Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 91423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
He’s making rules, and that means he’s in.
I couldn’t be more pleased. This is going to be fun.
“Everyone has two hours of access to our sources and intel. We’ll roll dice to determine who goes first,” Aiden says.
“Not dice. We’ll tear up some paper and draw lots,” Luke says. “I don’t trust any dice you have.”
“You do the lots,” Aiden says indulgently.
Luke busies himself cutting up three identical pieces of paper and carefully pencils a number on each of them. He folds each of them precisely, trying his best to make sure they are all the same size when he’s done, then he puts them in a small bowl that held ornamental things in it.
We each draw a number. Luke gets the first go. Aiden is second. I am third. I am not worried. I wasn’t intending on using our intel anyway. I think I know exactly where our runaway bride would have gone.
“Wait. One last thing. Is it who finds her first? Or who catches her first? Because those might not be the same thing.”
“You have to get her in your custody and back at this house,” Aiden says. “Spotting her isn’t enough. We’re not birdwatchers. We’re going to marry her.”
“Deal,” Luke agrees. I also nod in agreement.
“I’ll leave you in here to do your two hours,” Aiden says. “A hundred and twenty minutes. That’s it.”
Luke grins and sits down behind Aiden’s computer. “I am going to have her before either one of you have any hope of working out where your own asses are.”
Aiden and I leave the room. Aiden shuts the door behind him and locks it.
I lift a brow at him. “We didn’t agree not to sabotage each other,” he says. “I’m about to disconnect the internet and phone, too. Don’t worry. I’ll get the butler to ensure he’s fed and watered.”
“You assholes!” Luke bangs on the door. “Leo! Let me out! If you don’t let me out, there will be hell to fucking pay! And you think Aiden’s not going to fuck you over too? This is against the rules!”
“We never said we couldn’t interfere with one another,” Aiden says. “It’s entirely within the ruleset you agreed to.”
Luke curses. “I’m going to put a fucking hole in this wall if you don’t open the door.”
Aiden puts his hands in his pockets, turns, and walks away. About a minute later, Luke’s foot comes through the wall, much like he promised. He kicks out the drywall, comes crawling through the hole he made, his blond hair getting thoroughly covered in dust.
He lunges at Aiden, who still hasn’t bothered to turn around—rookie error—and starts beating the hell out of him. I take the opportunity to get underway. Aiden is going to be dealing with Luke for a while, I’d say. It’s not often he gets physically attacked, and Luke has been doing nothing but working out since Teddy died.
CHAPTER 16
Ella
The fish and chips are amazing. As are the meat pies. Out in the bay, dolphins are frolicking. I literally cannot believe how beautiful this place is. It feels like I’m being immersed in a world that shouldn’t even exist in the modern day. All the buildings have a colonial style, many of them having been built when the first European settlers arrived. The combined effect is one of being in a place entirely out of time.
I feel, for the first time in my life, something akin to happiness. It’s a strange kind of feeling because I thought happy was getting what or who I wanted, but right now, feeling happy is just feeling like myself in a place where nobody is demanding anything of me, and having everything I need.
My one regret is that I couldn’t bring Ethel. She would have hated the plane, and the quarantine regulations here are so strict I’m almost surprised they let people in at all.
Someone sits down at the picnic bench next to me.
“Enjoying the meal?”
“Took you long enough to find me.”
“I’m just happy you’re eating,” he says.
I still haven’t looked around. Why would I look at anything other than the sun dancing off the gleaming backs of leaping dolphins at play?
“I’m not going back,” I tell him.
“You don’t have to. This country is absolutely packed with the bunkers of the rich and famous. You picked one of the best places you could possibly go. Just like I knew you would.”
“Oh, you knew what I was going to do?”
“I knew you’d run as far away as you could. Antarctica is too cold. This is the next best place.”
I smile to myself ruefully. I suppose it’s a bit of a cliché. I could have gone so many other places. Portugal would have been nice. Or Scotland. Or Norway. Or maybe somewhere in South America. I bet there are places I don’t even know about that would have been better. All I really know is that I haven’t run far enough.