‘My cousin. I need his van for this. I’m not driving around in that black Camaro Marcus drives when he’s cosplaying a poor kid.’
My mouth droops open, remembering the car that almost mowed down Daisy and I that day near campus. ‘A black Camaro?’
‘Yeah, you never seen him? All blacked out windows. Dumb little asshole thinks he’s a gang banger, or something.’
Daisy stares down at Marcus. ‘Why did he try to kill me if his family wanted my money?’
Lu snorts down at him. ‘Probably coked out of his mind. But I’ll ask him later if you want.’
Daisy blinks at her slowly, confused, ‘So, why do you need a van?’
Lu gives her an equally puzzled look. ‘How else am I gonna get him to the second location, Daisybear?’
Epilogue
The wind gives me goosebumps, but the sun is bright as the impressive sailboat cuts through the deep blue waves. It’s a calm day, so Shade tells me. Perfect for a sailing trip, so I keep the ship running parallel with the sandy and rocky coast, my eyes on the water ahead. I point at a tall white lighthouse jutting out from the land.
Shade nods at me and yells something about the portside, but I don't move from my place at the wheel, letting Blake and Mav do whatever is supposed to be done. Shade might know how to sail, but the rest of us have barely been on a boat and pretty much have no idea what we’re doing.
I was a little shocked when he told the captain to take the night off and paid him double to leave. I was even more shocked when the guy actually did it. He didn’t even bat an eye, just told us to be back by noon tomorrow and then hightailed it to the marina bar with the wad of cash. I mean, I thought they were supposed to go down with the ship…
Shade appears on deck to my right, drawing me away from my thoughts.
‘Is this okay?’ I shout to him when he’s close enough to hear me.
He nods, giving me a thumbs up. ‘Perfect. Just keep her steady and into the wind.’
I grin at him, loving the way this feels. The freedom.
At the marina early this morning, I was feeling a little apprehensive. When I bid for this sailing experience at the Forrests’ Christmas Gala all those months ago, I sort of forgot that I’d have to come, too. I couldn’t help but remember what happened the last time I was on a boat with the guys. I trust them in every way now, of course, but I’ll always remember the feeling of the raft bucking, and the freezing water when I went under. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the day.
It turns out that not all boats are the same. I just needed to go bigger.
Shade comes up behind me. He puts his arms around me, kissing my neck.
‘Do you like it?’ I ask.
He nods vigorously. In fact, all three of them seem to be having a great time.
I am, too, though the dark and murky water makes me shiver when I look too hard at it, when I remember the instruments down below that say how stupidly deep it is, and the thought of falling in that’s enough to make me not want to go anywhere near the side just in case I slip.
So, I stay at the wheel, pretending I’m not gripping it for dear life, and we sail up the coast for the whole day.
In the evening, we find a sheltered spot to drop anchor and moor for the night.
As the sun goes down, we sit in the dying light, eating steaks that we barbequed on deck. I shiver in the breezealthough it's almost July and the weather is warm. I'm not used to the chill of being on the water.
Blake goes down below and comes back a minute later with my sweatshirt and a blanket. I give him a smile and cover myself, huddling between Mav and Shade as we sip our glasses of wine.
My phone buzzes and I dig it out of my pocket.
‘Sauvage again?’ Shade murmurs.
I nod.
Envy is selling so well with the cartel, they're constantly needing more, and it's actually taking up a lot of my time to keep up with demand. I've finally shown the guys exactly how to make it, and that's taken away some of the stress, because I'm no longer the only chemist, but it’s only a matter of time before we’ll need to figure out a more long-term solution to increase production.
'He needs another two batches in a couple of days,' I say. ‘I made three, though, so it’s fine. We don’t need to rush back, or anything.’
