Unstoppable: A Sweet Romance (Jersey Girls Book 2)

by Lisa-Marie Cabrelli

  Brad turned to the two of them and yelled, “Shut up!”

  Stephen had caught a trace of panic in Brad's voice before, but now he heard full-blown fear. He knew he had to get this situation in hand, for Don's sake. The last thing he needed right now was for Brad to run.

  He grabbed Stephen’s arms and threw them off his chest, shoving him forcefully again. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on!”

  “I’m not going to talk to you unless you stop shoving.”

  “Oh yeah?” Brad shoved him hard again.

  “I said stop.”

  “You said what?” He shoved him again.

  Stephen had had enough. He grabbed both of Brad’s arms, spun him around, and bent them painfully behind his back, so he was completely incapacitated.

  Brad started screaming. “You asshole, get the hell off me! Who the hell do you think you are? You work for me, remember? Get the hell off me!”

  Stephen tried to inch past the girls, still huddled together on the floor. He needed Joe—he couldn’t hold Brad like this for long.

  "Well, well, well, we've found another party!" Stephen froze at the sound of Myron's voice. God, this was the last thing he needed. "What's the matter, Brad? Looks like you've upset a few girls around here." He snorted with laughter. "What, you couldn't get them willingly? Is this their knight in shining armor?" He tossed his hand in Stephen's direction.

  Nandita looked up from her crouched position on the floor. She rubbed Ginny's back as tears streamed down the girl’s face. "Oh, thank goodness you are okay, Misty! I've been so worried about you! Can we please go home? I want to go home!"

  Misty had her arm thrown around Myron's shoulder, but she was wobbling in her sandals. "Home?" She laughed, "You're kidding, Nan. I'm having the time of my life! We're off to Myron's house on Paradise Island, now. He wanted to stop by the boat one more time to see if you wanted to come. Wasn't that nice?"

  Brad had started sweating profusely and Stephen was about to lose his grip on his slippery, octopus arms when Joe appeared and stepped in to take over. He took hold of Brad's arms and gave a barely visible squeeze. The man whimpered and stopped struggling. Stephen groaned when he saw who had come up behind Joe.

  "What the hell is going on here?" Marshall pulled himself up to his full height and put on his best captain's voice. "Joe, I insist that you release our guest at once!"

  Myron was bent over laughing, and Misty was struggling to keep her balance with her support system suddenly removed. "Nah, Marshall, don't let him go! This is more fun than the swimming pigs!"

  Marshall noticed Myron's presence for the first time and hustled to his side. "Mr. Symonette, it’s so great to see you. I can assure you that I spoke with Mrs. Franklin about what was happening on her boat and she was appalled at your treatment. You are, of course, welcome on the Lauren Belle at any time."

  There was a thunder of steps, and the hardwood floors vibrated under their feet as the room fell into shadow. Four imposing, gorilla-sized men in black suits appeared in the patio doorway.

  Brad went limp in Joe's arms and started laughing. He looked over at Myron with a grin. "Boy, do you have bad timing, asshole. You can let me go, Joe—my backup is here. I don't think even you could take on these four dudes." He tried to straighten as the four men quickly crossed the room to Brad.

  “Brad Henderson, you are under arrest.” The first man grabbed Brad from Joe’s iron grip and spun him around, the handcuffs he had just removed from his pocket flashing in the pink light.

  “Wait! What?” Brad’s voice had gone up an octave, and he squealed, “No! You’ve got the wrong guy! Grab Myron! I’m Brad Henderson— Lester Butler sent you to look after me! I’m the one in danger, here! He's the bad guy!”

  Stephen turned to see Myron's reaction, but he only caught a glimpse of the heels of his dock shoes as he raced out onto the deck and down the gangplank.

  Misty melted to the floor, looking confused. "Myron?" she called. "Myron, baby?"

  Marshall shot Stephen a look of total loathing. "You will inform me immediately of what is going on, Mr. Caldwell. You are not the owner of this boat and I will not have it tainted by such insalubrious circumstances."

