m going to convince them Tiffany’s business is a matter of life or death, but I’ll work that out later. Anyway, I’m still trying to figure out how best to use it. My father showed me greed can turn a person into a monster, but I view money itself as being like electricity. It can light a house and provide heat or fire an electric chair and kill someone. Electricity isn’t bad; it’s the way it’s used. Money is the same way.” She shrugged. “I’m just trying to figure out the best use for it.”
She rubbed her arms and stared at the open waters surrounding them. “I considered telling you all of this the other night, but I saw the way you looked at me when you thought I was like Miranda. And I’ve seen the way you
look at me since you decided I’m not like her.” She returned her steady gaze to him. “I like the new way better, and I was afraid if I told you about the trust fund, or the remaining fishing pier money, you’d go back to looking at me with contempt, and I didn’t want that. I’d hoped for a little more time, to get to know each other better before I told you the whole truth.”
With a heavy sigh, he took his ball cap off his head and readjusted it a few times before pulling it down low on his forehead. She was right about money being a valuable asset if used properly, and the way she worded it made him feel like an ass for thinking less of her for having it. She was also right about the way he would’ve reacted.
Hell, he’d proven her right, hadn’t he?
Callie was a beautiful woman, inside and out. She might’ve been born into money, and she might’ve taken advantage of her circumstances for most of her life, but at her core, she was nothing like Miranda. She was brave as hell, and he couldn’t image the guts it took to stand up to her father, especially in the face of his violent tendencies. She had more balls than most men he knew, and her loyalty to her friends—who he still wasn’t sure deserved it—was something he admired.
He still couldn’t grasp the idea of her being worth more than the entire population of his small town, but that was a male pride thing he’d have to work through. Only one question remained.
“What about Gavin?”
She blinked a couple times, then frowned. “What about him?”
“When he told you Sunny was pregnant, your response was less than enthusiastic. Are you sure your heart is as available as you think?”
She frowned and rubbed her forehead, as if trying to jar the memory loose.
Helping her out, he said, “You weren’t as excited for your friend as I would’ve expected.”
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