The TROUBLE With BILLIONAIRES: Book 1 (13 page)

Walking down to the marina, based on Rawn’s speech, I knew that whatever we were about to do, it was likely something I would never forget. I just hoped it really was in my best interest.

The dock of the marina was composed of old wood that sank when I stepped into it. I hoped the boat we were about to board was a lot sturdier. Reaching its hull, I could finally see the words painted across the side.
Captain Mark’s Extreme Adventures.
Extreme. That usually meant something dangerous.

“Welcome!” a man called over the side of the boat. He had a young face, full of energy and life, but his hair had grayed and he had deep-set wrinkles around his almond-shaped eyes. Upon his short, fat body, he wore a white sailor’s jacket that was torn and aging. But he emitted such friendliness, I couldn’t hold his disheveled appearance against him. “Come up,” he instructed, waving his hand towards the metal stairs that led up to the boat.

“Isn’t going out to the sea risky at night?” I whispered to Rawn as we walked up the stairs.

“Captain Mark has been doing this for years. Trust me, Madison. You’ll be safe. I would not risk you for anything.”

It was hard to deny Rawn when he spoke so charismatically. At the top of the stairs, he reached his hand out to me and helped me onto the boat. It tipped against our weight, but soon settled. It was a good thing I was not prone to seasickness. Quite the opposite, I loved the sea. In this way, I was Namaka. I preferred to travel by boat more than any other mode of transportation, especially planes. If I could have it my way, I would travel by boat everywhere. I preferred it even to a car.

“Does the lady know what we’re here for?” Captain Mark asked. “Because she looks pretty at ease.”

“No, she doesn’t know. But she is free to. Madison?”

It was enough for me that Rawn had said he would not put my trust to the test. To show him once more that I did trust him, and perhaps to show him that he could trust me after revealing the catastrophe with Luke, I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s been a surprise up until now. You might as well wait and tell me once we get there.”

It was kind of fun keeping it a surprise. Though I did conclude one thing. Whatever it was, it wasn’t a cruise. The boat could only light up so much of the sea around us.

“Right on!” Captain Mark exclaimed. “I’ll do my part up at the wheel; why don’t you two lovebirds make yourself comfortable on the front deck. Just don’t fly away out into the water. You’ll find drinks in the mini-fridge. I hope you don’t expect anything fancy. This isn’t Bill Gates’ yacht. This ship was built for those with a brave island spirit, like mine. Like it or leave it.”

I already liked it, but I liked it even more when we found our seats on the desk—two giant tires stocked with cushions and blankets. This was more my level. I had been more overwhelmed than I’d realized with all the glitz the last week had brought. I was glad for something a little more grounded—something a little more like myself. Now all I needed was a cheap ass can of beer and one of my rainbow hoodies, and I would be in Madison Land.

“I love how much your face is lit up right now,” Rawn said, handing me a cola. He did not sit on the tire with me, but I should have expected as much. He wasn’t being pretentious. It just wasn’t his thing. It would almost feel unnatural to see him sitting so close to the floor in his designer suit. But that didn’t stop me from flopping into the blankets as if they were fresh snow.

I felt a pull as the boat backed out of the marina and then headed into the open waters of the Pacific. It was warm in Hawaii, much warmer than it was in Portland, but there was still a cool breeze against my face as we sailed along. I drank my cola, feeling more at peace than I had in a long time. The few hours we had in Hawaii made our time here all the more precious, but I made a vow that one day I would return. Leaning my head back against the second tire, I gazed up to the flawless night, watching the stars as intently as they watched me.

Lulled into a near-sleep, I was dismayed when the boat stopped. Whatever was about to happen, it would not be so peaceful. Rawn helped me up out of the refuge of the tires. He seemed excited, an excitement that he passed through to me with his touch.

“Okay, now I want to know. What are we doing?”

“I’m going to show you something beautiful and dangerous, just like you are,” Rawn revealed. “We’re going to swim with the sharks.”

I swallowed the last of my cola down, trying not to panic. All I could picture in my head was the image of Jaws and the famous scene with the girl swimming in the water. The girl may have had a banging body, but I did not want to meet the same fate as her.

“Don’t worry,” Rawn assured me. “We’ll be inside a cage. Together. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I know you won’t. But Namaka may have something else in mind.”

“Who?” Rawn asked.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll do it. Not just because I trust you, but because I know I’ll regret it if I don’t. It’s not every day you get to meet Jaws up close.”

There’s a reason for that
, I thought, arguing with myself.

“Jaws won’t be on the trip tonight. I doubt it, anyway. What you’ll see will be gray reef and Galapagos sharks,” Captain Mark stated, coming up behind us. “This is usually where I’d give my speech about how important it is to respect sharks and to tell you how we can conserve their environment, but you can read all about it on my website. For now, all I’ll say is don’t poke your head out of the cage.” He laughed heartily, as if it were the funniest joke in the world.

“There’s no room to stick your head out,” Rawn explained. “The cage is covered in poly glass.”

