Page 53 of Uncharted

Haley laughs. “Easton’s not an asshole. He’s just been pigeonholed by what he does...“

“And who he is, or I guess was.” I bend my neck and kiss her again. I don’t want to use my little alone time with her thinking about another guy. I pick her up and flip her so her bum is sitting on the counter. Her legs wrap around my waist, and I’m in my own version of heaven. I never played any of those games as a teen—spin the bottle or seven minutes of heaven in a dark closet. But then, I’ve never been as attracted to a girl as I am to Haley. She rubs herself against my hard cock, and I have to laugh because her stomach rumbles and vibrates against me. “All right, Haley, let’s get you properly fed.” I carry her out of the pantry, with her clinging to me like a koala.

She slides down my body, and it’s torture. “After lunch, if you can stand the heat, you and I should make sure there isn’t anything we need for camp in one of the guest cabins.” She winks at me and saunters away.

“That’s a date.” I pinch her bottom.

Out by the table, Dante glares. “Right, let’s get started.” He’s holding a big spoon at his side, and I’m not sure if he’s going to spank Haley with it or serve lunch. But when he scoops the pasta onto the first plate, we all gasp. The stringy cheese trails from the spoon to the first plate, and Haley jumps up, clapping. “Are you crying, Sassy?”

“Tears of joy.”

“No tears in the food. It’s perfectly salted.” He hands her the first plate. She tries to serve it to Calvin, who’s sitting closest. I hadn’t even noticed he’d appeared from somewhere. “No, Sassy, that’s your plate. It’s the best of the lot. The damn Viking probably won’t even chew before he swallows it down.” Dante laughs, and Haley reluctantly sits. “And don’t wait for us. Dig in.”

Haley takes the first bite as we all watch. Her lips are against the fork, her eyes closed. She makes a noise that’s as close to euphoria as possible. Damn, my cock hadn’t even calmed down and now it’s going hard again.

“Dante, it’s divine.” She smiles.

“Of course it is, just like you.” He hands me my plate. Fuck, he’s right. It’s so good. The table goes silent. We never eat in silence, but we don’t normally have a big sit-down meal for lunch. But this is a special occasion.

“They say it’s bad luck to have a toast with no alcohol, but an alcoholic wrote that proverb, so raise your cans.” Dante stands. “To a new chapter, to enjoying the moment and not overthinking, to enjoying the day, the hour and the minute.” He raises his energy drink to the sky. “Salud!”

“Cheers!” goes around the table.

Calvin chugs his drink. His eyes catch mine, and I swallow hard. He’s got that look that never ends in anything good. “I need to tell you about what I found,” he says.

Chapter24

Diamond Knot

Calvin

That got their attention. I stare at my plate. There’s still some sauce on it. I pick it up and lick down the center of the expensive china—it’s probably worth more than I make in a week. I lick around the rim. And when I put it back down, they’re all glaring at me like I’ve grown a second head. “Right, sorry. Food was solid, Chef.”

“Thanks, that’s high praise from you.” Dante scrapes the last bits from the platter onto Haley’s plate.

“Yup, it was good,” I confirm.

Dante clutches his chest. “This is the big one. I can die now. Green gave me a compliment. See what you’re doing to him, Sassy? You’re making him all happy and human. Tsk-tsk. But good job.” Dante kisses Haley on the top of her head.

“Right, what I found. Well, I don’t like thinking we’re screwed, but without a machine shop, I don’t know how I’m going to get the engines back online.”

“Why did it happen?” Haley asks.

I glance at Sam and he nods back. “Someone did it, on purpose.”

Easton’s eyes go wide. “What? Why? What did they do?” I know Sam hasn’t ruled Rockwell out, but I have. No way would he have put his sister in danger. And why would he want to take out his father? Neither one of Rocky’s kids want his money. Hell, Easton’s got his own cash from endorsements and things, and he doesn’t want to run the tire company. But killing yourself and your sister in the process? There are simpler ways of getting out of being a CEO. No one around this table did anything to the Rock Candy.

“They’ve done plenty around the ship, but this isn’t the saboteur. This is plain old salt water. It’s corrosive as fuck. There’s rust all over the crankshaft. The zinc anode is used up. And without the power, there’s no way to fix it, because I need to grind.”

“There’s a grinder in the toy hauler room.” Zane licks his fork.

“Fuck, you serious?” I chew on the side of my tongue. Pressure always makes me think better. “That’s a start. I might be able to rig something up. But we don’t have power. And even if I can get the solar panels running, there’s not going to be enough amperage to run a grinder.”

“Well, we’ll just have to figure out how to increase the efficiency of the solar panels.” Haley takes a sip of her soda. “Sorry, that’s probably not possible. I’m not a mechanic.”

I blink at her, and I can see the worry in her growing. It’s like she thinks I think she’s said something dumb. But that’s not the case at all. “Chiefie, that’s a brilliant idea. If I can get the battery rack online, then reconnect the solar panels, I should be able to get enough power to get the grinder working.”

“What about the radios?” Easton stands and clears some plates.

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