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“No shit.” He held his arms wide, and she threw herself against him.

She wasn’t sure how he felt about her right now.

She’d messed everything up, and it was probably her fault they were stuck on this boat.

He hugged her to him, and she buried her nose to his chest. He smelled like sweat and the dusty fertilizer they’d shoveled for Marianne, but he also smelled like the man she’d come to know and love.

What a terrible time to fall in love.

Was it circumstantial? Or fate? Or her old bad luck raising its ugly head? The thought of Kurt dying hurt too much to even think about. There was only so much loss she could take.

“Why are they doing this? What do they want from you?”

“I don’t know but I have the feeling we’ll find out soon enough.

” Kurt gave her a firm squeeze then let go, turning to examine every inch of the room.

There was a small bathroom off to the right.

He checked that too. “Looks like we got the fancy digs. I was expecting a blindfold and a bucket to piss in.”

“What are you doing? Can I help?”

“Give me a minute.”

He went over every light fixture, crevice, and bolt in minute detail. Finally, he stood in the middle of the room and ran both hands through his hair until it was sticking up on end. “Doesn’t seem to be bugged, although he obviously wasn’t expecting two of us.”

Row sagged. She hadn’t even thought about the possibility of bugs.

“I’m sorry I got you into this mess, Row.”

“What?” She grabbed his hand. “It’s not your fault. If anyone is to blame it’s me.”

He didn’t look convinced.

“I know I’m the weak link. How’s the arm?”

He twisted it to check it out. “Fuckers made it bleed again, but it seems clean.” He dug into his back pocket and pulled out the orange pill bottle. “Still have these.”

“That’s a relief.” She crossed her arms over her chest as a shiver raced over her skin. “I hope Marianne is okay.”

“Yeah, so do I.” Kurt nodded. “Unless she’s the one who betrayed us, in which case I hope she burns in hell.”

Her eyes flashed. “You think someone betrayed us? It wasn’t simply bad luck?”

“It might have been bad luck, but I doubt it.”

She wasn’t about to tell him she considered herself a bit of a curse. She didn’t want him to hate her. “It wasn’t Marianne. She liked us.”

Kurt grunted. “She liked you.”

Row smiled. “You grew on her.”

He scratched his head. “Thing is, if it wasn’t Marianne then it was my contact at the US Embassy. And that means he lied about everything and there’s no rescue ship nearby and no one in the US government knows I’m still alive, let alone that you’re with me.”

The cold truth of that statement curled over her shoulders like a metal yoke. They could be held hostage for months or years or shot tomorrow and thrown into the ocean, and no one would ever know. The thought was unbearable.

“That vile man called my mother a slut.”

“I wouldn’t take his views on your mother personally. He doesn’t strike me as a man with a very positive opinion of women in general. He got very excited about your dive watch though.”

She looked at her naked wrist. “I found it in the attic. I assumed it was Uncle Peter’s. He used to dive a lot.”

“Hurek recognized it.”

“Yes. He did.” She didn’t know what that meant. “He knew my mom was dead. The way he said ‘poor Allie.’” She could tell from his eyes that he’d noticed it too. Even though her mother supposedly meant nothing to this man he knew she was dead even though she’d lived far away.

Her mouth went dry .

“Look, it’s late. We’ve had a shit few days. I’ve no idea what’s going to happen next, but what I’d like to do is get cleaned up while I have the chance before I crawl into bed for some rest so I can think more clearly. I don’t want to dirty the sheets.”

She glanced at the single narrow bunk. “Only one bed.” She choked up and looked away. Pretended her eyes hadn’t filled with tears by staring determinedly out of the porthole that contained nothing but blackness.

Kurt came up behind her and turned her in his arms, placed her head against his shoulder as she lost it.

He pushed out a chair with his foot and dragged her onto his lap and rocked her like a child.

For the second time in forty-eight hours, she found herself bawling all over him.

For someone who rarely cried, it was humbling.

Finally, the tears subsided, and she sniffed loudly, needing to blow her nose but not wanting to move from the illusion of safety in his arms.

Kurt angled away so he could catch her gaze. “We’ll get through this, Row. It’s not going to be easy. It’s not going to be fun. But we are going to have each other’s backs and make a plan, and we are going to get through this. Understand?”

Her breath shuddered out as she nodded.

“Okay, you grab the first shower.”

“I have a better idea.” She took his hand as she led him to the small bathroom.

“I’m not sure it’s a good idea…”

“Not sex. I don’t want to be alone, and we can at least close the door.”

“We can do that.”

The small bathroom was well stocked with towels, soap, shampoo.

“Pretty cushy digs for a kidnap victim,” she commented.

Kurt looked around with narrowed eyes. “It really is. And knowing what I do about how he used to keep his hostages, it makes me wonder what the hell he wants from me and how long he plans to keep me—and now you.”

“Your last big adventure is turning into a bit of a nightmare.” She stripped off the long-sleeved shirt and bra and the trousers, which had been new and were now filthy with dirt and sweat. Unfortunately, she’d have to put them back on after the shower. They were all she had.

A smile lit his eyes as his gaze ran down her naked body. “It’s had its compensations.”

