𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱
[𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝑶𝒇 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅... 𝑶𝒓 𝑵𝒐𝒕]
❧

TRAILING BEHIND POPE AND JJ WHO HAD THEIR SURFBOARDS IN THEIR HAND, Marina was simply scanning her eyes along the beach. She wouldn't normally be so on edge but well,  before they left kooklandia, Pope wanted to get a bit even with Topper. Which resulted in sinking his brand new boat. Marina wouldn't put it past those kooks to come after him once again thinking they've been provoked. But they attacked Pope first. This was just the law of the jungle.

"Wait until they hear what Mari did." JJ says with a smirk on his face as he places his board down momentarily to pull his shirt over his head. Marinas eyes move to his bare skin, immediately flickering anywhere else as she turned her body away from them.

"No, dude. You said you wouldn't tell anyone." Pope denies as he stares at JJ like he had lost his mind.

"Not about the boat, just her cutting rafe cameron." JJ corrects himself, going to turn but Pope grabs his shoulder, a serious look on his face.

"Not about either of it." JJ clenches his jaw a bit, rubbing it with his hand.

"Come on, they gotta know she's a bad ass." He says with a laugh, trying to difuse the tension as he gestures to Marina who was simply kicking her feet in the sand. Her all black outfit made the sun scorch down on her but she didn't even seem the slightest bit uncomfortable.

"They already know, so stop talking about it." Pope snaps at him and JJ scoffs holding his hands up in defence.

"Geez, fine."

"You are a badass, we just don't need everyone knowing i sunk toppers boat and then they kill me." Pope explains to Marina with a sheepish smile on his face and she moves her eyes from the sand to the boy.

"They won't kill you, Pope." She denies, moving her bag a bit more onto her shoulders.

"I'm having a hard time believing that right now." He mutters with a small sigh but she only takes the smallest step toward him, narrowing her gaze.

"They touch you, i stab them." Marina threatens. Truthfully, she believed the group didn't need her and wouldn't be much different if she left. But while she was with them, she would make sure nothing happened to them. She knew Kiara cared for them all and... maybe she had a soft spot for them as well.

Look at what Kiara did, made her go all warm for these boys. Marina scoffs to herself a bit.

"Dude, you're never gonna stab one of us, right?" JJ asks, mainly joking but part of him believed she would truly stab him if he gave her motivation to.

"I'd never stab Pope." Marina answers plainly and Pope couldn't help but smile a little.

"Just pope?"

"You're right." She agrees as she nods her head and she saw the small bit of relief that formed on JJ's face. "Kiara is safe too." Marina adds and it instantly disappears, a nervous laugh leaving his lips.

"Ha ha, funny joke." JJ responds but Marina was only staring at him with an expression he couldnt read. "It is a joke, right?" His eyes flicker to Pope who shrugs his shoulders. Marina doesn't answer him, wandering over to where she saw Kiaras things.

JJ tries to shake it off, grabbing his board off of the sand and rushing toward the water with Pope. "Hey, save some waves for us!" JJ calls out to them, gaining both Kiara and John B's attention.

"Hey, where you been?" Kiara responds with a smile on her face.

"Just hanging around." He admits as he sits on his board once he reaches the pair. "I'm terrified of Mari." JJ adds and John B raises an eyebrow.

"What did you do now?" He accuses his friend immediately which offended the boy.

"Nothing, she's just all stab crazy." JJ mumbles.

"She won't stab you, JJ." Kiara denies with a roll of her eyes.

"You're a hundred percent positive on that?" Kiara just stares at him for a split second.

"Seventy five percent." She replies and JJ shakes his head while the girl only smirks back at him.

"That's not helpful." JJ mutters, looking at John B for help but he was already looking at him like he was an idiot.

"You coming in this time, my lover?" Kiara calls out to her best friend, seeing how Marina was lingering by their things.

"You don't need an excuse to see me naked, kie. You could just ask." Marina retorts and Kiara couldn't help but laugh as she tilts her head.

"Where's the fun in that?" Kiara sends the woman a wink before swimming toward the shore on her board.

"So, kie can flirt but when i do it it's bad?" JJ asks with a scoff, gesturing toward the girl.

"Kie isn't a hormonal teenage boy like you." John B retorts, half expecting some witty reply until he looks toward JJ and notices he isnt even paying attention. John B follows his gaze and sees hes watching Marina strip down to her bathing suit. "Case in point." He adds which finally grabs JJ's eyes.

"She's hot, is it a crime to look now?" JJ questions, raising an eyebrow as he looks toward his best friend.

