CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The yacht, like everything, was owned by Trident. It wasn’t the same yacht Elias and Miller had used on their little adventure—that one was smaller and possible to manage with only one person at the helm.
The yacht they were using to transport the girls and themselves back to the United States had enough bedrooms for everyone on board and took a crew of twenty to operate. It was big and white, a simple blue stripe painted across the hull, and a discreet gold trident on the side. In another twelve hours, they’d be back on land.
It was sunset, and they were sharing their last dinner before docking, celebrating a job well done. A long table sat on the deck, the white tablecloth blowing gently in the breeze. The dishes were elegant, the wine superb, and the eight people sitting around the table were enjoying cuisine that was as exquisite as the finest restaurants in the world.
“I don’t know about you guys,” Elias said. “But I could do without seeing another island for the rest of my life. We’ve decided to go to the mountains for our honeymoon.”
“It’s the only thing we can agree on,” Miller said. “I just want to get married. I don’t care when or how we do it.”
“Fine,” Elias said. “Let’s do it now. The captain can marry us.”
Miller’s mouth hung open as the rest of the table cheered at the idea, waiting to see if she’d call his bluff.
“Fine,” she nodded, tossing her napkin on the table. “Right here, right now.”
Now it was Elias’s turn for his mouth to hang open. “Are you serious?” he asked. “You’d really marry me right now?”
“Let’s do it,” she said, her smile growing. “All the people I care the most about are here, and I’m wearing a white dress. It’s like a sign from God.”
Dante laughed as he watched Axel bring a very surprised captain to the deck, but as things were explained to him, even the captain was on board with performing the ceremony.
“Things must never be dull around you guys,” Liv said, leaning in close as everyone moved their chairs so they could see better.
“I welcome the dull days,” he said. “It means I can sleep. Which is what I’d rather be doing right now.”
Liv arched a brow. “Oh, really? Sleeping?”
Dante grinned rakishly. “Maybe just lying down for a bit. Naked. And with you.”
“I’m glad you added that last bit,” she said cheekily. “I was starting to worry.”
It had taken no time at all for everyone to get in place and the captain to start the ceremony. And it had been a touching moment when the captain had asked for the rings and Axel had very stoically taken off his wedding band and handed it to Miller so she could place it on Elias’s finger.
Dante felt satisfaction watching his friend—his brother—get married. It was just right. There was no other way to explain it. And he clapped and cheered with the others when Elias enthusiastically kissed the bride.
Only cold water was dumped on the whole thing when one of the large outdoor screens came on and Eve’s face appeared. She arched a black brow at the group and waited for an explanation.
“Elias and Miller just got married,” Deacon said.
Eve’s gaze narrowed and she zeroed in on the happy couple, whose smiles had dimmed just a touch.
“Congratulations,” she said, though the tone of her voice said anything but. “But if you don’t mind, there is still work to be done. I’ll meet you in the morning to collect the launch codes. Though I should be thanking Agent Rothschild for that, since the rest of you managed to let them slip through your fingers. Otherwise, all I’d have to show for this very expensive mission is a bunch of Russian girls and a newly married agent, which is useless to me. And don’t expect to take time off for a honeymoon at the moment,” she told Elias. “We’ve still got the Baltimore bombings to deal with. Though maybe I should get Agent Rothschild to handle that too since the lot of you have turned into a bunch of lovesick puppies. I’m not sure when my organization turned into the Love Connection.”
Elias snorted out a laugh. “I think she just made a joke.”
“Yet I’m not laughing,” she said. “I’ll meet you at zero eight hundred to collect the codes. And I want to see progress on Baltimore in twenty-four hours or I’ll be paying you a visit in Last Stop.”
The screen snapped off, and there was a heavy weight of silence after Eve’s abrupt departure.
“I think you’re right, Elias,” Levi said. “I think that was a joke.”
The tension was broken and the cheers started up again for the happy couple, along with champagne and the flutes to go with it that the staff had hastily put together.
“To Miller and Elias,” Dante said, holding up his glass. “May you be blessed with a lifetime of happiness and love. And may you never take the gift of what you’ve been given with each other for granted.”
“Cheers,” everyone said in unison. And Dante slipped his hand into Liv’s and wished he could’ve taken his own advice two years before.
EVERYONE SCATTERED AFTER dinner and went to do their own things. Dante knew that Liv liked to sit on the top deck in the evening with a glass of wine as she watched the sun disappear behind the water. It was always isolated, and he’d taken to joining her the last couple of nights, where they’d just sit in silence and enjoy the quiet time together.
When he climbed up the ladder, she turned her head and smiled, patting the lounger next to hers.
He settled on the chaise and lay back, then took her hand in his as he normally did. He didn’t think he’d be as nervous as he was. He was never nervous about anything. He looked down at his hands and saw they were trembling slightly. Love was making him a mess. Maybe retirement was the best thing for him if this is what was going to happen when things got interesting. He’d never known a thief with shaky hands. At least not one that wasn’t in prison.
“I need to ask you something important,” he said.
She pushed her sunglasses on top of her head and looked at him. “What’s that?”
“Do you forgive me?” he asked. “For Simon Locke? For lying to you?”
She was quiet for what seemed like several minutes, though it was just seconds. “I do forgive you,” she said solemnly. “It’s in the past.”
“And what about the future?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Why don’t you tell me? My life is in flux.”
He blew out a big sigh of relief. “I was hoping you’d say that. It’s frowned upon to be in a relationship during the Gravedigger contract term, but Elias and Deacon have both managed to make it work. You’ve met Eve,” he said. “She can complicate life.”
“I’d say so,” Liv agreed.
“I need to tell you I love you,” he said. “To your face this time and where you can hear my clearly. And I think we have an incredible future together. I’m sure I can convince Eve that you’d be an asset to the team. And you and Tess and Miller have become friends. We’d all help with your transition to Last Stop. I’ve got a condo, but we could buy a house if you prefer, though I think you’ll like the condo—”
“Hold on a second,” Liv said, releasing his hand. “What’s going on here? First you tell me you love me, and then you tell me what I’m going to do? You just assume that I’d be okay with becoming a Gravedigger, if Eve allows me to be one. Or that I’d be okay with living in Last Stop, Texas. Or that I’d be okay living in your condo, for that matter.”
Dante had a sinking feeling that things weren’t going to go the way he’d planned in his head. Things rarely ever did with Liv.
“Did it ever occur to you to tell Eve to take a hike and then you come to London with me? Or, hell, to Paris or Rome or Geneva?”
He shook his head, his brow furrowing in confusion.
“I can see you didn’t think of it,” she said. “And that’s the problem. Everything always has to fit into your timeline, your wants and needs. You never have to work too hard at anything, so—”
“I’m willing to work hard at getting you to move to Last Stop,” Dante interrupted.
“Because that’s convenient for you,” Liv said. “It’s not so convenient for me. But you didn’t even offer a compromise. You didn’t even bother to tell me that I’m worth chasing across an ocean.”
“I’m in a contract with The Gravediggers,” he said. “I can’t just move back to London. And there’s also the little problem that I’m supposed to be dead.”
“You were the best international art thief in the world. You’re telling me you don’t know how to get what you want, if you want it bad enough?”
He’d lost control of the situation somehow, and he could feel her spiraling out of his reach forever.
“Of course I want you,” he said, panic consuming him.
She shook her head and stood from the lounger, walking toward the ladder. “You just don’t want me bad enough. Have a nice life, Lord Malcolm.” Then she climbed down the ladder and out of his sight.
When he woke in the morning, prepared to apologize once again and try to make things right, she was already gone.