“But aren’t the sharks asleep?”

Captain Mark huffed. “Night is when they’re most awake and active. The cage has a light attached to it, which will likely attract the sharks even more.”

“Great,” I mumbled.

“Sure is! Now off to the cage, soldiers. It’s time to dive in.”

“Good thing we stopped to purchase swimsuits at the airport,” I said, sliding my blouse over my head, revealing a purple bikini top underneath. “But I know now that was all part of your plan to make me shark bait.”

With the light on the boat shining strong, Rawn stripped down to his hunter green swim trunks, the muscles of his abs exposed, causing me to secrete. It was a good thing we’d be in the water soon. My hormones were already swimming in sex.

The cage was attached to the side of the boat. As Captain Mark dug snorkeling equipment out of a bag, I peeked over the side into the water. The lights on the cage were nearly as strong as the ones on the boat. In the shadow beyond the lights, I could make out a fin as it rushed beneath the belly of the cage.

Breathe
, I reminded myself.

“I’ve never snorkeled before,” I told Rawn. “Does that matter?”

“Just inhale through the tube naturally. If water gets into it, puff it back out. But that shouldn’t happen. The cage doesn’t go anywhere. It stays attached to the boat. Your tube will always be above the surface of the water.”

It seemed easy enough. When we were geared up, Rawn stepped down the ladder into the cage first, submerging himself into the sea. Then he helped me, putting his hands against my legs as I lowered myself down. The water was warmer than I’d expected, and my body soon adjusted.

“My lady, you have to let go of the ladder at some point.”

I smiled up at Captain Mark and, taking a breath for courage, I released myself into the cage to face the sharks.

Our movement in the water had already caught the interest of two sharks. I didn’t have a clue what type of shark they were. They were smaller than a Great White, but they looked similar, with a gray fin and white underbelly. My heart raced as they swam around our cage. We were more than an intrigue to them. We were food.

Rawn grabbed me around the waist. Unable to speak in the snorkeling gear, it was his way of comforting me. It did calm my nerves a little, enough that, after a few more minutes of watching the sharks swim around us, I placed my hand against the glass of the cage, as if I were a kid at a zoo.

It was an ethereal feeling suspended in the ghostly waters, especially with the black unknown within reach. The lights on the cage were bright, but their beams didn’t extend forever. Looking down, with nothing but water below us, I got a sense of what floating in space was like.

Having adapted to the sensation of being so close to the animals I had been raised to fear, cage diving actually wasn’t so bad. In fact, it didn’t even seem so extreme. It was exhilarating, but I felt completely safe in Rawn’s care. When a third shark joined the party outside the cage, I didn’t freak out. I watched it glide along with the others, admiring the splendor of its ferocity.

When it was over, I was disappointed.

“I want to try that again in the daylight,” I proclaimed, coming out of the water, the sea dripping off my skin.

“Anything that gets you back into your bikini,” Rawn said, following behind me. “The view from behind you is much better than what waits in the water.”

Rounding the corner of the boat, Captain Mark handed us each a towel. “Glad my cage didn’t fall apart on ya. It would be a shame after the meal I’ve prepared for you.”

After the adrenaline of being in the shark cage, I was starved, but I looked up at the moon moving across the sky. “Do we have time?” I asked Rawn. “The researcher at the observatory is waiting for us.”

“We’ll eat as we head back to land,” he said. “There’s time. He told me we could call in after midnight. When I told him we were flying in from Portland, he said not to hurry, he was flexible.”

“I guess he didn’t realize we were flying in on a private jet,” I said, drying my hair with the towel. “I don’t even want to guess how much the fuel cost.”

“Don’t worry about it. Because of you, Cepheus Scientific is set to make a lot of money on this telescope. Thank you, by the way. I’m not often challenged, but you weren’t afraid to push me.”

Looking down at the shark cage, I said, “I could say the same thing about you.”

In my dress pants and blouse once again, Rawn escorted me back to the front deck where a small card table with a Hawaiian print tablecloth over it had been set up close to the rail of the boat. Next to a covered platter was a candle, and a lei of flowers was draped across each chair. In the daylight, I’m sure the deck seemed as much a junkyard as Dr. Giordano’s farmhouse, but with the stars shining overhead, the place setting was entirely romantic.

“Thank you,” I said, taking my seat. “Tonight has been wonderful, and we haven’t even been to Mauna Kea yet.”

“I would do anything for you, Madison,” Rawn proclaimed. “I hope you know that.”

Almost anything
, I thought, but it was neither the time nor the place. I didn’t want to ruin the evening with my own war-torn fears.

“Anyway, don’t thank me yet,” he continued. “You haven’t eaten Captain Mark’s cuisine before.”

“Have you?” I asked, suddenly curious if he had been cage diving for sharks before. And with whom.

“Yes, but not on his boat. He’s actually my cousin’s ex-husband.”

Lifting the cover of the platter, Rawn revealed a cheesy casserole that appeared to be made out of macaroni, tuna, and breadcrumbs.