  Stephen took a deep breath and looked around him. What a nightmare. Brad was screaming his head off at the officers who had just arrested him while they read him his Miranda rights. Ginny was in a pool of tears on the floor, still sobbing. Joe had moved to helped Nandita, who was trying to get Misty onto the couch, and here he had stuffy, no-mouth Marshall telling him that he was insalubrious, whatever the hell that meant.

  "You know what, Marshall?" Stephen turned toward him. "This is my boat, at least for now, and right now, you're fired! Get the hell off my boat immediately. Joe, help him out, will ya?"

  Marshall had steam coming out of his ears as Joe took his arm and moved him toward the back of the boat to get his belongings. Brad started screaming something about Lester Butler and snakes, and now all three girls were crying.

  Stephen was about to open his mouth and scream obscenities in frustration when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Don was standing beside him. “We’ll take it from here,” he said as he nodded toward the patio door.

  Another shadow had fallen on the room, and Stephen couldn't believe his good luck: Maureen was standing there. She looked around the room in total shock, and her eyes settled finally on Stephen.

  He smiled in relief, strode across the room in five gigantic steps, and took her into his arms. In front of Don, Ginny, Brad, whoever—he didn’t care—he kissed her. He kissed her and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her to her toes, so he could kiss her more. He wasn’t going to let her go.

  59

  Goodbye, Lauren Belle

  “How did you know I needed you?" Stephen’s whisper tickled her ears and Maureen smiled into his warm neck. This was why she had come. He needed her and she needed him.

  “What’s happening here, Stephen?” she looked around the deck in shock.

  He put his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her in for another swift kiss. “Later, okay? I’ll explain everything later.”

  There was a loud snort from behind Stephen, and Brad’s voice rang out. “Oh, I get,” Brad shouted. “I understand your deal now! You were screwing the captain while I was treating you like a princess. Nice! No wonder you acted like such a prude, Doreen!”

  Maureen flushed red and turned to Stephen, who smiled, shrugged, and stepped aside. Brad had collapsed to the deck floor between two agents, his arms behind his back and his hands secured in handcuffs. She strode forcefully toward him and stood, looking down at the sad image of her fallen angel. How could she have ever been impressed by him?

  “The name’s Maureen, you entitled loser.” She looked toward the pile of weeping girls huddled on the sofa and shook her head. Guys as disgusting as Brad didn’t even deserve her anger, they were so low on the food chain. She turned back to him. “I don’t know what you’ve done, but I do know you are a piece of dirt from the sole of my shoe.”

  Brad looked up at her and slowly winked. “Whatever you say, darling. At least I’m not screwing the guy who spends his days washing the salt off someone else’s success.”

  Maureen was about to answer when she felt Captain Don’s hand on her arm. He stepped forward and bent to remove Brad’s Rolex from his wrist, which he dropped into a stuffed leather bag at his feet. “Maureen, you’ll be happy to know that Mr. Henderson will be washing the toilets of a US prison for a long time. I’d like to thank you; your presence here has been instrumental in his capture.” He smiled at her. “You’re very distracting. That salt washer is a lucky guy.”

  Captain Don turned back to Brad. “The arrest went well, didn’t it, Mr. Henderson? It was so unfortunate that, in your struggle to escape capture, you accidentally dropped all your belongings overboard. They're completely ruined and irretrievable.”

  “You’re an idiot, man,” Brad spat. “That’s my bag at your
feet! You just put my watch inside.”

  Don picked up the bag. “We do try to make these arrests as cleanly as possible. Unfortunately, though, shit happens.” He turned to Maureen and held out the bag to her. With a quick nod toward the edge of the boat, he said, “Doesn’t it, Maureen?”

  Maureen turned to Stephen, who was grinning from ear to ear. She looked over at the girls and saw a flash of a smile through Nandita’s tears. She took the bag. “It certainly does, Don.” She pulled back her arm, swung the expensive, leather bag behind her, swung it forward, and released it in the direction of the water.

  There was a satisfying splash and an even more satisfying pained yell from Brad. “My father gave me that watch!”

