Page 73 of Rapture and Ruin

I open the fridge and grab a bottle of water, taking a long sip. “You’re going to get me as close to the boat as you can. I’ll swim the rest of the way. After that, I want you to take the boat out until I give you my signal.”

“Jovan, this is a fucking death wish. You can’t go onto that boat alone.”

“Well, we don’t have much of an option here. I can’t trust anybody other than you and Alessio right now, and he is keeping an eye on her, so you’re going to have to take me, which means I have to board his boat alone because we need a getaway driver, AKA you.” I run my hand down my face and slump back against the counter. “I wish that there was another way to handle it, but Felix is forcing us into the game he wants to play.”

“I’m getting off the boat and coming with you.” Rio glares at me. “You might be the boss, but you’re also my best friend. You took care of Kennedy for me and got her to safety, I’m going to do the same for you.”

“You know that neither of us may get off that boat,” I say before taking another sip of water. “We’re walking into a death trap and there’s not much either of us is going to be able to do about it.”

“When do we meet with Felix?”

“Twelve hours from now. Kennedy is in one of my spare rooms. I suggest you spend all the time with her that you can before we leave.”

Rio gives me a sad smile and gets up from his seat. “Thank you. I’ll be ready to go when you are. For what it’s worth, I feel horrible that I wasn’t there last night and this morning. If I had been, this might not have happened.”

I shake my head and swallow the lump in my throat. “This would have happened one way or another. Right now, I can be certain that Hadley is alive. If anyone else had been there with her, she might not be.”

Though Rio gives a sharp nod before turning away, I still see the guilt written all over his face.

However, that guilt is only half of what I feel because this is all my fault. I might lose Hadley and the baby.

And I have nobody to blame but myself.

When I see Hadley again, I’m going to apologize for everything I said and didn’t say last night. I’m going to make sure she knows how much I love her and our child. I want her to know everything.

I don’t want to die with any regrets.

I’m going to spend the next few hours getting ready for every outcome. I need to make sure that the car is loaded with weapons and medical supplies. The doctor is already on standby and going to be at the marina when we get there.

Even if I don’t get off the boat, I’m going to make damn sure Hadley does.

Walking onto that boat is going to be like signing my life away. I know that. Felix is going to do everything in his power to make sure that one of us dies today. This is the game he has been playing since he came back to Miami. It was all coming to this moment.

He either kills me, or I kill him.

I’m not going to let it be me.

Not when I have my family to live for.

25

HADLEY

I’ve been trapped in a little room on a boat for what feels like the better part of the day.

Though the scent of the salt water calms me, it isn’t enough to shake the fear that I’m going to die today.

Ever since Felix walked into Kennedy’s apartment early this morning, I knew I was going to die, it was only a matter of when.

Since then, I’ve been trying to think of everything that I can do to stay alive. So far, Felix and his men have left me to my own devices. There’s not much I can do in the room they’ve locked me in.

For the last couple of hours, I’ve been looking around for something that might help me but there is nothing. No guns or knives hidden in any of the secret compartments I’ve found. Not even a pen I could stab them through the eye with.

I’m screwed if I don’t find something to use as a weapon.

Sooner or later, Felix is going to come for me and he’s going to kill me. I have to be ready to kill him first.

The thought makes me sick to my stomach. I don’t want to kill any more people. That was why I left Jovan’s home in the first place. I was supposed to be able to put a little distance between us.

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