Chapter 5 #2
Elodie felt horrible. She was exhausted and every muscle in her body hurt. Probably from all the exertion she wasn’t used to. Not to mention the stress and bouts of extreme terror she’d yo-yoed through for over twenty-four hours.
When she’d been escorted up to the bridge by the other SEALs, she’d been both relieved she was out of the engine room and terrified for Scott and his team.
She knew they were going to go right back down into the bowels of the ship to try to find the missing pirate, or pirates, if there was more than one left lurking about.
She couldn’t believe she’d actually killed someone.
Even though she’d lived through it, it felt as if the last few hours had happened to someone else.
She wasn’t GI Jane, not even close, and yet she hadn’t really even hesitated to take that man’s life.
What if he had a wife and children? Would they ever know what happened to him?
No, he wasn’t exactly doing nice things, but did that make it okay for her to take his life?
She’d known deep down in her bones that he was going to kill Scott and Midas. He wouldn’t have hesitated, which is why she’d pulled the trigger. It was him or the men who’d risked their lives to save her, and everyone else left onboard.
When she’d gotten up to the bridge, there had been a bunch of people she’d never seen before doing what they could to try to keep the cargo ship from running aground.
A female sailor was trying to manually steer the ship without the use of electricity or the engines.
There had been lots of swearing, but amazingly she’d been able to straighten out the ship so it wasn’t sitting sideways in the middle of the strait.
Elodie had stayed as far away from the dead bodies of the captain and the others as she could. The men on the other SEAL team had moved to stand between her and the bodies, which she appreciated more than she could say.
She’d been relieved when word came up to the bridge that Scott and his team had found the last pirate.
Not long after that, a few officers who’d taken refuge in the engine room appeared on the bridge…
including Valentino. Elodie was glad to see he was alive, but she wasn’t prepared for him to throw his arms around her and hug her as if they were an item or something.
She’d had to pry herself out of his arms and reassure him that she was fine.
The other officers told her they were glad to see her and had gotten to work helping the sailors get all the systems up and running again, now that the electricity was back on and they could communicate with the engineers below decks once again.
The SEAL team helped the sailors remove the bodies.
She’d known they were taking them downstairs to the freezers.
The thought of ever again going into whichever freezer they planned to use was revolting.
Now that the danger was over, the only thing Elodie wanted to do was get off the ship altogether, which wasn’t possible at the moment.
She’d stayed on the bridge for a while watching the activity around her in a semi-trance.
She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do.
Valentino offered to escort her down to the galley to check it out, and Elodie supposed she needed to clean things up down there.
Remembering the way the pirates had rifled through the pantries and had broken glasses and stuff made her wince.
The jar of spaghetti sauce Scott said the pirate had thrown against a wall would definitely need to be dealt with.
Yeah, even though she wanted off the ship, she still had a job to do. The crew still needed to eat, and they were probably all very hungry after not eating for so long.
So she’d agreed to Valentino’s escort. He wasn’t exactly a big strong Navy SEAL, but his company was better than the alternative…
going below decks by herself. It would be a long time before she felt comfortable walking around the ship alone again, if ever.
She knew she’d imagine pirates jumping out from behind every corner from now on.
When they got downstairs, the galley was a mess. Broken glass and food everywhere. Elodie was trying to decide where to start cleaning when Valentino took hold of her arm and pulled her into his embrace.
He held her with a grip that was too tight to be comfortable.
“I’m so glad you’re all right,” he murmured into her ear as he held her.
Elodie held herself stiff in his arms. “Thanks. You too.”
“I was so scared for you,” he went on. “I wanted to come up here and find you, to protect you, but we had no idea where the pirates were. And after hearing they’d shot the other officers, I knew they’d kill me on sight.”
Elodie wanted to roll her eyes. It wasn’t just him they would’ve killed.
He’d always thought himself above the other employees on the ship.
He rarely spoke to the engineers during meal times, and he’d been the one to suggest different workout times for the officers and the rest of the crew.
It was ridiculous, but he seemed to think being an officer made him better than anyone else.
