“Oh, we definitely will.” She stands and takes my hand, pulling me up with her. “But at the end of the day, we’re the boss. Not them. Let’s just go spend some time together, you and me, without a bunch of people around to listen in.”
Well, put like that, it sounds wonderful.
“Okay, let’s go.”
We hurry inside and change into our bathing suits, I snag the boat key from the hook by the door, and then we’re off, hurrying down to the dock.
“Hurry, climb in,” she says with a giggle, like a little girl who’s trying to get one over on her parents.
I unhook the ropes, push away from the dock, fire up the engine, and take off across the lake. When I glance back, I see Nick sprinting out of the guest house to the dock, waving his arms.
“So much trouble,” I mutter as I speed away from the house to the middle of the lake.
“Oh my God, this is brilliant!” Ellie calls, holding onto the wide-brimmed hat she threw on. She’s in sunglasses, and her smile is as wide as Montana. “The breeze is perfect!”
When I’ve driven us a few miles away and around a bend, I slow down and let us drift.
Ellie and I are both sitting in the bow of the boat, soaking up some sun.
“Now, this is the life,” Ellie says with a sigh. “If I lived here, I’d be out on the boat every day.”
“I usually am. I haven’t been since we got back, but before Sebastian and I came to London, I took the boat out every morning.”
I glance around, realizing that there aren’t many other vessels on the lake. Actually, there are none.
That’s unusual.
“I’m so happy Sebastian met you,” Ellie says, reaching over to squeeze my hand. “And that he didn’t have to suffer through an arranged marriage. I can’t believe that in this modern age, that’s still a thing.”
“I’m glad he doesn’t have to be in an arranged marriage either. Honestly, I admit that I was a handful for your brother at first, but I just want to assure you that I love him very much. I couldn’t be happier with him.”
“It’s so romantic.” Ellie sighs, a dreamy smile dancing on her lips. “If you have a girl, will you name her Eleanor?”
“Uh, I haven’t really given much thought to having children,” I admit. In the past, I would have said, “hell, no.” But with Sebastian? I could see it happening.
Maybe.
In quite a few years.
“Okay, enough about me.” I shift in my seat so I can face her. “Tell me about your talk with Liam.”
“How did you know?”
“I saw you, but I didn’t eavesdrop. I regret that now. Tell me.”
“It didn’t last long. I asked him if he had been here before, and he said he had. He has extended family in the area. I asked him what he used to do with the military, and he said it was classified.”
She rolls her eyes, making me giggle.
“Did he ask you any questions?”
“He asked if he should be talking to me alone.” She shakes her head. “I told him that I’m a woman, and he’s a man, and if we want to have a conversation, it’s not going against any laws that I know of.”
“Good answer.”
“And then he said he had to work and hurried off.”
“Well, shit.”
She sighs deeply, and I frown when a cloud moves over the sun, casting us in shadows and dropping the temperature by at least ten degrees.
The hair on my arms stands up.
“I didn’t check the weather before we left,” I murmur. “And I left my phone at home.”
“That’s not a happy cloud,” Ellie says, just as raindrops start to fall. They’re big, cold drops, and then, as if from out of nowhere, thunder pounds around us, and the sky opens up, dumping rain as if a tap has been opened.
“Bloody hell!” Ellie cries. We both scramble up, but we trip over each other, and in the rain, we can’t see even six inches in front of our faces.
We’re off balance, and the next thing I know, we’re tumbling over the side of the boat into the cold, dark water below.
It’s a shock to the system.
At first, I can’t do anything at all, and then my arms and legs start to flail, pushing me to the surface. Just as I reach up for the rail on the boat, I hear my name being screamed.
But it’s not Ellie.
“Nina!”
“Sebastian?”
“Get her out of that water!” he yells, and strong hands pull me up into the boat. I’m coughing and sputtering, trying to get the water and my hair out of my face.
I look into Nick’s hard eyes. He must have jumped from the other boat into mine to pull me out. He’s pissed. I don’t blame him.
This was a horrible idea.
“I don’t know where Ellie is!” I shout. The rain is still pounding down. I keep shoving my wet hair out of my face, but I still can’t see. “She fell in, and I can’t find her!”
I watch in horror as Callum and Sebastian both dive into the water. I try to wrestle out of Nick’s grasp, but he growls.
“You’re not going in that fucking water, Nina.”
He’s never spoken to me like that.
But, frankly, I deserve it.
I hear helicopters overhead. Liam’s talking into a phone, then yells over at Nick, “They can’t see anything or fly well in this weather, so they’re turning around.”
Nick nods, and we watch as Callum surfaces with Ellie. Callum boosts her up to Nick, who pulls her into the boat. She’s sputtering and coughing, but she’s breathing, and that’s all that matters.
Callum joins us and hugs his sister, and my eyes are pinned to the water.
No Sebastian.
“Where is he?” I demand.
“He was with me,” Callum yells back to be heard over the rain. “He passed Ellie off to me.”
“Someone find him!”
“I’m going in,” Liam yells before diving through the surface.
“Watch this one,” Nick instructs Callum, and he joins Liam in the water.
