"Slow down, Cade," she continued. "I want you. We can make things even so that when you two finally talk about what happened, you have something over on her. If you stop to consider other options, you might realize things can come down to a shared experience on the high seas. There's no need to go straight to divorce. Don't you at least want to hear from her and to know why?"

"No, not really," I sighed out of hopelessness. "It doesn't matter, don't you see? If she can do this once, she'll do it again if I forgive. No, she ruined everything for me, even before she stood face-to-face, declaring she would spend the night with him. I did nothing to deserve that. Further, I'm angry at myself that I didn't know her better."

"But you won't know how well you know her," she countered. "Not until you hear her side of it." She changed directions. "Regardless, I want to make love to you. I want to ease your pain, and by god, I will do it tomorrow. I'll leave you alone tonight because I can only take one rejection. Get a good night's sleep, mister. Tomorrow, you're mine."

Gwen didn't even give me a chance to respond, kissing the top of my head while grabbing my cock, and walking out of my cabin, closing the door behind her.

I went back to my tablet, convinced I'd have to deal with Gwen in the morning. Against her advice, I went to our shared bank account to see what was there. I almost had a heart attack! The balance was almost exactly what I thought was there, plus a one-million-dollar deposit just hours ago.

I was beyond confused. At first, I thought Gwen had somehow gotten into my banking information and was trying to buy... what, sex? My affection? I clicked on the deposit. The funds were from a corporation I didn't know, which caused more concern.

Looking up the company on the internet, I found a bunch of unfamiliar people's names; nothing about this made sense. Then a thought hit me. Was Gerald paying my wife to fuck him? She was okay but I didn't think she was worth a cool million. Maybe he was paying her to dump me. After all, that's exactly what she did.

My analytical mind screamed for me to isolate the money, regardless of the reason for it. Besides, it was a joint account so, if he intended it for her, it shouldn't have been put in an account we both owned.

Thinking quickly, I set up a new savings account and transferred the money there. A two or three-day hold would be required for that kind of money, maybe more, but at least whoever deposited it wouldn't be able to reverse the transaction. I expected at least ten days until the money was allocated but no one would be able to touch it but me.

If it was from Gwen, and I'd find that out first thing in the morning, then I'd moved it away from my traitorous wife's clutches.

That's when my brain was flooded with the light of consciousness. I remembered my youth - that surprise birthday party - all the other incidents. I felt like Peter Pan, grown up and forgetting how to fly for just a moment. Then, determination set in and I started making a plan. Someone was going to get royally fucked for trying to ruin my life.

Just before turning out the light, I opened the small porthole window for fresh nighttime air. As I listened more closely, I could hear a commotion, more like an argument. A male and female voice, although the female voice was much more vulgar and demonstrative. It had to be Gwen and Kodu. The bitter vitriol was kept to a harsh whisper as she berated her captain repeatedly. He was clearly defying one or more of her orders.

That night, I slept better. It took a long time to get to sleep, but it was silent and dreamless. I awoke to the sound of seagulls and bright sunlight.

The warm shower felt good. I began to think about how I was going to address Gwen. She certainly was beautiful but she was an odd woman. On the one hand, would it be so bad to bed a gorgeous woman who'd gone out of her way to help me? No, was my internal answer but I had an uneasy feeling that she wouldn't leave it there, that she wanted more, or she wanted something I hadn't thought of, and I needed to resist until I knew more.

On the other hand, I could be honest and firm with her. I didn't want or need the sex she was offering. The feeling of detachment I felt about Rose and the whole situation was strange. I would have thought with the love I had in my heart just a few days before, that I would have been more... something. Maybe my subconscious mind had already separated us, or maybe, it was some sort of defense mechanism. I was surprisingly nonchalant about divorcing her.

I climbed out of the shower, grabbing a towel. Some of my toiletries started vibrating on the sink and, at the same time, I heard what sounded like an airplane. Then I remembered the small heliport on top of the vessel. I quickly dressed and brushed my teeth so I could go and see what was happening.

Indeed, a helicopter had landed on the ship. I saw Gwen and Captain Kodu sitting at one of the tables near the bow. She waved to me and motioned me over.

