Enticing You (How to Marry a Billionaire #1)

Episode 33

EPISODE 33

EMERGENCY

River

“Help! Help me, please!”

A woman’s voice, and it’s coming from the water. Brett and I, along with Emily, Ariel, and Sienna, rush to the side of the catamaran.

Ginger is waving with one arm. She’s removed her snorkel, and she’s grabbing onto an unconscious Rachel.

My heart goes into overdrive, and I don’t think. I leap over the railing and into the water, swimming the several yards to where they are.

“My God, what happened?” I ask.

“Christ, you don’t have a life jacket.”

“I’m a strong swimmer. What the hell happened to her?”

Ginger gulps. “I don’t know. We were snorkeling, enjoying ourselves, and then she was gone, no longer beside me. I looked up from my snorkel and she was behind me, just… Just…”

“Easy, easy. I’ve got you. I’ve got her.”

“Riv!” Brett yells.

I look up as he tosses the life ring to me. I stretch as far as I can, still holding onto the two women, and can just reach it.

“Here,” I say to Ginger. “You’ve got your life jacket. You can make it to the boat. Let me take care of her.”

Ginger nods. “Okay. But don’t you let anything happen to her!”

“I won’t.”

Rachel—beautiful Rachel—is limp as a dead fish. Her skin is pale but hasn’t gone blue. That’s a good sign. I can’t try to find a pulse now. The main thing is to get her back to the boat. I take care to keep her face out of the water as I hold her in one hand, the life buoy in the other, and kick toward the catamaran.

Once there, Brett grabs Rachel from me and lifts her onto the deck.

I hoist myself back onto the boat, leaving the life preserver in the water.

Misty races toward me. “Are you okay?”

I shake my head. “I’m fine. I’m fine. But Rachel… What about…”

Rachel is lying on the deck, and Ginger hovers over her, checking for a pulse in her neck.

“No pulse. Damn it!” Ginger curls her hands into fists. “I’m going to start CPR. Bring me some towels. Hurry! Get the captain of this rig or whoever to call for help. Now!” Ginger lifts Rachel’s neck, tilting her head back and then leaning with an ear toward her mouth. “Damn!”

Thank God Ginger is a doctor. She begins chest compressions, and I stare… Stare at Rachel… Rachel—the first woman to catch my eye.

Rachel, who gave me a light kiss last night, and then seemed to disappear.

After ten, twenty, I don’t know how many compressions, Ginger pinches Rachel’s nose and then breathes into her mouth twice. “Damn!” she says again.

More compressions.

“I need help here!” she yells. “Where’s Evangeline? Where’s the captain?”

“I’m here!” Evangeline comes running from the lower deck, her complexion nearly white and her eyes wide. “We’re heading back to the island. Medics have been called from the mainland of Jamaica and should be there by the time we get there. She’ll probably have to be helicoptered to the mainland.”

Two more rescue breaths, and?—

Rachel coughs, water sputtering out of her mouth.

“She’s breathing,” Ginger says. “Thank God.” Her head falls onto Rachel’s chest.

Rachel was still breathing, though unconscious, when she was helicoptered off the island. Ginger went with her.

The event took its toll.

After I shower and change, it’s five p.m. already.

I feel numb.

I didn’t fall for Rachel. Not really. But she was the first woman I noticed. I offered to get her a telescope for her stargazing. I wanted to look at the celestial bodies with her, maybe take her to my ranch and show them to her from a different part of the world.

Maybe I was falling…

I’m rubbing my forehead when someone knocks on my door. “Yeah?”

“It’s Seb. Can I come in?”

“It’s locked. Hold on.”

I go to the door, wearing only jeans and nothing else. My hair is dripping onto my shoulders. I open it, and not only Seb but Alex and Brett stand there. “Come on in.”

“You okay, buddy?” Brett asks.

Hell, no. But I nod anyway. “Is she going to be okay?”

“We haven’t heard anything.” Alex rubs jawline. “This is fucked up.”

“You don’t even know how fucked up,” Sebastian says.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask.

He clears his throat. “Remember that email I intercepted from Misty to Evangeline?”

Fuck. Right. “Misty said she wanted Rachel out of the running,” I say, more to myself than the others. “June too.”

“Right,” Seb says, “and June said something to me after our tryst on the boat. She said she had a threesome once with Misty and some ball player, and she learned something about Misty. Before she could tell me what it was, someone pounded on the door to tell us about Rachel.”

