by L. A. Fiore
“Yeah, he got it, but that isn’t why he called. He’s got a line on those yachts going missing.”
With everything going on, I had forgotten all about them. “What’s he got?
“He won’t say over the phone. He wants us to meet up.”
I looked toward the bedroom. It had been five months since we left St. Croix, three here searching the Isabella. It was time for me to go.
“Has Miguel found anything on Isaac’s associates?”
“Nothing that draws suspicion.”
I didn’t like that loose end, but in all likelihood there was no partner. I would like to use that as an excuse for why I shouldn’t go and that was exactly why I had to go. “Okay. Give me a few days.”
“You got it.”
I moved back into the room, Willow had shifted in her sleep. Her back was exposed, her hair like a flame over the white sheets. She was better off without me, but walking away this time was going to cost me. The price had been so fucking worth it though. I slipped back into bed and pulled her close.
WILLOW
Noah and I were in the Captain’s quarters of the Isabella. Alejandro’s desk would have been there. He would have stored his maps in a drawer, had a candelabra and his spyglass resting on the top. He would have eaten with his officers there. The stern had once been all windows along the back; the glass shattered now, the wooden frames empty. His bed had been built into the wall for both conserving space and safety—not getting tossed from bed during rough seas. We were using metal detectors, running them along the sand bottom, over the walls where cabinets had been built in along both sides. I touched the wall, along the frame of the windows in the back. He had lived here and he had died here. He had sat at his desk, writing letters to her, writing in his journal. His journal.
We spent forty minutes searching before returning to the surface.
“What are you thinking?” Noah asked when we reached the dive deck.
“How did his journal and compass get in that bookstore in Cancun?”
Noah was pulling my tank off but he stopped mid-motion. “I don’t know. It couldn’t have washed up on shore because the text would have been ruined.”
“Whoever had it, kept it in really good shape. They had cared for it, kept his compass too.”
“What are you thinking?”
“You are a pirate. When you board a ship is there ever a scenario where you would take something personal?”
He looked like a pirate just then, hard and a bit scary. “As proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“If you’re paid to kill someone, whoever hired you would want proof you succeeded.”
I paled. “Have you ever been hired to—”
“No.”
I don’t know why that clarification made me feel better when I knew he killed people, but it did. “So it’s possible it wasn’t a random attack, that the Isabella was targeted.”
“Yeah, and based on how Alejandro and Isabella met, there’s one obvious suspect.”
“Her father.” It had happened so long ago but my heart broke for them. “Her father owned an iron works. How much do you want to bet the markings on the cannon balls are his?”
“I wouldn’t take that bet.”
“He killed her husband then married her off to the man he had intended for her. He got his way after all.”
“It would seem.”
“Bastard.”
“If they took his journal, there is a good chance they took the necklace.”
“He would have hidden it. They wouldn’t have known where to look, but lucky for us he did. I’m still curious where the journal was all these years. I can’t believe killers would have kept it, Isabella’s father certainly wouldn’t have. The shop owner said the journal had been in his family. So how is he connected to Alejandro? I think a trip to shore and a chat with the shop owner is in order.”
“I need a shower,” Noah stated. The wicked gleam in his eyes made a shiver of lust dance down my spine. His big hands wrapped around my waist and he tossed me over his shoulder. “But I need to eat first.”
We had uncovered countless treasures. Gemstones the size of my palm, gold coins and silver. Candelabras, lanterns, china, bottles—one that was still corked. I had held a hairbrush, had it been intended for Isabella? We had also pulled up a captain’s box. Usually found in the captain’s quarters, it would have contained his personal things. But what had the team buzzing with excitement was most captains’ boxes had a secret compartment. It was very likely the necklace was hidden in Alejandro’s captain’s box. We were calling the dive; every inch of the ship had been searched. If she wasn’t in the captain’s box, then it was likely whoever had taken the journal had taken the necklace as well.
Granddad and Harry escorted the box to the conservation team on Mérida and while they worked on it, the crew was celebrating. Chas was making dinner on the deck, barbecuing his special pork recipe, or so the crew called it. I looked around and it warmed my heart to see such a motley crew getting along, even if it was just for the night. We’d be heading back to the hotel after dinner. I could admit I was looking forward to a bed that didn’t rock.
Zoe settled at my side. “Do you think the necklace is in the captain’s box?”
“If it is anywhere on that ship, I think it would be there.”
Zoe studied me for a second or two. “You don’t think it’s on the ship.”
“I can’t make sense of how his journal ended up in Cancun. The ship sank, the journal was presumably on the ship and yet over two hundred years later it is on display in a rare bookstore in Cancun.”
“That is a puzzle.”
“I need to go back to Cancun. The shop owner said the journal was from his family’s collection. I would like to know how they acquired it.”
Zoe’s focus shifted to Decker and her face softened. “Our adventure is coming to an end.” She looked back at me. “How do we go back to ordinary lives after this?”
It wasn’t something I thought about because not only would my life go back to normal, but my pirate was going to sail right out of it. It was a thoroughly dismal thought.
