by Cherry Adair
And yet – why had she stolen from the Cutters? There was more she hadn't told them, Finn was sure. Had she done it for attention? A need to be one up on those she perceived had taken advantage of her family? But why?
More than the bitter family rivalry and dissolution of their fathers’ partnership. He remembered her telling him - with a smile that broke his heart, that her mother had claimed to have postpartum depression for twelve years, until her death when Peri was in her mid-teens.
She'd lost her father when she was barely five.
Her brother had a slew of his own shit to deal with while raising his siblings, and taking care of business. He'd married. Her other brother had died. Callie was leaving her family and becoming a Cutter.
"Bloody hell." He imagined Peri in a filthy prison-God only knew where. Imagined what they’d do to her there.
He'd buy off the Cutters tomorrow. Save her at least from the horror of prison. Maybe that would rid him of this sick feeling. It would do nothing for the craving ache in his gut.
"Fucking hell.” A lightbulb moment had him dropped back into his chair, as he pieced together snippets of information she'd told him. "Her entire life has been filled with unmet expectations by the very people who should love her unconditionally."
She'd told him her background in the barest terms, but seeing that look of abandonment on her face, for that split second, said it all.
She expected people to leave her.
Mother. Father. Brother. Whatever it was she wanted from the Cutters. Himself. None of them had given her what she needed – to belong, to feel like she was included and part of something. "Did we all fail you, Persephone?"
He'd fucked up. Royally.
She masked the need with a cheerful and upbeat exterior, the chip on her slender shoulder just waiting to be knocked off so she could come out fighting.
"And I call myself an astute judge of character? How was I so damned wrong here?"
He hadn't heard if she'd explained more to the Cutters or if what he'd heard was it. What he did know was he needed to hear her out before making a judgment call that would change the course of his life forever.
His private line rang. It was the call he'd been waiting for, but he needed to wrap it up quickly. "Zak," he answered on the second ring.
The call took six more minutes of precious time.
Tapping his earpiece, Finn left instructions for his assistant, "I'll be incommunicado for the rest of the evening. Don't allow Persephone to leave with the others. Text when everyone else has disembarked and we're underway."
He'd put some mileage between himself and the Cutters until he found a resolution.
Every minute that passed that he didn't talk to her, was another minute she'd think he'd walked out on her intentionally, deepening her wound.
If he were going to make this right, he had to know everything his business partners and Peri were hiding. The truth.
Persephone Case may well be the one person who deserved that second chance.
But first, he went in search of answers.
The wedding was simple and moving. Finn's staff had pulled in greenery and orchids from all over the ship in lieu of traditional wedding flowers, and the solarium had looked festive and pretty. Callie, incandescent with happiness caused a lump to form in Peri's throat. She was happy for her sister, who'd gone through so much to end up with the man of her dreams and an instant big family.
Yeah, the Cutters were one big, happy, freaking family.
Finn hadn't been in attendance, no matter how she willed him to walk into the solarium to stand beside her. No matter how many times she rehearsed what she’d say to him if he did. To hell with it. She didn’t owe him a goodbye or any explanation. And she sure as hell wasn't going to beg him for anydamnthing.
Dr. Vadini had gone to his cabin earlier, and Finn hadn't joined them again. Not even for his friend's wedding. That left her and Theo to stand, like extra appendages, in the back of the room. Two outsiders watching happiness and love swirling around the Cutters, at arm's length. She felt like a gatecrasher.
Numb, as if she were watching something sad on T.V. and she couldn't change the channel, Peri was torn between resentment and jealousy of their close-knit family. She missed Ry.
Her chest hurt. They were so freaking happy. They’d already forgotten her and her big confession. For years she'd been blatant and in their faces in the hope of forcing a confrontation. What the hell was wrong with them anyway? She'd moved from being covert to being in the open - face to face. She'd admitted what she'd done, yet, they still didn't freaking see her as important enough to give a damn. All her mental hand- wringing and angst had been for nothing. She was no more interesting to the Cutters than a pesky mosquito.
