Page 102 of Gin & Trouble

“No, we won’t. Not for an hour or so. The water isn’t that cold. And there are no sharks. I said that to keep you with me.” I grabbed her shoulders and put my face directly in front of hers. “There’s a bomb. You have to do this.”

She stilled and stared as if she hadn’t quite understood me.

Suddenly, the lies, the betrayals, the heartache. None of it mattered. I didn’t have another second to waste, but I couldn’t let her go without telling her the truth. “I love you. Always have, always will. Nothing can change that.”

Her eyes widened. “Are you coming with me?”

“I’ll be right behind you. Go.” I pushed her toward the stern. “Jump off the swim platform.”

She ran to the back of the yacht, glanced over her shoulder, and jumped into the sea.

Bile rose in my throat.

I should have told her to go from the stern. The explosion will blow out the aft.

“Dante?” Her voice sounded far away, but not far enough.

“Coming! Swim, damn it!” I grabbed the waterproof first aid bag from the cockpit and the life vest Frankie left on the bench. Sending up a prayer, I dove after her.

I swam as fast as I could while carrying a floatation device and bag. After a few seconds, I left them behind in favor of putting more distance between me and the yacht.

I caught up with a wide-eyed and frightened Frankie. “It’s going to blow soon. When it does, we dive under as deep as we can, okay?”

Teeth chattering, she nodded.

“Hold my hand and don’t let go.” I swam toward the shore, tugging her along with me.

We made it a few more yards when the world exploded behind us. Hoping like hell she’d held her breath, I pulled her down with me.

What seemed like a good idea at the time didn’t work as well as I’d hoped. Debris fell around us, and in the chaos, I lost Frankie’s hand. Making matters worse, I couldn’t find her in the churning water.

I surfaced and called her name, but she was nowhere to be found. “Frankie!”

Something heavy smashed into my skull and blood clouded my vision. “Frankie!”

Struggling to stay afloat and conscious, I continued to cry out her name until water filled my lungs.

31

Frankie

I brokethe surface of the water in a panic.

“Dante!” I screamed for him until my voice went raw and screamed some more.

In the commotion I’d lost my life vest. Not the strongest swimmer, I attempted to force myself to calm down and tread the frigid water.

When that failed, I laid back and floated among the burning pieces of yacht.

It seemed that hours had passed, but that couldn’t have been right. I would have succumbed to hypothermia. As it was, I could barely force air into my lungs and my muscles had stiffened.

I don’t have much time.

So close to death, I thought my life would flash before my eyes or I’d fight to stay alive or pray for a miracle. But none of that happened. Weirdly, I was pissed. I felt cheated that I’d only just fallen in love. That I hadn’t completely set things right with Dante. That we should have had decades together, not weeks or days.

Voices and the sputter of an engine echoed across the water, but I couldn’t catch my breath to cry for help. Nor could I lift my head enough to see anyone nearby.

A male called to me over the sound of a motor.

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