“Your life will be sweeter though.” I gestured to Decker. “How are things with you two?”
“Wonderful. I didn’t think it was possible to be so happy. I understand now why you held on so tightly to Kace’s memory. I kissed my way through an entire shire of hobbits before I found my Gandalf.”
“Gandalf? Why Gandalf? Why not Aragorn? Don’t get me wrong, I love Ian McKellen, but Viggo?”
“Gandalf is hot, plus magic is sexy.”
Decker walked over. “How you feeling, boss?”
“Incredible.”
“You should. This is amazing. Even if we don’t find the necklace, this can definitely be chalked up as a successful dive. Going home is going to be a little lackluster after this,” Decker said.
Zoe grabbed his hand. “We’ll make do. Let’s dance.”
“There’s no music.”
“So.” She dragged him away, but looked back at me and winked.
I looked around for Noah and realized it wasn’t just him, but Snake and Zeke that were absent too.
I joined Chas at the grill. “Can I get you something to drink?”
He held up a bottle of beer. “I’m good.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you about the culinary disaster Noah saved you from.”
Chas, all seven foot of him, looked sheepish. “It was really just a misunderstanding. I was working for a kingpin for a crime syndicate out of Cuba. I didn’t know the man had a pet pig. Most of his vegetables and fruits he grew, his meat came from his livestock. I thought to make my barbecue pork.”
“Oh no,” I gasped. “You didn’t.”
“I did. We took it with us, seemed silly to waste it. Making that dish was sort of my interview. The crew tasted it and I was hired.” He flashed me a smile. “You can tell me your thoughts after you taste it.”
“Th
is is the recipe?”
“Yep.”
“I can’t wait to try it.” I glanced around. “Do you know where Noah is?”
“Something came up. He’ll be back soon.”
“He left the ship?”
“Yeah, but he won’t be long.”
“And you won’t tell me why?”
“No.”
Zoe called to me. “Will, we’re going swimming off the stern, and listen to me with the lingo.”
She was a clown, but an evening swim sounded perfect.
NOAH
“Please don’t stop.” I caught her breathless plea when I plunged my tongue into her mouth. Her legs were wrapped around my waist as I drove into her. Her nails down my back, the pain as she dug them into my ass and lifted her hips into my thrust turned me wild. I wanted to consume her, every fucking inch of her, wanted to sate myself in her, drown in her, because in the morning I would be gone. My crew was waiting just offshore, but I had to say goodbye. I felt her body submit, clenching around my cock. I lifted her hips and pounded into her harder and faster.
“Again, fucking come for me again.”
Her hand moved between her legs and with the relentless pace of my thrusts, she came again. A moan moved up her throat, she arched her back and exposed her neck, her eyes closing as ecstasy covered her expression. It was like a fucking drug, one I was helpless against.
I pulled from her, lifted her hips, pressed my cock to her ass and slowly slid in.
“Please...ah…fuck yes,” she moaned.
I tightened my grip on her leg. She hooked her heels at my thighs moving her hips to my rhythm as my thumb pressed to her clit before sliding lower and sinking it into her. My mouth slammed down on hers as I possessed her completely. I didn’t want it to end, but all good things did. I grabbed her thighs and sank in deep as the orgasm ripped through me.
She hadn’t even gotten her breath and I was dragging her to the shower. She was exhausted but we only had tonight. I washed her hair, the fiery red strands darker and silky smooth. My hands roamed over her body, over her breasts, down her stomach, between her legs. I dropped to my knees, spread the copper curls between her legs, and licked her…memorizing her taste. Digging my fingers into her thighs, I turned her, spread her ass and licked her where she was likely a little sore. Her head dropped as she gave herself over to me. I stood and hooked her legs around my waist. Her back hit the wall as I drove into her again. My tongue mimicking what my cock was doing. I fucked her to exhaustion. She could barely stand when I dried her off. I carried her to bed and tucked her in.
“I have to go.”
Her eyes were growing heavy and she misunderstood my meaning. “Hurry back.”
“Willow, I’m not coming back.”
Her eyes snapped open. “What?”
“We’re meeting up with Hawk.”
She sat up. “To do what?”
“What we do best. Hunt.”
“Hunt what?”
“Nothing for you to worry about.”
A shadow moved over her expression. “It really is your life. You love it.” She looked at her hands when she asked, “What about the necklace?”
I touched her face, lifted her gaze back on me. I wanted to remember how she looked in that moment. “I hope you find it.”
“Your crew is okay with walking away empty-handed?”
“We never thought we would find it.”
“So why do all of this?”
“Really? You have to ask that.”
Her face softened. “I understand your motivation, not theirs.”
“It was something different and for a little while you gave them something they’ve never had.”
“What?”
“A glimpse into normal.”
Her eyes turned bright. “You’re really leaving.” She wiped at her eyes and struggled to keep it together. “I love you, I think I did from the moment I looked up outside that bookstore. Thank you for giving me the dream, even if it was just for a little while.”
A pain ripped through my chest and the words were out before I even really considered them. “Come with me.”
“What?”
“Sail the seas with me, hunt treasure with me.”
