Page 94 of Vistaria Has Fallen
Chapter Seventeen
The unnatural motion of the mattress beneath her woke Minnie from the shallow sleep she had achieved. She rolled onto her back and stared up at the bottom of the bunk above her. Scattered light bouncing off waves played on the painted wood, reflected through the porthole next to her. The aching hurt and sadness came back, slipping over her like a pall.
“Duardo,” she whisperedto the dark.
She deliberately recalled the last moments again, trying to acquaint herself with the fact, for it still did not seem real. It felt as though someone would arrive soon and explain it was all a terrible mistake, so sorry, speak to our lawyers.
She lay remembering Duardo’s words. Nick’s voice, as he translated them. The feel of Duardo beneath her as she lay against him for the fewmoments she’d have before they took him away—
Abruptly, she sat up and her head slammed into the bunk above. She held her forehead and rolled her eyes, trying to clear her mind and her sight, as a potent mix of excitement and horror burst through her. Mindful of her parents, who slept the sleep of the truly exhausted beside her, she whispered the astonishing fact just to herself, trying it aloudto see if it sounded as hopeful aloud as it seemed in her stressed-out mind.
“He was still warm...!”
* * * * *
Just after midnight they crossed into international waters, the graceful yacht skimming the waves with the spinnaker billowed out full, spraying iridescent foam aside with each crest of water.
Calli emerged from below decks where she had been checking on the family of three sleepingin peaceful berths. She was armed with hot coffee and wore a sweater she had found in a cupboard. Nick sat at the big wheel, a single hand resting on it. She handed him the coffee.
He thanked her distantly. He was pre-occupied.
Calli drank her coffee and watched the moon sparkle on the black waves ahead, leaving him to his thoughts.
Nick stirred. “We’ll be in Mexico some time tomorrow,” hesaid, taking a sip and dropping the cup into the swinging holder hanging from the console.
“What’s wrong? Is it what Pablo said? You’re not running away, Nick. You’re just regrouping. We both know you won’t leave Vistaria to fend for itself for long.”
“That wasn’t what I was thinking at all.”
“Then...?”
He glanced at her and she recognized discomfort in his expression.
“What?” she asked,a spurt of fear touching her.
“La dama fuerte,” he murmured. “I never asked you if you wanted this. If you wanted me.”
“Oh,” she said inadequately.
“You will never have a normal life with me. I can’t offer you a damn thing. Not even a nation to reside in. It’s just me. And I’m...” He took a breath, let it out. “I’m afraid it won’t be enough. I’ve done nothing but push you away, I know that.I’ve put you through, well, a war. Only I want you to say yes. I want you to stay with me. Always.”
She considered this for a moment.
“The lady stays silent,” Nick murmured to himself. She could hear the note of worry in his voice.
She sighed. “You’d better teach me Spanish, Nick. It seems to be the one thing I can’t teach myself out of a book.”
He plucked her from the deck, put her on hislap and wrapped his arms around her. Before she could gasp her surprise, he kissed her, and this time it was not a brief one. When he let her draw a full breath again, she said, “The wheel!”
“I am watching it,” he assured her, his voice low, deep, the way she remembered it from the first time they had met.
“Always, Nick?” she asked, not quite able to believe he wanted her to stay with him forever.
“Until the end, whenever that may be.” He cleared his throat. “Duardo said it best. Even if the end is to be tomorrow and we only have this day in which I can call you mine, I’ll take that. I will grab it with both hands and be proud and very grateful that you stayed.”