Page 98 of The Daredevil

Warmth and hope filled her eyes. “You can have it back if you’d like.”

“No. You found it, so it’s yours. It’s more magical being with the person who found it.”

She held it up to her chest. “Thank you. I love it. It’s like I have a part of you with me.”

She had more than she realized.

“The day I found the bottle, I felt defeated because I didn’t get the job I’d wanted and had a fight with my mom regarding a gala I didn’t want to attend. Feeling sad, I just wanted to be alone and walked the shore. When I spotted the bottle, hope sparked in me, and I wanted to know the message the universe had for me. The message resonated with me.”

“How?” I wanted to know everything in her mind and heart.

What had she been feeling that day? Did the bottle make her heart skip the way she made mine erratic just looking at her?

“It asked me a simple question that opened a door to other issues. Had I been taking risks? Sort of, but not intentionally. I was living my life dodging certain issues rather than walking through them. Because when I walk around them, they might reappear again. But if I walk into them,throughthem, I conquer the issues by breaking them down, right?”

“Not only are you sexy and stunning, but you’re also wise, angel.”

She rolled her eyes even as a small smile curved onto her lips. “Must be the Viking with a wicked mouth always saying stuff to make me blush. Now stop distracting me so I can finish my thoughts.”

I said what ran through my mind, which had been occurring more frequently. Ever since I met her, I’d transformed into a guy who saw things through a poetic scope. I wasn’t sure if I liked that or not.

She turned the glass bottle around in her hand. “When I opened the bottle, something in me also opened up. I had been blogging mostly about traveling and tourist stuff, but I wanted to introduce other topics that interested me. Basically, I was getting a bit bored and wanted to branch out. I took a risk and changed my blog to suitmydesire and not someone else’s. That was when my follower count grew exponentially.” She turned to me. “Yet again, you changed my life.”

Michelle was the only woman who moved my body and soul like tectonic plates, but admitting that to her would solidify a truth I was still afraid to admit. When it came to fear, I’d overcome it many times, but I was still terrified by the idea of love. I didn’t know if I could put myself back together if things didn’t work out with Michelle and me.

She saw me as an accomplished businessman and a doctor, but she didn’t know the version of me that could be so cold and emotionless. I had been like that for the first few years living in America. It had worried my aunt when I retreated into myself, questioning God, life, and even the superhero I had looked up to. Where was this higher power that was supposed to save people?

No one saved my mom when she was ill. No one saved my sister when she was kidnapped. When I sat in that dark corner, no one saved me.

What if that emotionless version of me returned one day? It would crush Michelle, and I’d rather not tell her anything than give her hope only to smash it later. I knew I sounded like a coward, but I didn’t know what else to do.

“Seeing how happy and hopeful you are makes me believe in superpowers and magic again.”

Something flickered in her eyes. “Don’t ever stop.”

If my feelings for her were magma, it was slowly traveling up from the earth’s core, wanting to erupt to show the world how much I cared about her. There had never been anyone who touched me this deeply.

“With how wonderful I make you feel, I deserve brownie points. Don’t you think?” I asked.

She threw her arms around me, dropping kisses all over my face and counting them as she went. I laughed like a fool, loving every damn kiss she offered me.

Her phone rang, and I cursed it to hell.

She paused and scowled. “My email notifications are going crazy.”

CHAPTERFIFTY-ONE

MICHELLE

Anxiety twistedknots in my stomach as Royce scrolled through my website.

“It’s been hacked,” he said calmly as he stared at the words on what was supposed to be Finding Life’s Treasures’ website.

I’m a cheating bitch.I fuck men to succeed.

An image of my face on a topless woman’s body flashed on the screen. She sat on a chair with a man’s head between her thighs, smiling provocatively.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t let them get to you.

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