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“It feels so good, El.” Her voice is tinged with awe again—something I’m going to have to investigate. For now, I’m simply going to revel in the way she uses my old nickname and the feel of her grinding against my hand.

I begin to fuck her with my finger. I don’t insert a second, wanting to ease her body into the act. Only, there’s no easing. The woman explodes like a rocket out of nowhere as though she was primed and ready, waiting for the moment I returned.

Her body shakes and trembles as she pants through a seismic orgasm.

“That’s it, beautiful. Give me everything you’ve got.”

My dick is so hard, it’s painful, and I love it. A woman hasn’t made me this hard since … since her.

I slow my touch and milk every quiver from her body. And when she finally stills, I bring my hand up and inhale her musky scent, then suck her from my fingers.

I could die a very happy man right now.

I nuzzle my nose through her hair to the nape of her neck and kiss my beautiful buttercup. There’s no denying it now. She’s mine, and I’ll find a way to prove it to her.

I slip from the bedroom early the following morning for a sparring session with Michael. One of the rooms below deck is a fully outfitted training room used by the entire crew, myself included.

Today, I’m getting in some much-needed hand-to-hand practice. Michael is one of the best knife fighters I’ve come across. That’s the only reason he was alive long enough during our first encounter for us to establish we had a common enemy.

Where I favor my karambit blade, he prefers a fixed-blade dagger. Both of us carry a variety of options at any given time. In my experience, most people aren’t willing to put in the time and effort to master the use of knives and resort to guns. I’m glad. It makes my enemies much easier to kill.

Having Michael around to train with is almost worth his presence. The man I trained under was killed years ago, and it’s been difficult finding anyone skilled enough to challenge me since then.

“You’re distracted today.” Michael smirks. “I’ll switch to my left hand to even things out.” He tosses his dull practice blade from his right hand to his left, grinning fiendishly because he knows the challenge he’s thrown down.

“Fuck that. I could take you left-handed any day of the week, distracted or not.” I move my training knife to my left hand and take a ready stance.

We each make a series of advances, testing for weaknesses in the other’s defense.

“Besides,” I continue, “I wouldn’t be distracted if you weren’t so goddam slow at your job. When are you going to get me the information I asked for?”

I lunge, but instead of attacking, I grab the arm he extends in anticipation of my strike and spin, then use my leverage to flip him onto his back on the mat. He grunts, breathing heavily as he smirks up at me.

“Glad you could get that out. You have some serious anger issues.”

“Fuck you, man. I’d like to see you keep your cool if I had my hands all over Evie.” I sit on a weight bench and rest, enjoying the way his features darken at the mere mention of his wife. “That’s what I thought.”

He’s quiet for a minute, then sits up and studies me. “You saying this girl is yours, then?”

“Always has been, always will be.” I hold his stare with unflinching certainty.

Michael nods. “Fair enough.” He reaches for his phone and swipes. “Here’s what I have so far, but it’s not much. She’s led a quiet life—neither on social media nor part of any organizations I can find. Medical records from the accident are sparse. Aside from the initial hospital intake, it looks like her father brought in a private physician. I’m working on locating anything on him, but if he worked for the Moretti family, chances are we won’t find anything.”

“She worries about her dad—he has some kind of health issue?”

“He’s got a heart arrhythmia and takes a medication to keep it under control. If the condition goes untreated, it can lead to stroke or heart attack.”

No wonder she worries about him.

I grimace at my own selfishness, but I can’t let her go. I need more time with her. Besides, the man is an adult and should be able to take his meds without her having to remind him, right?

“Anything else?” I ask, not thrilled with what I’ve learned so far.

“Nope. She doesn’t take any meds that I can see. Never went to college. She likes the beach. All her vacations are to different islands in the Caribbean.”

Super. Her vacation preferences should give me all kinds of insight into why she’s avoided relationships for the past twenty years.

I keep from rolling my eyes because it’s not Michael’s fault her life is locked up tighter than a bank vault. “Thanks, man. Let me know if you uncover anything else.”