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I got lucky. The wind was blowing just right that none of it flew back on me, and he let me go, cursing and pawing at his face.
“Serves you right!” I shouted.
But then I got unlucky. My shoes slipped on the railing, and I fell backward. I screamed as loud as I could, trying to grab anything to stop me from falling into the ocean.
Chapter16
Sunshine
In one second, I was staring into the eyes of the man I had a feeling I was falling in love with.The next, I was running. Racing down stairs and along slick decking, for the sound of a scream I knew.
“Sylvia!” I yelled, turning a corner. Alphonse was on the walkway, barreling toward us, clawing at his face. For a moment, I thought he was going to attack me, and then I was shoved out of the way, against the brass railing.
Giovanni had Alphonse’s shirt in his fists, shaking him. “Where is she? What have you done with her?” he shouted.
But I knew exactly where she was. I could see her tiny hand, holding the brass railing. Shaking.
“Sylvia!” I flung myself over the railing, my hand closing around her slender arm just as her fingers were losing their grip.
My grasp on her wasn’t tight enough. “Help!” she sobbed, as her arm slipped. It felt like my shoulder was being pulled out of its socket, but I held on as hard as I could.
I wasn’t strong enough.
“Help!” I screamed as Sylvia’s face went white with terror, and she fell, a long, straight drop into the ocean.
Alphonse and Giovanni were fighting at the end of the deck, and no one else was nearby. No one would hear me over the wind, and even if they did, by the time they came to help, she would be too far away. Alone.
I had no choice.
I didn’t hesitate. I threw up the lid on a nearby bench and grabbed the life jacket stored inside it. It had reflective tape, a flashing light, and—according to the brochure in my room about the boat’s state-of-the-art features—a GPS tracker somewhere inside. All I needed to do was get to her before she was too far for me to paddle.
In seconds, I was diving over the edge of the railing, my arms through the heavy straps. I hit the water with a smacking sound, and my head went under immediately. But I didn’t let go of the straps.For once, the feeling of terror that always hit me when I was submerged didn’t make me freeze up, not with Sylvia out here in the ocean with me. There was no time to panic.
“Sylvia!” I shouted as the wake from the engines spun me out and away from the yacht. But I heard nothing, saw nothing.
The boat was moving away so fast, it seemed unbelievable. We would be alone out here in no time. I scanned the waves, kicking my feet to keep upright, and kept looking.
Then, at last, I saw a flash of moonlight on her lavender dress when the swell of a wave rose over the horizon.I kicked hard, using the life jacket like a kickboard. It took forever, paddling up and over the waves made by the boat’s passage, but finally I reached her.
“Hang on,” I called, grabbing her arm and pulling it over the edge of the jacket.
“Soleil,” she sobbed. “You came for me. You came… to save me, and you can’t… even swim.”
“Sylvia, I can’t even float.” I laughed through my own tears and patted the life jacket. “Thank goodness for modern technology. Are you okay?”
“I was… stupid. I was getting video of Alphonse with the wedding planner, and he caught me. He threw your phone in the ocean.” She clutched my arm with one hand, squeezing it. “I stole your purse. I’m so sorry.”
She cried hysterically while I patted her hair, trying to hide my own growing panic. The yacht was so far away now, I could barely make it out. The flashing light on the life vest had gone on when we hit the water, but I worried it wasn’t strong enough to see from a distance, especially with the lights on the boat being so bright. Surely Giovanni had seen us go overboard?
Sylvia’s sobbed apologies forced me out of my own spiral of fear. “You don’t need to apologize for a thing. Now, take a few deep breaths.” I counted for her. “Three counts in, six counts out. And again. One, two, three, hold it… and exhale. Six, five, four…”
When she had it together, she asked, “Where did you learn that?”
“The Omega League,” I answered, glad for the distraction. “They teach us all sorts of things. How to fold napkins, martial arts, what to say if a guy steps on your foot while you’re dancing a polka.”
She let out a shaky breath, the flashing light illuminating the tear tracks on her face every few seconds. “My mom was in a League. She said they taught her how to arrange flowers. That’s how she met my dad. I wish they’d taught her how to recognize a bad alpha.”
I asked, gently, “Did Alphonse try to throw you in?”
