Page 409 of The Romance Adventure

“And the crown?” I look around.

Lally smiles. “Right where you want it.”

We board the Big Boat. The women say goodbye and I long for Jolie to be with them, but we already said our farewell...and I fear it’s forever.

Royal hangs back as if reluctant.

I chuckle. “I promise, no boat surfing.”

His throat bobs.

“We’re doing this for our parents,” Ryan reminds him.

“And to put a very bad man away for a very long time,” Magnus adds.

When Royal still doesn’t get on the boat, I say, “If none of those reasons compel you to get on this boat, then just be brave.”

Magnus fires up the engines.

“I can tackle him,” Ryan says.

Royal glances at his wife. She blows him a kiss. At last, he climbs in. “Godspeed.”

This is going to be a long ride, but the Big Boat goes fast. What we’re looking for isn’t on a map, so it’s hard to chart. I’m counting on my intuition.

After three days of traveling, taking shifts, and running the engines hard, we clear the Caribbean and Central America.

Ryan is awake with me while the other two catch some shut-eye.

He asks, “Why didn’t we fly to Brazil?”

“Remind yourself what we have in the hold,” I say, referring to a priceless treasure.

“Oh, right. That. Okay. When do you think we’ll be there?”

“If you dare ask, Are we there yet? ' I’ll throw you overboard,” Magnus says, coming up from behind.

It’s time for us to switch, so I can get some sleep, but when I lie down in the berth, it doesn’t come.

My mind swirls with thoughts about Jolie and what she’s doing. Probably sleeping like I should be. Maybe organizing her shoes. Or she finally packed them up and disappeared without a trace. She could probably do that.

I’ve spent the first half of my life finding my parents. If I’m successful and Jolie does a Houdini on me, I’ll spend the rest of my days tracking her down. Not because I’m a creepy, possessive weirdo, but because I know she’s afraid to risk toppling the boundaries she’s created to keep herself safe.

Safe from connection.

Safe from relationships.

Safe from love.

Maybe once Jerkovic is behind bars, the fear will loosen its grip. I must drift to sleep because shouts from above wake me from a dream about a woman who loves chocolate.

Standing on the deck, Ryan and Royal fight over the last doughnut. Then my eyes widen because ahead, appearing from the fog, it looks like a giant rocky mouth is going to swallow us whole.

I reverse the throttle, stalling the engines as the current pushes us toward the rocks.

“Magnus, the engines.”

He hollers from below. “It’s not that. It’s the bilge. That stupid viewing panel is leaking.”