"Who's that?" I asked as I approached. The noise from the rotors caused her to look at me questioningly. I pointed up top.

Gwen pulled out a chair and as the boat clipped the wind, it changed directions. Combined with a gust from the rotors, it blew her expensive hat away and into the ocean.

As the motor shut down so did the wind and noise. Gwen motioned to the chair next to her. I wanted to see who was boarding so I didn't immediately follow her instructions.

"Cade," she yelled louder than necessary. "Sit down."

I didn't like her tone but sat as she suggested. The man descending the steep staircase looked familiar but the woman who followed sent me into a tailspin. I looked at Gwen, who was studying my face.

"What the fuck are they doing here?" I spat.

"Calm down, Cade," she commanded. "Everything will be explained in short order."

Captain Kodu moved closer to Gwen, inserting himself between us. That was when I viewed him as an adversary and took stock of his build. He had several inches on me but not weight. At first glance, it would be a fair fight, one that I could win. I looked for the first mate and saw him behind me on the left. He was stockier but short and well-muscled. He would be a bigger challenge, and both of them would significantly decrease my chances.

Gerald helped Rose down the steep stairs. He didn't let go of her hand once she was planted on deck and wore a satisfied smile but not a smirk. He let her hand go about halfway across the deck as they approached us. He sat her, pulling out her chair, across the table from me. He then moved the only other available chair away from me and closer to her.

I stared at them with hatred. I was seething, feeling a loss of control that scared me. Rose gave a sheepish look but she seemed resolute after just a few seconds.

"Alright, Cade," Gwen began as if she was starting a school lesson. "Let me tell you what's going on."

I was still staring at the pair unfavorably. Gwen snapped her finger in front of me. I turned slowly.

"Gwen, I don't know what's going on here, but you had better think twice before you ever snap your finger at me like a dog. I'll rip it right off your fucking hand."

The captain stepped even closer then. I looked up at him with a sneer. "Be very careful, Captain," I warned in an even, measured tone. "Underestimating me would be a grave mistake."

Gerald laughed out loud. "Ooooh!" he mocked. "Beware the computer nerd."

"Shut up, Gerald!" it looked like Gwen had had enough and wanted to get the show on the road. She turned her attention and her chair to address me directly.

"Let's get the introductions out of the way, shall we?" she said. "This is my brother, Gerald, my fraternal twin."

I didn't know if this was a part of her game; if she was enjoying it - it seemed more like savoring it - or simply giving me ample time to respond. When I didn't, she plowed forward.

"Now, try not to lose your temper," she said contemptuously. "But I've set this entire series of events into motion. Yes, everything that's occurred since you boarded that cruise was done by my design. I've been planning with these two for some time, learning about you."

She paused again, staring at me and almost daring me to speak.

"So," I said, looking at my soon-to-be former wife. "You're the pimp then?"

Rose isn't usually a quiet person, especially under stress. Either she'd been coached to remain silent, or there wasn't any stress because she was right where she wanted to be; the latter scenario brought the finality to me, and it was unsettling, to say the least.

"Not at all," Gwen sighed. "I am, however, a very selfish person. Desperate and selfish. You see, I spoke about my desperation with Gerald several times. Then, one day, he told me about his loyal personal assistant, Rose.

"I need your sperm, Cade," she got to the point, "and I'm willing to pay for it."

I looked at her unbelievingly. "What are you planning to do?" I asked sarcastically. "Seed Mars with humans? Start a clone army on Earth? Are you making a funny TikTok video?"

I had an idea then of where the money came from but I wasn't going to let on that I knew about it.

Funny, Cade," she continued, unaffected. "I need a baby. I want it to be your baby but I don't want you to be the father. In fact, you'll never have any contact with the child, ever."

"Okay," I pushed, "draw up a contract, give me a baster and about fifteen minutes and voila!"

"I'm not..." I cut her off.

"Oh, and," I paused. "Have Gerald throw Rose overboard. It will save me a lot of time, money, and grief. Plus, it will ensure she can't get her greedy hooks in the money you're paying me."

"It doesn't work like that, Cade," she leaned closer. "You're going to stay married to her. That's right, and make babies with her, and watch your grandchildren while you grow old together. This is a love story not a tragedy."