Insignificant.
The next step was up to them. It was going to be damned hard to prosecute her when all the pilfering had taken place in international freaking waters. Given the lack of attention they were paying to her, they probably wouldn't even bother. She was that insignificant.
She was tough and resilient. Not a moper, she wasn't usually this damned introspective. It sucked. She inhaled deeply and breathed out slowly. She was over it. Done.
She was damn sick of them. And God, she was so sick and tired of her own vulnerability around them. It was exhausting. Useless. Now that she'd said her piece, it was over and done with. She could walk away with a clear conscious and concentrate on her own salvage.
Peri took in the fading light, and froth of whitecaps beyond the windows. "The winds are dying down enough to leave," she told Theo in a low voice as Callie, at the far end of the room, kissed her groom to much applause. The seas were down, but really too high to safely go out in her twenty-foot runabout.
But, when had she ever backed down and done what was safe? Hell, she was an excellent sailor, and her need to put space between everyone on board Blackstar and herself was more urgent than a few second thoughts about the danger of traveling from Blackstar to home. Tesoro Mio was closer, but right now she couldn't handle one more confession, followed by more recriminations. She just couldn't.
"Good," he whispered back. "I'll come with you."
"Fine. But I'm in a mood, so stay out of my way and don't talk to me." Or bring up Finn’s name. "I'm going to slip out, you stay for a bit. Don't make a big deal about leaving. Get your things and meet me down in the garage in about ten minutes."
Peri left. No one stopped her. Hell, she doubted anyone even noticed her absence. Stop it. You don't care, remember?
Callie's arrival had put a full stop to whatever whoop-ass the brothers Grimm had been about to deliver. Finn's closed expression, followed by his blatant absence, told her all she needed to know about how he felt. So be it. She'd had her say.
She'd let all sleeping dogs lie.
She went down to her cabin to get her things. Chest tight, eyes hot and dry, she just wanted to crawl into a dark hole and stay there. But since that wasn't an option, she grabbed her suitcase and started throwing in the few things she'd brought on board with her.
She needed to talk to someone who loved her no matter what. She took out her phone and called her brother. Not to tell him about what she'd done to his arch enemies, just to hear his voice.
Ry's phone rang and rang. He must be hunkered down with Addy and the baby riding out the high seas. Chest tight, she disconnected before it went to voicemail.
Hell, even the freaking animals went into the ark in pairs.
She wanted Finn with an intensity so deep she could barely breathe.
"The farther I'm away from him, the easier this will be," she said out loud to reassure herself. "I'll miss him for twenty-four hours. Max." She didn't need some guy to "complete" her. She was complete just the way she was.
Rolling up the white linen pants and tank top she'd worn to dinner the other night she stuffed the balled-up fabric into the case.
Whether she was on board Sea Witch, in the middle of an ocean, or in her glass house on th
e bluff, she'd never felt this alone. Isolated. Hell, she always prided herself on liking her own company and the feeling of self-sufficiency. It really ticked her off that, because of them, the brothers and Finn, she didn’t feel that now.
The exclusion she'd felt as she'd watched the Cutters tease and laugh, and damn it- love each other- hurt. It shouldn't because she hated them, but it did, which made her hate them even more.
It hurt that Finn hadn't cared enough to stay with her.
It hurt because she’d wanted him to care about her as much as she cared about him.
It hurt because she'd anticipated the end of their relationship barely before they'd started. She'd known it would happen. Eventually. But on her terms, not his. And not yet, damn it. She'd made this mistake of lowering her defenses. He’d snuck into her heart before she could raise her usual barricades, damn it.
Peri much preferred being the dumper than the freaking dumpee.
His expression would now be indelibly marked in her brain, and she'd never forget it. His features had been hard and fierce, his eyes pewter as they bored into her for that split second before he'd turned his back.
