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They dropped their voices to a level Tildi couldn’t hear, then Boone said, “We need to make a plan because it looks like it's gonna get worse before it gets better.”

“Agreed,” Dutch said. “Plus side, these things usually blow themselves out quickly.”

“Which way did it come in from?” Boone asked Grif.

“It came up behind us,” Grif said. “If it isn’t too large, we should be able to outrun it without too much trouble. We have to watch our speed, but as long as it doesn’t get any worse, we should be okay.”

His words evidently challenged Neptune. Golfball sized hail fell from the skies, pummeling the deck and hull of the yacht.

“Shit!” Dutch yelled, forgetting about not making Tildi more worried. “The ship isn’t going to stand up to that very long. Going slow just left the table.”

Grif’s jaw tightened, and his grip on the wheel, already firm, tightened to a death grip.

“Right. I’m going to get us out of here, but the trip may be rough for the time being. Bossman, you’re gonna want to get Tildi face down on the floor so she doesn’t get tossed around like a ragdoll.”

“On it,” Boone said, leaving Grif to focus on the waves and stumbling to his Little girl.

Her face was the color of paste, either from fear or seasickness. He didn’t have time to find out which.

“Tildi, I need you to lay on the floor on your tummy.” At her immediate protest, he held up his hand. “Daddy’s going to be with you, Bluebell. I don’t want you to get hurt in the rough seas.”

He didn’t like how the lightning now popped all over the place, either. But he kept that to himself. As soon as they were down, Grif sped up.

The man had not been kidding about it getting rougher. How a boat the size ofMidnight’s Mistresscould bounce from wave to wave like a rubber ball was beyond him. He held them in place but couldn’t stop them from bouncing on the hard deck floor.

“Da-daddy,” Tilde said. “I can’t breathe!”

He barely heard the words she uttered over the pouring rain and the pounding hail. He realized the problem as she flew completely off the floor at the next wave and crashed back down on her diaphragm and ribs.

He flipped to his back and pulled her face down on top of him. Locking his legs around the support pole for the table they were under, he held her pressed against him so the force of each bounce would be absorbed by his body.

“I want to go back downstairs,” she cried out.

He’d give anything if he could. She thought she’d be safer there, but if something happened, the lower levels might fill with water before he could get to her.

“I can’t let you do that, babygirl. I need you here with me so I can keep you safe.”

“Take this,” Dutch yelled and tossed a blanket their way.

Boone nodded his thanks and wrapped it around his shivering Little girl. “We’re going to be fine, Bluebell. We’ll be out of this storm in just a few more minutes. I’m so proud of you. You’re such a brave girl.”

“Oh, fuck!” Grif yelled. “Hold on!”

Boone knifed up high enough to look through the doorway leading to the seating area at the front of the deck. For a second, he couldn’t make sense of what he saw. Where was the horizon and sky? Then it hit him. A wall of water barreled toward them.

Fuck!

He wrapped his arms around Tildi and attempted to move them further under the table. Before he could maneuver around, the yacht shot off the crest of the wave under them and crashed into the next one head on.

Tildi screamed as the force jerked them forward. Freezing water flooded the helm as the wave tried to swallow them whole. The blanket made holding onto her difficult, but Boone managed.

But then the yacht pitched upward again, and all that water came rushing back through, this time toward the end. The pull of the wave rushing back to the sea ripped his babygirl from his arms and carried her out the open doorway and down the back of the deck toward the sea.

She screamed until the water cut her off, washing over her head and tumbling her away from him.

It was happening again. He was losing someone under his care and protection. He’d thought the loss of Cara was the most devastating thing that would ever happen to him. And until Tildi came into his life, it had been.

He’d been wrong. Losing Tildi would destroy him. He might as well follow her over the side and let the sea have him. Just the thought shot an indescribable pain through his chest.