"Good morning, love birds!"
Cole and Vanessa opened their eyes in shock at the voices.
"Jackson, Rebecca? What the hell are you doing here?" Cole nervously asked his brother and sister, who stood in the living room.
Vanessa pulled the sheet up to cover her naked body.
"Why are you sleeping here?" Rebecca answered the question with a question.
Cole pulled himself up to a sitting position, the veins on his forehead about to burst.
"Better get these first." Jackson bent down, picked up Cole's boxers from the floor, and handed them to him.
"That too," Rebecca added, also bending down to pick up Vanessa's underwear, giggling loudly simultaneously. "Come on. We won't watch."
She and Jackson turned, and Cole pulled on his boxers and stood up.
Vanessa wrapped the sheet around herself and got up too.
"Now explain to me what you are doing in my apartment!" Cole still didn't change his tone.
"We were looking for Nessa," his sister answered.
"And why are you looking for her here?"
"Because obviously, she's here." Rebecca shrugged.
At that moment, the elevator door opened, and Kristen entered the apartment.
"Mother! What are you doing here?"
"Isn't this where the meeting was, dear?"
"Meeting for what?" Cole asked in bewilderment.
"For coffee?" his mother replied uncertainly. "Your sister told me they would be here, and Nessa too."
Rebecca awkwardly turned her head to the side as her brother's gaze tore through her.
Kristen walked over to Vanessa, who stood silently off the side, clutching her underwear. "How are you, dear?"
"Um, I'm fine, Kristen, thanks."
At that moment, Vanessa's phone beeped. She reached over to the table where she had left it and read a message from Karevsky: 'Disc decoded.'
Vanessa swallowed, trying not to show any emotion. "Excuse me. I'm going to get dressed."
She started for the stairs, the sheet trailing behind her.
As soon as she entered the bedroom, she dialed Karevsky. "I don't have much time. Talk fast."
"I decoded the disk. But Willker wasn't the one who encoded it. On the contrary—he also tried to decode it. I detected hundreds of failed attempts."
"What's on the disk, Karevsky?"
"Many things. Information. Extracted files. Evidence against a man named William Danforth. He was making money through a joint venture between him and Ethan Willker. Arms and drug trafficking deals were carried out at the casinos. There are camera recordings as well as many audio recordings."
"Rebecca told me about this man. Cole thinks it was he who killed their father. And since Ethan really had evidence against him, Cole may be right." Vanessa took a breath deeply. "Is this what the agency was actually looking for? McKenna told me they were looking for evidence against Cole. But the disc was the only suspicious thing that I found. There was nothing against Cole."
"Did you forget about the list, Blake?"
"The list has been put there on purpose, so for me to find it. The recording with the killer has been staged. Someone has wanted me to think that Cole has ordered Steve and Grace's murder. And this someone knew that I would find that list. But the only people who knew I was in the house were I, you, and McKenna."
"So you think that Agent McKenna is behind all of this?"
"I doubt it. He assured me that he knew nothing. And I can tell he didn't lie. But I can't press him again anyway because he's disappeared."
"Doesn't that suggest he's hiding from you?"
"I don't think so. If he wanted to hide, he would have done so the first time I visited. However, he did not then. And they fired him as soon as he started asking about me. I think other people in the agency are involved. Maybe this Danforth has people there?"
"What are you going to do?"
"We need to find McKenna. He's my only route to the agency. But put it this way, it is starting to make me think we may never find him..."
"Or at least not alive."
"What you said."
"Okay. I'm starting to look for him anyway. Shit. I was just about to pack for Hawaii."
"Don't be such a grumbler! What will you look for in Hawaii?"
"Beach. Women. Men. Alcohol. Whatever."
Vanessa laughed. "Bring me a Hawaiian wreath," she said, giggling, but froze a split second later.
Rebecca stood behind her. "Nessa, why are you taking so long?"
