Chapter 1: The Salt and the Sand
Chapter 1: The Salt and the Sand
The freezing Pacific water was a physical blow, knocking the breath from Mariana’s lungs the second she hit the surface. Instinct took over. She kicked upward, bursting through the crest of a massive wave, her lungs burning for oxygen. Her arms were wrapped fiercely around four-year-old Nico. He was sputtering, terrified, but alive. The yacht, a glowing beacon of toxic wealth, shrank rapidly into the night fog. They had left her to drown. Her own flesh and blood.
Mariana treaded water, the heavy waterlogged silk of her dress dragging her down like an anchor. With numb fingers, she managed to tear the fabric away, discarding the designer gown into the abyss. "Hold on to me, Nico. Wrap your arms around my neck," she gasped, her teeth chattering uncontrollably. She oriented herself using the faint, hazy glow of the coastline miles away. Hour after agonizing hour, she swam. Driven by a primal motherly fury, she fought the rip currents and the freezing temperatures.
Just before dawn, the surf slammed them onto a jagged stretch of isolated beach somewhere off the coast of Baja California. Mariana dragged herself and her unconscious son beyond the high-tide line, collapsing onto the freezing sand. They had survived the ocean, but as the sun crested the horizon, illuminating the desolation around them, Mariana knew the real survival had just begun. The Salcedo family was powerful, ruthless, and they believed her dead. She had to keep it that way until she was ready to strike back.
