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But I shove her back with the force of a hundred angry men and laugh when, in surprise, her eyes meet mine and betrayal gleams in them.
For a second, anyway. Because then she flips into the ocean with an undignified squeak and flails as she searches for the surface again. Her legs are up, and her ass peeks through the water for a beat. I know I’m in big trouble when she comes up for air, and when she surfaces and her hair lies flat over her face, a helmet that conceals—barely—her rage, I chuckle and accept my fate. Coming to the edge of the platform and lowering to sit, I wait, engrossed in the way she painstakingly drags herself under control.
If it were anatomically possible, steam would billow from her ears.
“You.” Controlled, terrifyingly so, she swims toward me. “Asshole.”
“You asked what I was going to do with my last day as a married-single man.” Leaning forward, I cup her jaw and drag her closer until she perches between my legs. “We started out with me pissing you off. And it’s worked out great so far. So Ifigured,” I draw her up and smack a noisy kiss to her salty lips, “recreating a winning recipe is how we find success.”
“Works for me.” She wraps her arm around my neck and yanks me forward until I crash into the water and send waves splashing back onto the deck. Smiling under the surface—it’s cute she thinks she’s strong enough to push me anywhere—I grab her ankle and tug her under so bubbles explode and race back for the surface. I stay under as long as my lungs allow. I wait for her to stop thrashing, then I bring her to me, our eyes locking underwater and her legs instinctually wrapping around my hips.
Already, I feel that small pang of disappointment because soon, we’ll have to swim back to the surface. Eventually. To live, wehaveto leave our small part of the ocean and rejoin the rest of the world.
But I take this moment for us. I press my lips to hers and store this memory away for the rest of my life. And as we kiss, we break free of the water. But it’s gentle. There’s no frenzy. No gasps of rage. There’s nothing but a man and a woman, helplessly, ridiculously, irreversibly in love.
“You want us to repeat history?” Panting, her breath touches my tongue and her body wraps entirely around me so there’s no space between where she starts and where I end. “You think we should repeat what works?”
I narrow my eyes and know, beneath the sweet smile and bedroom gaze is something that’s gonna piss me off. “What’s your point, shithead?”
“It’s just that I seem to recall committing murder in those early days, too. If you want to repeat history…”
“For fuck’s sake.” I shove her off and allow myself to sink.
Because I married Copeland City’s vigilante killer.
Sometimes, when I’m really, really lucky and the world is happy, that small detail fades from my consciousness and I forget my wife is a killer.
Other times, she throws it down in conversation because I tossed her into the ocean and messed up her hair.
Touché.
MINKA
Idon’t keep track of the time anymore. It could be two o’clock. Maybe three or four or five. I know we had lunch, and I’m aware my stomach grumbles for its next meal. But as I lay on a sun lounger beside my husband, his fingers stroking my hair and his lips resting on my temple like that’s somehow all he needs to relax, I simply exist in this day and put no effort at all into figuring out what we’re supposed to do when the sun goes down.
Every now and then, Cade or Calum brings us a drink. Sometimes they’re alcoholic, and sometimes they’re just plain, old water. Periodically, seagulls fly over, and sometimes, if my eyes are fast enough, I catch a bird diving into the ocean and plucking out a fish for dinner.
The world continues outside of us. People work, cars move, and businesses trade. There’s an entire universe outside of this boat where lives continue, babies are born, and the elderly die. Sicknesses abound and medical science is yet to keep up.
Despite the lies told by the people who work for Evicta.
“I think I changed my mind about you taking the pills for your hemophilia.” Archer’s voice is light. Rumbling as the sunstarts its descent. He glances toward the manila file I’ve pulled out again to continue my research. Though after my second or third drink, I tossed it aside and elected to simply lounge, like a lazy lizard in the sun. “I don’t want us to be suckered in by some douchebag selling rat poison and calling it a cure.”
“These pills aren’t like that.” I haven’t decided yet which direction I’ll go with my medication. But I have researched enough to know the ingredients inside each capsule I might eventually swallow. I’ve studied the manufacturers. I’ve done my due diligence to be confident, at least, that I won’t be taking something that’ll kill me. “The company making them is one of the most tightly controlled in the world. Their internal auditing system is amazing.”
“So you’re gonna do it?”
I lift my shoulders in a subtle, gentle shrug. “I’m confident thatifI do it, I’ll be safe.” Pulling back, I readjust my eyes and study his handsome expression. His angular jaw. His plump, kissable lips. “I’ll continue to think about my options, and eventually, I’ll come to a decision that’s best for us both. Now…” I sluggishly smile. “I seem to recall mention of a surprise. Where is it?”
“What?”
“You promised.” Slowly, I push up to sit and cross my legs, the rolls of my stomach folding down to create wrinkles in my skin. “I was expecting a little something by now.” Lifting my left hand, I study the diamond he already placed there. “I’m a woman who has come to expect a certain way of life.”
He snorts and snags my hand. “You don’t even like surprises.” Tugging me back down, he cradles me, half on his chest so sweat dews between us. But blindly, he swings out with his free arm, clumsily knocking things over in his search until, finally, he touches on whatever he was looking for. He picks up his shirt and opens it wide, almost like he’s getting ready to dressand leave our lounger. But he plops the fabric over my head, instead, dragging it down so we’re a tangled mess of limbs.
My hair long ago frizzed, and I’m sporting a slight sunburn. But none of that matters as he drags the oversized shirt down to cover my torso and the bathing suit he specifically picked out for me.
Finally, he lifts and sets me on his hips, stealing the breath from my lungs when his rock-hard length settles between my legs. “I decided to not give you a surprise.”
