Chapter 278

Evelyn Sinclair squeezed her eyes shut. The tears refused to fall, though her chest ached with the need to weep.

She'd imagined this moment countless times before.

So many words she'd planned to say if death came knocking. Yet now, her mind was blank as the surrounding cliffs.

Sharp rock fragments bit into her palm, fresh blood mingling with old scars until her hand became a grotesque canvas of pain.

Footsteps crunched closer - the grim march of death itself.

If only she'd saved one last bullet.

For herself.

The cold steel muzzle glinted in her peripheral vision. She closed her eyes, surrendering to the inevitable.

Then - thunder.

A deafening roar split the air as dozens of military helicopters materialized overhead, their camouflage paint swallowing the sky.

The pirates froze. Their guns swung upward as one, recognizing the true threat wasn't the wounded woman before them.

Nathan Blackwood's forces descended with lethal precision. Soldiers rappelled down ropes, automatic rifles at the ready, encircling the outnumbered pirates within seconds.

The tide had turned.

Evelyn lacked the strength to lift her head, but she heard Adrian's shocked cry. "Nathan! Uncle Nathan! It's me!"

Her eyelids fluttered open.

Against the backdrop of churning waves, a figure emerged from the nearest helicopter. Towering in a black trench coat, his ice-cold gaze burned with barely restrained fury.

Nathan Blackwood descended like vengeance personified, gun in hand, the storm itself seeming to part for him.

All traces of his usual aristocratic composure had vanished. This was the ruthless man she'd first met on those dangerous European streets.

Her vision blurred. Consciousness slipped through her fingers like sand. As strong arms lifted her, she heard her name torn from his throat - raw, desperate.

How strange, she thought dimly. Nathan Blackwood... afraid?

Then darkness claimed her.

The battle erupted with hurricane force. Unlike Evelyn, Nathan's men showed no mercy. Each gunshot, each cry, fueled their bloodlust.

Inside the helicopter, Lucas gently took Evelyn from Nathan's arms. She weighed nothing - a broken bird in bloodstained clothes.

Nathan's attention snapped to a wiry pirate shouting obscenities. The captain. The one who'd hurt her.

"Vincent," Nathan's voice could have frozen hell. "You touched what's mine."

The pirate captain spat on the sand. "That bitch nearly blew my head off!"

Nathan's smile turned predatory. "Then she showed remarkable restraint." Pride laced his words. "My Evelyn always was extraordinary."

Vincent raised his gun. "I let you live once. Big mistake."

"Indeed." Nathan didn't flinch. "Your last."

The standoff crackled with tension. Though outgunned, the pirates held their ground. Finally, Vincent signaled his men to lower their weapons.

"Let's negotiate, Blackwood." He held up five fingers. "For her." A jerk of his chin toward Adrian. "Double for the boy."

Nathan didn't even glance at his nephew. "He's worthless."