Ryan returns with the medical bag and kneels next to us, rubbing Everleigh’s back slowly. He’s so good at relaxing her when she’s stressed and I’m beyond thankful for that.
Fumbling through the bag, she pulls out scissors and cuts Ryan’s shirt down the center. “It looks like he has one in the shoulder and another in the ribs.” She glances back at me with wide eyes as though what she’s seeing can’t be good. “What do we do? He needs these professionally removed. We—”
“I’ll call for a helicopter. We just need to get him to the clearing about thirty feet into the ridge.”
Her face goes blank. “But someone will come after us. They want us dead. They—”
“When the don dies, the underboss takes over his duties. I’m in charge now… of all of it.”
Max tries to laugh, but coughs instead, blood on his lips.
I pull out my phone and dial the number for help, giving them our coordinates before reaching out to Everleigh. “We’re going to get Max fixed up, then we’re going to find a beach, and lay in the sun until we’re so sick of the sand that we’re dying to come home. Okay?”
She nods and presses her lips against mine before leaning into Max, tears streaming down over her face as she holds him close. It’s here that I realize that this woman is my family, and we need to make it official before anything else goes wrong.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Everleigh
One Week Later
We’re floating somewhere in the Caribbean, but I’m at a loss as to where. We left in the middle of the night and as far as I know, we’re just floating for a few weeks. I think we have plans to head ashore once we reach Turks and Caicos but that’s only for some beach time and to fuel up.
My phone rings and I answer it right away. It’s Lucy. I couldn’t be happier to see her number on my screen. We haven’t spoken in nearly a week. Viktor has insisted we all keep our distance until we were sure everyone knew he was taking over.
“Where are you now… aside from sandwiched between three hot men?” she says with a laugh.
“We’re in the Caribbean somewhere on one of those fancy yachts that have their own water slide. Where are you?”
“In the Bahamas. We should meet up. I think maybe my burly protector and your Russian mobster are friends.” I can hear the smile in her voice when she talks.
“Does that mean you two hit it off?”
“He’s a little over the top. Last night he asked if I wanted to go diving, and I said yes thinking that was some fancy way to say let’s eat each other out. Instead, he meant actual diving… like at night… with sharks. I think he’s one of those adrenaline junkies or something. It’s probably not my thing long term, but it’s fun for now. Anyway, I just wanted to see how Max was recovering. Viktor’s guy filled me in on the details. You were right, guess he’s not dead.”
“He was trying pretty hard for a while, but he’s good now considering. The doctor said no major organs were hit, so they patched him up and watched him for a few days while Viktor got the boat ready. We’re hanging out here for a while, but I have to be back next week for classes. Which reminds me, I have some money for you. Turns out, hooking up with rich gangsters means there’s a lot of money rolling around.”
“I don’t want it back. It was to you from me. Just promise you’ll go out there and live your best life, three dicks, four dicks… whatever makes you happy.” She can’t hold back a laugh.
“Good god, woman. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Love you too!” she sings playfully.
I make a kissing noise and hang up the phone before sitting on the bench that faces out toward the wide-open ocean. I’ve lived in Florida my entire life, and this is the first time I’ve seen the ocean so expansive and free.
“Evie,” Max says from behind me, his hand on my shoulder as I turn. His chest is bare and on his bottom are a pair of black swim trucks.
“You can’t swim. You’re still a mess from the—”
Soft music begins to play, a recording of acoustic guitars and violins. I look up, following the sound of the instruments to see Ryan and Viktor in the same outfit. No top, just black swim shorts.
My brows narrow and my heart swells as I stand. “What are you guys doing?”
“The matching outfits were Max’s idea. And the music… Ryan,” Viktor groans. “I take no credit for that. If it were up to me, I’d fuck you until you couldn’t walk away. Trust me, you’d be screaming yes.”
“Do you love it?” Max asks, reaching into his pocket. He kneels down in front of me, wincing in pain as he bends. He’ll have bandages on for the better part of the next six months, maybe longer.
“Evie,” he says. “You’ve given me everything I’ve ever needed in this life. And you forgave me when I couldn’t forgive myself. Will you marry me?” He opens a ring box and displays a diamond encrusted band.