"I know but you're gonna creep her out." John B tells him before starting to paddle toward the upcoming wave. JJ slowly nods his head before he processes what the man just said.

"What do you mean i know? Dude, do you think she's hot?" JJ asks but John B only continues to swim away from him. "John b!" He calls out but the boy only flips him off making JJ scoff. He felt a bundle of jealousy fill him but he tried to shake it off, focusing on the waves that were coming his way.

❧

THE GROUP ALL LAID ON HAMMOCKS AT THE CHATEAU, Kiara wrapped around Marina who was simply drawing in her book. No one was really saying anything, just enjoying the comfortable silence. The midnight sky loomed on them-- or at least it would if it wasn't for Marina who had a clippable flashlight on her shoulder so she could see her page. "Can you turn the light off? You're burning my eyes." John B complains with a small groan, stuffing his face into the pillow.

"You can live without drawing for two minutes." Kiara adds as she tilts her chin up at Marina. The woman sighs, rolling her eyes but she turns the light off. "Thank you, lover." She mumbles, placing her head back down. Marina felt a bit claustrophobic with the girl strung over her, but Kiara was a hugger, at least toward Marina while as she was the opposite.

But for Kiara, Marina would be uncomfortable if it meant she felt safe.

"Nunca entenderé por qué sales voluntariamente con estos idiotas." Marina states and Kiara couldn't help but laugh catching the others attention.

"Ellos son mis amigos, como tu." She simply responds. Kiara had started learning Spanish when her and Marina began hanging out a lot more. It was more so they could talk in secret at Kiaras house without the fear of being overheard.

"Sin embargo, uno te besó y el otro me dan ganas de arrancarle los ojos." Marina rolls her eyes as her gaze shoots to John B and JJ for a moment. Kiara bites her tongue, squeezing the girls hip.

"Es un buen tipo, sólo un poco... coqueto." Kiara knew JJ was harmless really but if it was making Marina uncomfortable,  she'd be sure to talk to him about it again.

"Hombre puta." She sneers and Kiara can't help but let out a loud laugh. This time Pope's head raised up a bit, looking right at them.

"Uno de nosotros tomó clases de español. Pero estoy de acuerdo con todo lo que acabas de decir." He says and Marina was slightly surprised, raising an eyebrow while Kiara only continued to laugh.

"You too, Pope? Seriously?" JJ mutters, a bit annoyed and Pope just sends a proud smirk his way.

"Just talking shit about you." He responds and JJ rolls his eyes. "You really think it's out there? Like, no bullshit." Pope changes the subject, looking now toward John B.

"My father thought it was." John B admits with a sigh.

"But do you?"

"After hearing his voice on that tape, I think I do." He says with a nod and Pope reaches his hand out.

"Only one way to find out." Pope replies, John B and him doing the signature pogue handshake.

"Look, we're gonna find it, you know. Even JJ believes." Kiara says, mocking the man with a slight gasp and John B covers his mouth.

"Oh my god, JJ do you really believe?" He asks in a slightly higher pitched voice.

"Totally." The boy mumbles before lifting his head to look at them. "Wait, are we talking about four mil?" JJ questions curiously.

"Four hundred mil." Pope and Kiara correct him at the same time.

"Jinx." Kiara mumbles and JJ just nods his head.

"I'm gonna dream about shipwrecks. Goodnight bird." He teases John B who instantly rolls his eyes.

"Goodnight, birdshit." The man responds and JJ lifts his arm to flip him off but doesn't move from his position but even though he isn't looking at Marina, it seemed like he had eyes in the back of his head.

"Don't turn that light back on, Mari, or I swear to God." JJ warns and Marina bites her cheek as she slowly moves her hand off of the flashlight. She takes it off of her shoulder before throwing it at him, hitting him straight in the head. "Ow." He grumbles. "I deserved that." He mutters into the pillow beneath him before situating himself more to go to sleep.

❧

"ALL RIGHT, JJ, PIN IT HERE." John B tells them man who was driving the boat to the coordinates they recieved from the map. Marina was sitting inside with JJ while the others were on the perch. She wasnt exactly the biggest fan of the sun, the only exception being when she was surfing and now when Kiara forced her on John B's boat.

"Roger that. X marks the spot." JJ mutters as he begins to circle around the spot that they decided on.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen. To going full kook." John B announces with a smirk on his lips. JJ glances toward Marina who was yet again sketching. He didnt know if he had seen her without that damn book in her hand.

"Yo, Picasso. You gonna help?" He asks her, raising his eyebrows. Marina only flips her page, barely acknowledging him.

"If you need me to do your job, JJ, just say that." Marina mutters back and JJ bites his tongue.