A few seconds feels like years.
Where are they?
Where is my husband?
My God, if I lose him now, I don’t know what I’ll do. I can’t. I can’t lose him!
“There,” Ellie yells, pointing as Liam and Nick surface with Sebastian, but he’s unconscious. Callum’s security pulls Sebastian into the other boat, and before anyone can tell me not to, I jump from my craft to the other one and ignore the look of horror Nick sends me.
I don’t care.
Liam’s doing chest compressions on Sebastian, and finally, Sebastian starts to cough. They turn him on his side and pound on his back, and when he sits up, his eyes find mine in the rain, which has slowed down.
But there’s still thunder and lightning.
This is the wrong place to be in a storm.
But all I can think about is how I almost lost the love of my life.
“You jerk!” I fall on my knees next to him and pound my fists on his chest. “You said you’d never leave me! You promised. And then you almost drowned on me.”
He tugs me down into his arms, hugging me close as the boat starts to move, and people yell around us, but I can’t hear them. All I can focus on is Sebastian murmuring in my ear, and then his heart pounding fast against my ear as he holds me close.
“I’m here,” he says, rocking us back and forth. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’ve never been so scared.”
“That makes two of us,” he says. I can hear the edge in his voice. He’s mad, too. But as long as he’s alive, I don’t care if he’s angry. I can apologize. I can make it right.
We arrive at the house, and we’re rushed inside where Jenna and Christian and Brad and Hannah are waiting with blankets, towels, and hot drinks for everyone.
How did they get here so quickly?
Harrison speaks rapidly into his phone. I assume he’s talking to the palace.
“You’r
e practically naked,” Christian says in disgust as he wraps me in a towel and then jerks me into his arms. “You fucking scared ten years off my life.”
“There was no storm in sight when we left.” My teeth are chattering. I can’t stop looking for Sebastian, and I find him standing in the living room, a blanket wrapped around him, facing the windows and watching the storm rage.
Ellie and Nick must have pulled in right behind us because they’re here, too, wrapped up and glassy-eyed.
Nick glares at me.
“I’m sorry,” I say to him. “I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“You’re damn right, it won’t happen again.” Liam rushes into the room, pushing away the offer of a towel. “Now that I have search and rescue on stand-down, and I’ve briefed Brad and the motherfucking king, you’re going to tell me what, exactly, the two of you were thinking.”
Ellie speaks first. “It was my idea.”
“No.” I shake my head. “It’s my boat. My responsibility. Ellie and I decided to go out on the lake for a while.”
“Then you tell Nick, and we send a team with you,” Liam says. I’ve never seen his handsome face so hard, his expression so damn angry.
“That’s the point,” Ellie says, raising her chin. “We didn’t want a whole group of people. We just wanted some time alone.”
“That’s not how this works, princess,” Liam sneers. “And you, of all people, should know better. You have a security detail to keep you alive. If we hadn’t installed the tracking device in Nina’s boat, you would be dead right now.”
Ellie pales but keeps her chin firm. “I’m not a bloody child! I can decide if I want to go out on a stupid boat and who I want to go with. You may be the head of security, but you’re not my boss, don’t forget that.”
Sebastian steps in.
“That’s enough,” he says.
“I’ve just started,” Liam argues, but Sebastian shakes his head and lays his hand on Liam’s shoulder.
“I know it scared you. It scared all of us. And pissed us off, as well. But yelling and belittling them isn’t going to solve it.”
“I resign,” Liam says, shocking all of us. “I can’t work like this, not if you’re working against me. I can’t keep you alive.”
And with that, he turns on his heel and walks out.
“I’ll talk to him,” Nick says.
“Let him cool off first,” Callum suggests. “I’ve never seen a man as scared as he was. And not just because his job may have been on the line, but because of the whole situation. You cocked this up, girls.”
God, did we ever.
“Nina,” Sebastian says. “I’d like a word privately, please.”
And this is it. This is where he tells me that he just can’t deal with my shit and that it’s over.
I wouldn’t blame him.
I almost killed both him and his sister today.
But what will I do without him?
Chapter Twenty-One
Sebastian
I DON’T THINK I’ll ever stop shaking.
Seeing Nina in that water, not knowing where Ellie was…all of it was a horror I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
“I don’t know,” I begin once I’ve led my wife into our bedroom and shut the door, “if I’ll ever get the image of you holding onto the boat in the pouring rain out of my head. You were reckless, Nina.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers and wipes a tear from her cheek. Her hair is still wet, her face still pale. “I thought I’d lost you. I’m still afraid I’m going to lose you.”
“What were you thinking?”
“Ellie wanted to go out on the boat, and we really did love the idea of being alone for just a little while. But I was stupid and didn’t check the weather before I got swept up into the fun of it all, and we snuck off.”
“You can’t go without security.”
“I know.”
“Nick may never recover.”
She swallows hard. “I’ll apologize again. I swear to you, Sebastian, this will never happen again. It was foolish.”
“It was selfish.”
She nods. “So, is it over, then?”
I narrow my eyes on her. “Is what over?”
