Chapter 55
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
“This is some old shit. We’ll be lucky if we don’t explode on the way there.”
Mikail shrugs. “Beggars can’t be choosers. Not like we have a lot of fancy explosives on this island.”
I’m speechless as I watch the two of them rummaging through an old warehouse. A warehouse they broke into, no less.
Wolf grabs me for another kiss. “Good lord,” I grumble against my mouth.
He grins and kisses the tip of my nose. “Just think, Kate, the Princess is an accessory to robbery.”
I punch him in his rock hard abs. “Not even funny.”
He grabs my hand and twists his fingers with mine. “Mikail’s got people on the inside of the police force.”
I sag, “Thank god. I don’t want to visit the jail.”
He leans in, scraping his scruff over my jaw, sending a wild chill and flush of heat over my skin. He laughs lightly against my ear. “I thought you said the jail wasn’t bad? Changed your mind now, your highness?” When he walks away, he’s laughing. Devil.
A huge sense of relief has taken up residence in my chest. Mikail and Wolf seem right at home working side by side. I just can’t believe what they are planning to do. That is, if we find what we think we will.
When all the supplies are gathered, Wolf pulls up a tall stool to a workbench in the garage. That’s when it hits me, what he’s about to do. “No! Don’t, Wolf. Please. There has to be another way.”
He glances at me as he organizes a mountain of wires. “I’ve been working with explosives for a decade. I’m fine. But it’s time for you to go outside. Get back in the car. Mikail too.”
The intensity of his look startles me. “Please be careful.” I whisper.
“Go,” he says roughly as I scurry out the door with tears exploding from my eyes and my heart stopping completely.
* * *
Wolf uses Mikail’s truck to drive the explosive devices he built to the old house where Mikail had been hiding out. From there, the plan is to scour the land until we find the spot we’re looking for.
I can’t breathe the entire way as we follow along behind Wolf at a safe distance.
“He’s so calm. I am terrified for him.”
“Wolf is trained to keep calm under extreme duress.”
I sag in the seat in a pool of cold sweat that’s rushing down my back. “Well, apparently, I am not cut out for that.”
“If you were trained, you would be. You’re a tough girl. I’ve seen you grow into a badass over the years since we’ve been training.”
I fan my face. “I don’t know about that.”
He glances at me as he casually drives the truck over the rutted road. “Give yourself some credit.”
“I don’t know what I am anymore,” I admit.
“You’ll find your way. And I have a feeling Wolf is just the man to help you discover all new sides of yourself.”
As I watch Wolf easing the truck over the old, dilapidated path, my heart squeezes. “It’s complicated.”
“He told me about the wedding. And how you’ve made him feel things he didn’t think he wants to feel again. It’s just going to take some time. But you’re perfect for him.”
I turn and look at Mikail. “Thanks. I hope I can be.”
He shrugs as if thinking something he doesn’t say outloud. “Look, I’m sorry for whatever was said that made you think we’d get engaged.”
He shakes his head once. “Nothing to worry about. I knew it was never true. You and me, we’ve got a thing. A friendship thing.”
I grin. “That’s what I told Wolf.”
A brief glimpse of sadness washes over his face.
“Hey, what is it that you’re not saying.”
“Wolf’s a lucky man.”
I stare at his profile for a second. “What’s wrong? Please be honest with me.”
He clears his throat. “You just remind me of someone.”
“Gina?”
He nods once, his whole body tightening.
“What happened with you two?”
The muscle in his jaw clench. “She was destined for fame. I was destined for war.”
The pain in him slices into me. “I’m sorry. I knew that you broke up when you went to work in Kiralistan.”
“She’s… she’s…”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything else.”
“I went to watch her play when we were in the States.”
This surprises me. I didn’t know he still felt so deeply for the girl I used to see him with on the island years ago. “Did she know you were there?”
He laughs. “Oh, hell no. She was too busy. She opened for a big heavy metal show. But it was great to see her anyway, even if it was from a few hundred yards away.” He nods ahead. “Enough about me. Or her, I should say. We’ve got other matters at hand that are far more critical.”
I agree, but I wonder if Mikail realizes just how critical matters of the heart really can be. Ask me how I know…