"Becks..." Vanessa hung up the phone and dropped her arm to her body. "You... How long have you been here?"
"I just came in. Why?"
Vanessa breathed a sigh of relief.
"What's up, Nessa? You've been acting so weird lately. What about your disappearing? Where have you been? Why didn't you call? We thought you'd never come back."
"I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye, Becks."
"Is that what you came back for? To say goodbye?"
"Not yet."
"But you're leaving?"
"Someday, maybe. But not now."
"You scare me."
"Don't think about it." Vanessa put on her clothes during this time. "Come on, let's have coffee. That's what you're here for, right?"
The two returned to the living room to the others and made coffee. It was a long time since everyone was in one place without trouble.
***
Two hours later, Rebecca, Jackson, and Kristen left the apartment.
While Cole was showering, Vanessa went onto the terrace and leaned against the railing. How she wished she could just forget about everything. To stop thinking. To stop trying to solve the mystery. To stop trying to figure out how to tell Cole the truth...
"Why are you so thoughtful?" Cole joined her.
Vanessa turned to him and just sighed, closing her eyes.
"You're not going to tell me, are you?"
"Everything is okay, Cole."
"Come on. Let's go."
"Where?"
"You'll see."
Vanessa rolled her eyes. She remembered how much his commands infuriated her in the beginning.
But not anymore. At least, not in the same way.
She walked to the elevator, and Cole reached to grab his lighter from the table.
"Vanessa, wait."
She stopped and turned around.
"I never said thank you."
"For what?"
"For your gift."
"Did you like it?"
"Yes."
"Wait, let me show you something." Vanessa came closer, took the lighter from Cole's hand, turned it over, and slid a small, almost invisible cap from the underside. Then she handed it to him again.
'Yours always, Vanessa,' Cole read the engraving that appeared.
He closed the cap, put the lighter in his pocket, and pulled Vanessa against him, pressing his warm lips over hers.
His hand slipped under her t-shirt.
"Cole." Vanessa struggled to pull away from his lips. "Were we going somewhere?"
He took his hand out and cupped her face. "Yes, you're right. We'll have time for everything there."
***
They traveled no more than twenty minutes. Cole parked in the harbor parking lot.
"Omg! It's huge," Vanessa exclaimed after they arrived at the yacht. "Rebecca showed me in a picture, but wow!"
Cole held her hand and led her to the board.
"Will we sail?"
"Yes. Get ready."
"Omg!"
Vanessa ran to the yacht's bow, and Cole walked into the control room and started the engine.
Once they were in the open ocean, he set the autopilot and went to Vanessa.
She was admiring the incredible view of the vast ocean.
"Do you like it?"
"Are you kidding me? It's amazing!"
Cole pushed Vanessa's hair, blowing in the wind, to one side and hugged her. "Yeah. I think so too."
She put her hands on his, and he tightened his embrace.
"It's like I'm dreaming." Vanessa turned her head back slightly and looked at Cole. "The most wonderful dream."
He smiled.
"And if this is really a dream, I never want to wake up."
"It's not a dream, Vanessa."
They sailed in silence. The sun's rays caressed them playfully, and the cool breeze made them tingle from time to time.
Time meant nothing. The fears had evaporated. The anxiety sank into oblivion.
It was just the two of them, as if alone in the whole world.
The hours were passing by.
The bright sun began to take on reddish hues, hiding behind the horizon to make way for the beautiful moon.
The night was just as captivating as the day.
Cole and Vanessa lay next to each other and contemplated the sky covered with millions of stars.
"I don't want this moment to end," Vanessa said.
"Then we'll stay this way. Forever."
"Is there forever?"
"I don't know." Cole spun around and stood on top of Vanessa, brushing away the strands of hair that were once again fluttering unruly over her face. "But I know there is now."
With eyes full of thirst, Vanessa ran her fingers through Cole's beard. Then through his lips.
She opened them with her thumb.
