Page 120 of When She Unravels
The bomb. Lazaro wasn’t lying about wearing one.
Did she kill him even though she knew it would mean her own death? No, Vale can’t be dead. She. Can. Not. Be. Fucking. Dead. She wouldn’t do that. She wanted tolive, goddamn it. Didn’t she know I’d track her down to the ends of the earth to get her back?
When we reach the burning debris, my heart sinks. There is no boat left. It’s in pieces, torn apart by the blast.
“No. No!” I whip around, looking for something—anything—in the water that could be her. “Vale!”
Ras is turning the boat in place to shine the harsh spotlight on as much of the water as he can. It’s hard to see anything.
I think I see a flash of skin by a floating piece of what’s left of the hull. “Right there, go back,” I yell.
Ras shines the light in that direction, and there’s nothing there now, but therewas. I’m sure of it. I saw her.
I leap off the boat. The water licks at my face, it’s smell corrupted by gasoline and flames. I swim until I’m exactly in the spot I thought I saw her, and then I dive.
Ras keeps the light focused on me, which is the only reason I can see anything at all. I swim until I have no air left in my lungs, and then I come back up and do it all over again.
She has to be here somewhere. My lungs ache, and my chest feels like it’s about to crack open.
Everything becomes so very clear in that moment.
I love this woman. I’ll swim to the bottom of this sea if that’s what it takes to bring her back to me. Please God, let me find her. If you do, I promise you, I’ll never leave her side.
When I emerge out of the water to suck in another breath, I hear a weak voice somewhere to my right. At first, I think it’s the oxygen deprivation affecting my hearing and making me imagine things. But then I hear it again.
Whipping around, I see her. She’s treading water about thirty feet away, her hair plastered to her face.
I blink to make sure it’s not a mirage. She’s still there, and the wave of adrenaline that follows makes me feel like I could fucking fly.
“Vale!” My arms slice through the water. Twenty feet. Ten feet. Five.
As soon as her body is in my arms, I let out a gasp of relief. My head feels light. She burrows her face into the crook of my neck and cries.
* * *
The adrenaline doesn’t recede until my feet hit solid ground. We climb out of the boat, and I lift her into my arms. Ras stays behind to tie up the boat and give us some privacy.
A few guards try to run up to me, but I scare them away with a look. I need a fucking minute to just hold her. Don’t they understand that I nearly lost her in the waves?
Vale fists my soaking wet shirt and meets my gaze. “Is he dead?”
“You killed him, baby. I don’t know how, but you killed him.”
Her features contort. “I hit him with a rock,” she whimpers. “I smashed it into his face.”
I squeeze her tighter as guilt rages through me. It should have been me. “You did what you had to do.”
She sniffs and wipes her hand under her nose. “He didn’t think I could do it. Put my own life on the line to be free of him.”
“You didn’t do it just to be free. You saved Mari.” My heartbeat finds an irregular rhythm. “I’ll never forget that, Vale.”
When we make it inside the house, my sister is waiting for us in the living room. She jumps off the couch and runs up to us, her eyes widening when she takes in our dripping clothes. “Oh thank God! Are you okay?”
I lower Vale to her feet and watch as they embrace. Seeing them together makes something shift inside my chest.
Vale smooths her hand over Martina’s hair and kisses her temple. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”
My sister’s grip on her tightens. “Don’t apologize. It wasn’t your fault. What happened?”