“This. Us.” Her lower lip quivers. “I know I fucked up big time, and I almost killed your sister today, so if you need to call this quits, I understand.”
I push my hand through my wet hair and pace away from her, then back again.
“Why does your mind always go to this? You messed up, but we’ll get past it, Nina.”
“Oh, thank God.”
I pull her to me, and she clings as if I’m the lifeline to everything good in her life.
“You said on the boat that I swore I wouldn’t leave, that I can’t leave. But damn it, Nina, you can’t leave either. You can’t go off like you did today and not tell anyone where you are. I was scared shitless. Liam immediately called out search and rescue, I called Brad and Christian, and then we were in the boat, racing to where the sonar said your boat was. But then the storm hit.”
“That storm was ridiculous,” she whispers. “It happened so fast. One minute, it was sunny and warm, and we were talking about boys and laughing. And then the next, it was a downpour, and we were in the water. I don’t even know how it happened. I would never put your sister at risk, Sebastian. You have to know that.”
“I know.” I rub her back in large, slow circles, trying to calm us both down.
“And now Liam’s quit. And he’s so good, Sebastian.”
“I’ll make sure he stays,” I assure her, but I have no idea how I’ll manage it. He was livid. Terrified. As if he were reliving something from his past. A nightmare.
“Just don’t send me away.”
I’ve never heard her voice quiver with so much emotion before. I carry her to the bed and unwrap the blanket she’s folded up in. Christian was right, she’s practically naked in just a small bikini. It’s a wonder she didn’t die from hypothermia.
“So cold,” she mutters, and I quickly strip out of my wet things and join her on the bed, pulling the covers over us and tugging her close to me.
“The only way I’ll send you away is if I go with you.” Her lips are cold against mine. She wraps one leg up around my hip, and my hand glides down her stomach to her core, to her clit. “I’m so in love with you, I can’t see straight. Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
I push her onto her back and when I’m sure she’s ready for me, I push inside her, needing to be as close to her as possible. To know that we’re both alive and whole. As I thrust in and out of her, blood rushes into her cheeks, her eyes brighten, and I know she’s back and that everything’s going to be okay.
Her hips buck, meeting me thrust for thrust. Finally, we cry out as the wave of climax rushes over us, pulling us under.
***
“I need a word.”
I’m standing in the guest house on the threshold of Liam’s bedroom where he’s currently packing his things.
“My decision is final.”
I walk in and sit on the edge of his bed, bracing my elbows on my legs so I can watch him.
“I’m asking you to reconsider.”
He shakes his dark head, moving faster to fill his suitcase.
“Liam, you’re the best man I have, and that’s saying a lot.”
“You almost fucking died today because those women can’t follow simple instructions. Because they thought it would be cute to try and get away with something. I refuse to have any more deaths on my watch. I won’t do it.”
“Liam, you did everything right today. And you saved my life, which is exactly your job. You saved my sister. I’m grateful. And I think everyone learned a valuable lesson today. It won’t happen again.”
He sighs and braces his hands on his hips. “I should be fired for insubordination.”
“You should,” I agree and smile when his brown eyes fly to mine. “But I won’t fire you because they deser
ved the dressing down, and it showed me that you care about more than just the paycheck.”
“It’s a fucking fault of mine.”
“I don’t see it that way. You’re protecting my family, and I want you to care about the people you work for. It shows integrity and ethics.”
He sighs now, and I feel a weight lift off my shoulders because I know he’s going to accept my offer to stay.
Thank God.
“I’ll raise your pay.”
“I don’t need more money,” he says. “I need the family to work with us instead of against us. It wasn’t just me today. It was Nick and every other man on staff, as well.”
“I understand that.”
“How are they?” he asks. “How are the princesses?”
“Exhausted. Shook up. But they’ll be okay, thanks to you.”
He exhales.
“Please stay, Liam.”
“I’ll stay.” He nods once. “On the condition that the crown doesn’t interfere with my work.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
I shake his hand, surprised to feel it still trembling. Yes, something happened in Liam’s past that led to this reaction. I won’t ask him to explain.
Not today.
***
“Ma’am, you can’t go in there!”
Callum and I stare at each other in response to the scuffle outside the front door. “What’s going on?” he asks.
“I have no bloody idea.”
We stomp to the front door, right behind Liam, who opens it. I’m surprised to see a woman with a riot of curly, red hair, her arms laden with bags, struggling with the security Liam has posted at the door.
“Release her,” I command. They both immediately let go of her arms. “What’s this about?”
“Hey.” She blows her hair out of her face. “This is like Fort Knox.”
“Maybe better,” Callum says and leans his shoulder against the door, crossing his arms over his chest and sending her a charming smile. “What’s your name, darling?”
“I’m Aspen Calhoun,” she says. “I heard about the emergency y’all had yesterday, and I thought I’d bring some coffee and pastries this morning. Oh, I’m the new owner of Drips & Sips.”
“Come in.” I glance back at Liam, who nods, and I gesture for Aspen to follow me into the house. I lead her to the kitchen where she sets the bags on the counter.
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