Page 27 of All The Way Under

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

saylor

“Please, the café is right around the corner. The security detail can be right around the corner if they need to.” I clasp my hands in front of my chest, begging.

“Mother, we’re leaving tomorrow. I just want to have one real date with Brody in Portugal.

We won’t stay long. You know he’ll keep me safe. It’s a café, not a prison.”

I must admit, it makes sense why my parents have so much trepidation in allowing me freedom. I got myself kidnapped, for god’s sake.

“Saylor,” she drawls. “We aren’t far enough away from them for that much freedom. Why don’t you have a date at the restaurant at the hotel? Better yet, room service, darling. I don’t think you understand how dreadful it was for me while you were being held hostage.”

Staring, unblinking, I wait for her to hear the hypocrisy in what she just said, but I don’t hold my breath.

Dad butts in. “What your mother means is that this has been a lot. You’re our baby, Saylor. You can go on as many dates as you want when we’re back in the States. It’s not safe here. For any of us.”

I stamp a foot, irritated with my mother’s attitude already and that they’re making me feel like a child.

“I’m an adult. I can go if I want,” I say, placing one hand on my hip.

“Just like you took a sail around the world like you wanted? Just like you got yourself captured and needed special forces to get you out? Did you want that? Just like that, Saylor?” My mother’s words are laced with a promise to make my life miserable if I don’t obey, but her voice shakes as she speaks, so it gives me pause.

I toss up my hands.

“This is a totally reasonable request. Food at a café,” I huff. “Will I need security back home? Are you going to make these guys live in my house? Work out on the Pilates reformer next to me in class? The grocery store?”

Dad shakes his head, and I can tell he feels bad.

“It’s a product of who you are. You’ve been through a lot.

It’s going to get worse before it gets better, Saylor.

The news outlets have been following this story since you were captured.

Think of how intriguing this whole thing looks to others.

The phone calls for information have been incessant.

You’re going to have to talk to the media, and then your face will be all over the internet.

Unhinged people will come out of the woodwork.

Our friends will be asked if they know anything.

Whether you want to admit it or not, this does affect all of us.

We like Brody. We want you to continue that relationship.

It’s just going to have to be done in a more secretive way. ”

What he’s trying to convey hits me square in the chest.

Dad goes on. “He must keep his anonymity for his career. What do you think will happen if they link Brody to the SEAL Teams? If the public finds out he’s the one who saved you? And you’re now in a relationship with him.”

Dad’s face looks weathered. It’s my fault. The wrinkles around his blue eyes usually spark joy, but now they look haunted.

My mom sips a martini, and her cream-colored caftan billows as she exits onto one of the balconies in their penthouse. She has a stack of romance books on the table out there. Exhaling deeply, the gravity of the situation I’m in hits.

“They would never leave us alone if they found out. His life would be in jeopardy if they connect him with me.”

Dad shakes his head. “Just at first. You know how these things go. Once some time has passed, no one will care about you and your situation, but at first, the spotlight is going to be on you.”

I sit down in a chair and look at my watch. I have to meet Brody in his room in thirty minutes.

“I guess I knew I’d have to talk about the experience, but I didn’t think it all the way through and what it would mean for you guys and Brody.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I’m sorry, Dad. I’m sorry for getting us into the situation and that it’s affecting you after.”

A tear catches in the corner of my eye.

“If I could go back in time and never set sail, I wouldn’t.”

He sits on the arm of the chair, wrapping an arm around me.

“Yes, you would,” he whispers gently. “You’d have to go to meet him.”

We both sit in silence, him knowing me so well that my emotions overwhelm me.

“I’m sorry, still,” I reply, lip trembling.

I can’t keep it in. It was a lot, knowing my decisions affected others, but knowing my decisions are going to continue to affect those I love and care about is a whole different kind of pain.

“I won’t do anything like this again. I might even be done with sailing. It proved I wasn’t good enough.”

“You stop that talk right now. Not only are you good enough, I think you should try again. Not soon, but you can do it. You can’t control some things, but all the things you could control were handled perfectly.”

When I told him I shot two men, his face iced over. He said we shouldn’t tell Mom. Or anyone else, for that matter. I wonder if that’s what he’s referring to now.

