Chapter Four
Ella
Waiting for Lex’s call is agonizing.
It’s been an hour since we spoke. What could possibly be taking this long?
Claudette has done a fabulous job keeping me distracted, but now she’s gone to the bathroom, and I’m alone with my thoughts. They roar in the silence of the cabin.
No matter what happens, I cannot get caught. Not for my sake, but for my daughter’s.
She deserves a normal life, not one lived under constant surveillance. I don’t want her to grow up inside a golden cage.
Still, a flicker of doubt that I’m doing the right thing sneaks in. I never imagined depriving my child of her father.
Would Tiero be disappointed that our baby isn’t a boy?
I think back to that night at the Irish pub in Sicily. It seems like a scene from a book I once read but never lived.
We hadn’t even kissed yet when he teased me. Would you like to make babies with me?
He said it in his deep voice and with that sinful Italian accent. The memory makes heat pool low in my body.
He proudly declared that De Marco men always father male heirs first. Seems that tradition ends with me.
Despite everything, I miss him. That hasn’t changed.
Why did I have to fall in love with a Mafia don? Especially when all I want is a normal life.
What I had in Dublin feels impossibly distant now. I had a job I loved, a quiet apartment, and Rhia close by. Predictable and boring, Claudette called it. But I would give anything to have it back.
“Perhaps we should dress up as men,” Claudette says, stepping out of the bathroom.
We’ve been throwing around disguise ideas to get past Tiero’s men guarding the exits. Just thinking about them discovering me makes my head swim.
“That could work,” I say, even though I have no idea where we would get men’s clothes.
“Or one of us could dress as a grandma, borrow a wheelchair, and the other pretends to be the carer,” she adds, tapping her chin.
“I like it, but that might make it hard to run if we need to.”
She chuckles. “True. I don’t run. If I did, I’d need a very supportive bra.”
My gaze flicks to her chest, just as the emergency phone skitters across the nightstand, vibrating vigorously.
I grab it and make sure it stays on silent. The last thing I need is a ringtone advertising that this cabin is occupied when it shouldn’t be.
Lex.
Finally.
My fingers tremble as I swipe to answer.
“Hello,” I whisper.
“Why are you whispering? Are you okay?” His voice is sharp with concern.
I nod, then realize he can’t see me. “Sorry. I just don’t want anyone to hear me.”
“You’re still in the cabin, right?”
“Yes. But what if Tiero’s men walk past while I’m on the phone with you?” I keep my voice low. “What’s the plan?”
“Catalina has finished reconnaissance, and our IT team is monitoring the ship’s camera feeds,” Lex says. “De Marco is almost certainly doing the same. I won’t lie to you, Ella. There are a lot of his men around.”
My stomach drops.
“Getting you off the ship unnoticed will be difficult.”
“Should I stay on until New York? Or can you get me off while we’re at sea?”
Even as I say it, I hope he says no. Climbing down a rope ladder onto a moving vessel sounds like a nightmare.
“No. The situation will be the same in New York, and an at-sea extraction would be rushed and risky.”
“Then what are we going to do?”
He clears his throat. “We’ve activated one of our contingency plans.”
“Plan C,” I say.
“Correct. You can’t leave through any official exit, staff or passenger. De Marco has guards posted at each one, and they’re recording everyone who disembarks.”
“Why?”
“They’ll run the footage through facial recognition.”
Cold dread slides down my spine.
“Does he know what I look like now?”
“We have to assume so.”
“Shit.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“So what’s plan C?”
“Do you know where the garbage storage is on board?”
“Yes. I used to take kitchen scraps there when I was working.”
“Good. Go there. A man named Mario is waiting for you.”
Mario. That sounds Italian. My pulse jumps.
As if sensing my fear, or maybe he’s anticipated my reaction, he adds, “Don’t panic when you see him. He is Italian, but he’s not one of De Marco’s men.”
“Thanks for the warning. I might have knocked him out otherwise.”
“Do you have anything to defend yourself with?”
His tone shifts, all business now. It’s oddly comforting.
“I couldn’t find anything in the cabin. The sports locker is on the way. We could grab a baseball bat.”
“No detours. Do you still have the pepper spray Garrett gave you?”
“Oh, yes. I forgot about it.”
“Get it and keep it in your hand.”
I grab my bag and rummage through it while Lex keeps talking.
“Time matters, Ella. Dress in your kitchen uniform. Claudette needs one too. Wear caps, keep your heads down, and avoid the cameras. Take the stairs, not the elevator.”
My heart hammers.
“Act relaxed. No running unless absolutely necessary. De Marco’s hacker will be watching for anomalies.”
I don’t bother pointing out that relaxed is the last thing I feel, and that every instinct in me is screaming to run.
“Mario is in position,” Lex continues. “Follow his instructions. Catalina will be waiting at the other end.”
“How is he getting us off the ship?”
“He’s going to hide you.”
That doesn’t sound reassuring.
“Hide us how?”
“You’ll see.”
I grip the phone tighter, desperate to delay the inevitable.
“You’ve got this,” Lex says. “Once you reach Mario, everything else is taken care of. You’ll be off the ship before you know it, and Catalina will take it from there.”
I draw a steadying breath. “Okay. Talk soon.”
I end the call and turn to Claudette. “Did you hear?”
“Enough,” she says, already pulling her dress over her head.
I hand her a spare kitchen tunic. It stretches a little over her chest but works. She is already wearing leggings. I give her a cap, dull and unremarkable, unlike her usual flamboyant hats.
When she swings her bag over her shoulder, she looks ready.
I slip the pepper spray into my palm, the cool canister grounding me.
“Let’s go.”