  Don nodded to the agents, and they pulled a struggling, screaming Brad from the boat.

  Everyone except Ginny collapsed in relieved laughter, and Maureen crossed over to Nandita and pulled her from the couch into a strong hug. Nandita started to cry again through her giggles. “Are you okay?” She pushed the girl out to arm's length and scanned her from head to toe for any damage. She would never forgive herself if Brad had hurt her.

  Nandita hung her head, her thick hair covering her red eyes and splotchy face. She couldn’t even look at her. “I’m sorry, Maureen. I am so sorry. This was a terrible mistake.”

  “Are you okay, though, Nandita? Did anything bad happen?”

  “No, nothing bad. I’m fine.” She looked up and smiled sadly. “At least, I’m fine until you call Satish. I guess he knows I’m here?”

  “He’ll be more relieved than angry, Nandita. You’ve scared him. What were you thinking?”

  She lifted her head, and Maureen saw a flash of anger cross her face. “Misty!” she said and turned to confront her friend. “It was all your fault, Misty! You’re the one who persuaded me to come and you’re the one who left me alone with Brad. I thought you were my friend, but you’re not my friend at all. You better have your mom pick you up from the airport because I never want to see you again.”

  Misty was cowering on the couch, her make-up smudged all over her tear-streaked face. She didn’t look like that confident, half-nutty girl Maureen had met a few weeks ago in Satish’s apartment. Instead, she looked like a sad and frightened teenager. In the face of Nandita’s anger, she started to cry again.

  “I can’t call my mom,” Misty whimpered. “She’s gone.”

  “Gone where?” Nandita asked harshly. Maureen could tell she didn’t believe her.

  “How should I know? Off with some guy somewhere. She took all her stuff. She’s like that—she runs off all the time. This time, though, she left a note and said I was eighteen now and could take care of myself. She’s not coming back!.” She collapsed into sobs and Nandita gaped at her in shock and surprise before she rushed to the couch and gathered her up in her arms. Maureen felt tears spring to her eyes. She didn’t know Misty at all, but it was clear the girl was in pain.

  “I thought this would be a great solution,” Misty sobbed. “We could come over here, I could meet someone, you could marry Brad, and we could stay in the Bahamas, and… I don’t know. It all sounds so stupid now.” She turned to Nandita, “I’m sorry, Nan. I have been a horrible friend. Now you're in trouble and will never be allowed to see me again.”

  Maureen stepped forward. “I’ll call Satish now. You’ll stay with them, Misty, until we figure this out. The most important thing we can do right now is get off this boat. How about it?” She looked at each of the young girls in turn and felt their pain. Growing up was so hard. She was twenty-six and still struggling; she wouldn’t want to be eighteen again.

  She watched as they headed off toward their cabins and looked around for Stephen. He wasn’t there, though; the deck was empty. She sat heavily on the couch, which felt a little damp from all of those tears, and sent out a prayer for Nandita and Misty. The next few months were going to be difficult for them both.

  60

  Water’s Edge

  The Lauren Belle had emptied quickly. Maureen had called Claire immediately to let her know Nandita was safe. She'd then passed the phone to the girl, who had spent twenty minutes crying and apologizing to a frightened Satish. Maureen assured him that she would get both girls ready and get them to the airport for the next flight to Newark. Satish had sounded so cowed by this experience that she'd been embarrassed by his tearful gratitude. Maybe he would ease up on his little sister, now.

  Claire and Satish had agreed to take on Misty, as she knew they would. Satish would know who to reach out to and would find the girl some help. The jury was out as to whether Nandita and Misty would remain friends. Maureen wasn’t sure if Nandita was ready to fully accept her own role in the doomed string of bad decisions.

  Lulu had reluctantly agreed to take in an inconsolable Ginny, and Joe had driven her to the Ocean Club before returning to clean up the Lauren Belle.

  Maureen was thankful to have Stephen over the next few hours as they packed up the girls, tried to keep them calm, and saw them off from Nassau Airport. He had held her hand and snuck in a few kisses when the girls weren't looking, but they hadn't had a moment to share a private word. They had so much to talk about.

