Good Morning, Lovelies!

Thank you so much to Mel!

CHAPTER ONE

Bella

South China Sea

"But if these years have taught me anything it is this: you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in."

― Junot Díaz

I sat on the upper deck of El Dorado, watching the stars skip across the sky. Charlie had been gone for hours, and though I didn't blame Edward for what had happened between us, I needed space from him to breathe.

Some things couldn't be undone, and each time I closed my eyes, I remembered the vulnerability I expressed to him while under the influence of Charlie's drugs.

It made me nauseous to think about.

I'd been sitting on the upper deck for the better part of the night, trying to force my mind off the violation against me and my body.

As long as we were on this ship, we would be held to Charlie's will, and he could clearly do whatever he wanted with us.

We had to escape.

But how?

My mind had run over every scenario, but the truth was, I couldn't see a path forward. I was as lost and useless as a child.

The soft sound of footsteps alerted me to someone climbing to the upper deck, and I turned, my body stiffening until I spotted Alice's silhouette. I let out a breath as she crossed over to sit beside me in a lounge chair.

"Can't sleep?" she asked, her voice soft.

"Too afraid to," I said dryly.

She didn't respond, but I suspected she understood my fear.

In front of us, the ocean was vast and dark, an endless mystery … or threat, my mind muttered.

"We have to get off this ship," I said, my voice small in the wide open space.

"Yes," Alice agreed.

"I don't know how to," I admitted, my eyes squeezing shut. "Edward and I are both at a loss."

Alice was quiet and I glanced at her. Even in the dark, I could see an expression on her face, a hesitation that made me sit up.

"What?" I asked.

Alice blinked and focused on me. "I might have a way," she admitted after a moment.

I sat up further, turning my body in the chair to face her. "What?"

Alice let out a long breath. "I have a cell phone," she said quietly. "I haven't had any service. That's why I didn't mention it," she said quickly. "But I managed to snag it in the commotion when we were taken."

My mouth fell open. What else was she hiding from me?

"Are we close enough to land now?" I asked, my head whipping toward the coast where I could see the glittering city lights gleaming.

Alice swallowed hard. "Yes."

I stood up, looking down at her. "Show me," I demanded.

Alice hesitated. "I don't want to take Edward," she said. "If we manage to call for help, I don't want him to come with us."

I glared at her. "Edward is one of us," I said, my voice surprisingly hard. "I won't leave him here."

Alice stood and shook her head. "I won't go into hiding with him. He's too big a target."

"I have just as big a target on my back, if not bigger," I pointed out. "Edward raced to our aid when we needed him. He brought us somewhere safe. We owe him our lives." I crossed my arms over my chest. "He comes with us. End of story."

Alice scowled, but after a moment, she let out a sharp breath. "Fine," she snapped. "But I want it on record that I still don't trust the bastard."

I didn't respond. Alice may not have trusted him, but I was surprised to find that I did. When had that happened? What had changed to place my faith in Edward?

I didn't have time to think about it now.

I stood up, looking at Alice. "Meet me in my room in five minutes," I told her. "We're leaving tonight."

Alice let out a breath but then nodded and turned to head down below deck. I stayed rooted in my spot for a moment, trying to run through all the possible scenarios ahead of us. Who could we call to help us? The biggest fish I knew was currently trapped here with me.

My gaze landed on the pitch black ocean, and I shook my head to clear it. Soon, the sun would be rising and Charlie would be heading back to the ship. I couldn't waste any more time.

I ran down to the lower decks, heading straight for my room.

Edward was standing at the window, a scowl on his face, when I burst through the door.

"Bella?" Edward asked, turning to me in surprise.

"Alice has a way to escape," I said, my voice slightly breathless from running.

"What?"

"She managed to smuggle a cell phone when we were taken from your place. She said it didn't have service until now."

Edward stepped away from the window. "Are you sure you can trust Alice?" he asked.

"As much as I can trust you," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

Edward let out a dry laugh and shook his head. "Right." He rubbed a hand over his jaw before his eyes focused on me. "Okay, I need that phone."

As he spoke, the door opened again behind me, and we both turned to see Alice enter. She shot an uneasy look in Edward's direction before she focused on me.

"Here," she said, holding out the phone.

I took it, nodding to her in thanks. I could hear Edward crossing the room, and when I looked up, I was surprised to find him right next to me.

"Let me," he said gently.

I handed him the phone despite the prickle of annoyance I could feel from Alice.

Immediately, Edward opened the phone and began dialing. He paced away from us, his shoulders tense.

"James," he barked into the phone. "Charlie Bourgault."

I could hear a soft curse on the other end of the phone, and I turned to Alice. "Are you ready to leave?"

She nodded, and I turned away from her to start packing my few belongings.

When I had everything I thought I would need, I started working on Edward's things, glancing up at him every once in a while to listen to him on the phone.

By the time he was done talking, we were both packed, ready to go.

"Well?" I asked, my throat tight.

