Her sad smile fades. “He loved me too much to let me dance with someone.”
“Is that how you wish it was?”
“It was just a stupid fantasy. My lifeline.” She sighs
“Is that why you know how to fight, to protect yourself in case he came?”
“Yes.” She wipes her eyes angrily. “I’m going to kill him one day. I have to.”
“Yes. You do,” I mutter into the darkness. “Revenge is a powerful motivator,” I whisper.
“He’s going to suffer.”
“I will make sure of it,” I breathe.
Rosh.
I clutch the party invitation tightly in my hand. It’s taken me eight years to get an invitation to a party-my first one. I’m so excited and I run all the way home with my friends to tell Mom. I come around the street corner and my face falls as I see mom dragging a large suitcase down the front steps.
Oh no, not again.
“Mom?” I ask as I walk toward her.
She fakes a brave smile. “We have to go, sweetie.”
I shake my head. “But…” I don’t want to go. I finally have friends. I have a party. I glance to my three friends who live on my street. They have no idea what she is talking about. I wish I didn’t.
“Say goodbye to your friends, baby.” She gestures to them as she grabs my hand and brushes my hair back from my face.
Tears fill my eyes. “I have a party on Saturday. Ellen invited me to her party. Can we just stay until Saturday?” I whisper.
Mom’s face falls and her eyes flicker up to my friends as they all wait. “Next time,” she murmurs.
There will be no next time.
“Say goodbye, Rosh,” she urges as she squeezes my hand in hers.
* * *
“Here, you are going to need these.” He passes me a large yellow envelope. “Inside you have your new passport and three utility bills in your name so you can open a bank account.”
“Thanks.” I look down at the envelope in my hand, my ticket to freedom, and I clutch it tightly. The boat is docking in Columbia as we speak and Stace-I mean Mac-is letting me off the ship. The plans have changed and now I’m not going to Puerto Rico, apparently, but that suits me fine. It gets me away from him quicker… him and Chelsea. I’m pissed at myself that his words last night about being bored in our cabin cut me like a knife, and I just want to get the hell away from him as soon as possible.
He is not good for my sanity, but then again I’m not sure Columbia is a much safer option. I will, however, be glad to rid myself of this cabin fever bullshit.
“You will have to apply for a driver’s licence yourself and you may have to go through your learner program again, we can’t get past that one.”
I nod. “Okay.”
“It’s probably best to open a few bank accounts as soon as you get to mainland because the utilities are still in date now.”
“Yes, okay.” My eyes hold his. “Thank you.”
A frown crosses his brow as he looks down at me.
“I sincerely mean that. You didn’t have to save me, yet you did.” I smile softly.
He puts both of his hands into his pockets as he stares down at me as if scared to touch me. He has a good reason. I’m feeling unstable after he went to Chelsea last night. If he touches me, he’s going down.
“Can I have a goodbye kiss?” he asks hopefully.
The electricity zaps between us.
“No.” I cut him off before he has time to retaliate. Why would I want to kiss him? So another fucking asshole can bring me undone? No, thank you. Alone and safe is a much better option.
He frowns in question.
“I don’t want to kiss you. I’m done with us. It was fun while it lasted, let’s just leave it at that?”
He shakes his head in frustration as if knowing that I am lying through my teeth.
The horn on the boat sounds loudly.
I look toward our cabin door and screw up my face as I feel the adrenaline shoot through my blood stream. “This is it?”
He nods.
“How will I get off the ship. Are they going to search me or anything?”
He shakes his head. “No, they will think you are one of the girls who travels with us. We come here regularly. They know us.”
I nod as I think.
“So, you will show your passport to them.”
“Oh. What’s my name?” I quickly open the envelope and then the passport. My face drops in horror. My deadpan, horrid face stares back at me, and I look like something from America’s most wanted. “C-could you not have picked a worse photo?” I stammer. “Oh, that’s woeful.” I scan down at the name Rebecca Williams.
He gave me his surname, although he doesn’t know that I know what it is.
“Rebecca?” I ask.
He shrugs as if embarrassed. “I can’t really imagine you with a name not starting with R.”
“Where did Williams come from?”
“I just like it, that’s all,” he replies casually.
