Page 38 of The Awful Truth

Miguel gasped. “That must have been terrifying!”

Winslow tugged a pair of boxers up, then threw his towel onto a chair nearby. “It was so wavy out there. Horrible. And his mood. When that man doesn’t get his way, he is a nightmare. Poor Mercy. Their poor children too.” He shook his head, then pulled on a pair of silk pajama pants.

“The worst part was that Ted didn’t even care. He seriously could not have cared less about catching that fish. It was like he was out for a light jog and accidentally won a fucking marathon. It meant nothing to him, which only made Travis more furious.”

Miguel scrunched up his face. “My poor Winslow. And you must be starving. I’ll call Indira to bring supper.”

He shook his head. “Oliver fed us. At first, I couldn’t understand why he brought so much food, but now I get it. He knew what would happen.”

Miguel felt his stomach growl and Winslow, who was pulling on his pajama shirt, gave him a concerned look. “Did you not eat?”

“I thought I’d wait for you.”

“Oh, lamb. It’s nearly ten o’clock. You are too sweet.”

Guilt stabbed him right in the chest. “Not at all. You would’ve done the same thing. Besides, look what you went through for me today.”

“Yes, well, I’m glad, to be honest. We really dodged a bullet because there is no way in hell you are going to sign on with Summit Broadcasting. He’s insisting we go fishing again at sunrise tomorrow. Can you believe the audacity? I said no. Short of us hitting an iceberg, there is literally nothing that could get me back on that awful boat again.”

He picked up the phone and after a few seconds, said, “Yes, Miguel is ready to eat now.” There was another pause. “Oh, that sounds delightful. Just dessert for me, but bring him everything.”

When Winslow hung up, he flopped down onto an armchair. “Dinner will be here in five.”

“Thank you, darling. You take such good care of me.” Miguel, whose mind was racing, tried to look casual. “Was Travis upset when you told him you’re not going fishing tomorrow?”

“No. He really only cares about beating Ted. I’m irrelevant. And honestly, who even cares if he’s angry? Not me. The first port we get to, we’re getting the hell off this yacht and saying goodbye to that man forever.”

Miguel’s gut tightened. “What?! We can’t just leave!”

“Of course we can. He doesn’t own you. I’ll tell him a work emergency came up, which honestly…” He let out a puff of air, his face darkening. Then shaking his head, he said, “What can he say after what he pulled yesterday? Making us wait at the pier overnight. Honestly.”

“Hmph.” Miguel crossed the room and sat on the couch near Winslow.

“What? Don’t tell me you still want to work for him?”

“No, of course not,” Miguel said, shaking his head as if the very idea were preposterous. “Although…as far as the show goes, it’s not like I’d have to deal with Travis on a daily basis or anything. In fact, once everything is signed, I bet I’ll only hear from him when it’s time to renew the contract.”

Winslow narrowed his eyes. “Nope. Definitely not. There is no way I’m going to allow that man to have any control over our lives.” He stared at Miguel for a second. “I can see you’re upset. Listen, as soon as we get back to London, I’ll call Sarah at BBC.”

Feeling slightly panicked, Miguel said, “No. No, I don’t want you to do that.”

Winslow placed a hand on his knee. “Now, Miguel, I know you have never wanted me to interfere with your career, and I have the utmost admiration at how everything you’ve done, you’ve done on your own. And you have, my darling. You have made it. You got the offer from the biggest network on the planet. You’ve already proven yourself. Now, let me make a little adjustment to the plan to save you from years of being under that psychotic man’s thumb.”

A knock at the door saved Miguel from having to come up with an excuse. He sprung to his feet, then hurried to the door. “Tell you what, you’ve been through so much today. Let’s forget everything and just enjoy what’s left of the evening.”

Winslow nodded. “Sounds delightful. Actually, I’m probably going to be asleep ten minutes from now. I can’t remember ever being this exhausted.”

Opening the door, Miguel ushered Indira into the room. He had the meal set out on the balcony, needing some fresh air to keep himself from feeling as though he was going to suffocate under the weight of his lies. Tomorrow. He would have to tell him the truth tomorrow. And pray that Winslow would understand.

10:48 P.M.

ANTONIA

“Well, this is just craptastic,” Antonia muttered. She had just unloaded the entire contents of her toiletry kit onto the bathroom counter, and the sleeping pills definitely weren’t there. How could she be so stupid as to forget to pack them? If ever she needed one, it was now—when she was in a strange time zone, in a strange bed, on a boat with a man she needed to flatter and impress and convince to fork over millions of dollars.

It was clear to her that tonight was not the night for her and Ted to resuscitate their dying romance, so sadly her smooth lady bits would go to waste. He’d come back from the fishing expedition exhausted and sun burnt. Too tired to even make conversation, he managed to find a way to watch the Mariners game on his cell phone.

So, now all she wanted was to take her pill and have a huge sleep, which was not going to happen. Sighing, she put everything back in the bag, then opened the door and shut off the light. She would just have to hope that all that sun and fresh air would do the trick.