She laughed as he’d meant her to and ducked her head under the warm spray.

She undid the braids and massaged her fingers into her scalp.

She half hoped he’d climb in with her, but instead he picked up her dirty clothes and started scrubbing them clean in the sink.

A lump the size of Everest lodged at the back of her throat.

“It’s a risk, but I figure they’ll leave us alone at least for the next twenty-four hours while Hurek gets out of the area.

We have water and supplies. They can toss in food if they want to via the slot in the bottom of the door like a prison cell.

” He shrugged, but she could tell he was not happy about any of this.

“These should be dry enough to wear by morning. I’m hoping that by the time we stop at the next port, we can figure out some way to escape.

” He rinsed and wrung out her clothes as she washed the shampoo out of her hair.

He stripped, and she ran worried eyes over his gunshot wound.

Neither of them were in the mood to fool around. Not when it felt this dangerous, this unpredictable.

Clean, she stepped into the towel he held wide for her and went up on tiptoe to kiss him. Savored that miracle then moved away, wrapping the towel tightly around herself as he stepped into the shower. She picked up his dirty clothes and returned the favor.

“I can do that.”

“I know you can. So can I.” She paused, startled by the reflection in the small, steamed-up mirror. She looked exactly the same as she always did after a shower, and somehow, she hadn’t expected to. Not after what they’d endured. What she’d been through. “I need to contribute my fair share.”

“You already do, Row. You do.” He paused, considering her carefully. She didn’t know what he saw. “You’re beautiful—did I tell you that yet?”

She shot him a surprised look. “Once. So are you.”

“No, I mean it.” He seemed somber. Serious.

She meant it too, but perhaps she should learn to take a compliment. “Thank you.”

She scrubbed his clothes vigorously with some hand soap and rinsed them off. Wrung them out as much as she was able and left them in the sink.

There was only a single toothbrush and some Colgate toothpaste, but she was willing to share under the circumstances.

Hurek hadn’t been expecting her, and she was the biggest fool to have followed Kurt into this nightmare.

If she’d stayed behind, she could have contacted the embassy.

Alerted the authorities Kurt was still alive, and they could have rescued him.

She handed him a towel. “I’m sorry I didn’t do what you told me to do back at the warehouse. If I had, we wouldn’t both be in this mess. I could have found a way to raise the alarm about you being alive and kidnapped.”

He dried off and wrapped the towel around his waist, then his arms around her.

“Maybe they wouldn’t have let you escape or contact anyone.

And without you here, I’d have already told Hurek to go fuck himself.

Without you being here, he’d be busy ripping out my fingernails, one at a time.

Then he’d beat me to a pulp because I wouldn’t do whatever it is he wanted me to, and that would continue every day until I was dead or caved—and I wouldn’t cave. ”

She started shaking at the thought. She wouldn’t have wanted that. Not at all. Not ever .

He dragged his fingers through her hair and tried to work through the tangles.

She winced. “It’ll take hours to do anything with it.”

He picked up a narrow-toothed comb that sat on the sink. “I’ve got nothing better to do. You?”

Tears pricked again, but she forced them back. Shook her head.

He squeezed more water out of his wet clothes in the sink, hung them up around the cabin, and propped himself in the corner of the bed, wearing nothing but the towel. Spread his legs wide and indicated she sit in front of him.

He parted her hair on one side and worked through each section a little bit at a time. “Tell me something about yourself, Ms. Smith.”

“Like what?”

“Your best friend at school. Your favorite food. Pets. Embarrassing secrets…”

He was trying to help her relax, and it was working.

She needed to figure out how to build resilience within herself.

To enjoy the moment because it could really be her last—or she could be handed over to a bunch of savages who considered her body nothing more than an object to use.

She’d bet they’d never consider it rape. It wouldn’t cross their minds.

Or they wouldn’t care.

It was still a very real possibility, but she couldn’t let the fear destroy her. Women endured. They’d endured for millennia. She’d make the most of this time with Kurt and not think about the ugly possibilities around every corner. Enjoy the present until she couldn’t.

“My best friend at school was a girl called Deb, who was constantly getting me into trouble. She moved to Lincoln after we left school.”

“Nebraska?”

“Lincolnshire. North East England. I suspect ours came first.”

“Show off.”

She told him tales about her hometown and the old house she’d grown up in and inherited from her grandmother. About the memories and the history. He listened patiently as he painstakingly combed through her hair and even plaited one side.

“You’re really good at this.”

“My kid has long, blonde curly hair that gets snags if you blow on it. You bet your ass I’m good at this. The last thing I needed was my ex complaining I couldn’t even brush Daisy’s hair.”

His voice broke, and she grabbed his hands and pulled them around her and hugged him to her as he hugged her back. It was the first sign of weakness he’d shown since this began.

“We’re going to get through this, Kurt. You’re going to see your daughter again.”

His fingers gripped hers. “Yes, we are. Together. We’re gonna get through this together.”

He finished braiding her hair, and she got up and turned off the light.

They lay down together, him spooning her, the thin blanket spread over them.

They were on the edge of an abyss with no idea when someone would give them that final shove.

She intended to hold on for as long as she possibly could.