“I think I’m about to cry,” Molly pouted as she looked at Carmen in the mirror, her eyes already ready for the waterworks. “I feel like my heart might combust if I looked at you any longer,” then, her eyes lit up and a grin crept across the corner of her lips. “So just imagine what that would do to Mr Walsh?!”
Carmen’s cheeks flushed a deep shade of red. Just hearing the way Molly so dramatically and teasingly took his name, did something funny beneath her chest, a knot loosening and setting some incredibly excited butterflies free in her stomach. She turned around to see her closest friend standing at the doorway, as Suzan, the makeup artist, packed her belongings and prepared to leave.
“I bet Mr Walsh won’t be able to keep his hands off her tonight,” Suzan said with a smirk, as Carmen felt pinpricks all over her neck and down her spine. “And if
Ronin’s gaze was fixated on the distant horizon as he leaned on the cruise ship’s rail, soaking in the dazzling moon hanging from the black sky, so close to diving into the ocean, but not quite there yet. It was as if the moon was too terrified to take a chance at the last minute, as if realizing that if it let it go this once, it may never recover from what it would lose in that one moment of recklessness.The thought felt too heavy for him to keep looking at the moon or the vast sky that seemed to stretch endlessly, so he lowered his gaze and looked at the sea instead. But even though the cruise was yet to set off, and the port was satisfactorily illuminated, all he could see at the end of his visions were streaks of red, yellow and pink, reflected by the water, with the occasional sound of water beating on the metal. The cruise ship stood enormously tall, decked up like a newlywed bride, ready to load the guests and set out on an adventure for days.A ha
There were times like these when Carmen wasn’t sure what to do with her hands. She wasn’t carrying her phone directly in her hand, which was just so unfortunate because it could be used as a way to distract herself or to appear distracted to others.When Simon’s car pulled up at the docks, she had been way too nervous about the media snapping pictures outside to really care about the phone that she had subconsciously slipped into her rhinestone clutch. And due to the lack of it, now she was forced to busy her eyes gazing at the laughing and giggling crowd around them, the champagne bubbling up the glasses and the same glasses being clinked and raised in the air.Before joining the party on the deck, however, Simon had led her to a room.“I have a surprise for you,” he said to her before turning around and twisting the knob. As the door opened, it revealed the most gorgeous suite she had ever laid eyes on.The room itself was
Jenna Rivers was tired of searching for Ronin Logan. It had been almost an hour since she lost sight of him, and now he was nowhere to be found. It was annoying, really, to keep tabs on him as if he were some two-year-old toddler who didn’t know what he was doing. But she couldn’t leave him alone either.They would kill her.In fact, alone time had been exactly what she had been looking for since the day she returned. But Ronin had been playing not only deaf but blind, too, to all her advances. It was as if the boy she had grown up with, the one who was madly in love with her, didn’t find her as desirable as he did once upon a time.Perhaps that was the reason, she wanted to see it for herself, to see if her assumptions were right and not something her mind had made up out of jealousy for his ex-wife. Clearly, that would be I N S A N E. Ronin would never fall for the witch. Never.Fortunately, she had run into Erik Logan a while a
The moment Erik Logan stepped out of Carmen’s suite, he hadn’t expected to come face to face with an annoyed Ronin Logan, and before any explanation or any word at all could be exchanged, Ronin grabbed Erik by the lapel of his suit and dragged him down the long corridor, into the elevator, and across the upper deck once they made it to the closest one.Despite the side of his body still feeling like someone had stabbed him all over again, Ronin gave a hard thrust to his older brother in the chest and scowled. The rough ocean breeze whipped his hair to the side.“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”Now, annoyed, too, Erik straightened his blazer with a jerk of his shoulder. “Why the fucking do you care?”Ronin glowered, before looking away, as if it were too hard to explain that part, as if he didn’t know the answer to that question himself, as if he had tried and failed, and now he was embarrassed beca
Carmen was consumed by a feeling of intense anger, the likes of which she had never encounteredbefore. It was true that she had been through painful experiences in the past, times when even those closest to her had inflicted deep wounds on her heart. Hell, her own mother had once abandoned her in pursuit of a better career, leaving Carmen feeling alone and abandoned.But what Simon had done to her was far worse than any physical blow. He had always acted as if he didn’t know her, as if she were a stranger to him. But how could that be possible when he had known Jenna well enough to help her escape from the wedding? The betrayal cut deep, leaving Carmen with a seething rage that consumed her every thought. The injustice of it all left her feeling helpless and vulnerable as if the ground beneath her feet had suddenly given way.Had he been lying to her the whole time? Was anything he said or did, or the way he made her feel, even remotely true? Or had he played her
Carmen stormed out of Simon’s suite, her heart racing and tears streaming down her face. She couldn’t bear to hear another word from him, not after what he had just said. All she wanted was to be alone, to sort through her jumbled thoughts and try to make sense of the pain she was feeling.Simon’s desperate calls echoed in her ears, but she ignored them, consumed by the storm of emotions raging within her. Her heart felt like it was being crushed under the weight of betrayal and heartbreak, and she could barely breathe through the suffocating pain.As she stumbled down the hallway, she felt a sudden urge to escape, to flee the ship and leave all her troubles behind. But she knew deep down that running away wouldn’t solve anything. She needed to confront her feelings head-on and come to terms with the harsh reality of her situation.Her mind raced as she walked, replaying the hurtful words Simon had hurled at her. She couldn’t believ
Carmen awakened with a start, feeling a throbbing headache that seemed to threaten to split her head in two. The sound of the ocean and the shower running somewhere in the distance echoed in her ears, making the pounding in her head worse. She groaned and rolled over in the bed, pulling the covers over her head, hoping to block out the noise.But then she heard it again—the sound of the shower.Suddenly, her eyes flew open, wide as saucers. She sat up in her bed, panting heavily, trying to comprehend what was happening. She searched her surroundings frantically, only to feel a sense of relief wash over her when she realized she was in her own suite, and not in someone else’s room. Her mind was already clouded with a heavy hangover, and being in a stranger’s room would have added to her confusion.Despite this realization, there was still a puzzle to be solved: why was the shower running in the bathroom?Was it Simon who had turned it on?
Carmen was at a loss for what to do next. She knew she had to get off the cruise ship, but after that, her mind was too numb to plan anything. If Molly found out what Simon had done, Carmen was certain her best friend would unleash her wrath upon him without any regard for the consequences. Perhaps that’s why Carmen was hesitant to call her. What she really needed at that moment was to be alone, somewhere quiet, where she could reflect on her life and all the decisions she had made.After Simon left, Carmen found herself taking a cold shower, changing into a fresh pair of clothes, and ordering something to eat in her suite. But as soon as the room service arrived and Carmen looked at the food, she realized she wasn’t even that hungry. Ronin’s words from that morning came back to her, and she felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment once again.It wasn’t as if she didn’t know how his opinion should be the last thing she should be worried ab