He bit her finger lightly then pulled his teeth back and began to kiss her hand slowly up to her shoulder as his one slid down her body. He grabbed her thigh and lifted her leg.
Vanessa caught the hem of his t-shirt and began to lift it. Cole rose slightly, with one hand grabbing the back of his cleavage, and threw his t-shirt aside.
Then took off her one as well. He stuck his tongue in her mouth. His kisses drew a path from her lips down her neck. Then down, making their way through her chest, through her stomach. He unzipped her pants and pulled them off.
Vanessa grabbed his belt and pulled him tight to her again. She undid his buttons and slipped her hand under his jeans.
Their moans accompanied the sound of the waves.
Their sweaty bodies, wrapped in the arms of the darkness, were glinting against the moon's discreet light.
Burning touches. Scorching kisses.
Whispering eyes. Screaming eyes.
Lost in each other.
Into one another.
One on top of the other.
Side by side.
They welcomed the sunrise.
***
"Good morning, Vanessa."
"Good morning, Cole. Mmm..." Vanessa stretched her arms. "When did the morning come?"
"Sometime after the ninth round?"
Vanessa smirked.
Cole kissed her and stood up.
"We have to go back, huh?" Vanessa asked.
"Yeah, you have no idea how much work is waiting for me."
"Yeah... After losing your irreplaceable assistant, that's how it goes."
"You think so? Because I can tell you that since I fired my assistant, I can now focus on work instead of imagining her naked all the time."
"Yeah?" Vanessa smiled seductively. "You imagined me naked?"
"Sometimes." Cole headed for the control room. "All the time."
Vanessa also got up to get dressed and went over to him. She leaned against the dashboard.
"When I first saw you... Remember? In the interview?"
"I remember," Cole answered.
"You pissed me off so much."
"I pissed you off? And you? With your sarcastic 'Hello to you, too' remark?"
"The first thing I saw was your back, Cole. It wasn't kind."
"It wasn't. I'm not kind. But it was supposed that you're looking for a job, not for courtesy."
"Why did you hire me, Cole?"
Cole turned his head and looked at Vanessa. "Because of the 'Hello to you, too' line. And because of your eyes."
Vanessa took a step towards him and kissed him.
"So. Why did you start remembering our first meeting, Vanessa?"
"Ah, yes. As I said, you made me so nervous. I didn't like you at all. I just couldn't stand you." Cole raised an eyebrow, but Vanessa continued. "But I couldn't stop looking at you. The sleeves of your shirt outlined your biceps. Your arms looked so strong. The unbuttoned collar and buttons discreetly revealed your skin and stubbled chest hair. On some moves, your abs were shaped below as well." Vanessa bit her lower lip. "Argh, how I wished that damn shirt to be gone."
Cole was pushing some buttons on the dash and looking pretty expressionless. "So you mind-raped me at your job interview?" He pulled a lever, grabbed Vanessa immediately after, and lifted her in the air.
He carried her to the counter on the other side, sat her on top, and stood between her legs.
"Well, you can't blame me. And I bet at least half the girls who came to the interview back then did it because of you, not because of the job itself."
"And you remember when Rebecca first took you to the club?"
"Yes. I think..."
"I had this bartender there. He worked for me for years. He was one of my best employees. But I saw him flirting with you. And I fired him."
Vanessa burst out laughing. "Omg, Cole! You're crazy!"
"Your turn. Since we're going to play confessions."
In a brief moment, in that brief moment when Cole said those words, it all came back to Vanessa. All the things she had stopped thinking about in the last hours. All lies—all secrets.
Confessions.
What a tricky word.
"We almost arrived," Vanessa said.
"You are changing the subject."
"I learned that from you."
Cole laughed slightly. "Well, to my apartment or the house?"
"See? You do that all the time. To the house, please."
Once they docked, Cole drove Vanessa to the house. He kissed her goodbye and went to work.