I thought she was going to say yes from the excitement I saw in her gaze, but excitement shifted as a sad, little smile curved her lips.
“I know for you that offer is as good as a declaration of love. And there is a part of me that wants to jump up and pack, but what happens when others like Isaac try to use me against you? What happens when raiding and looting turns deadly? And I don’t want another relationship where I have to be grateful with what I get. I want to be put first. I want the dream.”
My eyes burned. The first time in my life I felt the sting of tears because she couldn’t come, but I couldn’t stay. I needed the water, needed the life and family I fought and killed for.
“I know you have to go. You’re a pirate, but my door is always open if you ever find you’re ready to hang up your captain’s hat.”
I kissed her, felt the tear that rolled down my cheek. She felt it too when she wiped it away, then pressed a kiss where it was still damp.
I left her at dawn. She had fallen asleep, safe and warm, my necklace around her neck. I wanted to keep her, but she was never mine. She was just an elusive dream, a fucking beautiful dream. I slipped out as silently as I slipped in, but I left my damaged heart in that room with the angel who had claimed it.
A half an hour later, I reached the meeting point to find not just the sailing yacht, but also Drake’s yacht, manned by Hawk and his crew. He called to me. “She fits you better. I like this little gem.”
Canny motherfucker. I almost smiled.
“We’ll rendezvous at San Juan,” he called before the engines fired up. I noticed the stern in his departure. Hawk’s Nest.
On the deck, I looked around. I was home. The crew was all there. Snake approached. “Welcome back. You good?”
“Yeah. I’m good.”
“Are you ready to get the hell out of here and find some trouble?”
“Yeah. Raise the sails. Let’s stretch her legs.”
“Fucking finally.”
WILLOW
How are you?” Zoe asked as she came to stand with me at the bow of the Ocean Quest. It had been two weeks since Noah left. I knew it was going to be hard, but not this hard.
“I miss him. Every day.”
“I was wrong about him.” My focus shifted to her. There was sadness behind her eyes. “He loves you.”
“I know.” I looked up at the stars. Wherever Noah was, he could see the same stars and that made him feel closer. “It makes it easier knowing that. He asked me to go with him?”
“He did? Why didn’t you?”
“My whole life I’ve settled. Even my job, I’m still only part-time, and yes I like being part-time, but Decker never offered me a full-time position even though he has taken on a few others after me who are full-time.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Because I’m so used to adjusting my expectations for others. I don’t want to do that anymore. I love Noah, but even he wanted me to settle. I want the dream. I want someone to put me first, to choose me. Silly and hopelessly romantic, but it is my dream.”
“I’m sorry, Willow.”
“I think I’m going to change it up when we get home. Form my own team. The Blakeley name will definitely draw interested divers and I’m going to ask Granddad to partner with me. I miss working with him.”
“What about Decker?”
I grinned. “Nothing wrong with a little competition.”
Granddad joined us. “It’s onboard.”
The captain’s box was cleaned, the secret compartment located. We thought it would be nice, ceremonial, if we opened it onboard the vessel that had located Isabella at the site the box was found.
“Tomorrow morning we’ll see if my research was sound.”
“Even if the neck
lace isn’t in the box, it was a hell of a dive, Willow.”
He was right. I had pictures that I intended to share with Luciana as well as a few artifacts of little monetary value that would mean so much to her.
“I’m still having trouble understanding how Isabella’s father could have arranged for his son-in-law’s death,” Zoe queried out loud, “To be so greedy that you put your own self-interest ahead of that of your daughter.”
Granddad reached for my hand and squeezed because we both were familiar with that storyline. My parents had been doing that to me for years.
The conservation team had confirmed the markings on the cannon balls to be that of Isabella’s father’s iron works. His company had forged the cannon balls that had sunk Isabella. That alone wasn’t definitive proof since those cannon balls could have ended up on countless ships back then. However, they didn’t circulate into production until a year after Isabella sank. He had arranged for Alejandro’s death so he could continue with the arranged marriage he had setup, the one that would make him unbelievably rich. He had condemned his daughter to a life of sorrow all for money. For me, that was the success of the dive. We could now finish their story. A love story of two star-crossed lovers who were up against unseen enemies and had dealt with betrayal. Together for a short a time, but loved so strongly that their love still resonated over two hundred years in the future. That’s why it didn’t matter to me if we found the necklace in the captain’s box tomorrow because we knew their story now and soon everyone else would too.
“I’m calling it a night. I’m not as young as I used to be.” Granddad kissed my cheek then Zoe’s. “See you in the morning.”
His cane echoed on the deck as he walked away.
“What do you want to do now?” Zoe asked.
“I think I need ice cream.”
“Perfect.”
NOAH
We sat in Miguel’s, a place that was as close to home as I knew and yet something was missing. She was missing. I thought I could go back to how it was, before a certain redhead entered my life. Maybe had we ended things in St. Croix that would have been possible. But not now. She was part of me. I needed to seriously rethink what happened next because what I did know, a lifetime without her was not going to fucking happen. Right now, Hawk had news to share.