“Are you saying Misty did something to Rachel?” Alex asks.

Sebastian shakes his head, letting out a soft scoff. “No, that’s not what I’m saying. I don’t think she’d ever get her hands dirty.”

“Oh, fuck…” Brett runs his fingers over his hair. “Evangeline…”

“Wait, wait, wait…” I pace over to the door to my bedroom and then back again. “Ginger said they were snorkeling, and everything was fine, until Rachel just…”

“Just what , exactly?” Sebastian says. “That’s what we don’t know, and we won’t know until someone tells us. I’m putting Shelley on it. Maybe she can find out whatever June knows too. I wish my date was with her tonight instead of Heather. Even with that damned rhinestone pussy.”

Brett rolls his eyes. “Back to Shelley. You said she called earlier. What gives?”

“She was checking things out at the Larson place like she does once a week, and she said she thought she was being followed.”

“Fuck.” I plunk my ass down on one of the chairs and let my head fall into my hands.

“Riv,” Brett says, “I know you had your eye on Rachel. I’m sorry.”

I shake my head. “What if this whole thing was a mistake? I mean, why did we think we could find love this way?” I turn my gaze to Brett. “Another one of your bullshit ideas.”

I regret the words as soon as I say them. Brett holds a lot of guilt for what happened all those years ago.

“It can still work,” Brett says. “We still have six lovely women to choose from…plus Misty. Once we find out that Rachel is okay, everything will get back to normal.”

I rise and then nearly lose my footing when someone else knocks. Sebastian opens the door to Evangeline.

“What is it?” Sebastian demands.

“Good news. I’ve heard from the hospital on the mainland. Rachel is breathing well, has awoken, and is expected to make a full recovery.”

An anvil flies off my shoulders. “Thank God.”

“The ladies are in the courtyard waiting. I thought it best if they hear it from the four of you. Then you’ll continue with your dates as planned for tonight.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I shake my head.

“Riv, she’s okay.” Brett grips my shoulders. “Things can go on if the girls are willing.”

Right. Things can go on. The woman I felt might be my match is in the hospital, and I have a date with the woman who may have put her there.

I’m fucked.

I regard Evangeline. She looked truly spooked when she saw Rachel lying on the deck of the catamaran, Ginger hovering over her and trying to save her life. I don’t think she did anything to Rachel.

But I could be wrong.

“Come on,” Brett says. “Let’s go talk to the ladies.”

We make it to the courtyard, and the ladies are dressed casually, but I don’t notice any of them in particular. They’re whispering among themselves, darting their gazes back and forth.

They’re frightened for their friend. With good reason.

“All right, ladies,” Evangeline says. “The gentlemen are here and they have some excellent news.”

Brett clears his throat. Always the leader. “We’ve heard from the hospital in Jamaica. Rachel is going to be fine.”

A collective sigh of relief blows through like a whooshing wind.

“Thank goodness,” Emily says. “What happened to her?”

“We don’t have the details,” Evangeline offers. “Let’s just be glad she’s going to be okay, and we’ll fill you in when I have more information. In the meantime, I need to tell you that both Rachel and Ginger have decided not to return to the island.”

The ladies’ jaws drop in unison. It’s almost comical, except that nothing is funny in this moment.

“So the gentlemen and I will confer about how to handle this. Whether to invite two more women to the island, or whether to continue with the six of you.”

That’s news to me. And to the others, according to the wide-eyed looks on their faces. My vote will be to stick with the six, but I’m betting Brett and Seb will want to bring in newbies.

What the hell does it matter now?

“So…” Misty says, waving her hand in the air, “does this mean our dates tonight are still on?”

The dates. And mine is with Misty. It’s more important now than ever that I get her to talk.

“If the gentlemen are willing,” Evangeline says, “I don’t see why not. But you ladies must also be willing. This has been a traumatic event for all of us, so if you’re not feeling up to it tonight, we’ll have plenty of time later.”

“I’d like to go forward,” Misty says.

Shocking.

Evangeline glances at me. “River?”

I draw in a breath. “Sure. Why not?”

“And the rest of you?” Evangeline asks.

Murmurs and head shakes, but in the end the dates are still on.

“All right, then,” Evangeline says. “Those of you who don’t have dates tonight have a free evening. Enjoy the pool or the hot tub, the game room, or Sergei has some open appointments for massages and body treatments this evening. First come first served.”

Sebastian gives me a side-eye.

Yeah, Seb, I know what I have to do.