"I've been driving a boat for ages, princess." Just as he says that, the wheel slips from his hand a bit causing him to almost fall but he catches himself.

"Really?" Marina asks, slight amusement in her eyes as JJ flushes red, clearing his throat as he looks back out the window.

"All right, JJ, we're right over it. Ten seconds northwest." John B calls out to him.

"Got it! Ten seconds northwest."

"One hundred feet." Kiara shouts, being in charge of keeping track of how far down the drone was. Pope suddenly gasps causing everyone to become alert, even Marina glances up from her drawing.

"What, what, what?" John B asks as he rushes to the boys side.

"It's nothing." Pope denies making John B hit his arm. "Sorry, its-"

"Don't do that to me man." JJ grumbles. Marina places her book back inside of her bag, putting it onto her shoulders as she makes her way toward the door that led onto the deck.

"Sorry, I thought I saw something." Pope apologizes, his eyes going to the screen. "And to quote the hobbit, down down to goblin town. Down down you go my lad." He says in a deep voice. This peaks marinas interest as she walks over to him.

"You read the hobbit?" Marina asks, her eyes boring into his skin and Pope nods his head, scoffing as if she offended him.

"Of course i did."

"Hm." She simply hums, narrowing her gaze as she seemed to analyze him a bit.

"I'm more surprised that you have." Pope shoots back, a bit playfully and Marina raises an eyebrow.

"Are you kidding?" Marina doesn't say anything else, taking her bag off of her shoulders and pulling out her sketchbook. She flips through some pages before showing it to Pope.

He takes a look at them, seeing there were many different drawings of certain scenery from the hobbit a long with some of the characters. "Woah, these are insanely cool." Pope admits, taking the book in his hands. Marina glances at his fingers curled around the pages but doesn't say anything.

JJ watches the interaction before looking away. John B glances at his best friend before clearing his throat, nudging pope's shoulder. "Yo, lover boy, eyes on the camera." He announces and Pope let's go of the book, seeming a bit flushed but moved his eyes back to the camera as Marina puts her things away.

"Four hundred feet" Kiara announces before her eyes look up at the sky. "The tides turning." She says in a worried gone.

"Hey, JJ?" John B calls out to him.

"Yeah?

"Ten seconds, easy, all right? South-south- east."

"Copy that."

Marina walks back inside, watching as JJ attempted to move the boat in the right direction. "You're turning too fast." She informs him and JJ didn't seem to appreciate the feedback all too much.

"I got it, princess." JJ grumbles, keeping his eyes on what he was doing. "Shit." He realized he had overshot it a bit.

"Amazing work, JJ." Marina simply says as she sits back down and JJ glares over at her. John B makes his way over to Kiara after seeing the interaction.

"Can you maybe tell Mari not to piss him off?" John B asks her and Kiara presses her lips together tightly.

"I don't even think she's really trying." Sometimes the way Marina comes across or her tone tends to piss people off automatically because they didn't understand her. "Why is he so tense anyways?" Kiara asks and John B let's out a small sigh.

"Don't worry about it." He denies, shaking his head. "JJ, twenty seconds mid speed, all right? South." He informs and JJ salutes him.

"Copy that. Aye Aye."

"Keep the tether out the prop!" John B shouts at Kiara who glares back at him.

"I'm trying!"

"JJ keep going."

"John B, is that good?" JJ asks, wondering if they were even near it anymore because of the storm that was hitting them.

"We're good. We're good." John B assures him with a thumbs up.

"Okay, seven hundred feet." Kiara calls out.

"JJ, hold it steady." JJ groans as he tried to fight against the crashing waves that were hitting the boat.

"Nine hundred!"

"JJ, we're gonna turtle in this storm, man." Pope announces as he moves toward the man who was trying to get the situation under control.

"Damn it." He mutters as the boat swerves a bit in the opposite direction. "Mari." JJ calls for her and she just stares in his direction.

"Now you need my help?" Marina asks him but JJ wasn't in the mood.

"Just get the fuck over here!" He demands and Marina huffs but moves over to him, grabbing a hold of the wheel as JJ tried to make space for her.

"Nine twenty!"

"Crank it north by northwest! Ten seconds!" John B announces. It was hard for Marina to move with her and JJ both trying to control the boat but luckily it was starting to steady. "Pope, how are we doing?" He asks curiously.

"Almost there." Pope admits.

"John B, there's too much current we're gonna lose it!" Kiara warns but John B didn't seem to be listening to her.

"South, southwest JJ, hard!"

