Page 94 of Sunburned

It would be just like me to fall for a guy who turned out to be a murderer.

But he did seem awfully protective of me since someone had tried to kill me. Which could just as easily be a cover as a sign that he genuinely cared. Regardless, I shouldn’t risk being alone with him again until I had more information.

I shouldn’t risk being alone with any of them.

The sudden sound of raised voices drew my attention to the back of the boat. Cody went out onto the open deck, followed by Rémy, as the rest of us sat up straighter, peering after them.

“What is it?” Allison asked, striding over to join them.

“There’s a dinghy docked at the stern,” Cody said, dropping his darts to a side table and jogging for the stairs.

“Please turn around,”I heard a crew member shout.

Alarmed, I rose and went outside to see a handful of crew members chasing a tall man dressed in black across the pool deck down below. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place him.

“Sir, please,”another crew member cried.“You have to go back to your boat.”

“Hey,” Cody called out, marching toward him. He seemed to recognize the guy. “What are you doing here?”

As Laurent came to stand by me, the captain and another male crew member attempted to stop the man, but he was stronger and pushed right through them.

I could feel Laurent tense the minute he laid eyes on the man.“Shit,”he murmured, turning to bolt after Cody.

What the hell?

My pulse raced as I leaned over the railing, watching Laurent rush toward the man. “I got this,” Laurent said to Cody.

But Cody didn’t back down, following closely on Laurent’s heels.

“It was you,”the man said, pushing Laurent squarely in the chest.

My hand flew to my mouth.

“Get the fuck off our boat,” Cody said, drawing back his fist.

Laurent placed a hand over Cody’s fist before he could do any damage. “I’ll handle it.”

The crew hovered around them, ready to step in, but Laurent waved them back.“What are you doing here?”Laurent asked the man.

“You knew,”the man shouted at Laurent.“You fucked me over.”

Next to me, Gisèle grabbed Samira’s elbow.“Is that the guy from the gray yacht?”she whispered.

“Marcel,”Samira confirmed.

I knew as she said it that she was right.

But what business did he have with Laurent?

Laurent waved him toward the sugar scoop at the stern, his level of confidence impressive.“Let’s talk down there,”he said.

“Without them,”the man said, pointing at the crew and Cody.

“It’s okay,” Laurent said to Cody. I could tell Cody didn’t want to let him go, but Laurent was insistent. “It is my problem. I can handle it.”

Disappointment weighed on me as I watched Laurent lead Marcel past the glowing pool. Even though I’d known he had secrets, that I shouldn’t get attached to him and couldn’t count him out as a suspect, seeing it play out before my eyes made me realize just how much hope I’d held out.

Once again, I’d been wrong.