The pool party on the cruise was exactly as Carmen had envisioned—noisy and packed.Standing on the upper deck balcony, she watched the thick crowd below, devoid of any room to move or breathe. Carmen couldn’t help but flinch, fearing getting lost in the sea of sweat, booze, and pulsating music.This was clearly not the place she belonged. The last time she found herself in a similar setting, she had gotten extremely intoxicated and ended up passionately making out with Simon in the back of his car. That encounter had sparked yet another source of stress in her life, one she didn’t want, but found herself unable to resist.Tonight, she had no intention of swaying like a drunken palm tree or being trapped in someone else’s arms. She was here because Molly didn’t want to go alone, and she was hoping to see Simon so they could finally have the talk that had been giving her anxious butterflies in the pit of her stomach since she made up

Ronin had just left his suite when out of nowhere, a little girl came crashing into him. At first, he was completely caught off guard, wondering what the actual heck just happened. But then, he looked down and saw a little munchkin, no older than five, staring up at him with those innocent, doe-like eyes and a mischievous grin on her face.Ronin couldn’t for the life of him figure out what was so amusing about the whole situation, but he didn’t bother voicing his confusion. Instead, he gently grabbed the kid by her tiny shoulder, giving her a nudge to the side so he could make his way through the narrow corridor and hop into the elevator, heading downstairs for the party.However, he might have been done with the little girl, but the little girl was hardly done with him. Before he could catch her drift, she nabbed the phone from the pocket of his pants—as if she knew exactly where it was—and ran off in the opposite direction.“Hey!&

“What the fuck is taking so goddamn long?” Simon snarled into the phone, bursting into his office and planting himself behind the desk.It had been fifteen agonizing minutes since he instructed Randy Perez, the security chief, to bring him the footage of Carmen leaving the locked room. He was dying to see who the hell had the audacity to waltz onto his turf and disrespect him like that.However, fifteen minutes had gone by, and he hadn’t received any updates from the team.Randy swallowed nervously. “Boss, we’re doing everything we can, but something… something went wrong. Our screens are blank. We’re trying to figure out what happened.”“Again? What the hell am I paying you useless idiots for? Do you exist solely to disappoint me every damn hour of the day? I swear to fucking Christ, Perez, you have ten goddamn minutes to get this shit sorted, and if you can’t? Don’t you ever fucking show your face to me again? Understood, damn it?”Simon’s face flushed with anger as he paced behind

“Slow down, damn it! I can’t understand a single word you’re saying,” Eric Logan frowned as he pressed the phone against his ear.“That jerk… room… locked,” Ronin’s urgent and furious voice came through, while Eric stared at the wall in front of him, struggling to comprehend his brother’s message. It all sounded like gibberish and fragments, as if the network had completely failed where he was.“Ronin, where are you?”“I… idea… small… took… men…”“What?”“They… Carmen.”“Damn it, man. Try moving around. The network is messed up!”“They… took Carmen… What the fuck? Can you hear me now? Damn it…!” The phone call abruptly cut off.Eric lowered the phone and stared at the screen. After Ronin explained Simon Walsh’s obsession with Ca

Simon was in his office, ready to end the phone call, when he heard a series of urgent knocks. “Come in,” he whispered, barely taking his eyes off the cluttered desk in front of him.“We’ve got a problem.”Simon sighed and glanced at the man, immediately recognizing him as Randy Perez, the head of security. He leaned back in his chair, giving Randy his full attention. “What did you mess up this time?”Randy Perez swallowed, gripping the walkie-talkie tightly in his large hand. “I just received a message from the captain.”“And?” Simon was already getting annoyed by Randy’s slow way of speaking. But he held back his frustration and waited. Losing his temper wouldn’t help him in any way. The situation had already escalated enough for the night, and the last thing he wanted was to draw more attention to his plans.Randy nervously moistened his lips. “The captain just r