"It'll be hard," he said, shaking his head. "We're going to have to jump into the ocean."

"What the fuck did you just say?" Alice asked.

Edward's eyes flickered to her, his scowl deepening. "I have team members coming out to get us, but the only way we can sneak off this ship without being detected is to go overboard. Any other way will make this infinitely harder."

Alice's mouth was gaping like a fish, so I stepped in.

"Okay, so we go overboard. Then what?"

"My team will get us out of here and find somewhere safe to hide us."

"How is your team magically here?" Alice asked, her eyes narrowed.

"In the event that I am kidnapped, my team has been instructed to tail my parents, since in all likelihood, they have had something to do with it," Edward snapped. "And since my parents happen to be here, so is my team."

Alice's lips smashed together in a defiant glare and I shook my head. "We don't have time to argue. Edward, how long until your team is here?"

His eyes moved from Alice to me. "An hour."

I let out a breath. An hour? What were we supposed to do if Charlie came back in that time?

"I know," Edward said, his voice low. "I know, but it's the best option we have."

It was like he could read my mind. I felt his hand connect briefly with my elbow and I gave him a small smile in return.

He let go of me and turned to Alice. "We should move into position," he said.

Alice rolled her eyes but didn't argue with him.

I handed him his small backpack and he took it, hooking it over his shoulder. I made sure my bag was secure over my own shoulders before I moved to follow him out the door.

Only Alice hesitated behind.

"Alice?" I asked, pausing at the door.

"I don't trust him," she said, her voice laced with her fear.

Edward was already in the hall, waiting for us, and I stepped toward Alice, reaching out to her.

"I know," I whispered. "But right now, this is about survival. What other choice do we have?"

Alice shook her head. "There's always another way."

"I'm not staying here, Alice." My voice had grown hard, fear creeping in when I thought about what Charlie had done to us. "I can't."

Alice opened her mouth, and I couldn't tell if she was going to argue or agree, when Edward stepped back toward the room.

"Come on," he whispered. "We have to go."

Letting out a heavy breath, Alice nodded and moved to follow us out the door.

…

The ship was suspiciously quiet as we snuck down to the lower levels, looking for access to the dock. Charlie didn't keep an abundance of staff on the yacht, but there had usually been someone in the corner of my eye, lurking in the shadows.

Now, we were either getting incredibly lucky or being set up for a bigger failure.

We crept down toward the docking bay that sat just inside a special carved-out section of the hull, stopping at the top of the mezzanine stairs when we heard guards talking below. We ducked down, crawling to hide our bodies behind decor mounted on the railing.

"How do we get around them?" I asked in a whisper. The stairs would take us right into the guard's path, but I didn't know another way down.

Edward snuck a peek through the railing and then shook his head.

"There is a security booth over there," he whispered, jerking his chin to our left. "But unless they are in the booth, I don't see how we can get down."

Alice grunted. "Take this," she said, thrusting her bag at me.

I scrambled to grab it without making a sound.

"When I have them distracted, run down the stairs. I'll meet you in the water."

"Alice." I started to hiss, but before I could say anything else, she was on her feet, running while ducking along the railing. I turned to Edward, trying to see if he had any idea what her plan was, but he looked just as shocked and confused as I felt.

I twisted back around, surprised when I saw Alice scale the railing at the farthest end of the mezzanine. Was she going to jump?

Instead, she reached for two long poles secured to the walls. They looked like conduits. I gazed on, stunned as she scaled down them with ease, landing quietly on the deck floor below.

The moment her feet hit the floor, she ducked, peeking over her shoulder to see if she'd been spotted.

But the guards were still joking with one another, completely oblivious.

"Did she grow up in the fucking circus?" Edward asked, his voice low.

I looked at him and shrugged. For all I knew, Alice had.

I turned back to watch Alice, who was sneaking from one hiding place to the next until she was slipping into the security booth.

Sensing her plan was about to set into motion, I gripped her backpack and shifted so I was squatting, ready to pop up and run.

In a minute, the deck plunged into darkness and I heard the guards shout.

"Come on," Edward hissed.

I was on my feet in a flash, Alice's backpack straps looped over one arm. I was off balance, but I reached for the rail, letting it guide me as we approached the top of the stairs. It wouldn't take the guards long to make it to the security booth and flip on the lights, so I pushed harder, nearly toppling into Edward as we descended the stairs in the dark.

I tripped several times but managed to catch myself on the railing.

I heard one of the guards shout about the noise we were making, but then Edward's hand was wrapping around mine and he was yanking me off the last step.

I could hear the lapping of the water against the boat, though it was still too dark to see where the ship ended and the ocean began.

"Bella, jump now," Edward whispered, his hand still wrapped around mine.

I leapt through the air, sucking in a deep breath before plunging into the freezing ocean.

Immediately, I realized the bags around me were a mistake. I could feel the straps twisting around my neck, tangling my arms and making it near impossible to swim.