“It beats baby eel,” I said happily, digging my fork in. I was never one to turn down soul food. Taking a bite, I found it to be quite good, seasoned with something peppery.

Rawn didn’t look so certain.

“Rawn,” I said, filling his plate, “I’m going to show you something beautiful and dangerous, just like you are,” I teased, echoing him from earlier. “If I had to go down in a shark cage, you can at least try some greasy home cooking. Trust me,” I said, a sparkle in my eye, “the grease makes it better.”

             
May the skies be clear.

It was the motto of the Visitor Information Station on Mauna Kea—a mountain that united the world with its promise to reveal the knowledge of the stars. At the summit of the mountain, over a dozen telescopes stood, observatories managed by countries from all corners, from Taiwan to France. And America, of course. I liked the motto, even though its words seemed inevitable. On Mauna Kea, the nights were clear ninety percent of the time.

From the back of the Jeep, now parked outside the Visitor Information Station, Rawn grabbed a heavy black jacket and handed it to me—more plunder from our shopping trip around the airport.

“There’s very few places around the world where you go from a bikini to winter clothing in such a short amount of time,” I stated, pulling the jacket on, not wanting to know how much Rawn had paid for it.

“I preferred the bikini,” he said, zipping up his own jacket. “On you. Not me.”

“Shame,” I joked. “You have godly abs.”

“And you have the ass of a siren,” he fired back. “If I had it my way, we’d only go skinny dipping from now on.”

“I’ve only just put all these layers on. Don’t make me take them off again,” I warned, feeling a desire rise from my core.

Based on the need in Rawn’s eyes, it was no warning at all. “How long do we have to wait here at the station? The sooner I get you on the jet and into one of its bedrooms, the better.”

“Half an hour,” I told him, rather enjoying the fact that he had to wait. It was like really long and gloriously excruciating foreplay. “Otherwise, we risk altitude sickness. The summit, where the observatories are, is high. We have to acclimatize to the altitude here first before we go any further up the mountain.”

“Does fucking in the back of the Jeep count as acclimatizing? I can make it last half an hour. In fact, I can make it last all night long.”

I had no doubt about that, but there was no way I’d risk getting caught, not with fellow scientists about. My bare ass pressed against the side window of the Jeep was not the impression I wanted to make with my peers.

Still, I answered, “You should have thought of that before you handed me this fabulous jacket.”

“It’s the only thing I’ve been thinking about,” he said, closing the back of a Jeep. Then, turning away from sex to business, he added, “The man I spoke to on the phone will meet us here soon. He’s running a little behind. I guess science waits for no man.”

“I hope he knows not to rush. We really do have to acclimatize first.” I couldn’t say it to Rawn, but I wasn’t even sure I was allowed to go all the way up to the summit. To be safe, I was definitely going to follow all the protocols set forth by the Visitor Information Station.

The station itself was officially closed for the night, but the lights inside the small wooden building were still on, illuminating our path as we left the Jeep to stretch our legs and get a better view of our surroundings.

Beside the station was a cluster of telescopes bolted to the ground for public use. I assumed they were bolted, anyway, knowing how much they cost. The telescopes were minor compared to the giant machines in the observatories above, but they were still significant. Free to use, they gave everyone access to the stars. Dr. Giordano would be proud.

And there were a lot of stars to see. The station and its telescopes looked over the side of a cliff to a sky with no barriers, just a backdrop of mountains and a curtain of stars. It was breathtaking. I had spent many nights in Portland stargazing, but nothing could compare to this.

“Wow,” I breathed, taking it all in. “It makes acclimatizing not so bad.”

“Not so bad at all,” Rawn agreed.

We quickly went to the telescopes and peered out into the horizon. I focused mine on Venus, remembering how the planet had guided me home the night I was lost in the woods. Perhaps the goddess of love had been sending her magic down upon us after all. There was a reason love was attributed to one of the brightest objects in the night sky.

“If we ever find ourselves on the island again, they also have a solar telescope that allows people to look straight into the sun without destroying their eyesight. I’ve looked through a solar telescope once before; it really puts things into perspective. We are such small creatures in a universe that, for some reason, has set up its laws so that we can exist.”

“What other wonders does this place hold?”

I smiled. I knew he meant Mauna Kea, but his question went far beyond the mountain. “The first observatory we’re going to see, from what you tell me, helped to substantiate that a massive black hole exists at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way.”

“Our galaxy? You think of things like black holes in science fiction movies, not being part of our own galaxy. This black hole is close?”

“Relatively, compared to other parts of the universe.”

“So what happens after this?” Rawn asked. Before, this trip had been for me. But now I could tell he was feeling excited himself. “I know we’ll be guided up to the observatories, and we’ll be shown all the high-tech gadgets in the control rooms, and parts of the telescopes, some of which Cepheus Scientific built. It’s how I was able to book the tour—but what else should I prepare for?”

Once again, I looked up at Venus through the telescope. “I’m not sure what happens next. But I’m certain it will be one hell of a ride.”