The End of Us (Love in Isolation 3)

Fear and panic nearly blind me as I suck in air.

“C’mon, get on.” He leads me into the water, then shoves me on board, making it rock back and forth. This doesn’t seem safe.

“Where are you taking me? We won’t make it far,” I warn as if I know anything about boats. But if there’s one thing that’s certain, the ocean waves will overpower us. They’re too large.

He starts the motor, laughing maniacally as he keeps his weapon pointed at me. I try to wiggle my wrists free, but it’s no use. The cuffs are too tight. I need to stall him as long as possible so he doesn’t take this farther into the water.

“Jack, please,” I plead calmly. “We’ll die if you go any farther. The tide is in.”

The boat roars to life, and he turns toward me with an evil grin. “At least we’ll die together then.”

“Help! Please, help!” I scream, praying someone hears me in the distance.

“Shut the fuck up!” he shouts, then whacks me in the face with the gun.

I yelp out in pain as I fall to my side. Fuck, that’s gonna bruise.

“We aren’t going far. Just to the marina. Think you can stay quiet for ten minutes or do I need to stuff my dick in your mouth?”

My heart thumps as he lifts me up by my elbow, sitting me upright.

“Don’t fucking touch me.” I jerk my arm from his grip.

“Your wicked mouth is only making me harder, you ugly cunt. So if you keep opening it, I’m gonna use it.”

I grind my teeth, not willing to test him on his threat. However, I won’t think twice about biting it off.

Jack revs the engine again. I frantically look around, hoping someone is close enough to see or hear me, but most people out on the water are too far out.

The rocky waves make it hard to stay steady, and Jack curses as he struggles. Just as the boat turns away from the house and rocks with movement, a gunshot rings out. I scream, lowering my body as Jack messes with the controls, increasing the engine's speed.

I can’t tell where the shot came from, but then there’s another, and this time, it hits Jack in the arm. He suddenly jerks the wheel, and the boat rocks to one side, then the other. Large waves crash against us, and an extreme amount of water splashes onto the floor. I shift to both sides, unable to steady myself because I can’t use my hands. Jack loses control, and before I know it, the boat is tipping over.

As I fall into the cold water, I struggle to kick my feet and am unable to move my arms with the handcuffs on. I can’t bring myself up to the surface and start to panic.

I’m going to drown.

I’m going to die before I have the chance to tell Tristan I love him.

I hope he knows, but we never exchanged those three words. They were on the tip of my tongue, and now I regret not saying them.

If I somehow survive this, I won’t think twice about it.

The cold and exhaustion take over as I grow weaker and am unable to fight to stay afloat. I look up and see the capsized boat drifting farther away as I struggle to breathe.

Tristan’s the last person on my mind when everything goes black.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

TRISTAN

As soon as the boat capsizes, I run toward it and wait for Piper to swim up so I can help her out. I keep my gun aimed toward the water in case Jack reappears. I know the bullet hit him, but I’m not sure where. The boat was swaying hard, and I didn’t want to risk him getting away, so I took the shot.

“Piper!” I yell, hoping she’ll hear my voice and find me.

I struggle with what to do since my prosthetic can’t be submerged, and there’s a risk of it weighing me down. Not to mention I’ve been shot.

The bullet pierced the socket of my prosthetic. I immediately went down, the pain burning through me as I realized that stupid fuck somehow hit skin. However, the socket acted as a shield, and once I realized what happened, I stood and bounced my foot to re-secure the seal and release the extra air. With the pressure of the prosthesis against my knee, the bleeding stopped, but it won’t stay secure for long. The wound will need to be taken care of as soon as possible, but my only focus is finding Piper.

I’ll need my backup liner once I get the injury looked at.

After a minute of waiting for her to resurface, I know something’s wrong.

“Fuck it.” I toss the gun and tear off my shirt before rushing into the cold water. “Piper!”

The pain radiates through me, but I push through it. I’ve been through worse, and I’ll get through this too.