Page 143 of Devil's Bride

Neither Genevieve nor I blinked. I could tell exactly what she was thinking. “Hold on, Kruz. Let me discuss this with my partner.”

“Yes, sir.”

“So what do we do?” I asked her.

She glanced at the cargo ship. “We could be rolling in dough for the rest of our lives.”

“We could.”

“I could have diamonds as playthings.”

“As many as you wanted,” I told her, still grinning.

“Tough decision.” She looked me in the eyes once again and placed her hand on my chest above my heart. “You’re going to do the right thing. The women will be returned home, the diamonds back to whatever people they were stolen from, and the firearms won’t be used to kill innocent children. The drugs? Well, that I can’t speak to.”

“The right thing. You’re sure that’s what should happen? That’s what you want.”

“Yep. I’m sure. And do you know why?” she asked.

“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”

“Because you’re a decent man, someone who is crusty on the outside, but all marshmallow goo inside.”

I coughed and glanced toward the other soldiers, who were trying to act as if they weren’t paying any attention. “Hardly, darling. But that’s something we’ll discuss when we get home.”

“Home. I admit I like the sound of that.”

“Yeah, me too.” I returned to the radio. “Kruz. I’m contacting the coast guard. Make certain the women are freed and given whatever they need until they’re taken to safety.”

“You sure, boss?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. It’s the right thing to do.”

The right thing. My father would call me a fool, but it wasn’t every day that a man in my position was capable of doing something good, something that wouldn’t haunt me for years to come.

I was a brutal bastard, a man with no conscience, but I’d been lucky enough to see the world entirely differently through the eyes of a woman I’d come to… love.

What would happen in the future?

Who the fuck knew, but we’d climb that mountain when it came.

CHAPTER 38

Five weeks later…

Genevieve

I blamed late-night craving on Kristy Kreme donuts.

Glazed.

Eclairs.

Frosted strawberry.

Hell, I’d take a jelly donut right about now and they weren’t my favorites.

I also blamed my husband who’d enticed me with the delicious treats, having four dozen boxes airlifted only two days before to finally replace the ones lost in the late morning melee.

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