That made me feel worse for him. “You know what I think would be nice?”
The only encouragement I got was a stare.
“Living in solitude on Fair Isle. No connection to the outside world, no people. Just the two of us. We don’t need power or wealth, just a roof over our heads and Finley to cook for us. There would be no subjects, no reason for power. It would just be quiet…all the time.”
His hand loosened on mine, but he didn’t pull away. His callused thumb brushed over my soft skin, and his eyes were trained on my face. He glanced at the spot where he wiped a tear away before he looked me in the eye again. “That sounds nice…really nice.”
Now that we were together, I kept blurting out things I shouldn’t. I said things that I didn’t realize I thought about. I talked about a future we could never have together, a future I didn’t even know I wanted. I wanted to practice medicine, to fulfill the dream I’d had since I was a little girl. But the longer I stayed with Crewe, the more I sacrificed the things I wanted. Now I was moving to Scotland to enroll in a medical program I couldn’t apply to America. I was changing everything around for one man.
But I didn’t mind it.
Everything was changing—including me. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
He tilted my face toward him and placed a gentle kiss on the corner of my mouth. The scruff from his jaw was always coarse, but I liked the way it felt when it brushed against my skin. He let his mouth linger there, absorbing my attraction through his lips. When he pulled away, his eyes were lidded with disappointment like he wanted to keep kissing me.
But he didn’t.
Maybe it was because we were on a plane with some of his men lingering about, or maybe it was for a different reason altogether.
“Can I ask you something? I’m not sure if I want to ask it or not…”
“Ask it. But I’m not sure if I’ll want to answer it or not.” The corner of his mouth rose.
“It’s about my brother. What does he do, exactly?”
“For a living?” Crewe asked.
“Yeah. He’s not like Bones, is he?” Joseph had been planning to take Ariel as a prisoner, and I hoped it wasn’t to do horrific things to her. Maybe he’d just wanted to keep her as a hostage for ransom or something…at least, I hoped.
“We’re all like Bones, honestly.”
“No, you aren’t.” Being with Bones was standing in the presence of evil. I never felt that way about Crewe, even when I was locked in a cage in his basement on Fair Isle.
“You really want to know? I’m not sure you’re gonna like it.”
“Just tell me he doesn’t kill people.”
He shook his head. “We all kill people, Lovely.”
“But bad people, right?”
He shrugged. “That’s subjective. Joseph makes his money by hacking bank accounts. He finds out when there’s going to be a large deposit from an Arabian prince or a Chinese CEO. When he figures that out, he intercepts the wire transfer. It’s complicated cyber-robbery. He relies on my intel to know when big deals are going down. But he burned that bridge.”
While my brother’s actions were illegal, I was relieved it wasn’t something worse. In his line of work, there were limited casualties. He didn’t walk into a bank with guns blazing and shoot innocent clerks behind the desk. He was committing an international crime, but at least it wasn’t murder. “I’m so relieved.” My hand moved across my chest as the adrenaline faded away and I was left feeling relaxed.
“You’re relieved your brother is a thief?” he asked with a chuckle.
“I’m relieved he’s not a murderer.”
“At least you have a positive outlook on things.” Now that the plane was cruising at a constant speed and there was no turbulence, Crewe removed his safety belt. “I’m gonna make some calls in my office. Get some sleep.”
“You can call people on the plane?”
“I can do anything on here.” He winked. “Even fuck you in the bedroom.”
It was a twelve-hour flight, so that might happen. “Can I lie down?”
“Of course. Come with me.”
9
Crewe
When the plane landed on the strip, London was noticeably more relaxed. I’d flown with her several times, and her attitude was always the same. She was tense, uncomfortable, and nearly terrified the entire flight.
I found it interesting because she was a strong person in every other regard. When she first became my prisoner, she never showed a single ounce of fear. All of my remarks were met with insults, and even when I grabbed her by the neck, she didn’t cower in fear. If she fell, she got back to her feet even stronger than before.