Page 58 of Devoured By You
“It’ll be okay.” Jill led me a short distance away, almost as if she recognized how close to the edge I was.
“Will it? If we don’t get the scanner fixed, no one here is getting on board. We’ll have to find accommodations for three hundred people, not to mention missing our departure slot, meaning we won’t make it to our next destination.” I raked both hands through my hair. “It’s a fucking nightmare.”
She gnawed at her lip. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Jill!” We both turned our heads as Jill’s friends approached. “What’s going on?”
“There’s a bit of a technical hitch, which means we can’t board yet,” Jill said, which resulted in a snort from me. Technical hitch? More like a clusterfuck. “But it’ll be fixed soon.”
“We hope,” I muttered.
Oh, look. It seemed I’d reverted to being a child. I gave myself a metaphorical kick in the ass. Infantile responses wouldn’t help anyone, least of all my passengers.
“Well, not to worry,” Addison said. “If we can’t board, we’ll have a party right here on the quayside and sleep under the stars.” She fired a grin at me. “Chill, gorgeous. It’s no biggie. Shit happens. It’s how we react to it that counts.”
If I weren’t falling for her best friend, I’d have kissed Addison.
Wait. What?
What?
My phone rang, distracting me. Aspen. I answered. “Yeah?”
“You know there’s a bunch of people who can’t board.”
“Yeah. I’m out here with them.”
“Oh. Everything okay? Can I do anything from in here?”
“You seen Nolen and Marlowe?”
“Yup. We had lunch together, then they sloped off to their suite and, to the best of my knowledge, haven’t emerged since.”
“Good.” Barbados wasn’t a stranger to my family, so it didn’t surprise me that they hadn’t disembarked to explore. Marlowe must not have been interested in the whole tourist thing either. If she wanted the moon, Nolen would lasso it for her.
“Mr. Kingcaid.” The security manager motioned to me. “We’re good to go.”
I gave him a curt nod. “We’re boarding. Talk to you later.”
I hung back with Jill and the rest of the girls as the passengers finally filed on board. Only when the last one had trudged up the gangplank did I enter my ship.
“Here.” I gave Jill the fob for my suite. “Will you wait for me?”
“Of course.” She raised up on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. “Take all the time you need.”
“Ooh, party at Blaize’s pad. Cool.” Addison swiped the fob, waving it in the air. “I hear it’s rad.”
I rolled my eyes but smiled, too. “Have at it.”
“Awesome.” She skipped off with Kelsey and Raya in tow, Jill bringing up the rear. She glanced back as she entered the elevator, blowing me a kiss. I didn’t have time to blow one back before the doors closed.
Taking the staff elevator down to deck four, where Kris’s office was located, I marched along the corridor, entering without a courtesy knock. Kris had a few of his team surrounding him, each one frowning as they stared at his screen. Something about their body language was off. The knot in my stomach tightened as several pairs of eyes snapped to me.
“Can you give us a minute?” I held the door open, my message clear. They filed out, heads bowed, muttering a greeting as they passed me. I closed the door behind the last one, my eyes locking on Kris.
“What happened?”
“I think… I think the code was altered.”