Illusion (Billionaire in Disguise 2)

“Derek, now’s not the time,” I said. “We have civilians on board.”

“I’m a civilian, Sam!”

I winced at his words as a helicopter positioned itself over our heads.

“I’m a civilian,” he said defeatedly.

I didn’t have an answer for him. I didn’t know why Jacob would come after him when innocent bystanders were on board. It didn’t fit the original attack. Hell, it didn’t fit the original letters. The letters made sense when Jacob came into the picture, but the only way to describe his attack in Derek’s office was desperate. He was willing to put a bullet in both of us, but the question was had he considered me an innocent bystander? If he didn’t, then it would make sense why he would make the comment about killing both of us.

But if he did consider me innocent that night, then it gave us precedence for him attacking this boat.

I came to when Derek was helping the security guard up from my grasp. We worked him onto the airborne gurney, then watched the Coast Guard funnel him up to the aircraft. They sent down one more, and it was a no-brainer to stick the chef in it. She was scared and crying profusely, and I wanted to get her out of this situation.

Which left Derek and me in the boat.

Alone.

The helicopter started flying toward the shore as others waited to be filled. I sighed and sat back, closing my eyes and listening to the bobbing of the ocean. Something that had been so serene and comforting only days ago was now the cause of so much heartache and stress. I felt defeated. Angry. In the dark on so many things that didn’t make sense. Someone was pulling the wool over our eyes. It was the only conclusion that made sense.

But my mind was rendered useless when Derek tugged my body toward his.

“Come here,” he said. “Lean against me.”

I sighed, no longer fighting him as I curled into the strength of his wet form.

We sat there, our lifeboat bobbing up and down as a boat made its way toward us. They were coming for us by sea now that the helicopters were full. I gazed up at the fireworks still popping off, its residue falling into the ocean around us as the rest of the ship sank.

The ocean guzzled it down like a hungry child waking up after a nap.

“We’ll figure out who did this,” Derek said. “This is what you do.”

It had happened. The moment when people like me quit their jobs. I was now being reassured of my own competency by the one person I was trying to protect.

I was no longer the best, and that thought made me sick.

Chapter 19

Derek

WITH THE ATTACK ON my yacht, the FBI was officially brought in to investigate. They were getting fed up with all the nonsense going on in my life, and quite frankly, I was as well. This was getting out of hand, and it had to stop.

The problem?

They were treating Sam as if she was a suspect.

We were meeting with two very particular agents with steely glances and tough exteriors. Sam and I, over the past week, had undergone some very rigorous interviews with them both. Sam seemed to be okay with everything, but it was tearing me apart. Some of the questions they were asking turned my stomach.

“What do you know about Samantha Williams?”

“How long have the two of you been involved under your employ?”

“Where was she during the explosion?”

Yep. That was right. Divers had recovered enough of my yacht to confirm there had been a bomb on the yacht. The security who was attacked? The wound was almost exactly the same as the one Jacob had behind his head. Same shape, which meant the same object was used. Same indentation, which meant the same force behind the object was used. Same length, which meant the same trajectory was used.

It was practically confirmed that it was the same assailant.

The FBI was also running triple-checked background checks on all the crew and staff on the ship. They wanted to know anything that seemed out of place. I told the agents that Sam already took care of that, but the only thing they did was roll their eyes.