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Chapter Twenty-Nine
Coop
Kai held his hand for Aziza, helping her from the water. I scowled at the fucker, not wanting him to touch her. Nik jabbed an elbow into my ribs, reminding me to play it cool. Unable to, I edged Nik out of the way and rushed to haul myself onto the dive platform then to my feet right behind Zee. If Kai tried to so much as sniff her hair, I was prepared to throttle him.
Once onboard, we wordlessly began stripping our gear. After the heavy work of securing any loose tanks was done, Kai leaned back against the captain’s chair. With his dark skin, white T-shirt, board shorts, and Maui Jim shades hanging from a neck strap, he looked every bit the part of a young bosun on a billionaire’s private yacht. And nothing like a pirate out to abscond with Zee’s treasure. But no one had expected Judas or Iago, either.
Taking chances on who to trust when it came to Zee wasn’t going to happen on my watch. As much as I got along with Kai, I’d put the fucker down if he was involved in anything that aimed to hurt her.
“Guess everyone’s pretty shell-shocked, huh?” Kai glanced around, his easy smile faltering at our cold awkwardness. “Big bully, eh?”
“Biggest I’ve seen yet,” Zee said. Her fingers quivered as she dragged the zipper of her wetsuit down.
I couldn’t help but notice her breasts curving out from the red bikini top. So did Kai. I faked a smile and suggested, “Next time, you should come down and run interference.”
Showing signs of intelligence, he turned his attention from Zee’s cleavage to me. “No thanks, brah, my sister’s already been nipped once. She doesn’t recommend it. Besides, now that the shark world has had a taste of the sweet Kekoa blood, word is out and they all want some.”
“Oh really?” Zee said with a laugh that rang genuine. If she thought Kai was guilty of anything, she sure as hell wasn’t showing it. “Must be all that pineapple you eat.”
“You know, I’ve heard pineapple makes other things sweet—”
I slapped him on the back, cutting him off before he regaled us about his high-fructose porn-syrup. I tried my best to keep the warning shot from knocking too much oxygen from his lungs.
“Speaking of blood,” I said, “let me see your hand, Presh.”
Zee held her left hand out to me. She’d cleverly tied it off with a strip of her wetsuit. Given her flinches, I suspected my clumsy attempts to gently untie the knot were failing.
Distracting herself, she looked away from the cut and started to wring the salt water from her dark hair with her free hand. “How is Kilikina doing in the ranks? I haven’t been able to keep up. Is she still kicking ass?”
I cocked my lip, admiring Zee’s ability to shift gears. Somehow she was managing to appear as if we hadn’t just seen the dead body of a friend, while also re-establishing her personal connection with someone who quite possibly was hell-bent on fucking her over. Perhaps she was reminding him of their friendship in case he was on the fence.
“Yeah, she—shit, Zee, here.” Kai tossed me a bottle of water before hustling to get the first-aid kit out.
I winced at the sight of her hurt, but she was doing her best not to let it show. I rinsed the gash out, then dabbed it with alcohol before wrapping it tight with gauze.
Looking on, Nik hmphed. “You sure weren’t that tender with me, Nurse Ratched. Zee, you might take a look at some of my scars before you let him keep working on you.”
I huffed out a small laugh as Nik folded the top half of his wetsuit down. He proceeded to turn his back to us, showing off his muscles along with my not-so symmetrical handiwork. “Tell you what, Steele, I’ll let you do the honors of stitching her up if the bleeding doesn’t stop.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she muttered. “It’s not that deep.”
“Next time, promise me, you’ll let me know you need help, Presh.” I didn’t care if this was a job. I leaned over and kissed her, then whispered, “You’re not alone in any of this anymore.”
She flicked her eyes up, and I’d swear I saw a tear of gratitude form in them. But just as quickly it was gone and she’d turned them back on Kai. “Where is your sister this week?”
“Killa’s in Rottnest.” His voice sounded a bit jealous while his wide, white-toothed smile beamed pride.
“Australia! How wonderful! It was her dream to surf there, I remember. Please tell her how excited we are about her comeback and making the tour.”
“Oh, she’s not just on it, she’s in striking distance of the lead. ‘Kilikina Kekoa, World Champion Surfer’ has a nice ring to it.”
“Yes, it does! You and your family have to go watch her in the finals at Trestles! I’ll have Travel arrange it all. If you all need anything, Zaki will make it happen.”
I met Zee’s soft brown eyes. She wasn’t lying, nor was she subtly reminding Kai not to screw over a friend, a really good friend. She truly didn’t know if Kai was involved in whatever was happening here. Until she knew for sure, he was still her family and she genuinely cared about him. Not just him, every employee and anyone they cared about fell under her protective bubble. She’d always been that way, taking care of us behind the guise of doing Zaki’s bidding.
Zaki. What a fucker.
My jaw tensed. Zee had trembled when she’d told me how he’d treated her the night the Esmeralda went down. Why she gave him credit for anything now was a mystery to me.