Should I have just allowed myself to be taken easily? Without putting up a fight?

Now that my mind is clear, the whole kidnapping and my time in captivity feel like it was fabricated.

I look at Dad as a tear rolls down his face. I capture it with my finger.

“Stop, Dad. I do need to grow up. Mom is right. You stopped sailing.”

“And it broke my heart. When you picked it up, it made me feel whole again. We can sail together. You won’t give it up.”

He nods, his chin on my head.

“We don’t care what we must go through when we go home. We’re just relieved you’re okay, Saylor. I don’t care about the noise.”

He pauses.

“No one knows we’re in Lisbon right now.

Go ahead and go to the café around the corner.

Be watchful. Take the full security detail.

This is as much privacy as you’re going to have for a while,” he explains, thinking out loud.

“When we get home, you won’t be able to go out.

Go,” he commands, kissing the top of my head.

“Let me know when you get back. I’ll tell security. ”

Dad looks over his shoulder at the balcony.

“And your mom.”

“We will go incognito, and I promise to be safe. Thank you, Dad. I’m sorry again.”

“Stop apologizing, Saylor Jean. Go live your life.”

I flee their hotel suite before he changes his mind, and before he tells my mother.

Three guards flank me as I take the elevator down to Brody’s room. He’s in the hallway waiting for me when the elevator doors slide open.

“There you are. I didn’t think we were going to get out of this hotel, but he said we could go.”

“With security?” Brody asks, raising one brow, peering behind me.

I nod. “I know, I know. I’m sorry. They’ll stay far enough away.” Exhaling in relief at the sight of him, I remember my promise.

“You washed the Yankees cap, right? Put it on, and a pair of sunglasses. I promised we would go in disguise.”

He stifles a laugh, blue eyes sparkling with mirth. “I’m six foot four and two hundred thirty pounds, baby. It’s not that easy to disguise me.”

“Maybe I just want you to wear the hat, then,” I counter. “Can you do it for me?”

Laughing, he bites his bottom lip, causing my stomach to drop and shimmy. He’s so gorgeous. I still have a hard time believing he’s mine.

“I’d do a lot of things for you,” Brody says, scanning his key card to go into his room. I follow him in.

He has a nice room, not a penthouse, but it has a kitchen and a living room area. It looks like he’s cooked.

“You’re allowed to leave here? Did you go to the grocery store? I’m so jealous.”

“We’ll go to the grocery store together when we get back,” Brody says.

The security guards allow us to be in his room alone, thank God. I wonder how that conversation with my father went and cringe.

He grabs the hat, which is sitting on the table, and a pair of Ray-Bans from the console table by the door. Then he kisses me long and hard.

“We’ll do a lot of things when we get back.”

My stomach goes from the floating in-love sensation to iron lead.

“There is a lot of sensation around my kidnapping and rescue. We won’t be allowed to be seen together for a while. While the thought of picking out produce with you is sensuous,” I smile, teasing him. “We’re going to have to lie low back home.”

Brody pushes his lips to the side, thinking about what I said.

“My brother sent me a few news articles. You are a Wyndham, so it makes sense. I’m stealthy when it comes to sneaking around. In the dark is my specialty. I have leave when I get back to the US. I haven’t taken leave in a long time, so I’ll have time to come up with plans to lie low with you.”

Excitement replaces my dread. “You really don’t care?”

“No, it’s for your safety and mine. Commander would probably make me take leave if I didn’t request it myself. When I said I’ll do whatever it takes, did you think so little of my willpower that a little press was going to deter me from having you any chance I can?”

He snakes a hand around my waist, and the heat from his skin soaks through my button-up blouse. Immediate attraction and need are what happens next. Pulling me to his body, he leans down and teases his lips against mine. An almost kiss.

“Whatever it takes,” he says, licking his lips. “You are trouble,” he growls. “I can’t control myself when we’re alone.”

Lacing my fingers around his neck, I pull him in for a kiss, twining my tongue with his, tasting him, and relishing in the connection I crave whenever I’m not next to him.

“Control yourself. We have a date to go on, and we don’t have a lot of time. When we get back here, I have a few things we need to try out.”

The moment I tell him my plans for later, he shushes me with a head tilt and a wink.

“You say it now, and we won’t make it to the café.”