Page 256 of Breaking Rosalind
“That’s pathetic, even for you,” I snarl. “Every woman I’ve ever been with has been in their twenties. You murdered a few of them, remember?”
“What else could I do when you were ignoring my calls?” he rasps over the roar of the engine. “And don’t act like you’re better than me. My spy told me you took an underage girl to the Phoenix, and I bet that was the same one you had on your private jet.”
My fist flies out, but I pull the punch before it lands. This asshole is either projecting or desperate for me to put him out of his misery.
“I had my sights on Rosalind for months,” I say through clenched teeth. “Unlike you, I like grown women, not little kids.”
He chuckles, the sound bitter. “What Rosalind and I had transcended age.”
“Is that why she blew you up and turned you into a cockless wonder?” I ask.
The rest of the journey continues in blessed silence. All my thoughts are centered on saving Miranda. Not just for Rosalind, but for my redemption. I used her as a pawn to control Rosalind, but along the way, I found a sweet young girl I would die to protect.
Hell, I would rush to her rescue even if she wasn’t my sister. Miranda doesn’t deserve to be used as a pawn in someone else’s game. My gaze darts to Matty, and I force down a burst of violent resentment. Neither did Tania, Allegra, or Sofia.
We approach a vessel floating in the distance. It’s a forty-five-foot-long cruiser with a line of portholes along its hull. My chest tightens. Miranda is huddled inside one of those berths with her arms and legs bound. Only this time, it’s not for a prank. The man holding her is more likely to put her to work than set her free.
If I can get Matty to approach the cabin from the back, that will give me the opening I need to sneak up on Miranda’s captors from behind. I cut the engine along with the navigation lights. One final glance at the GPS confirms that I’ve found Miranda’s location.
I guide the boat toward my target, adjusting the helm to the current’s pull. Sweat beads on my brow, my heart pounds loud enough to alert Gunther, but I stay focused. The salty tang of the sea fills my senses as I draw nearer to the cruiser, and my anticipation mounts with every passing moment.
Only the quiet lap of waves against the hull breaks the silence until I swear there’s a flash of light in my rear-view mirror. I glance toward the shore, finding only more of the ocean.
Matty rasps, “Is that the one?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s the plan, son?”
A shudder runs down my spine, and I grind my teeth. The only reason I acknowledge this monster as my biological father is because that makes Miranda my sister. I don’t correct Matty because I don’t expect him to survive the night.
“You’re going to ask Gunther how much he wants to release Miranda.”
“He wants Rosalind, not money,” Matty says. “Give me a gun.”
I turn the helm and laugh, the sound bitter. “So you can threaten Miranda’s life?”
“She’s my daughter.”
“We both know what you do to your daughters.”
He falls silent for several minutes. “Do you mean for me to die?”
Not bothering to dignify such an obvious statement with an answer, I maneuver the boat to the cruiser’s stern. It’s a platform at water level with steps leading into the vessel’s interior. When we’re within boarding distance, I pull out my gun.
“Get up and order Gunther to release Miranda.”
He turns to look at me, his eyes blazing with a strange mix of terror and betrayal. “Come with me,” he says. “Your plan to ambush Gunther won’t work. Men can’t scale the sides of boats. We’re better off overpowering him together.”
I turn off the safety with a click. “Take Gunther by surprise, just like you did with all those women you murdered.”
“Everything I did was to get closer to you,” he says, his voice breaking.
“That bullshit doesn’t work on adults. Now, move.”
Matty finally rises off the seat, leaving it covered in blood. I probably should have given him more tranexamic acid, but he only needs to last long enough to serve as a distraction.
As soon as he steps onto the cruiser, I steer the helm to starboard, guiding the speedboat into the cruiser’s blind spot. My gaze sweeps up the white hull and pauses at a set of metal rails, and I calculate how to scale the vessel’s side and catch Gunther by surprise.