I smile broadly. “It’s a nice name.” I narrow my eyes at the photo again and I wince. “God, that’s hideous.”
He takes it from me and studies it with a sarcastic smile covering his face. “That’s not so bad?”
My eyes widen. “Not so bad? It’s fucking evil.”
He laughs out loud and it’s a sound that permeates through my bones. “It is a bit evil looking, if I’m honest.”
My mouth drops open in shock that he just said that. “You are no gentleman. You could at least pretend it’s a good shot.”
He drops his hand to my behind. “I never said I was a gentleman.”
I look up at him and it’s there again-the electricity zapping between us. We both stay still as we feel it, our eyes searching each other’s.
If only…
No, stop it!
I break from his clutches and he drops his head.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” I murmur.
“Okay.” He hesitates for a moment as he watches me. “I will meet you on deck?”
I nod and walk into the bathroom and hear the click as he leaves. I wait for a few minutes and run to my hiding spot and grab my diamonds in my sock. Where the hell am I going to put these babies? The bulge in the bottom of the sock is big, too big to put you know where, as I had planned. Maybe I should leave some behind? No!
Fucking hell, am I really going to sneak stolen diamonds into Columbia?
My heart is hammering. What if I get caught?
What if I don’t?
I let myself imagine getting away with it. My life will take a completely different turn. I will have money, lots and lots of money. No identity, I can travel the world alone and be pain free.
I untie the sock and slide out the diamonds and put them onto the sink one by one. I then take off my bra and feel around on the inside of each cup. This should do it.
Using Stace’s razor, I nick a little hole in the top of each cup and slide the diamonds into the lining of each bra cup. I put it on and then push them down so they sit underneath my two breasts. I jiggle my boobs around to see if they are going to come out and I smile broadly.
I should be a fucking inventor or something.
I grab my handbag and take one long last look around the cabin that has been both my Heaven and my Hell for the past fourteen days. I started this journey being tied to his bed and ended it wishing I was tied to him.
Even in my wildest dreams I couldn’t make this shit up.
Couldn’t make him up.
I get a vision of the beautiful man above me, his body in mine.
The way he looked at me, they way he made me feel.
With one last, deep, regretful inhale, I leave my prison and make my way up on deck.
* * *
It’s hot, so bloody hot.
In fact, I would say molten lava doesn’t get this fucking hot. I am waiting in line outside the custom office on the Columbia side of the dock to get off the ship, and I am sweating like a pig.
Oh dear God, just let me get out of here alive. If they find the diamonds on me, I’m dead. They probably just shoot people on the docks here.
No questions will be asked and even he won’t protect me, I know that for sure.
I count the people in front of us. One, two, three… Ten, there are ten that are in front and another eight have gone through already. Everyone is super keen to get on dry land, so it seems.
I watch the cement ground underneath us, petrified to make eye contact with anyone in case they can tell I’m lying… or stealing, or whatever the hell this is.
There is a woman and two men checking passports and they seem to know everyone as they chat and laugh happily with the crew as they walk through.
Stace squeezes my hand that is nestled tightly within his and he bends and kisses my cheek. “Will you relax?”
I fake a smile and nod.
He slings his arm around my shoulders casually. “What do you want to do today, baby?” he asks in a loud voice so others can hear.
I force a fake smile. “I don’t know. I have never been here before I am so excited. When do we have to be back on the ship?” I reply.
“We leave port at 6pm tomorrow night.”
“So we are staying in Columbia overnight?” I frown.
He nods and winks, unleashing his cheeky, boyish grin.
Huh? Is he telling me this so that they can hear or is he telling me this because he wants me to know?
I just want to get out of here with my diamonds. The sweat runs down between my breasts. “It’s so fucking hot,” I whisper in annoyance. “I can’t handle this shit.”
He raises his eyebrow sexily. “Who are you kidding? You invented hot.”
I smirk and drop my head as my heart flutters in my chest. Stop it. Stop being so damn likable, asshole.
Our turn finally comes, and Stace takes the reins and hands over both of our passports. “How many ships have you done in the last few days?” he asks as a distraction.
The two men reply with something. I don’t know what they are saying because all I can hear is my thieving heart trying to escape from my chest. The guy looks at our two passports and smiles and hands them back before waving us through the turnstile.
Oh my God.
I’m through.