Page 50 of Terminal Voyage

"I’m no psychologist. I don't know what's going on with you. But it's like your brain needs chaos. It's been conditioned to be overstimulated. And without that stimulation, you don't feel normal. Like a crackhead."

I gave her a flat look. "Thank you. That's a wonderful comparison.”

"I'm not calling you a crackhead. But you know what I mean.”

I sighed and wiped the tears from my eyes.

"Look, take a minute and pull yourself together, then meet us on the deck for lunch. Afterward, we’re going to go explore the ruins. It will be a fun afternoon. I promise. No diving."

"I’m just going to stay here.”

"No. Unacceptable. The last thing you need is to stay in this room, ruminating on all your problems. Ruminating makes it worse, you know."

She had a point.

"I'll talk to Declan and tell him to be a little more understanding. Besides, I think Luciano likes you.”

"Luciano wants to sleep with me."

"Well, yes, but Luciano wants to sleep with every woman, so don’t feel special. But I think he genuinely finds you fascinating. That could be to our advantage,” she sang.

"I'm not sleeping with him.”

Vanessa feigned offense. "I'm not asking you to sleep with him. I'm just saying, flirt back. At least until the deal is inked.”

"That's not my style. I don't flirt with married men.”

"You don't have to flirt. Just stay on his good side. Schmooze. After all, we’re talking about billions of dollars here.” She paused. "I promise you, if this deal goes through, I'll take care of you.”

"What does that mean?"

"I'm sure you've got rent, bills, credit card debt, and a car note. What if all of that went away?”

I did a double-take. "Are you saying you're going to pay me to flirt with Luciano so he does the deal with Declan?"

"Financial stress is a major component of your problem. Maybe all these things combined are why you're having such a hard time. I'm just trying to take some of that stress off your plate. I mean, how can a person truly relax on vacation, knowing they have to come back to a mountain of bills?"

"I don’t have financial stress. I make a good living.”

“At a bar?” she sneered.

“Why do I feel like you're trying to pimp me out?”

She laughed. "I'm not trying to pimp you out. I'm trying to help you out. I'm just giving you a stake in the outcome of this deal so you don't screw it up."

My jaw tightened, and my eyes narrowed at her. "Did Declan put you up to this?"

"No. Of course not. It was just something that popped into my head. Nobody put me up to anything.”

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t share every thought that pops into your head,” I said, jabbing her back.

She smirked. “Fair enough. I'll see you on deck for lunch. I promise, the fun starts now.”

She left my stateroom, and I flopped back onto the bed and exhaled. I just shook my head. What had I gotten myself into? I wished I was back in Coconut Key.

I finally got up, did my makeup, and made myself presentable. Then I headed up to the bridge deck aft for lunch. They all looked at me with sympathetic eyes when I took a seat at the table.

"How are you feeling?" Luciano asked.