Chapter 5

"Please!" The scream ripped from my throat, raw and desperate.

I dropped to my knees. The cold hardwood floor bit into my bare skin, but I didn't care. I stared at my three-year-old son dangling over the black, roaring ocean.

"Louise, please! Don't drop him!" I sobbed, clasping my hands together. Tears streamed down my face, hot and fast.

Louise laughed. The sound was high, sharp, and completely unhinged. She tightened her grip on James's small arm. He wailed, his tiny legs kicking at the empty air over the balcony edge. The freezing ocean wind whipped his thin shirt.

Behind me, Marvin let out a wet, gurgling gasp. His heels drummed frantically against the floorboards. He was suffocating. The crushed pills were shutting down his organs one by one. His hands clawed at his own throat, drawing blood.

Louise didn't even look at him. Her eyes were locked on me, blazing with a sick, triumphant fire.

"Look at you," Louise sneered, her red dress violently flapping in the wind. "The perfect, wealthy Denise. Begging on her knees like a dog. You always thought you were better than me. You always had the perfect life, the perfect dad, the perfect money."

"I'll give you everything!" I cried out, my voice cracking perfectly. I hunched my shoulders, making myself look small. Broken. Defeated. "Take the estate! Just give me my baby!"

I let out a loud, pathetic wail. Inside, my heart was ice cold. I was counting the seconds. I just needed to buy a little more time.

"The estate is already ours," Louise spat, her eyes wide with manic energy. "Marvin made sure of that. But you? You're going to watch your precious little boy drown. And then, I'm going to push you right over this edge to join him."

Marvin choked again. A horrible, wet rattle echoed through the cabin.

"Louise, he's dying," I sobbed, pointing a trembling finger at my husband. "Help him."

"He's useless to me now," she said coldly, glancing at Marvin’s convulsing body with pure disgust. "He was just a means to an end. A stupid, desperate man who thought he was smarter than everyone else. Once you're both gone, I'll be the grieving sister. I'll take it all."

She held James out a little further. My son screamed my name, his face red and streaked with terrified tears.

My hands shook. I buried my face in my hands, letting my shoulders heave with violent, theatrical sobs. I played the shattered, terrified mother to absolute perfection. I fed her massive ego, letting her soak in her twisted victory. I let her believe she had completely destroyed me.

Then, my sobs stopped.

I lowered my hands. I looked up at Louise.

A laugh bubbled up in the back of my throat. It started low, a dark, chilling sound that didn't even sound like me. It grew louder, echoing over the roar of the crashing waves.

I stood up slowly, brushing the imaginary dust off my knees. Just like Marvin had done to me in the hospital room.

Louise frowned. Her triumphant smile faltered. "What is wrong with you? Shut up!"

I kept laughing. The sheer, absolute adrenaline was intoxicating.

"You're crazy," Louise hissed, stepping back. Her high heels wobbled on the edge of the glass balcony. "You've completely lost your mind!"

"No, Louise," I said, my voice dropping to a deadly, calm whisper. "I just know how to tell time."

Before she could process my words, a deafening crash shattered the air.

The heavy, soundproof glass doors of the VIP cabin exploded inward. Shards of glass rained down on the mahogany floor like diamonds.

Louise screamed, spinning around.

Derek stepped through the wreckage. His icy blue eyes locked onto Louise with the promise of absolute violence.

Behind him, four massive men in tactical gear flooded the cabin. They moved in perfect, deadly silence, their weapons drawn and ready.

"No!" Louise shrieked, realizing she was trapped. She moved to drop James.

She never even had the chance.

Derek moved with terrifying speed. In a single blink, he crossed the room. His large hand clamped around Louise’s wrist with a sickening crunch.

Louise wailed in agony, her fingers instantly releasing their grip.

Derek snatched James out of the air before he could fall. He pulled my crying son tightly against his broad chest, shielding him completely with his massive frame.

At the exact same second, two of Derek's men tackled Louise to the ground. They slammed her face-first onto the balcony floor, pinning her arms behind her back and snapping heavy steel cuffs onto her wrists.

"Get off me!" Louise screamed, thrashing wildly against the floorboards. "You can't do this! Let me go!"

Derek ignored her completely. He turned his back on the struggling woman and walked straight toward me.

My knees finally gave out. The adrenaline crashed hard and fast.

Derek caught me before I hit the floor.

He wrapped his strong, warm arm around my waist, pulling me flush against his hard chest. He held James securely in his other arm.

My son buried his tear-streaked face into Derek’s neck, instantly calming down in the man's protective grip.

Derek shrugged off his heavy, expensive cashmere coat and draped it over my trembling shoulders.

The intoxicating scent of cedar and expensive cologne enveloped me. It smelled like safety. It smelled like him.

"I've got you," Derek murmured, his deep British accent a velvet rumble against my ear. He pressed a fierce, burning kiss to the top of my head. "You're safe now, little bird. I told you I would come."

I buried my face in his chest, gripping his shirt with shaking hands. "You found us."

"I will always find you," he promised darkly, his grip on my waist tightening possessively.

He looked at his men. "Take the trash out."

The guards hauled a sobbing, hysterical Louise to her feet and dragged her out of the cabin. Her screams faded down the hallway.

Derek looked down at me, his eyes softening just for a fraction of a second. "Let's go home, Denise."

We walked toward the shattered doorway.

On the floor, Marvin let out one final, agonizing choke. His face was purple, his eyes bulging as the poison ravaged his nervous system. He reached a trembling, desperate hand out toward my ankle as I walked past him.

I stepped over his hand.