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I tipped my head to assess the boat. It looked fairly new, modern, expensive. “I’m pretty sure there’ll be a bathroom inside, but if you don’t think you can make it, just throw up over the edge.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” she muttered as Hector held out a hand for her to board. “You think I’ve got a death wish?”
“Babe, I’ve got you,” Hector said, handling her as if she were a fine porcelain doll.
A dark figure caught my eye and I turned to see Rupert striding towards us, a phone clamped to his ear, which seemed to be the case every minute of every day at the moment. The mid-winter sunshine made shadows of his lashes, sweeping over his cheeks as he walked. When he finally looked my way, my heart flipped over and a sexy smile quirked the corner of his mouth. He snapped his phone shut. “What are you looking at?”
“Nothing,” I said with a shrug. “Just some creepy guy in a suit who seems to be stalking me.”
He walked right up to me until I could see the outline of his pupils amidst the almost black irises. I thought he was about to kiss me but then a sharp smack on my bottom made me yelp.
“Save it, you two.” Hector’s voice travelled over the deck. “Don’t want to keep Ma and Pa waiting.”
Rupert cringed and I stroked a hand over his sharp cheekbone. “Ignore him.”
He grabbed my arm and held it fast, his eyes boring deep into mine. “I’d keep anyone waiting for you.”
A shiver passed through me and I swallowed. “I know,” I whispered.
A beat passed during which I wasn’t sure if Rupert was going to throw me on the deck and fuck me in front of the entire port or if we were going to board the boat like civilised human beings. To my partial relief he chose the latter and insisted on holding my hand until we reached the lounge.
Minty was kneeling up on a bench looking through a pair of binoculars at the crystal clear horizon and Hector was pouring out four glasses of Blackcap’s best. I hated to admit it, especially since none of us knew what the future held for Blackcap Distillery, but the stuff was growing on me.
“I’d like to make a toast,” Hector announced as soon as we each had a lowball in hand. “To you, Rupert.” We all turned to face the taller of the two brothers who looked distinctly uncomfortable at being the centre of attention all of a sudden. “We have been through some shit, brother. Half of it I still can’t even believe. But all my life, I’ve known that you and I had a connection I never had with anyone else. I looked up to you, and you were a good teacher. You taught me who I wanted to be, not who I was being shaped to be. I owe you my life, Rupert.”
Minty wiped a hand discreetly under her eye, but Hector hadn’t finished.
“To Vivian.”
I blushed instantly.
“Rupert might have saved my life, but you saved his. You taught him what real love is; you gave him a reason to question everything and to fight for what he believed in. And I really hope that one day I get the honour of calling you my sister.”
My chest swelled with gratitude and I walked across the lounge and threw my arms around him. “Thank you, Hector.”
He kissed the top of my head then raised his glass again. I kept my arms around his waist, feeling Rupert’s smile hot on my cheek. “And last but certainly not least, to Minty.”
We all turned to face her sitting haphazardly on the bench with the binoculars dangling from her fingers.
“You stayed with me even when we knew we could never be together. You never gave up. And you’ve only supported me in everything I’ve done, even when you started meeting with the Rebellion behind my back.”
Minty bit back a smirk.
“But you know,” Hector took a step towards her. “I thought it was kinda hot that you joined a group of people whose main thing in common was a pure hatred for me and my supposed family.”
Minty looked up as he approached, her gaze following his hand as he took a curl of her blue hair and smoothed it through his fingers.
“You’ve never been conventional. And I love that about you. And one day…” he tucked his fingertips beneath her chin and tipped her mouth up to meet his, “I’ll make you my wife.”
My stomach melted as I watched Hector kiss Minty so openly. I only realised I wasn’t just looking, I was staring, when Rupert tugged my arm and led me out of the lounge and up to the deck. “We’re about to leave,” he said, pulling me into his side. “I thought you might want to say goodbye.”
I smiled as the boat’s engine revved and we moved slowly away from the dock. “It’s not really goodbye though, is it? We’ll be back again soon.”
I looked up at Rupert but somewhere inside that sentence, I’d lost him. I followed his frown to the water’s edge where Jasper was waving us off.
“I owe them more than I can ever give,” he said, quietly.
I fed my arm through his coat and hugged his thick torso. “You gave them freedom.”
