𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 ┊ ┊ 𝐑. 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧

Chapter Twenty Three

I looked up at myself in the small bathroom mirror on the jet. I wiped the white powder from my nose and examined myself to make sure I looked normal. My father is on this fucking plane. I wasn't even sure Rafe would give me any, but all it took was making puppy dog eyes and a swift bat of my eyelashes. I think he enjoys that he can be in control of my usage. He is the only person I would ever go to for drugs and he knew that. Now that I had finished the bag in my room, he had total authority over the amount of cocaine I ingested and could easily tell me no. And I knew that was something he would enjoy.

The moment my high began to set in, the urge to vomit up all of my anxieties went away and I felt my shoulders relax. I took a breath before stepping out of the bathroom and making my way back over next to Rafe. I was sitting for not even a minute before leaning forward and pulling my sweatshirt up over my head. "Is it hot in here? Are you hot? Fuck I am hot," I spoke quickly, tossing my sweatshirt over my backpack, sitting on the ground next to me. Rafe giggled as he looked at me. "What?" I whispered as a smirk grew across my face. He shook his head smiling, "Nothing."

———

Ward led us all into their enormous Bahama house that sat right on the water. "I wanna show you guys..." Ward said, picking up his pace when a huge safe came into view. That had to be the gold. I wasn't even sure that this was all real. I felt like someone could pinch me and I'd wake up. There was no way we had millions of dollars in gold.

Ward punched in the numbers to unlock the safe and my eyes were wide as I watched intently. The door seemed to open in slow motion and I held my breath waiting to see the inside. 

Bars and bars of pure gold filled the safe and sparkled in the light. 

My hand flew up to cover my gaping mouth. We were all silent as we stared at the contents that the safe held. 

"Is... is that real?" Rafe muttered, looking between the gold and his dad. 

"Son, that's the realest thing there is." Ward picked up two bars and placed one in Rafe's hand and the other in mine. 

"I can't believe you found the Royal Merchant," Rafe said, staring at the gold in his hands. 

"I know," my dad chuckled. 

"That's what all of this has been about," Ward said as he reached back into the safe and pulled out more bars of gold. He placed more in all of our hands, "All this gold... it's ours now." 

"Jesus," Rafe whispered as he weighed all the gold now in his hands. 

"It can save us," Ward said, "See you guys, by the time Hurricane Agatha hit... we were in a financial hole." 

"A deep one," my dad jumped in, "our business and everything." 

We all stepped back and silently admired the shining mountain of gold before us. 

"We're not in a hole anymore," I whispered, a smile forming on my face. 

"I mean you said—I—I'm looking at what here?" Rafe asked. 

"Half a billion," Ward replied quietly. 

Rafe's eyes grew even wider and he nodded his head, "Half a billion," he muttered, "Oh my God." Rafe's hands flew up to his head and he walked out onto the marble deck overlooking the ocean, "Holy shit!" He screamed happily as he pumped his fist at his side. He turned to me and lifted me up into his arms, quickly spinning me around. The salty humid air filled my lungs and I smiled happily with every ounce of my being.

———

I laid in bed with my eyes closed but my mind racing. I listened to the sound of the curtains gently hitting the windowsill, flowing from the breeze coming through the cracked open window. The pattern of the curtains whooshing was almost in sync with the loud crashes of the ocean waves. I was ferociously anxious about transporting the gold tomorrow, even though everyone around me kept assuring me everything would be okay. I had a rock in my stomach telling me otherwise. Nothing worked out right for us.