CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE #2
“Goddamn, this view,” he hisses. “An absolute masterpiece. My priceless art.”
The fingertips on his free hand dig into my hip, then sail up my spine, around to my breast, and eventually backtrack to land with his saliva-coated thumb probing my virgin hole.
Every touch washes me in goose bumps and hope and fullness, culminating in a dizzying crescendo of where we’ve been and where we’re headed.
“I’m almost there, Cash … I’m gonna …”
He pinches my clit to issue the most mind-blowing sensation. “Give it to me, Sylv. I want it all.”
His greed ruins me in the most excruciatingly beautiful way.
At the tail end of that exchange and the height of our rapturous trembling, we blast out of the dark tunnel into the blinding light of divine sublimity.
Piercing rays and striking mountain peaks.
Enhanced only by the reflection of us in the glass as we both shake and shudder so vehemently that it far surpasses the rocky tracks that led us here.
Paradise.
The train is stopped at a station, though no one gets on or off.
Once we’re cleaned up and wearing oversize uniform shirts that Cash managed to snag from the employees since our clothing was left in shreds, Jax returns, and Cash pulls him aside.
I can’t hear what they’re saying, but much like the exchange between Axel and Cash a while back, it’s intense with a varnish of beautiful healing.
And I am again touched by how remarkable this family is.
My father would’ve loved them so much. They navigate the murky waters of immorality with a veneer of loyalty and joy, like he did.
Eventually, Cash picks me up and sits back down with me in his lap, answering questions before I pose them.
“I took a shot in the thigh, right as you jumped.” When my jaw sets with a gasp, he holds up his hand.
“I’m good. They were far away, and it was more of a graze.
Wells and his guys had moved in, determined to see us all off the island.
They watched the pilot go down and were already coming our way, so when the shooting began, they stepped in, as if they were guards for Kratos too.
When I got hit, Wells told me to drop, and he yelled at the guards shooting to stand down. ”
Jax slants his head, doubtful but impressed. “That worked?”
“Not all their guards knew each other—part of their web of secrecy—so no one questioned him, and he convinced them that they’d shot an innocent guest who’d been chasing someone down for them.
We were far enough away that they couldn’t dispute that or identify the two of you.
” Cash cups my chin and skates his thumb across my lower lip.
“Only that guard you killed would’ve known you were involved.
So, it wasn’t random. It was most likely E who had them shooting at us. ”
“That makes sense,” I concede. “He was probably afraid I’d tell Peter what I was doing. He saw us talking in the bar. Maybe he’s been paranoid since Peter’s party, deciding he needed to kill me to prevent that. But before we go there, why didn’t you jump with us?”
“Because if I had, they’d have chased us. This way, I could run interference, which I did.”
I arch my brows, still not convinced. “While getting shot.”
“I’m more concerned about that dunk you took in the seawater with all your cuts.” He rolls up one of my sleeves, inspecting the small nicks and scrapes I have from sliding through the transom windows. “You need to shower and get those cleaned up.”
“Finish first,” I insist.
“Wells and his guys made it seem like my injury was life-threatening. They loaded me into the helicopter, Ty flew Liam and me out of there, and Liam removed the bullet and stitched me up while we were in the air, during which time I completely flipped out about the two of you.”
The thought of him hurt and fretting turns my stomach, so I curl into him. “I texted.”
“You did everything right,” he says, “but I was still terrified.”
A million concerns flit through my mind, but I settle on the one that will forever be a place that divides who I am. “What about the body?”
His eyes brim with empathy as he tucks an unruly hair behind my ear. “Gage disposed of him on the other side of the island. By the time we were in the air, it was all cleaned up and everyone was safe on the yacht.”
I shiver, overwhelmed by that image and the one of the guard’s head exploding.
“Catch me up,” Cash says, aware I need redirected. “Have you talked to E?”
“Not yet. But I spoke to Peter.” With that, I detail everything that occurred during that conversation and the final pieces of my plan.
“You’re brilliant.” He kisses me with so much adoration that I can’t imagine ever being more content than I am right now, with carnage and bullet wounds and an angry cabal in our wake.
While I take a shower to prevent a bacterial infection and feel human again, Cash and Jax set some things in motion for me.
I rummage through my backpack, grateful when I find that I packed a few essentials—lip gloss, panties, blush, and something I forgot I took from Tessa last night.
That sends me down a rabbit hole I wasn’t planning to explore here, but once I do, there’s no going back.
My chest rumbles with worry as I exit the bathroom and wander back in nothing but my knee-length train conductor button-down and boy-short underwear, though I added a makeshift belt, so it appears like an outfit. “Where’s Jax?”
“Asking the staff for some food. We’re all set,” Cash reports without glancing up from an intricate flourish he’s doing with his cards.
“Good.” I take the seat across from him, tucking one foot beneath me. “I mean, it is, but … I figured something out.”
His head snaps up, and like he always does, he reads me. “What the hell happened?”
“It’s just … Peter said something, and I … it didn’t really hit me until now. But this … changes everything.”