Chapter 427:
“It’s Rylie. Drop the gangway. Get her up here now.”
A rope flew down toward the yacht. Rylie reached for it, but not before helping Marsha climb out first. She made sure Marsha got aboard safely, then hauled herself up the rope.
With ease, she landed on the deck. Her eyes met Brad’s. She barely had time to smile before he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her—right there, in full view of the entire crew.
His face pressed into her shoulder, his breath hot against her neck. He didn’t say a word, but in that moment, she could feel just how hard he’d fought not to lose her.
Rylie hesitated for a brief moment, sensing the unspoken vulnerability in Brad. Quietly, she slipped her arms around his back, her hand moving in a slow, reassuring pat meant to ease the storm inside him.
She had originally intended to leave with the pirate ship, yet her thoughts kept circling back to Brad, no matter how hard she tried to focus on the plan.
The change unsettled her, but the idea of him worrying gnawed at her until she finally acted on it. She asked Tommy for a newly seized luxury yacht and immediately set off with Marsha, steering it back toward Brad.
The thick fog made the journey uncertain, the yacht often at risk of veering off course, so Rylie waited until visibility cleared enough to navigate safely.
When they finally returned and boarded Brad’s ship, he wrapped her in his arms, holding her as if he feared she might vanish again, raw emotion flickering unguarded in his eyes.
Rylie lowered her gaze, her lashes quivering as she spoke in a soft, soothing tone. “Did you really think I’d gone down with the ship? I’m not that easy to break.”
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“My head kept telling me you couldn’t be dead,” Brad murmured, his fingers tightening around her waist, the veins in his hand taut with strain. “But my heart felt like it was being ripped apart.”
He almost never revealed such raw emotion in front of anyone, never allowing a glimpse of the weaknesses he worked so hard to bury. Yet now, his entire crew had seen the chink in his armor—the one thing that could truly wound him. Whether that exposed weakness would splinter like glass or forge itself into unbreakable steel, no one could say.
After a moment, Rylie became acutely aware of the naval soldiers’ stares, their curious, suggestive glances almost scorching against her skin. She gave Brad’s solid back an awkward pat and murmured, “That’s enough.”
Brad drew a steadying breath, reluctantly pulling his emotions back under control before releasing her. Without another word, he took her by the wrist and guided her toward his office. As they moved, his voice dropped to a low, commanding tone. “Clean up the aftermath and set sail with the evidence.” His gaze shifted briefly to Marsha, who still stood nearby.
In the corner, looking disheveled and shaken, Marsha stood silently. After a short pause, Brad added casually, “Have the naval medic look after Miss Wilde and arrange a room where she can freshen up.”
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