Elodie tried to step away from him, but Valentino tightened his hold.
“I know you need comforting. Just let it happen.”
That was it. Elodie was done.
She pushed as hard as she could and Valentino finally let go of her. “I’m good, thanks,” she told him. She didn’t want to tell him off, as she’d always hated confrontation, but she couldn’t stand in his embrace a second longer.
“I’m here for you,” Valentino told her. “Anything you need, I’m here. Don’t be ashamed to need someone,” he said. “You know what they say, extreme situations often bring people closer, and I feel very close to you right now. I could’ve died along with the others if I’d been up on the bridge.”
Elodie frowned. “Why weren’t you up there?”
“I…well…I wasn’t on duty,” Valentino stammered.
“I don’t think Danny was either, but when the captain came on the loudspeaker, he went straight up to the bridge,” Elodie said. She knew the schedules of most of the men onboard because she needed to know how much food to cook and who would be eating in the dining rooms at various times.
“I was going to go up there,” Valentino said defensively. “But I decided to check on the engineers first instead.”
That was such bullshit. Valentino had never felt the need to make sure anyone was all right. He’d totally gone down to the engine room to hide. Her disgust for the man increased tenfold.
Obviously not sensing her disdain, Valentino stepped into her personal space once again. He lifted a hand and brushed a piece of hair back from her face.
When Scott had done that, Elodie liked it. When Valentino touched her? Not so much.
“I can make you feel alive,” he said suavely. “Give you a way to prove to the universe that you’re still here.”
He couldn’t be saying what she thought he was saying—could he?
“Sex is a great stress reliever,” he went on. “A good orgasm gets the endorphins going, and I guarantee I can make you forget what happened, at least for a little while.”
Elodie took a step backward. Ew. “I can’t believe you’re still hitting on me! Especially now, when your friends are dead and stacked up in a freezer on the other side of this wall! You seriously think I’m gonna jump at the chance to get into bed with you? Not happening, Valentino,” she said firmly.
For just a moment, she saw anger flit across his face. He took a step toward her, and Elodie had no idea what he’d planned on doing—and would never know, as a deep voice sounded from the doorway behind Valentino.
“I wouldn’t get any closer to her. I hear she’s pretty damn good with knives.”
Elodie looked over Valentino’s shoulder and saw Scott standing in the galley doorway. He’d come in through the crew mess and pantry. Now that the lights were on, he seemed even taller and stronger than she’d thought when she’d seen him in the dark.
She drank in his features. He was still dressed all in black, but now she could see his hair was short on the sides and longer on top.
She still had an urge to feel his beard, to see if it was soft or scratchy.
He was taller than her by at least half a foot, and the sight of him had her wanting to throw herself into his arms. If it had been him who’d embraced her, instead of Valentino, she would’ve gladly snuggled in and let him comfort her.
His brown eyes were glaring at the officer, and she could see the muscles in Scott’s arms flexing, even under the black long-sleeve shirt he had on.
This was a man on the verge of pouncing. Like a sleek panther.
Elodie held her breath, waiting to see what would happen next.
Valentino kept his eyes on Scott, which was the smartest thing he’d done since they’d come downstairs. He obviously knew where the threat was…all six feet of him standing in the doorway.
Scott didn’t wait for Valentino to speak, he strode into the room and not so casually put himself between the officer and Elodie. “I’m thinking you’re needed on the bridge,” Scott told him. “They could use all the help they can get up there, and that’s where your duties lie. Not here.”
“I was offering to help,” Valentino muttered.
“Help, yeah, that’s what it sounded like to me,” Scott said sarcastically. “I think Rachel’s got things under control here. It’s her kitchen, after all.”
Valentino opened his mouth to say something.
Probably something unwise, but Scott didn’t give him the chance.
He leaned into the other man and said in a low, threatening tone, “Leave her alone, Valentino. She said she wasn’t interested.
Very clearly, I might add. I heard her as I came through the door all the way back there,” Scott said, indicating the crew mess with his head.
“Stop thinking with your dick and start using your brain. You’re an officer. Act like it,” Scott said.