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“Coffee for me. I’ll come help you.” Tyler pressed his hand onto my shoulder. “Have a rest. I’ll be back in a sec.”
The engines started and unlike Rhino, Kane’s boat kicked into gear without the entire deck rattling. As the wind whipped my hair across my face, I ran my hand over the scars on my thigh. It was all I had left. Scars and rotten memories. Images of Mom swept across my mind: her beautiful smile when she braided my hair, the terror in her eyes when she plunged into the water beside me, her golden locket.
“Oh fuck!”
Her gold locket!
I raced to the railing and searched for Wombat Island, but it was already a dot in the distance.
Tyler returned to me wearing a change of clothes and carrying a glass of water and a packet of chocolate chip cookies. “What’s wrong?”
My chin quivered. “Mom’s locket. I left it in my wetsuit, and that’s on that stupid beach back there.”
“Hey.” He put the food and drink down, tugged me to his chest, and wrapped his arms around me.
Tears spilled from my eyes, and my shoulders heaved back and forth as I cried. Losing that locket was like losing Mom all over again.
“We will go back and get your locket as soon as we can, but we have to get out of here. Back to safety.”
My whole body trembled, and completely losing myself, I let the hot tears spill down my cheeks.
Tyler held me, and as I sobbed, the salty sea breeze mixed with my tears. His grip was comforting and incredible, grounding me against the chaos swirling through my mind. After what felt like an eternity, my sobs subsided into quiet sniffles.
Tyler pulled back slightly and cupped my face.
“Are you okay?” he said softly, his eyes locked on mine.
I nodded, trying to compose myself. Wiping tears off my cheeks with the back of my hand, I took a shuddering breath and managed a small smile. “Thank you.”
Tyler leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead before handing me the glass of water and the cookies. “Drink up and have something to eat. It’ll help.”
Taking a sip of water, I glanced out at the vast expanse of ocean surrounding us. My beautiful ocean had stolen everything from me. Would I ever return?
“Here, put this on.” He handed me a T-shirt.
My jaw dropped. “Hell no. I’m not taking anything from that bastard.”
“Put the shirt on, Indiana.”
“Or what?” I folded my arms.
“Or I’ll make you.” He held the shirt toward me. “Believe me, I’d rather you didn’t cover up.”
His piercing blue glare told me that I wasn’t going to win this one.
I snatched the shirt from him. “Only because you asked so nicely.”
“Good.” He kissed my cheek, and it was so sweet and unexpected, all words vanished from my mind. “Get some rest.”
He strode away.
After that, as Kane throttled Devil’s Fortune at full speed toward Rosebud Marina, Tyler made it his mission to keep Kane out of my sight.
I spent the hours in the shade of the luxury yacht, trying to work out what I would do next with my life. The sun had vanished into the horizon, and the blackness of night had swallowed all light by the time Rosebud Wharf came into view.
Even by the time Kane drove into one of the double berths at the edge of the marina, I still had no freaking idea what I wanted to do now that Rhino was gone.
After the engines of Devil’s Fortune were shut down, Kane met us at the rear deck, and Tyler shook his hand. “Thank you. We appreciate this.”
