Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 215412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1077(@200wpm)___ 862(@250wpm)___ 718(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1077(@200wpm)___ 862(@250wpm)___ 718(@300wpm)
I take a breath and exhale slowly. “Fine.”
“Bullets and brains.”
He grabs my backpack. Before I can protest, he takes my hand in his and tugs me down the street toward the harbor.
I try to pull free, but his fingers squeeze, keeping me from slipping away without hurting me. He moves with purpose as if this was already decided. I let him lead me, but unease coils in my stomach.
He lights a cigarette with his free hand, the glow illuminating his striking features.
The moment his lips wrap around the filter, I yank my hand from his, pluck the cigarette from his mouth, and take a drag.
“You don’t strike me as a thief.” His brows lift.
“You don’t strike me as a rich boy.” I exhale smoke into the night.
“You have no idea what I am, princess.”
No truer words, and that’s what scares me.
Doubt follows me down the pier, hitting on all cylinders as we approach the waiting yacht. The water laps against the dock, crooning a dark warning.
Am I making a fatal mistake?
I glance back toward the town. Jag will find me. He’ll try to break me. More than he already has.
And Wolf just lost his job for me.
“How many islands are in Sitka?” I ask.
“Eleven-hundred-ish, but no one knows for sure.”
More importantly, Jag won’t know. If he figures out I left on a yacht, he’ll have to search over a thousand unknown islands to find me.
I love those odds.
“I’ll get your job back,” I say reluctantly.
It’s the least I can do.
“No. I will get my job back.” His finger dives toward my nose. “You will stay away from him.”
He boards the yacht, and I dig in my heels.
“Now what?” He pauses, pivoting to face me, hands on his hips.
“You can’t expect me to just jump on a boat with a stranger.”
“Well, now, that’s exactly what I expect. Except I’m not a stranger. You know some of my innermost secrets.”
“Some?”
“I can’t dump my load all in one go. You gotta earn it, Gunslinger.”
“Where’s that captain you promised?”
“Kai!” he yells and gives me a patient smile.
Within seconds, a tall man in a suit emerges from the helm.
“Aye, aye, Captain Kai.” Wolf waves him forward. “Where’s my family?”
“They returned to the island on Kodiak’s yacht. I was instructed to wait for you.” The captain casts a quizzical look at my wedding gown and backpack. “Good evening, ma’am. Are congratulations in order?”
“Not yet,” Wolf says cryptically. “Who do you work for, Kai?”
“Monty Novak, sir.”
“And who is my father?”
“Sir?”
“Just answer the question. For whatever reason, the princess trusts the word of a complete stranger over mine, her one and only soul mate.”
“Wise decision, ma’am.” Kai winks at me and quickly clears his throat when Wolf levels him with a look. “Monty Novak sired this uncivilized creature. With much regret, I suspect.”
“You’re a gem.” Wolf pats Kai’s cheek. “Now go pretend you’re Jack Sparrow and try not to crash us.” To me, he holds out a hand. “Decision time, Annie Oakley.”
Stalling, I stare at those long fingers.
If I turn back now, I’ll never know what he’s really hiding or what he sees in me that makes him so sure I’m worth helping.
This isn’t about trusting him. It’s about trusting myself to handle whatever comes next.
Safe has never given me a leg up. Maybe a risky ride into the unknown will.
Lifting my chin, I shoulder past him and board the yacht like my nerves aren’t unfurling in rapid heartbeats.
Wolf leads me to the railing, the cold wind whipping my hair around my face. He openly stares at me from inches away, poking at my silence as if trying to pry me open. It only makes me want to close tighter.
“You always this moody, or is this just your honeymoon glow?” he asks.
“You always this annoying, or is this just my bad luck?”
“Nah, you caught me on a good night.”
“Look, I just need a place to stay until I get my feet under me.”
“So it’s like that?”
“What else is it like?”
“So many possibilities, the most logical being that you’re a princess, and I’m Prince Charming.”
“You really don’t know how normal people interact, do you?”
“Fuck normal. You’re dressed for an epic adventure, and I’m at your side with a sword in my…” He looks down.
“Don’t say it.”
“Boot?” He lifts a pant leg, revealing the handle of a knife, before kicking the hem back in place. “Our fairy tale has already begun.”
He leans on the railing beside me, cigarette dangling from his lips and a smirk ghosting his mouth like it’s his default setting.
What a weirdo.
Possibly insane.
But no.
No, that’s not it at all.
There’s too much calculation in his sarcasm, too much intelligence in those ice-blue eyes. Maybe the whole nice-with-a-knife thing works on other people, but I’m well-versed in sugar-coated hostility. He’s hiding something.
If what he said is true, if he spent his life in a psychopath’s prison, then whatever he’s showing me is only the surface.