“Fuck you, Garrett. I"m not leaving you up here,” Ty growled as he took Zane"s hand again. This time he did pull at him. Despite Zane"s size, Ty"s strength was hard to fight, and Ty got him to move three jerky steps to the railing. “If I have to push you over I will, but then you won"t be able to aim and you"ll break a leg and I"ll never hear the end of it,” Ty grumbled at him almost under his breath as he looked behind them at the three-story drop.
Zane wrapped his free hand around the railing in a death grip.
“I"m sorry, Ty,” he whispered as he met Ty"s worried gaze. Visions of falling warred with the sight of Ty nearly begging him to jump, and for a moment Zane thought he might be sick right then and there.
The first ill-advised shot sent through a decorative grating rang out, pinging off the awning above their heads. Ty ducked instinctively, but he didn"t take his eyes off Zane. Ty"s eyes had always been easy for Zane to read, and now Ty was desperate and scared and not trying to hide it. He put one hand on Zane"s cheek, squeezing Zane"s fingers with the other. “Zane,” he whispered brokenly. He hesitated, his mouth working but no sound coming out. Another shot, this one closer and slightly more accurate, had them ducking together as sparks from the metal railing showered them. Their pursuers were moving cautiously in case their quarry was armed, but time was running out.
“Zane,” Ty repeated desperately as he stood and pulled Zane closer to the edge before climbing over the rail again. “I love you,” he blurted, grip tightening on Zane"s hand in case he tried to pull away.
“Please trust me.”
Zane didn"t think it was possible to be shocked out of mind-numbing fear. But Ty"s words shook him enough that he allowed Ty to pull and guide him, and Zane found himself climbing up to throw one leg over and straddle the railing next to his partner in a sort of fog. “I trust you,” he said in a shaking voice that revealed all too much of his fear.
Ty"s fingers were like a vise grip on Zane"s hand. “On three,” he said softly.
Behind them the men finally rounded the corner, came out into the open, and fired several quick, poorly aimed shots—though one pinged off the railing between them, causing Zane to flinch and wobble enough that he grabbed at the railing desperately, the fright blooming in his chest and blanking his mind.
“Three!” Ty shouted. He wrapped his arm around Zane"s shoulder and leaned sideways, kicking off the railing at the last minute and sending them both plummeting over the edge.
The fall passed much more quickly than Zane expected. Dazed by Ty"s declaration, he barely got in two breaths before suddenly the cushions were there and he slammed into the water, plunging below the surface. Despite the cushions helping to break his fall, Zane felt like all the air was knocked out of him. He gasped before he could stop himself and took in a mouthful of saline water as the momentum took him to the bottom of the pool.
He instinctively launched himself right back up, gasping and coughing as he surfaced, and he flailed helplessly for several seconds.
Trying to breathe and tread water and open his eyes all at the same time was too much to accomplish when his pulse was racing and his heart was practically pounding out of his chest.
A firm grip tugged on his shoulder then just as quickly released him, and he could hear coughing and sputtering nearby as someone else struggled in the water. Screaming and shouting mingled with the rushing sound of adrenaline in Zane"s ears and someone barking orders nearby.
Free of the fear that had frozen him but now literally shaking, Zane finally managed to right himself and wipe his stinging eyes so he could see Ty next to him. “Did you say that to get me to jump?” he choked out.
Ty was struggling through the water toward the edge of the pool.
He looked more like a drowning puppy than the graceful swimmer Zane had seen in the ocean and pool several days ago. Ty didn"t respond; he merely spit out a mouthful of water and shook his head. He threw both arms over the edge of the wall, pulling himself just enough out of the water to be able to gasp in several deep breaths. Zane got to the side of the pool as well, still trying to wrap his brain around Ty"s manipulation and the obvious fact that it had been successful.
Zane was ill, angry, aghast, still scared out of his mind, desperately relieved… a mishmash of flaring emotions he couldn"t sort out. He kept his eyes on his partner, wondering if Ty was going to respond. But Ty just stared at the deck of the pool as he rested his elbows on it, looking a little dazed.
As Zane watched, a heavy black boot stepped in front of his partner"s face, causing Ty to look up at its owner. One of the ship"s security officers stood above him, looking down at them with his arms crossed disapprovingly. Behind him, the Bianchis were wrapped in towels and handcuffed, two other security officers flanking them.
Ty looked up at the man for a few moments longer, then thumped his head down to his forearms in surrender.
Chapter 13
TY SAT with one foot pulled up on the hard berth, his elbow resting on his knee as he stared at the sterile white walls of the holding cells.
There were three of them, each separated by thick wire fencing. Ty leaned his shoulder against the wire of his cell and exhaled slowly.
“At least we"re not being shot at anymore,” he drawled to Zane, maintaining the British accent just because it annoyed the Italian agents and the ship"s security, who were still trying to figure out who the hell they really were. And because he f**king could.
“True,” Zane agreed, shifting tiredly on the small bench in the next cell. He still looked tense. “They"ll clear it up soon enough and let us out of here.”
Once the ship"s security had gotten their shit together, the situation had settled down fast. Mostly because everyone was locked up somewhere or another, according to the various and sundry visitors they"d received to fill them in or taunt them.
Dolce and Gabbana had come by to berate them for sticking their American (maybe) noses where they didn"t belong. The two goons turned out to really be Italian Guardia di Finanza, presumably assigned to shut down the Bianchis. Ty and Zane could only assume Vartan Armen really had been trying for a coup; he"d supplied the Guardia with the information they needed to bust the Italian couple. Ty was fairly sure these two wouldn"t be long for their jobs after all the reports got filed.
It was possible Armen actually hadn"t resorted to attempted murder, but they would never know for sure, since he was now in the ship"s morgue and couldn"t tell anyone what had happened. While Armen may or may not have been the guilty party where the attempts on Ty"s life were concerned, the perpetrators of the scuba-diving and rock-climbing incidents might not be found, according to the captain.