“We won’t be able to dock again for about an hour,” Kane said to them, “but I’ll tell my captain to head back.”
“Thank you,” Red said, as Kane left the room.
Nicole closed her eyes again. “I’m so sorry, I ruined your meeting.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Come on,” Red said, grabbing her hand and lifting her to her feet. He took her back outside to the deck, where she stood at the railing. They’d passed into a larger waterway and the sky had opened up its floodgates. Thunder and lightning too.
“It came out of nowhere, didn’t it?” she asked him.
“Yes, I never saw any storm clouds gathering,” he said, rubbing her back. “Don’t be embarrassed if you need to be sick.”
“God, I hate throwing up,” she cried. It was true. Ever since she was little, Nicole had always fought not to get sick to her stomach. She hated the loss of control, the way her stomach would clench and twist, the burning of the bile up her throat and in her nose.
As she thought about it, everything came up in a rush and she was sick over the side of the yacht.
When she finished heaving, she felt better. Her hair and clothes were soaked.
Kane came outside and saw them. “Come on, we can get her to a room to rest.”
“No, I’m fine,” she said.
“You’re not fine,” Red replied. “Do you have anything for her seasickness?”
“Yes,” Kane said.
“I don’t need it, I swear.” She let them help her back inside and then into a small room with a double bed and one circular porthole looking out on the water. Nicole lay down, closed her eyes, and tried to focus on not being sick again.
“If you want something for the nausea,” Kane told her, “just let me know.”
“I’m okay for now,” she said, not opening her eyes.
She felt Red’s weight pushing down on the bed and then his hand lightly stroking the hair on her forehead. He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Are you all right by yourself?”
“Yes, go talk. Please, I’ll be fine.”
He squeezed her hand and then left her in bed, where she drifted into an uneasy sleep.
When she woke up, the ship was docking and Red was standing over her, smiling. “Better?” he said, holding out his hand.
“Yes,” she nodded, sitting up. Her stomach still felt strange, as though someone had put it in the washing machine on spin cycle. But she knew they’d be off the yacht soon enough.
Kane was on deck when they were ready to climb off the boat. He and Red shook hands and said they were glad to have spoken. Nicole sensed that things between them had progressed in a generally good direction, but wasn’t sure how she felt about that right now.
When the older man looked at her, his eyes were intense and made her nervous. “I’m so sorry the outing upset your stomach,” he said. “But it happens to all of us one time or another.”
“Thanks for letting me use your bed,” she replied, instantly regretting her choice of words.
“Anytime,” he said.
***
Red had just spent the better part of ten minutes explaining to Nicole that he thought he wanted to take Kane Wright up on his offer. And Nicole had spent the last part of that ten minutes wondering how she could explain to him that she no longer thought it was a good idea.
So finally, she just interrupted him mid-sentence and said he shouldn’t do it.
“What do you mean you don’t want me to do the deal?” Red said, as the car service drove them away from the harbor and toward their hotel.
Nicole was still recovering from her bout of seasickness, and she was certain that the car was slightly swaying as they drove, somehow. “Kane Wright gives me the creeps,” she told him.
“Why?”
“He looks at me funny.”
“He’s a funny looking guy,” Red said.
“You know what I mean.” She stared out the window, thinking that she owed it to Red to explain the entire story. But she was getting scared of what his reaction might be.
“Actually I don’t know what you mean. Did he do something to you?”
Nicole didn’t answer.
He moved closer to her in the car. “Nicole, look at me.”
She turned and met his gaze. “He called the hotel room yesterday while you were gone.”
“He did what?” Red’s eyes flashed and she could have sworn, if Kane Wright were there at that exact moment, Red would have torn the man limb from limb.
“He called the room and I answered because I thought it could be the concierge or something. But it was Kane Wright, and he wanted to talk to me about the deal.”
Red put his fingers up to his temples and momentarily rubbed them, closing his eyes. “Nicole, please tell me you’re not fucking serious.”
“I’m sorry, I should have told you right away.”
He opened his eyes and stared at her with unnerving coldness. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
“Because, when you came home you were upset and it scared me. I didn’t want to make things worse.”
“Great. So you kept secrets instead.”