I clasped my hands on my lap, feeling defeated and scared. How would I face my life once Marcus was gone? Even if he did love me, there was no future for us. “I don’t know if he loves me.”
Lewis let out a breath and shook his head. “He loves you.”
I looked up at him quickly. “How do you know?”
The gaze he turned to me was filled with such longing and tenderness, it broke my heart. “I can see it in your eyes. He loves you as much as you love him, even if he hasn’t told you.”
My heart beat hard. I wanted to believe Lewis, but it hurt too much to think that Marcus loved me as much as I loved him and neither of us could have what we wanted.
“What’s keeping him from telling you?” he asked me.
I swallowed, trying not to let my emotions take over. “It’s complicated.”
“We have another twenty minutes until we reach Minneapolis.”
“You’re not going to like what I have to say.”
“Try me.”
And so I told Lewis all about Marcus Zale—and I was right. He didn’t like it one bit.
After I told him everything, he was silent for a long time.
“You fell in love with your captor?” he asked, almost accusatory.
“Marcus isn’t my captor,” I said softly. “Captain Zale is my captor. Marcus has been nothing but kind. He encouraged me to tell my grandfather where I am, and he’s going to help me find a place to live.”
Lewis gave me such a scathing look, I knew he was both angry and afraid for me. “I don’t trust him, Carrie.”
“You don’t know him.”
“He’s a pirate. He’s no better than Annie and Lloyd.”
“Or my brothers, or anyone else that’s making poor choices.” I crossed my arms. “You don’t understand. Marcus wants to change.”
He scoffed. “People don’t change.”
I stared at Lewis, surprised at his attitude. “Why would you become a police officer if you didn’t believe people could change? Isn’t that what you hope? That the criminals you apprehend will turn their lives around, given the opportunity?”
“No, Carrie. This is more proof that you’re naïve. I am a police officer to save innocent people like you from scoundrels who want to hurt you. End of story. And Marcus Zale sounds like the biggest scoundrel of all.”
“I knew I shouldn’t have told you.”
“Because you knew I would recognize a villain when I heard one.” He pressed his lips together. “Why is love wasted on fools?”
My temper flared to life. “Are you calling me a fool, Lewis?”
He pulled over to the side of the road and leveled a challenging glare at me. “Yes! You have an honorable, hardworking, and dependable man right in front of you, offering you a happy life. And yet you have given your heart to a pirate who refuses to declare his love for you. I think that’s the height of foolishness.”
My body temperature had risen, and I was so angry, I chose to overlook the declaration he’d just made. “Take me home, Lewis.”
“With pleasure. Because that’s the most reasonable thing you’ve said all day.”
Neither of us said another word on the way back to my house.
When Lewis parked on the street, I got out of his vehicle and headed up the sidewalk.
I heard Lewis’s door open, and a moment later, his gentle voice stopped me. “Carrie. Wait.”