As JJ turns the wheel sharply, something jabs into Marina's side causing her to wince. "Those were my ribs." She scolds but JJ barely even spares her a glance.

"Not everythings about you, princess." He snaps back and Marina clenches her jaw but continues to help with the wheel.

"Half speed, steady at this bearing, JJ!" John B quickly moves over to Pope. "What do you got, Pope? What do you see?" He asks, his voice full of hope.

"Nothing. A whole lot of nothing."

"You should be right above it brother." John B tells him but Pope shakes his head. "Kiara!" He shouts, wanting to know how far they were.

"Nine sixty! Nine seventy! Nine eighty!" Kiara counts as she reads the monitor. "I'm at the bottom! I'm at the bottom!" She announces.

"Okay, steady here, JJ!" John B tells him and JJ quickly pulls the boat to a halt. "You should be seeing something man. You should--"

"I know, I know! Wait, wait" Pope says, seeing the impatience on his face. JJ takes a deep breath when he's suddenly elbowed in the ribs. He buckles over, squeezing his face in pain.

"Oh, good god." He mutters, looking over at Marina who simply glares at him before moving toward the door. JJ coughs a bit, standing back up straight as he holds his side. "See anything?" JJ asks from his place near the wheel. Marina heads toward the group, standing beside John B as she looks at the screen. Her eyes widen slightly as something appears.

Holy shit.

"It's the royal merchant." John B states, a smile making it's way onto his features.

"You were actually right for once, John B." Marina says and John B gives her a playful glare before turning back to the screen.

"Okay, slowly go through it, Pope." He informs the man who does what he says. But as he goes through it once, twice... three full times and there was nothing but an old sunken boat.

"Nothing." Pope seemed deflated as he desperately searched on the screen for anything, any sign that the gold was there.

"There can't just be nothing." Marina denies as she tries to look closer but there was no action on the monitor at all.

"It's not there. Look-- just pull the drone up." John B demands as he turns away from them, hitting the side of the boat. "Shit." He puts his hands over his face as Marina sighs. So much for the four hundred million.

"Look, we're can do another pass. Recharge the battery. We can go back down." Pope suggests, running his hand down his neck.

"We've gone through it three times. There's nothing there." JJ calls out and Kiara gives him a glare.

"Shut up!"

"What? It's true!" JJ snaps back at her and Kiara just looks more at John B.

"The gold could be buried. We don't know." Kiara denies, trying not to lose hope but it didn't seem to be working.

"If it was there, it would've been found on the metal detector, okay?" John B sounded upset as he turned away from them. "Someone beat us to it." He adds and Marina just leans against the back of the boat, closing her eyes as JJ only lets out a scoff.

"Or it was never there."

❧

MARINA HAD BEEN LOUNGING AROUND ON HER BED, still a bit down that they didn't end up finding the gold on the royal merchant. Until she recieved a text from an unknown number along with a pin of a location. She was glad her dad paid-- or more forced the electrician to give them some what of a generator. At least if she was stranded somewhere, she could text her brother at home to come pick her up.

50 grams, ill pay you double if you're quick.

It wasn't hard to figure out who it was even if there was no name attached. So when she pulled up to the gym on figure eight and saw Rafe lifting weights with Topper and Kelce by his side, she wasnt surprised.

But it seemed his friends were. "What the hell is she doing here?" Topper asks with a scoff as he watches Marina walking her bike up to the doors. Rafe glances to see who he was talking about and sees the girl, a smirk forming.

"Psycho bitch coming to chop us all up." Kelce says with a snicker, crossing his arms against his chest.

"Nah, she's cool. I texted her." Rafe admits causing both of his friends to snap their heads in his direction as he places down the weights, standing up.

"You texted her?" Topper questions, wondering what motive he had.

"Yeah, here's your phone back." Rafe tosses it in his direction, not even looking at him as he made his way toward Marina, his smirk growing. "Hey, pretty girl." He says as she just looks at him, the sweat dripping from his skin which made her nose wrinkle in the slightest. "What, no death threat? No, comment about how you wanna burn my skin off?" Rafe asks once she stayed silent.

"I'm not in the mood." She really wasn't. Not finding the gold was a dimmer and with everything else happening in her life, she could care less to make conversation with the kook prince.

"What, they take Edward scissorhands off of Netflix or something?" Rafe teases, chuckling under his breath. Marina looks unamused as she just holds out the bag to him. He licks his lips, grabbing it as he pulls out his wallet. She seems him take out the regular amount which makes her gaze narrow.

"You said you'd pay double."

