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Nick held his gaze so long Ronan wondered if he’d registered thewords.
Finally he raised his hands as if in surrender, exhaling like he’d been holding his breath for a hundred years. "Fine. Fuck it. Whatever you say,Ro.”
Ronan pulled his brother into an embrace and clapped him on the back. Nick stiffened like he was surprised before leaning into the hug. Ronan couldn’t remember the last time they’dembraced.
“Thankyou.”
30
Julia heldonto the bench underneath her as the boat sped across dark waters. Ronan stood silently next to her, bracing himself on the back of the bench while Braden stood next to Nora, steering theboat.
Nick sat apart, silent and brooding, and Julia wondered what had happened while she’d been at the beach with Nora. They’d returned to find the men packing the last of their supplies, the tension so thick it was almostvisible.
Nora had waved off her raised eyebrows. “They’ll get over it, whatever itis.”
Other than her gramps and her mother’s assorted boyfriends and husbands, Julia hadn’t spent a lot of time around men, especially those with as close and complicated a relationship as the Murphy brothers. She’d kept quiet, figuring Ronan would talk if he felt like it. They’d spent the rest of the afternoon and evening going over last minute details gleaned from the latest satellite footage of theElysium.
They were almost positive the security detail involved two guards patrolling the deck, one at the stern and one at the back, plus one on the bridge. Julia had been surprised there weren’t more of them, but Ronan had reminded her there were likely morebelowdeck.
Still, she’d felt a burst of optimism. The plan for boarding the Elysium relied on their ability to board the craft from the bow, and that meant surfacing long enough to hook a line that could be used to climb up from thewater.
One guard at the front seemedmanageable.
She’d played out every possible scenario for freeing Elise once they found her in one of the cabins, but she knew it wasn’t enough. There were a million things she couldn’t anticipate, and there was no way out butthrough.
Ronan reached for her hand and squeezed and she turned to find him looking at her. He didn’t say anything — it would be impossible to hear him over the roar of the wind and the boat’s engine — but she saw the fear in hiseyes.
It was what pained her most: knowing she’d caused such a fearless man, a warrior in every sense of the word, to be afraid. She was surprised he didn’t hate her for that, hoped he wouldn’t come to in the longrun.
The boat slowed to a crawl, the noise gradually lessening as the boat came to astop.
Ronan squeezed her hand, stood, and moved to drop theanchor.
The boat bobbed in the water and Nick moved up to the digital display on the boat’sdashboard.
“Is that it?” he asked, pointing to a green shadow on thescreen.
“That’s it,” said Nora. “Mark the coordinates and set yourGPS.”
Nick would be their navigator, leading them through the water to the Elysium approximately half a mile away. Braden would follow behind him, then Julia, thenRonan.
Julia looked over the side of the boat and was relieved to see that the water was calm. They’d done a practice night dive two nights before and it had been more disorienting than she’d expected. She was confident she could follow Nick and Braden — and Ronan would be behind her to keep her on track — but dealing with rough waters at the same time was a challenge she had hoped not toface.
Braden reached for his tank. “Let’s suitup.”
Julia zipped up her wetsuit and started putting on the rest of her gear while Nick and Ronan did thesame.
“Check your air,” Ronan remindedher.
She put on her mask and took a breath. The sound of air moving through the hoses wasreassuring.
She could dothis.
She held up a thumb and Ronan signaled for her to turnaround so he could check the levels on her tank and make sure the hoses were securely attached. It was a precaution he didn’t make with anyone else, but she wouldn’t fight it if it made him feel better. She was new enough to diving that the added security made her feel bettertoo.
They lined up at the back of theboat.
“Check your comms,” Norasaid.