"Sounds like a tragedy to me," I told her.

"Let me get this straight," I shouldered on. "Instead of contacting me, making me some monetary offer, letting Gerald plead your case if I hesitated, or have Rose here, persuade me with sex and tears, you instead kidnap me, give my wife to this diseased fucker, destroy my marriage, and my life, for what? That's your great plan?"

"You could have gone to the authorities," she said it like that would be option one. "If you didn't agree or felt pressured. I couldn't risk that. Gerald and I keep our fortunes separate, hence the different last names. I have... interests who don't like my name in public. That's Gerald's world. It needed to stay quiet."

"Okay," I drew it out. "So, what's with these two?"

"I... we thought," her demeanor changed slightly. "I thought it would be only fair for Rose since I'm asking her husband to father another woman's child. They have grown quite close working together and I felt it was like keeping it all in the family."

I'd found the smoking gun, the chink in the armor. I caught Rose's nervous blink out of the corner of my eye when Gwen said that.

"So then," I asked. "Rose spends a few days making me jealous, making me crazy pissed more like, and what? She does the big reveal about spending the night with this piece of shit and you swoop in and make it all better. We do the horizontal mambo and give you a bun in the oven. Then what?"

"Simple," her tone sounded like I should automatically know the one and only outcome. Gwen was certifiable and I was starting to understand the danger I was in.

"We have sex," she went on. "lots of sex for most of your vacation, during my fertile period, which is now. Then, a few days before you're supposed to go home, Rose and Gerald come to the villa; we reunite you with Rose and explain what's happened. You get paid handsomely for your contribution, which is a million dollars, by the way. You and Rose spend the last days of your anniversary vacation reconnecting at the villa and start making plans for the future. Neither of you would have any of your purist American Victorian ideals hanging over you. You'd be even and wealthy, I might add."

"Well," I said as I shrugged. "Here we are. How's your plan working so far?"

"Admittedly, not well," she said in a resigned tone. "The intel I received about you from them was off - by a lot. I never thought a man your age, married only five years, could have developed that kind of love for your wife. I knew we'd made a mistake the minute I saw you on that pool deck, broken as you were."

"And yet," I spat derisively, "you went ahead with your plan for her to leave me for him."

"I had to." Gwen's conversation with me was surreal. I learned then that she was the brains and boss of this operation, or at least she believed she was. I wondered what she had over on her brother.

"First," she continued. "I'd promised them." She paused again, thinking about something. "Second, I figured it was the best way to get you off that ship so I could move forward with my seduction. I would never have believed that you'd rebuke me. That hurt." She still didn't quite see it.

"Let me finish for you," I spitefully told her, "I'm getting a little bored. So, third, she didn't leave me for him, right? All's well and a bunch of crap to that effect, and everyone gets what they want, living happily ever after.

"Well, you failed," I said stoically, folding my arms. "I want this ship turned around now. This weasel can keep Rose, I have no further use for her."

"No," she said quickly and definitively. "I've taken the liberty of already paying you. Even if I don't get pregnant, I'll be requiring a test tube sample, and we need to square things between you and your wife." She kept looking up at Kodu who was just behind me.

"And for their part," she smugly said, "It was only the once, you understand, to even things out." As Gwen spoke the words, I'd been staring at Rose and she returned it. I saw it plain as day in her eyes and she looked away over the starboard rail. No doubt at all about that blink now.

Gwen was still talking, not that I cared. She stopped when it became apparent no one was listening and, from my face, she followed my eyes to Rose. Then, she knew, too.

"Pelo amor de Deus," she murmured to no one in particular. Then she again addressed me.

"Okay," she held her head higher as if entering a new round of negotiations. "It seems we've both been deceived, however, this changes nothing, Cade. You and I have a bargain - one million US dollars for slightly less than one million sperm. You can dump your slut of a wife, take her back, or I can arrange for something more... shall we say, permanent and satisfying if you'd like." She stared daggers at her brother, daring him to challenge her.

"You don't get it," I viciously laughed at her. "You don't own me. You want something, then you'll negotiate, just like everyone else, you spoiled little brat."

"So, negotiate," she implored. "I'm listening."