  After they arrived at Water's Edge, though, they had fallen straight into bed. She'd been desperate to talk, but he had asked her quietly if they could talk in the morning. He’d then kissed her so softly and tenderly that she had readily agreed to a different nighttime activity.

  “Guac and chips!” Maureen felt the false cheer in her voice as she plopped the bowl on the table and slid into a chair. She was nervous. Guacamole was totally the wrong thing to go with coffee at 11:30 in the morning, but she had needed to keep her hands busy while waiting for Stephen to finish dressing. They had slept late this morning, and before he’d headed to the shower, Stephen had asked if they could talk out on the patio.

  She looked over at him as he smiled at her. He’d been smiling at her since yesterday, and although she loved it, she was still nervous about what he was going to say.

  Stephen wrapped his hands around his coffee mug and cleared his throat. “So, I wasn’t totally honest with you.” The words hung in the air in the silence that followed. “The Lauren Belle is,” he stopped and shook his head, correcting himself, “was my yacht, Maureen.”

  She looked at him in confusion. “But…”

  He jumped in, “Wait, let me finish,” and took a sip of his coffee. “The reason I'm here, in the Bahamas, is because I let Don persuade me to get away from California. He needed my boat for a sting operation and said we could kill two birds with one stone. I didn’t want to say no to Don, but I didn’t think it was responsible just to let him have the Lauren Belle without being here in some capacity.” He stopped and looked at her with a cheeky grin. “It’s expensive,” he explained.

  She nodded at him mutely, trying to process this information. The yacht was his? He had a struggling company, though, didn’t he? He didn’t look like a yacht owner, either. No, Brad looked like a yacht owner, all stuffy, rich, and mean. Stephen looked like the boat guy, strong, masculine, and kind.

  He continued, “Obviously, Don was investigating Brad. I can fill you in on all of that later; it’s not the important stuff.” He sipped his coffee again, seemingly gathering his strength. “Lauren Belle is Lulu.”

  Maureen raised her eyebrows in surprise. Wait, what? She was putting two and two together, now, and she didn’t like it one bit. “You were meeting with Lauren Belle yesterday, weren’t you? That’s who you were with when I called you about Nandita?”

  “Yes, that’s who I was with. This is the important part, Maureen, so I want you to listen very closely.” He took a deep breath. “Two years ago, a woman broke my heart—at least, I thought she broke my heart. What I have come to realize over the last few weeks, and what was confirmed for me yesterday, is that she really didn’t break my heart—she broke my belief in trust. It took me a while to figure out that those were two different things.”

  He gr
abbed her hands tightly and she felt the intensity of his stare. The knot in her chest started to loosen. “She didn’t break my heart, because it’s not possible for someone to break a heart they never had in the first place. Now that I know what it feels like to give someone my heart, I know for sure that she never had mine. You do.”

  Maureen leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. She pressed her cheek to his and looked out, over the ocean, feeling her anxiety unravel and fly away, over the sea. She felt as though she could fly off, too. When had she ever been this happy?

  “I’m not done.” Stephen’s voice was loud in her ear, and she jumped back, laughing.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, “I couldn’t help but interrupt.” She folded her hands in her lap. “Please continue.”

  “Yesterday, you spoke about the possibility of me quitting my job and moving to New York.”

  So, this was what this was about. She hurried to speak over him, because she had decided yesterday that she would wait for him forever. She didn’t want him to feel any pressure. “That’s because I thought you were a partner in a failing company, Stephen, and that it would be good for you to escape. The way you described it, it sounded like a terrible place for you to be. Obviously, though, if you have a yacht, it’s not a failing company, and I understand why you have to stay. We can figure the distance part out, I promise. It won’t be—”

  She was babbling, and he raised his fingers and gently placed them over her mouth. “Honey, let me finish.” She nodded and smiled at the tickle of his fingers against her lips. “You're right: it’s a terrible environment. I don’t want to work there, anymore—I want to be with you. I made a deal and gave Lulu the yacht in exchange for an escape clause.”