“Right.” It’s the same explanation he’s given me a dozen times before, but it doesn’t ring any more true this time than it has in the past. “Well, if you have no more questions for me, then I’ll go prepare for my Little one’s arrival.”
“Go. I’m sure you have plenty to do before she gets here. I’ll let the others know our family will be growing soon. When does her boat arrive?”
“A week.” Not enough time for all the preparations that need to be made, but also not soon enough as far as I’m concerned.
Not nearly soon enough.
Natalie
Working on a boatsucks.
I mean, I knew it would. I knew it would be lots of heavy lifting and hard work. But I somehow still wasn’t prepared for just howmuchwork. Or exactly how rough the men who take on these jobs would be.
Pretty much from the moment I’d reported for “duty”, I’d found myself the recipient of leering stares and less-than-subtle hand gestures letting me know exactly what these men would like to do with me.
Or, rather,tome.
If there’s a patron saint of reckless dumbasses though, she’s obviously watching over me, because I was on the boat less than an hour before Lucas took me under his wing. Older than most of the other crew, his hair and beard more salt than pepper, he might have reminded me of someone’s kindly grandfather if ithadn’t been for the hardness about him. He barely spoke a word to anyone that I ever heard, but he found me pinned against a wall by a man twice my size that first day and he sent the man to the infirmary for three whole days.
After that, the rest of the men mostly left me alone.
Which was good, because I don’t think I would have had the energy to defend myself at the end of those long days working the ship. No amount of research could have prepared me for the reality of those endless hours of grueling labor. Thankfully, Lucas had my back there, too. I was never quite out of his sight, and whenever I needed extra help or, frankly, someone to save my ass, he was right there.
Despite his hard demeanor, I never felt like I was in any danger with him. Even when he would catch me doing something he deemed unsafe and he would mutter darkly about how I needed someone to “teach me a lesson I wouldn’t forget”, I just found myself laughing at his grumbling. I assumed he was just venting, muttering to himself as a way of letting off some steam, so I never really gave those threats much thought.
I assumed wrong.
One of the things Lucas had been on me about the entire trip was my safety harness. I knew it was important, I’d read all the manuals, watched all the safety videos so I could properly bullshit my way through the journey to my mysterious island. After all, forged paperwork and a fake identity could only get you so far. I wasn’t exactly surewhatthe people in charge would do with me if they saw through my charade, but my gut told me it wouldn't be good. So I did all my research for the month leading up to my departure on the boat, and I learned all the rules.
Unfortunately for me, I’ve always been of the opinion that learning the rules is only necessary so you know the best ways to break them. Which is fine for grammar. But farlessfine when those rules are meant to keep you from falling over the railing ofa giant fucking ship and plummeting to your death. A conclusion I’d come to rather late in the game.
Almost too late.
I knew I was in trouble before the rain even started. The wind, which had been more of a gentle breeze for most of our trip, had turned violent. Whipping around us with such ferocity I could almost swear it wastryingto drag everyone overboard. Like the storm itself had a personal vendetta against the entire ship.
And still, I didn’t wear my harness.
Thank god Lucas was there to catch me when I slipped. The rain had picked up by then, making the deck even more slippery than usual. I lost my footing, and slammed right into the railing. And then went right over it.
For one heart-stopping moment, I thought I was dead. I could see the sea rushing up to greet me, would have sworn I felt the waves crashing over me, dragging me under.
But no. Just as I went over, I was jerked back, into a hard wall of muscle, my heart threatening to beat right out of my chest as my brain tried to come to grips with my brush with death.
“Where the hell is your harness?”
Lucas. Thank god.“I-I forgot.”
I didn’t forget, and one look in his dark eyes was all it took for me to know that he knew it as well as I did. The thunderstorm raging around us was nothing compared to the storm in his eyes.
Tossing me over one shoulder, he ignored the shouts from the other crew as he stormed toward our quarters. With me still draped over his shoulder, he pulled a phone from his pocket and I heard the faint sound of ringing through the speaker and then a deep voice greeting him.
“You told me to call if I needed to take her in hand. So I'm calling.” A pause, then a grunt of agreement. “Will do. Just a second.”
He hit a button, tossing the phone on the bed before dropping onto the mattress and setting me on my feet in front of him.
“Apparently you’ve been very naughty, Natalie.” A voice I didn’t recognize filled the room, and I realized then that Lucas must have put the call on speaker.
“What? Who the hell is that? Lucas?”