"Five million," I said with confidence. "And those two take a long swim before we turn this yacht back towards Porto."

"Two million," she paused, "and they'll be punished. I'm no murderer."

"Fine," I made to stand. "Then you'll get your precious sperm in a baster, not fresh from the source. Provide me with the instrument."

"I'm afraid not," she also stood and motioned with her hand. The captain and his mate moved right to my side. "The negotiation has ended. You have one hour, no more, to agree to my proposal. After that, we'll make you. As you can see, there is no negotiating. I'll take what I want for as long as I want. If you comply, then you get to enjoy your compensation. If not, you can join your wayward wife in that swim for your life." So much for her not being a murderer, I thought.

I looked the Captain straight in the eye. "Do you two plan to help her?" I made sure my tone said it wouldn't be easy. "Hold me captive for her sick plans; put me overboard?"

He nodded without hesitation. At least I knew where I stood. I turned back to face Gwen.

"You're a sick, disgusting woman," I sneered. "But it seems you have me where you want me. I'll need that hour."

"Of course," she nodded slightly, with a satisfied smile, and the crewmen stepped back. "I may be sick, as you put it, but I'm not heartless. I want you to at least be open to me when we do it. There's a higher chance of success that way."

Gwen looked at the other pair. I found it interesting and devastating all at once that Rose hadn't even said one word during all that. As the Blue Oyster Cult song says, 'She had become like they are.'

Gwen grabbed my phone off the table and turned her attention toward Gerald and Rose.

"You two will board up forward, furthest to the bow," she directed. "I don't want Cade to have to look at you. Hell, I don't even want to look at you. The both of you have made this a thousand times more difficult with your greed and lust."

She focused on my future ex-wife. "You disappoint me, dear. My brother has always been selfish regarding his wants and desires. You, well, I believed you when you told me how much you loved your husband. I should snuff you out simply for the lie you told so make yourself scarce in your cabin, or I might change my mind."

Satisfied, Gwen looked back at me. Despite Gerald's company and his position, she was clearly chairman of the board in their relationship.

"Go," she ordered me. "You've got an hour to prepare yourself mentally and then I expect you to rock my world." There was a sinister pause. "Or I'm going to rock yours and not in a good way, I'm afraid."

Captain Kodu walked me to my cabin in silence. I decided to test his resolve and attempt to learn what I could in case things later went belly up.

"Are you really going to commit crimes for your boss?" He didn't reply or look at me. It was probably my weak question. I turned to face him, walking backward down the narrow corridor.

"I don't think you'll do well," I smirked, "in a fight against me. Not enough muscle mass, by the looks of you. Does she ration your food, too? Like a dog?"

That at least got me a stare but without any emotion behind it. "Yes, I think when the time is right, I'm going to enjoy beating you senseless." I wanted to say 'to death' but I wasn't trying to make another unnecessary enemy. I probably did, anyway.

I turned back to face the direction I was walking. "Tell me, what does she pay you?" I asked, genuinely curious. "I wonder if I couldn't do a little better." We were at my cabin and as I opened the door, I stopped without looking back at him.

"Think about it, Kodu," I sternly warned. "It would be a shame for you to lose so much for that entitled bitch. She doesn't know me and neither do you. You have no idea what you're into." Without waiting for any response, I stepped in and shut the door in his face in one smooth motion.

I wasn't sure if I'd made a feeble attempt at intimidation. What I did know was that my rant may or may not have caused just enough confusion to create hesitation. If something did go down between us, that might be a life-saving moment for me.

I spent my time fine-tuning my plan from the previous night. This time, it wasn't about hurting someone's precious feelings or dishing out lessons. This time, my very life depended on my ability to think ahead. When I powered up my tablet, it quickly let me know there wasn't an internet connection. That was as expected.

Just short of an hour later, Gwen lightly knocked on the door.

"Come in," I said emotionlessly. I was laying back against the headboard in just my swim trunks. She saw my lackadaisical attitude and sat down on the side of the bed.

"I'm truly sorry," she began. "For misreading their intentions. I was led to believe... well, I sense that you already know what I was led to believe." There wasn't much more for her to say and I doubted she was at all sorry.