Chapter 277

Bullets rained around Evelyn Sinclair like deadly hailstones.

In that moment of chaos, her mind flashed back to the terrorist attack in Montecito four years prior.

The picturesque European streets had turned into a warzone without warning.

Suicide bombers had detonated their payloads among crowds of unsuspecting tourists.

Evelyn had been sheltering in a café basement when she heard the child's screams.

A three-year-old girl stood wailing over her parents' lifeless bodies in the middle of the carnage.

Without thinking, Evelyn had sprinted from safety toward the child.

She'd almost reached her when the second explosion hit.

The blast wave lifted them both into the air like rag dolls.

Then suddenly - solid warmth.

A broad-shouldered man in military fatigues had shielded them with his own body.

That was how Evelyn first met Nathan Blackwood.

Blood dripped from his uniform, but his steel-gray eyes remained focused.

After ensuring their safety, he'd disappeared back into the smoke without a word.

That heroic act made Nathan a target.

Their second meeting came in a very different setting.

The underground fight club stank of sweat and blood.

Nathan was surrounded - a dozen fighters taking turns beating him senseless.

The crowd roared for more violence.

"Look at the mighty Montecito soldier now!" someone jeered from the shadows.

"Think you're some kind of savior? You're just a fool who meddles where he doesn't belong!"

Evelyn moved unseen through the bloodthirsty spectators.

She struck fast - kneeing one attacker in the groin, elbowing another in the throat.

Before anyone realized what happened, she had Nathan's arm over her shoulders.

Step by painful step, she dragged him toward the exit.

Light flooded in as the door opened, revealing Nathan's unconscious face streaked with blood.

She'd repaid her life debt that night.

Now, as bullets whizzed past her head, Evelyn wondered why this memory surfaced now.

Nathan would never know their paths had crossed twice before their ill-fated marriage.

She'd loved him long before he ever noticed her existence.

"Evelyn! Get down!" Adrian Blackwood's shout snapped her back to the present.

The pirate ship's deck was slick with seawater and blood.

Every breath brought the metallic tang of gunpowder.

Evelyn pressed against the ship's railing, her fingers numb around the pistol.

She made her decision.

If this was the end, she'd go out fighting.

Rolling from cover, she took aim and fired.

The shot struck true - a pirate screamed, clutching his shoulder.

Unlike these mercenaries, Evelyn aimed to wound, not kill.

Her precision only enraged them further.

Bullets pinged off the metal around her like deadly rain.

Adrian cursed colorfully, drawing some fire away from her position.

Evelyn gave him a grim smile and fired again.

Another pirate went down clutching his leg.

Now they were surrounded.

"No way out," Evelyn murmured.

Adrian flashed her a bloodstained grin. "Damn, Nikki. You shoot better than you look."

"Flattery won't save us now," she replied dryly.

Evelyn squeezed the trigger a third time.

Click.

The chamber was empty.