Hunter glanced back at me, but then shook his head and rushed out of the room, closing the door firmly behind him.
When I was over the humiliating shock enough that I was able to move, I got up and walked over to the table where I was pouring the glasses of champagne when Hunter arrived. I downed both glasses in quick succession before grabbing the bottle and carrying it off to the bedroom so that I could tuck myself into bed and nurse the rejection.
I was still feeling the fog of the bottle of champagne and the good cry that came from a truly simpering romantic movie the next morning when I dragged myself out of bed. I would have loved to have called down to the front desk to arrange for a late checkout and continued to sleep, but when my alarm went off I remembered that I didn’t have the time for that. I needed to get up, pack, and call for my car so that I could get to the cruise ship on time. I had arranged for a celebratory cruise for several people from the wedding as a special gift for Noah and Snow, and I couldn’t really be a good hostess from a hungover stupor in a hotel bed, no matter how luxurious that bed might be.
I dressed in my pink linen travel suit, topped it with a large-brimmed hat and huge dark sunglasses that thankfully looked sophisticated as they did their level best to conceal dark bags and worn skin that even the best of makeup couldn’t combat, and headed down to the lobby. My driver was already waiting for me and I breezed past the desk and into the idling car, waiting until the door was closed behind me to sag back against the seat and reach for one of the chilled sodas I kept tucked in a cooler. I pressed the can against my chest, hoping the cold would perk me up a bit, then popped open the can and guzzled down the almost painfully bubbly, sweet drink.
Feeling slightly refreshed, I looked out the window as the car pulled away from the hotel and toward the marina. I intended to arrive to the boat early so that I could ensure that all of the cabins were properly prepared for the guests, but it would be a long enough drive that it would give me more time than I wanted to contemplate what had happened after the wedding. If I had my way, I would just erase that memory from my mind and continue on with my life without ever having to think about it again.
I must have drifted off into a mercifully dreamless sleep at some point during the drive because suddenly I felt the car stop and heard the driver close his door. I scrambled to sit upright, wiping my face and straightening my hair. Dylan might have been driving me for longer than Hunter had been alive and seen me at virtually all stages of my life, but that didn’t mean that he needed to witness me drooling on myself in the backseat because I was still riding a little bit of a buzz and a whole lot of self-loathing.
The sun was absurdly bright as I stepped out the car and looked at the ship. Seeing it gave me a bit of a boost. This was exactly what I needed. Some time away and the chance to have fun while also hosting some of the people who meant the most to Noah and Snow. I knew that my brother wasn’t going to be there. I had extended an invitation to him, but he was far too busy with all of his work to take time out just to take a cruise to celebrate his son’s wedding. It wasn’t intentional neglect. He wouldn’t purposely hurt Noah. He was just so far invested in the empire that our father had handed down to him, afraid every day that he would somehow lose it and our only remaining link to the man we both loved so much, that it was sometimes hard for him to think of anything else.
I took a breath and started toward the ship. I would get in touch with the director and ensure that all of the arrangements that I had made for my guests had been handled, then I would settle into my cabin, take in a show, and be ready for a formal dinner that evening. The water surged as I stepped onto the boat and I pressed my hand to my suddenly swimming head as the deck swayed beneath my feet.
Maybe I would dine in for the evening.
Chapter Three
Gavin
“It’s about time,” I muttered to myself.
I could finally see the cruise ship in the distance and let out a long sigh of relief, but also of dread knowing that even though I saw the ship ahead my work for the night was far from over. In fact, seeing the ship was just the signal that the real effort was about to start, and it wasn’t going to be fun. It felt like I had been traveling through the open water aimlessly trying to follow the convoluted directions that had been given to me. At this point I couldn’t tell if the instructions were really that horrible, or if the cruise liner was just that far off schedule. Either way, I was already exhausted and didn’t feel like going through with this anymore. Now that the moon was high and illuminating the top of the water, and I could see the imposing silhouette of the ship against the sky, it was a relief and I felt a little boost of motivation to get this over with and collect my pay. Now all I had to do was wait.
The boat drifted slightly closer to the ship and I killed the engine so that anyone who might be on the deck wouldn’t hear it and alert any of the crew to my presence. That was really the last thing that I needed. I hadn’t come up with a story to explain why I was there, and if the situation arose that I was going to have to, I didn’t really see myself coming up with anything particularly convincing. My eyes scanned the rail as I looked for any indication that the time for action had come. The ship seemed surprisingly calm. I hadn’t ever been on a cruise, but when I imagined it, what came to mind was images of couples strolling together along the decks, singles on the prowl hoping to land that night’s conquest, and possibly the occasional child screaming, confirming to the others that they wanted to stay childless for the rest of their lives. What I was looking at, though, was a ship that seemed largely empty. The hulking vessel seemed quiet and still. There were lights glowing in the windows so I knew that it hadn’t been abandoned, but I didn’t see or hear any of the signs of a lively cruise that I had anticipated.
Suddenly I saw two dark figures appear at the rail of one of the lower decks. I tightened my grip on the wheel and straightened, keeping my eyes locked on the people who were moving swiftly along the side of the ship as if at once trying to get away from something and trying to figure out what they were going to do next. The figures paused and they seemed locked in an argument for a brief moment before the larger of the two reached down and released one of the lifeboats from the side of the ship. Another shadowy form appeared several yards away and started running toward them, confirming to me that their speed was because they were trying to escape pursuit. I couldn’t tell who it was that might have been chasing them. They looked pretty frantic to get away, but for all I knew they could have smuggled the pistachios and a couple tiny bottles of liquor out of a room refrigerator and be trying to duck security.
I watched as the larger of the first two figures released the other side of the lifeboat so that it fell into the water below, then scooped the smaller figure up and tossed it over the rail into the water. The scream that I heard told him that the person flailing down toward the water was a woman and she was less than pleased about how this course of events was unfolding.
That was most certainly not the action of someone who didn’t want to pony up for their cabin snacks.