Page 22

Chapter twenty-two

By Land, Sea, or Sky

Kylie

T hey were alive. Relief poured through me. A part of me didn’t want to believe it after so much bad had happened.

Gideon’s solid presence was proof though. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. Luka Santos was dead. The nightmare I’d lived through these past few years was done. I didn’t know how to even process the fact that it was over. That I was finally free to live my life without having to look over my shoulder at every turn.

“Why don’t we get these off you?” he undid the cuffs and collar. The thick leather and chains fell away. I inhaled deeply. It was the first deep breath I’d taken in days. The crisp ocean air would forever remind me of freedom. My wrists and neck were raw, but the gentle breeze felt wonderful as did the man holding me.

I had so many questions. Like how did they survive? How did they make it to the island so fast? What happened next? But I couldn’t seem to voice them through my tears. I’d been in a constant state of hyper vigilance the past few days in between bouts of drug induced stupor.

Gideon hefted me into his arms. “Let’s get you off the island.”

I shook my head.

“No,” I whispered, my throat raw.

Gideon glanced down at me with a frown. “Babe, you don’t have to do anymore.”

I nodded. “Yes, I do. I need to get the key for the safe deposit box in Nassau.”

“Kylie—”

I placed my finger over his lips. “I wasn’t asking for permission. It’s something I need to do for me. I need it done, Gideon. This is the last bit. Besides, you need my fingerprints anyway to access it.” Luka had let that little gem slip last night. It was likely why he hadn’t touched me yet. Likely out of fear that he would injure me beyond repair.

Gideon studied me, like he expected me to back down. But I was done with that. I’d experienced the worst of humanity. I had lived my life by other people’s constraints. And from this moment forward, I would live my life the way I wanted, not the way other people deemed was acceptable. They didn’t have to understand my choices or why I chose to live a certain way. It was my life, and I was going to live it my way.

“Are you certain? We can collect it for you. Mateo can scan your prints. You’ll still be needed in Nassau.”

“I am. Put me down, Gideon. And then let’s go get that key.” Because I would never again be deemed the inferior partner.

He grimaced, but he recognized it wasn’t a fight he would win. “Very well. If at any time you need to stop and rest, tell me and I will get you to the ship. We can always come back for the key.”

He lowered me until my feet touched the ground. “I will.”

“Where is she? Why aren’t you on the ship? Are you hurt? We should get a medic to take a look—” Axel came in at a run stopping in front of me. He searched my body for any injury.

“Why haven’t you gotten her aboard the destroyer?” He accused Gideon.

I put my hand on Axel’s chest, thrilled when I felt his heartbeat under my palm. It confirmed that I wasn’t dreaming. That he was here and was alive. “Axel, I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not.” He argued with a scowl, cataloging my bruises.

“Yes, I am. I need you to listen to me.”

Axel stilled, inhaled a deep breath and nodded. “Anything you need, Angel.”

“We need to go collect the key for the safe deposit box. I’m going. And no, you don’t have a say in this. I need to finish this and put the past to rest for me.”

Axel didn’t want me to go. It was in every line of his body. But he conceded with a slight nod. “Then let’s go get it. Then we’re getting you back to the ship and checked out by the medic.”

When I opened my mouth to argue, Axel silenced me. “I’m not trying to silence your independence, Angel. But we’ve been worried sick about you for days and we need to take care of you.”

His pride was damaged because Santos had gotten the upper hand. It wasn’t his fault, but I needed to bend, too. “The first step is helping me get that key.”

“Then what the hell are we waiting for?”

“Let me relay this to the ship commander, let him know about Santos and Blumfeld, and we can be on our way,” Gideon stated and stepped away for a minute. He rejoined us with a grin.

“What do you have up your sleeve?”

“Only that we’re going to take the easy route.” He nodded to the helicopter landing a short distance down the beach. “Chase figured we’d like a ride.”

Oh, thank god!

As much as I wanted to act like I could make the five-mile trek on foot, I didn’t know how long the adrenaline rush would last. It was already starting to wane now that I was safe. Not that I would admit it, or they would cart me off the island.

Chase landed and cut the engine. With Gideon and Axel bracketing me, while the mafia goons still alive were led away in handcuffs, we headed toward the chopper. Chase climbed out of the cockpit with a rakish grin as we approached.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes, beautiful? Gideon tells me you want to go collect that key with us.”

“Do you have a problem with that?”

“Not even in the slightest. Let’s get you inside and buckled in.” Chase corralled me into the back. Put a helmet on me and got me strapped in. Then he leaned down and stole a quick kiss. He pressed his forehead against mine. “So glad you’re okay.”

“Cut it out, Chase. We’ll have time for that later once we wrap this case up,” Gideon stated from the front.

“Duty calls,” Chase winked and climbed into the pilot seat.

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. His familiar antics lifted my spirits. And at the mention of what would happen later, my core clenched. Before any hanky panky the five of us needed to have a frank discussion. I doubted we would have free time like that on a Navy vessel though.

Then we would see if we had a future together. Considering I didn’t think I would ever see them again, I worried I was too greedy. That mayhap they wanted one final bang before moving on to their next case.

“What about Mateo?” I asked as the helicopter lifted off.

“Not to worry, beautiful. He’s on that yacht getting all the evidence on Santos’s entire crime organization. You’ll see him shortly,” Chase stated through the headset.

In minutes we hovered above a squat building in the middle of the island. It didn’t look like much, but then my husband had been a master at hiding things he didn’t want others to find. Chase set the helicopter down on the flat roof.

Then with their help, we climbed over the side of the building and approached the heavy steel door. Gideon waltzed up to the key code and punched in a few numbers. Then took my hand and placed it over the palm scanner. The door clicked and then swung open.

“How did you know the code?”

“It’s one of the things Mateo recovered before Santos blew the house up. Lucky for us Mateo’s got a brain like a steel trap. And he uploaded all the files from your husband’s server onto his cloud.”

We entered. Inside was a single room with a stairwell entrance and elevator. We took the elevator down to the other floor. It opened into what looked like a warehouse the size of a football field with artwork, jewels, statues and guns. There was enough firepower down here to overthrow Nassau if it came down to it. Off to the side was a series of computers and then cabinets with more passcode entry panels and thumbprint scans.

Gideon sauntered up to one in the middle. Typed in a code. The top drawer opened. And he withdrew a bronze key. He handed it over to me. “I think this belongs to you now. Whatever else is in that safe deposit box belongs to you, along with everything in here.”

“And if I wanted to donate most of this stuff to museums.” I nodded toward the rows of artifacts.

“Then we’ll help you do that, Angel.”

“You don’t have to decide anything right now. You can take your time—”

I cut Gideon off. “There’s nothing in here I need. I already have more money than I can spend in multiple lifetimes.”

“There’s likely a finder’s fee with this stuff or you could sell it,” Chase stated with a shrug.

“And you don’t have to decide today.”

But the thing was, I was ready for a fresh start without any reminders of the past. But I conceded their point. “I’ll consider it.”

Axel squeezed my hand. “Good. We should get you to the ship.”

I nodded, ready to head out and begin the next part of my life. Inside, I waved goodbye to my old life, with the middle finger salute.

And for the first time in forever, hope infused my steps.