"Hm, then you ignored me." He replies bluntly, shrugging his shoulders. Marina rolls her eyes, going to grab the cash but he holds it back. "Give me my phone back." Rafe demands, holding his free hand out. Marina bites her tongue but fishes it out of her bag.

"There was nothing on it anyways." Marina admits, having scavenged it for anything she could use to blackmail him. He was literally the most uneventful person on the island. Or at least he didn't keep anything on his phone.

"What, you hoping for a nude or some shit? Didn't think you were into that. Although you're probably into some kinky shit, hm?" Rafe says with a wink, his eyes running over her for a moment.

"The money, Rafe." She was so close to just stomping on his foot and walking away.

"Geez, just messing with you." Rafe responds before handing her the cash, which she starts putting in her bag. "Hey, so what'd you do after you left me bleeding yesterday?" He asks, tilting his head. Marina knew why he was asking, Topper probably told him about the boat.

"Went surfing." She responds bluntly as she stands up, putting her bag on her shoulders.

"Mhm, didnt sink my boys boat or anything?" Rafe asks, his eyes analyzing her every movement. Marina doesn't even seem scared as he takes a step closer to her.

"If i was gonna sink a boat, I'd make sure you were tied on it and unable to escape as the ocean swallows you whole." Marina answers him and it was quiet for a moment before he laughs, a smirk reappearing on his lips.

"There's my girl." Rafe responds, tilting his head toward her ear. "But just tell your little pogue, that we know what he did, all right?" He states and she raises an eyebrow.

"I warned you, you really want to step over the line?"

"What line? There's no line when it comes to putting you pogue trash in your place." Rafe sneers and Marina clenched the knife in her pocket. As she went to move it up, Rafe catches her wrist, a cynical laugh leaving him. "You always have a knife on you, don't you, sweetheart?" He questions, tilting his head as he forces her hand toward her own neck.

"Rafe, dude, it's not worth it. She's a girl." Topper warns as he steps forward a bit. Marina fought the urge to roll her eyes. Like he really gave a shit about that.

"Aren't you the one always calling her a psycho?" Rafe retorts with a scoff, tilting his head to his friend for a moment before looking back at Marina who only had a deadly expression on her face.

"Let me go." Marina demands, feeling his hand grip her wrist harder, pressing the knife against her skin.

"I'm just playing rough, doll. Thought you liked that." Rafe says, quoting her own words as he yanks her forward a bit, his free hand gripping the back of her neck. "Now, go back to the cut, tell your boys, that we'll see them real soon." Marina could feel the knife slicing her skin a bit but gave him no satisfaction to give a reaction.

"Did you put your brain in a blender?" Marina wonders why he was being so reckless but Rafe never was one to think things out.

"What, you gonna go running to my dad? I don't give a shit anymore."

"No, I'll go running to mine." She corrects him and she did see the fear that flashed through his eyes. "What would he do if he found out you put your hands on me, hm?" Marina asks him and Rafe smirks at her, his laugh only increasing before he releases his grip on her.

"You're good, I'll give you that." Rafe admits, pointing the knife at her. Marina brings her hand up to her neck, feeling the blood. "Just a little matching scar. Take it as your tip." He tells her with a wink. Marina doesn't say anything, simply grabbing her bike and walking quickly away from the gym.

Rafe waves her a goodbye before turning back to his friends who were both shocked. "Why are you smirking? She could seriously tell her dad and you'll be dead, man." Topper points out and Rafe rolls his eyes at his clueless friend.

"She won't tell him shit." He denies as he rubs his jaw. "We have an understanding." Rafe says with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Uh, and what understanding is that because it seems like you're crossing a line."

"Don't worry about it." Rafe denies as he moves back to the weights. Topper shakes his head as he shares a glance with kelce but decides to leave it alone. If rafe wanted to play with fire, that was his decision.

❧

Authors note;

Please let me know how you are enjoying this book. Also please note that I am not remotely fluent in Spanish.

Also bro, rafes obsession with Marina is gonna be insaneeeee especially when she gets with JJ.

[Translation]

Nunca entenderé por qué sales voluntariamente con estos idiotas. - I'll never understand why you willingly hang out with these idiots.

Ellos son mis amigos, como tu. - They are my friends, like you.

Sin embargo, uno te besó y el otro me dan ganas de arrancarle los ojos. - However, one kissed you and the other makes me want to tear his eyes out.

Es un buen tipo, sólo un poco... coqueto. - He's a good guy, just a little... flirtatious.

hombre puta - manwhore

Uno de nosotros tomó clases de español. pero estoy de acuerdo con todo lo que acabas de decir. - One of us took Spanish classes. But I agree with everything you just said.