She pressed her palms over her burning eyes, breathing through the ache in her chest. “Alone is good,” she reminded herself, dropping her hands. “I like being alone.” Liked not reporting to anyone. Liked being unentangled emotionally. She reminded herself that she'd done what she'd come for. Finn had never been part of the plan. Just an extremely attractive distraction. Time to move on.
After changing from the purple sundress she'd worn to the wedding into jeans, and a long-sleeved black t-shirt, she stood in the middle of the well-appointed cabin. "To hell with all of them."
Her phone rang, and her stupid heart leapt.
"Is it done?" her brother demanded.
"I'm absolutely awesome, thanks for asking. How are you?" Peri said tartly, tossing a lone sandal into the case with enough force it bounced onto the floor. "It was a lovely wedding, Ry. Callie's very happy." She didn't want to make him feel bad by pointing out that he hadn't walked the bride down the aisle.
"Despite my misgivings, and loathing of the Cutters, I did try to get there to walk her down the aisle," he said gruffly, echoing her thoughts, as he frequently did. "I just want my sisters to be happy."
One of them was, and the other would be as soon as her freaking pity party was over.
"She understood." She tossed her makeup bag into the suitcase. "Maybe you guys could have them over sometime so you can welcome Jonah to the family," she said tongue in cheek. It would take Dr. Vadini's apocalypse before Ry consented to breaking bread with the Cutters.
"Jesus, Magma-" A lengthy pause, before he said with resignation. "Yeah. We'll do that for Callie-Hell, gotta go. Does this fucking wind ever stop?"
"Eventually. . ." she said to a dead line. "Love you, Ry," she added, knowing he wasn't there to hear it.
She sighed. "I'll go over and tell him everything tomorrow. He'll get over being pissed at me- relatively soon. As for these damned Cutters-What did I expect? An open-armed welcome after I told them I robbed them blind for years? Grow up, Persephone." Her wobbly voice sounded tinny, and the pep talk just depressed her further.
As for Finn. . .He'd torn through the emotional protective shield she'd armored herself in as if it were wet tissue paper. Destroying what had taken her years to build. He didn't know her at all. Hell, she didn't know him either, apparently. Because his walking out, when she needed him, had come as a shock. Although she'd three-quarters expected it all along. Peri had no freaking idea why the hell she was so affected by it. They'd known each other for a minute, and fifty-nine seconds of that had been spent having wild monkey sex.
She padded barefoot to the window to assess the wind and the water. Not that it mattered. She was going. High seas or not. Dusk was falling, darkening the sky. She'd been on the seas in inclement weather, loved it when the waves frothed over the bow of her runabout, loved the feel of the wind in her face, and the danger. But never when the waves were this high, or the wind this fierce.
"Scared of a little wind, or go?" she asked herself. "Go," was the only answer.
Finn had decreed the wind would stop at three am. She had no doubt he would be obeyed. By then she'd be safely asleep in her own bed. When she was back in her house, her boat, her dive, then this shaky, uncertain, emotional person she was right now, would be gone. Finn or no Finn.
Best of all, there was no need to interact with him or the Cutters ever again. Her lawyer could talk to their lawyer. She had her own claim, and salvage to fill every waking hour. She'd barely be aware of the larger ships anchored miles and miles away.
Screw them. Screw them all.
"My fault for having illogical expectations. So- screw me."
Resolution made, and backbone restored, she pulled on her waterproof windbreaker and looked around for her cap. Someone knocked on her cabin door. Hope leapt into her heart. Finn. The first and last person she wanted to see right now.
Yanking open the heavy door, her hopes sank. "Theo."
"Ready?"
She found her cap in the jacket's pocket. "We were supposed to meet down at the garage." Twisting her hair on top of her head, she pulled on the knit cap.
He shrugged. "Didn't have much to pack."
Crossing the room, she slid her bare feet into the tennis shoes she'd left out of the suitcase. As she tied the laces, she said over her shoulder, "Did anyone say anything before you left?"
"No." He shook his head, smiled, and held up a duffel bag. "But I did get this." Tilting it so she could see inside, he chuckled. "It is yours, after all."
