If only it were that easy.
“Where are we going?” she asks.
“You have to trust me.”
I don’t tell her anything else. But I’m fulfilling a need both of us have. I’m doing the one thing I can do to fix it.
I pull out my phone and send off a few text messages, and then I pull her out into the hallway.
I’ve lived my life knowing an enemy could attack at any moment. I’m always ready, but letting Kai trust me with her life alerts me on a whole other level.
I will not let her get hurt. Not again.
Not when I should be showing her the beauty and pleasure of the world.
I sneak her through the ship, careful to hide her in the shadows when one of my crew get too close. I don’t know who to trust anymore. And tonight is just about us.
I let Langston know he is to stop traveling and keep his eyes on the security footage at all times. And if he sees anything suspicious, he should alert me, but otherwise, handle everything himself. Kai and I need tonight to ourselves. Even if Kai doesn’t realize it yet.
We make our way to the back of the yacht where a small boat waits.
Kai freezes when she sees it. And I don’t think she is going to go with me without me explaining to her what we are doing first.
“Am I dressed alright?” she asks.
I smile and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, sending shockwaves reverberating between our bodies.
We both gasp at the sudden shock. A feeling we haven’t felt since before our lives were taken from us.
“No one will see you but me. You are dressed perfectly,” I say.
She stands taller as if needing the confidence boost to trust me in this moment.
“Ready?” I ask.
She nods.
I hold her hand as I jump down on the small dingy boat. And then I hold out my other hand. She grips both of my hands with hers, even though she doesn’t need me to climb down onto the boat. She’s more than capable of doing it herself, but she lets me help her. It’s a start.
Our relationship has been anything but healthy. Neither of us knows how to trust. Neither of us knows how to show our love. Neither of us knows how to not be selfish.
We still don’t know how to have a healthy relationship with each other. And we are both so fucked up that if we survive this game, it would take us the rest of our lives to figure out how to heal from all the pain we’ve caused each other. Our pasts have fucked us up. We need a fresh start away from all of this, but unfortunately, I don’t think this world will ever let us go.
Kai takes a seat on the small bench, still gripping one of my hands as the electricity continues to spark back and forth between us.
This is what I’ve been searching for my entire life. And I’ll do everything to get it back.
We speed off into the sunset, our hands connecting us in a way our hearts won’t let us. There have been too many lies, too much pain, too much suffering because of each other for us to let it all go and just love each other. But the flickering of energy going between us gives me hope we can overcome all our past mistakes. That we can grow together. We can heal ourselves and each other. We can overcome the mistakes our fathers made and the suffering we have experienced. And we can have a future together rid of any evil.
As I drive the small boat closer to Miami, I can feel the tension in her body. Her hand grips mine tighter.
“Trust me,” I whisper. There is nothing else I can say. Just trust me.
Our eyes meet, and I know she does.
I drive faster, wanting to show her what I have planned as fast as possible.
We reach a dock on the edge of the city, and I tie off the boat with rope before helping her out. A car is parked on the edge of the dock. It’s only then I realize I didn’t even let her put on shoes before I whisked her away. There aren't any people on this portion of the dock, but I don’t want her walking barefoot.