Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
She took the box, her hand trembling. As she opened the lid, her gaze flew to mine, then back. I reached in, pulling out the bracelet. It was white gold, the banding a simple weave, the tiny chocolate and white diamonds woven on the top twinkling under the lights. It was delicate yet strong—like her.
“Niall,” she breathed.
“I hope you’ll indulge my choice. The chocolate diamonds are like your eyes. Brilliant and beautiful.”
The eyes I was referring to sparkled at me as she nodded.
“This,” I said, slipping it on her wrist and tightening it, “is called a bolo slide. Very common. But it contains a small tracking device. Undetectable. I’ll know where you are.”
“It’s so beautiful.”
I smiled. “If you press and hold it once, it will send me an SOS, and I’ll know you need me.”
“How?”
“Press it.”
She did as I requested, and immediately, my phone, watch, and laptop all lit up. “If anything happened, if you were scared or lost or needed me, I could find you.”
I touched the slide. “If the tracker were somehow disabled, if you press and hold it twice, it sends a different signal. One that cannot be disabled.”
“Oh. Wow.”
“We don’t know the range. It’s something Evan’s been working on.”
At her questioning look, I explained. “He’s part of our security team, and tech is his jam. He handles all our gadgets. Trackers, drones, surveillance. All that sort of stuff.”
“I see,” Anna murmured.
“But since you’re not going far, it should be fine in the hotel or the grounds,” I continued. “Plus, it’s just a precaution. An extra measure to help you feel safer.” I smiled with a shrug. “And make me feel better too.”
She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. I responded instantly, not caring about her gloss or anything else. Only tasting her. Holding her. Kissing her back until we were both breathless.
I drew back, touching her mouth. “I messed up your makeup.”
Her dimple popped with the width of her smile. “I don’t care.”
I grinned. “Me either.”
“Thank you. For the gift. The care that went into it.”
I gazed down at her. “A life with me would need precautions like this, Anna. Always.” I tightened my grip on her waist. “There would be dangers.”
“I know. Una and I talked a lot about that in the, um, place. And again here. I’m not afraid.”
I frowned. “You have to think about that. What you would give up.”
“I’d rather think of what I would gain.”
“Which is?”
“You.”
I swept her into my arms again, kissing her with utter abandon. My alarm went off, and I pulled back. “We need to be in our seats in ten minutes.”
She blinked. “I’ll get my bag.”
“You might want—” I tapped her mouth.
She grinned. “You too. Pink is not your color.”
I laughed. “I’ll remember that.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
ANNA
Sitting beside Niall with a group of his friends, I felt euphoric. He hadn’t said the words, but I felt his love. It was the way he looked at me. The warmth of his arm around my back. The way his fingers played with the ends of my hair. The intense way he watched me.
Looking around the table, I realized it was the same for all the men. Their wives beside them, the adoring glances. The possessive glares they gave anyone glancing toward their spouses too long. I had to laugh to myself when I realized it was the same for the women. Vi’s glare could pierce armor. It obviously amused Aldo, who teased her often, pulling her close for a kiss.
I leaned back into Niall’s warmth, feeling something I had never experienced before. A sensation of belonging. To him. With these people.
I knew his life was dangerous. I also knew, without his world, I would be elsewhere, locked in pain and misery—if I were still breathing.
Their world didn’t frighten me as much as the evil that existed outside of it. I had no doubt Niall would keep me safe. That he would do whatever it took to make me safe.
I glanced down at my bracelet, running my fingertip over the pretty diamonds. I had never owned a piece of jewelry so expensive. My mom’s and dad’s wedding bands were thin, and my dad’s had a crack in it. They were up north in the small storage locker where I’d left some items I couldn’t bear to part with when I’d sold the campground and the small house I’d grown up in. I had planned on shipping them to Toronto once I was settled. I frowned as I wondered what Niall would think of the odd pieces of furniture and the pictures I wanted to keep.
He leaned close, his voice low in my ear. “Whatever you’re thinking of that is making you so sad, stop. We’ll figure it out.” He squeezed my shoulder. “Just enjoy the night, mo mhuirnín.”
Una’s voice was spectacular. I had heard her sing—soft and low on occasion. But hearing her, seeing her, in the small spotlight, I got goose bumps. She reached high notes I couldn’t fathom as she sang Celtic songs, her voice filling the room with a power and emotion that packed a punch. She was applauded and cheered, no one as loudly as Finn. His eyes shone with proud tears as he watched her.