Page 41 of Astrid at Sea

Crosby continued like I hadn’t said anything. “If you had just accepted my offer of marriage, then Chara would have never come forward about her pregnancy, and I wouldn’t have been forced to marry her.”

“You shouldn’t have gotten her pregnant in the first place!”

“I wouldn’t have gotten her pregnant if you gave me the time of day.”

I rolled my eyes. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It makes perfect sense, but you’re so oblivious, Astrid!” He sneered. “I’ve had feelings for you forever, but you’ve never looked at me twice. You’ve only ever had eyes for Viktor, even when he mistreated you.”

My eyes narrowed, offended. “Don’t speak like you know us.”

“But I know you, Astrid. I know you more than Viktor does. More than he’ll ever know you.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t speak down to me like that. Just because you’re blind to my feelings for you doesn’t mean that they matter less.”

“I don’t know why you’re bringing this up now, Crosby. I’m already married to Viktor. You’re too late.” And thank God for that!

“You could have saved me from this mess if you simply said yes,” Crosby said, ignoring what I had just said. “I was the one that planned to marry you first. Viktor just got there before me, so you said yes to him.”

“That’s absurd,” I scoffed. “I didn’t say yes to Viktor because he was the first to propose.”

“Then why did you say yes to him over me?”

“Because I could see that he loved me, and honestly, I liked him as well. I could see myself falling in love with him. We both may not have realised it at first, but it was there all along, growing stronger and stronger until we couldn’t deny it any longer. I clearly made the right decision because now, I’m completely and utterly in love with Viktor. I can’t imagine my life without him. I don’t want to live life without him. Is that reason enough for you, Crosby?”

The man looked pained by my answer, but he was so much of a masochist that he kept probing. “And you couldn’t see yourself falling in love with me?”

“No, Crosby,” I sighed, shaking my head. “I’m sorry if it hurts, but that’s the truth.”

“No.” He stood up abruptly, rocking the boat. “That’s not the truth! You’re lying!”

“Crosby,” I called out to him in a cautious tone. “You need to sit down.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” He growled at me, slamming his foot down like a petulant child in the middle of a terrible meltdown. “You ruined my life, and now you’re looking at me like I’m crazy.”

“I didn’t say you were crazy.”

“Are you listening? I said you’relookingat me like I’m crazy, not that you said that I am crazy!”

My heart began thumping hard and fast, fuelled by fear. Things were getting scary, and I was genuinely worried about Crosby’s bizarre, unpredictable behaviour.

I turned my head frantically, looking around for Jerrik, desperately hoping that he was nearby and could save me. When I didn’t spot him anywhere, I opened my mouth and screamed Jerrik’s name as loud as my lungs would allow me.

“What are you doing?” Crosby spat at me with wild, furious eyes. “Stop screaming! Shut your mouth!”

I ignored Crosby and continued screaming Jerrik’s name, desperate for him to appear out of thin air and help me.

“I said, shut your mouth!”

I ignored him and continued screaming.

Before I saw it coming, Crosby leapt across the boat and threw himself at me. His lips pressed against mine, and after the initial shock wore off me, I shrieked and shoved him off me. He proved to be too strong, so I turned my head to avoid his disgusting, unwanted lips.

“I’ll have to marry you as well if I get you pregnant,” Crosby snarled at me, circling one hand around my wrists while he tried to push the other one under my skirt.

I screamed and kicked his hand away from me. Like Hell I would let him touch me like this! But the fear that he could overpower me made me feel sick.

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