I knew I should stay calm, to not panic, but adrenaline was pumping so viciously through my body, that I couldn't stop my heart from racing.

I was going to drown, all because I couldn't get proper control over my body.

My lungs were starting to ache, and despite the voice in my mind telling me it would be a bad idea, my eyes opened, immediately burning from the salt.

It was too dark to see anything, and the black pitch of the ocean sent a deeper fissure of panic through me.

I felt the grip around my wrist tighten, and I fought back my panic, realizing that Edward still had a hold of me, and it wasn't some sea beastie coming up from the depths to drag me down.

We broke the surface of the water and I gasped, the sound more like a scream than anything else.

"Bella," Edward rasped. "Shit, Bella, let the bag go!"

My body was frozen in panic, unable to obey the commands Edward was throwing toward me. I felt him wrench Alice's backpack off my arm and then Edward was right in front of me, his face so close to mine he was all I could see.

"Bella, you're going to have a panic attack if you don't calm down and breathe."

Too fucking late, I thought as I struggled to force my body to listen to him.

"Breathe," he said, his hand still firmly wrapped around my wrist. "Just breathe."

Slowly, my body started to calm and I was able to register that I could make out Edward's features.

Somewhere behind me, the sun was beginning to lighten the sky.

"Where's Alice?" I asked, turning to scan the water.

Edward began to shake his head when I spotted a dark head in the water a few meters away from us. Somehow Edward had dragged us out of the hull of the ship. We were treading water just outside, out of view from the guards unless they thought to look for us here.

"Edward, are they going to follow us?" I asked, my heart skipping a beat at the thought.

"I don't know," Edward said, his bright gaze on my face. "It was chaotic when Alice cut the lights. I tried to throw things around to disguise the sounds of what we were doing, but I don't know if it worked," he said.

I still felt panic lingering in my limbs, and treading water was not making it any better. I needed to be away from here, somewhere land locked and safe.

Alice reached our sides, scowling at me.

"Thanks for taking care of my shit," she snipped. I saw she had found her backpack. Had it been floating?

"She was drowning," Edward snapped at her. "Between your shit and her life, there is no competition."

Alice rolled her eyes and I shook my head. "We shouldn't talk so loudly," I said, my eyes glancing nervously toward the ship. I couldn't see the opening from here. How had we swam so far without me realizing it?

"If your team takes any longer, we won't have the cover of dark anymore," Alice said, her eyes lifting to the deep plum sky.

Edward didn't respond, and I swallowed anxiously.

"What if they can't find us," I whispered to him.

"My team is the best," Edward said, his voice gentling slightly when he looked at me. "Bella, I know you're scared, but keep it together, okay? We're going to be okay, I promise."

I tried to take a breath in but coughed when a swell of seawater slipped into my mouth.

Edward swam closer to me, his arms coming around my body to pat my back through the water. His embrace felt both suffocating and comforting.

"There!" Alice said, breaking us apart.

I twisted around, my heart pounding when I saw a light on the water approaching us. Was that Edward's team? Or was it Charlie?

"Edward," I whispered, and he glanced at me with a furrowed brow, seeming to understand my concern.

"Stay quiet," he murmured to us.

We all turned to watch the boat approach. It began to slow as it neared the El Dorado, and I had to fight the instinct to splash around and beg them to fish me out of the ocean.

The boat shifted slightly and I felt Edward's fingers squeeze my wrist. "Dunk under," he instructed us. "Now!"

I took in a shaking breath and let myself fall beneath the surface of the water, focusing on the feel of Edward's hand around me to keep me anchored.

After what felt like an impossibly long time—though in reality was likely no more than a few seconds—we were surfacing again. Edward's eyes trained on the boat as it positioned itself to dock.

"Charlie," he whispered, and my heart leapt into my throat. Charlie couldn't find us, not now. We had to escape him.

How long would it take for him to notice we were gone? Did he know already? What lengths would he go to to get us back?

To get me back, my mind corrected.

I couldn't think about it, not until I was much more reasonably safe.

"Bella," Edward whispered, his breath hot by my ear. I turned to him. He was gazing to my left, and I quickly spun around.

Against the dark lilac sky, I could see a small dark ship speeding toward us without any lights on. My heart squeezed, my relief so strong I thought it would move me to tears.

The boat sped along, but it was clear they had spotted us because it began to slow as it neared us. Edward motioned for us to move, and he began swimming, his grip still tight around my wrist. We swam about ten feet before the boat was coming to a silent stop beside us.

On the deck was the shadow of a man who reached down, offering me a hand. Edward lifted my wrist to him, and the man took hold of me, hauling me out of the water.

Immediately, someone had a towel around me and I was being shuffled into a seat.

In a moment, Alice was beside me, being wrapped up as well.

I could hear Edward's voice barking orders, and I looked up, my eyes drifting to the El Dorado.

My heart sank when I saw a silhouette on one of the decks, staring down at us. There was only one person that could be.

Charlie knew we had escaped.