Illusion (Billionaire in Disguise 2)

That man was as fucking stubborn as they came. I threw open the ovens, trying to see through the thick fog barreling from below deck. I was choking on the lack of oxygen, on the ship being burned and going under. Water was gathering up to my ankles as I sloshed around, looking at the knobs on the stoves.

But none of them were turned on.

The fire wasn’t originating from the kitchen.

I could hear Derek tussling with someone above ground. The security guards were probably trying to get him onto a boat. I sloshed along the floor, dipping below the smoke as I caught my breath. I swam across and threw open the bathroom door, making sure no one was down here. I was about to abandon the ship altogether when I got to the stairs, ready to get off this death trap and back into Derek’s arms.

Then, I heard it.

The smallest groan coming from the very back of the ship.

“Sam, please!”

I looked up and saw Derek’s eyes as he pleaded with me.

“Take my hand. The ship’s sinking.”

“Get on the lifeboat. I’ll be there in a second,” I said.

“What? Sam, are you crazy?”

“Someone’s down here, and I’m not leaving them!”

I pushed off the stairs as Derek continued to fight with someone. I heard him cursing and shouting for me, and I tried to block him out. I swam toward the groan, getting closer as the water rose higher and higher. I could feel the instability of the boat as it continued to tip onto its side.

But then, I felt the weight of the hull give way.

“Fuck,” I said. “This ship’s going to split.”

I threw open the very last door I came to. Nothing but a closet and a storage place for mindless shit. But there, floating around in oblivion, was one of the security guards.

“Come on. I got ya,” I said.

Throwing my arm around the man’s body, I dragged him from the closet. I could feel the ship’s weight severing the boat. I raced toward the staircase and pulled the man up, his cough sputtering ocean water up this throat. I yelled for some guards to help me with this man as Derek yelled for me, spotting me on the deck of the ship as he was pushed toward a life raft.

“Sam! Sam!”

I tugged him over to where Derek was, and I could see the fire in his eyes. He was angry and worried, and he helped me gather the man into the boat. Someone shoved a life vest over my head as they threaded it around my body, buckling me in as some random guard dragged the man into the ship.

Then I felt a tight grasp on my wrist before I was pulled.

“Derek!”

“I’m not letting you go again. Get on this fucking boat, Sam.”

I fell into the inflatable raft just before we pushed away from the ship. I held the security guard tightly in my grasp as Derek cradled me against his heaving body. There was a very scared chef on our boat with us, his eyes watching the ship as the last of the security guards made it off.

I could only watch in horror as the rest of the ship went up in flames.

“What the hell’s all this?” Derek asked.

That was a strange question to ask.

“There was an explosion below the deck,” I said. “Consumed everything in fire. Blasted holes in the side of the boat, I’m sure. It’s why we started taking on water.”

“And was there any reason for you to go below deck and risk your life? Again?”

“You mean to save the man in my arms? No, Derek. No reason at all,” I said.