Chapter 41
Declan carried me into his stateroom and set me on a sofa as I faded in and out of consciousness.
“I’ll take care of her from here,” Vanessa said. “Go have dinner with the others.”
He moved to a minibar and grabbed a bottle of water. He set it on the coffee table for me, then left.
Vanessa sat on the edge of the sofa next to me. “Must be something you ate. Just took a little longer to catch up with you.”
This wasn’t food poisoning.
She was a blur, and there were two of her.
I blacked out again.
When I woke, I wasn’t sure how much time had passed. It could have been a few minutes or a few hours. It was dark outside. Moonlight spilled in. She’d opened the fold-down clam shell balcony. A breeze blew into the cabin, and the briny air swirled.
“How are you feeling?” Vanessa asked.
She still looked blurry.
I was still out of it.
"I thought maybe the fresh air might do you good," she said. "You think you can stand?"
She helped me sit up, and I felt lightheaded. I couldn't tell if the boat was rolling on the swells or if it was me.
"I felt better when I walked it off,” Vanessa said. “Let's get you on your feet."
She helped me stand, and I wobbled. I clung to her arm as we walked across the cabin.
She escorted me onto the balcony. The clamshell folded out from the hull.
The window now served as a barrier, and the overhead portion provided cover.
A small teak deck extended, flanked by stainless steel railings on either side.
"Hang on to the rail,” Vanessa said. “We don't want you falling overboard."
I gripped it tight like my life depended on it.
The angry sky rumbled, and lightning flashed on the horizon. It looked like we were headed straight into another storm.
For a moment, I felt better as I breathed in the air. Then things took a turn.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” I said.
“Over the railing, sweetie.”
I gripped the railing and leaned over. The obsidian swells below rose and fell, rocking the boat. It only made things worse.
"I always find that looking at the horizon helps when I'm queasy,” Vanessa said.
Before I knew what happened, Vanessa had grabbed my legs. She lifted me up and flipped me over the railing. I cartwheeled over and fell toward the ocean below.
I grabbed the top railing before plunging into the inky abyss.
With my feet dangling over the ocean, I kicked and flailed. Adrenaline spiked, and a degree of clarity returned.
Vanessa looked down at me, murder in her eyes. "You just had to push it, didn't you? You couldn't leave it alone."
I held on tight, but my grip wouldn't last long.
Vanessa reveled in the moment. "You and your psychic bullshit. You know, I always thought you were full of shit. But maybe there's something to it.”
I tried to pull myself up, but Vanessa worked at peeling my fingers from the railing.
My grip tightened.
"That little bitch got pregnant,” she grumbled as she fought my fingers.
“I can put up with a lot of things. I know men are going to be men.
I'm willing to look the other way for a few billion dollars.
But she was going to ruin our lives. I certainly wasn't going to share Declan with that whore and raise her kid,” Vanessa said, pounding at my knuckles with her fists, trying to get me to let go.
Her long raven hair dangled over the railing. I reached up and grabbed it, yanking her head down.
She groaned in agony as I pulled with all my weight. "Let go of me, bitch!”
The fiberglass hull and window were between us.
The boat pitched and rolled on the swells.
Vanessa hunched over the railing, as I pulled her head down with all my force.
She did her best to punch me, but she was in such an awkward position that it didn't do much good.
I took a few shots to the face, but they were ineffective. In my current state of adrenaline, I barely felt them.
The way the clamshell had folded out from the bulkhead, the window portion was at an angle like an overhang. There was no way to get leverage unless I got to either the forward or aft end of the terrace. Stainless steel railings would offer more things to grab onto and more leverage.
I was just close enough to the forward end of the balcony that I was able to swing my leg up and around and get a foot on the deck.
Vanessa still punched and flailed as I pinned her head down, holding onto her hair. Eventually, it would rip out. I hoped this was her real hair and not extensions.