He'd taken her tablet from the salon while everyone was upstairs. Peri hugged him. "Thank you. I was thinking it might end up as the spoils of war." Actually, she hadn't given the gold tablet a second's thought in the last couple of hours, which showed how distracted she'd been. "Weren't those security guys on duty?"
"They were, and I informed them that Dr. Vadini and I had been granted permission from you to study your tablet further, and you would be joining us. I merely recovered your property."
"And I appreciate it." She indicated he go ahead, then closed the door to her cabin behind her. The corridor was empty and quiet. Everyone on board was fully engaged in the wedding reception above decks.
"I don't know those people well enough to celebrate the marriage of two people I don't give a damn about," Theo said ruefully. "And honestly, neither should you. None of those people like you, Ariel. And that's an understatement. You shouldn't trust any of them to have your back. I'm glad you weren’t there to hear how they talked about you after you left with the other girls."
As they took the elevator down to the hull garage, Peri didn't ask him why her enemies would talk about her in front of him, knowing she and Theo were friends, nor did she correct the 'girls' comment.
"Holy crap!" She paused in the open doorway of the elevator and took in Blackstar's garage. It was a jaw-dropping space, filled with water toys on either side of what looked like an indoor swimming pool. First, the space was enormous. Second, there were not just three of the Cutter’s runabouts moored near Finn's sleek black speedboat, but there was also a shiny black pickup truck parked beside a-of course -black convertible, and two massive motorbikes.
"Apparently when not in use, the internal basin is used as an indoor swimming pool. A stupid waste of space if you ask me." Theo told her, indicating she go right along one of two docks. "Your boat is first in line, in position for departure."
The scent of salt water mixed with a faint trace of diesel permeated the fresh air flooding the expanse from the open doors at the far end where they were headed. A warm wind made her loose hair dance around her face, and she pushed it under her cap.
The garage door was open, and she saw that the sky wasn't quite black yet. The rimi on the horizon, a thick stripe of pale gray and tangerine, bled into a deep charcoal blue, scattered with pinpricks of pure white stars.
&n
bsp; Witchcraft was already in position on the automatic slide mechanism, ready to drop with a push of the button.
Finn's sleek space-age-looking runabout was stored on a rack to the side of Peri's much smaller boat. She paused to give it an admiring glance. "And Finn's crew was okay with this?" Tossing her small suitcase on board first, she jumped from dock to deck. Witchcraft, snug in the rollers of the slide, rocked only slightly with her weight as she untied the bowline, then stood at the helm.
“Theo, I’ll need you on the stern.” Noting the key that she’d left in the ignition what seemed like a lifetime ago, she continued with directions. “We’ve got to hit the water before starting the engine. The controls for the slide are on the starboard side of the garage door. Given the rough seas, I’ll start right away, which means I’ll need you on board, and fending off until we’re away from the boat.”
Remembering the procedure from the last time she’d departed in her own boat, she added, “The slide automatically retracts, and the garage door auto shuts, so we don’t need to worry about that.” Adjusting her cap so it didn't blow off, she zipped her jacket up to her chin, then pulled the hood up over her cap and cinched it at her throat. The best she could do to keep dry. Having no peripheral vision, she had to turn her whole body to see if Theo needed help with the slide mechanism, but two men were there to help. She hadn't seen them when they'd entered the garage, and with the sound of the wind and waves beating just beyond the open garage doors, she hadn’t heard them on their soft-soled shoes.
"Senor Gallagher authorized us to assist you in whatever way necessary," the shorter, younger of the two men shouted as he threw the untied rope onto the deck near her feet. He spoke with a Spanish accent, with a strong hint of Patagonian.
Yeah, she bet Finn authorized her speedy departure. He wanted her gone. She’d made the right freaking decision. "Thanks for your help." She removed her waterproof Pelican case from the console, and placed her turned-off phone inside, then returned the case to the cubby, snapping shut the small door.