Men I had chosen deliberately. Not the polished ones, not the ones with options.
The ones no one had wanted. Bastards with no names worth keeping; orphans who learned early on no one was coming for them; men who grew up understanding survival wasn’t a right — it was something you had to earn every single day.
Men like me.
Because those men didn’t forget who gave them a place. They didn’t question hierarchy or loyalty, not when they’d lived without both. They worked harder, fought dirtier, and stayed where you put them because leaving meant going back to nothing.
They didn’t ask questions. They didn’t repeat what they saw. They didn’t look twice at the girl standing too close to me.
But it only worked if she gave them nothing and treated them like she was supposed to. Every unnecessary word was a thread, and threads got pulled.
Addy didn’t see leverage when she smiled at strangers. She didn’t see how quickly attention turned into curiosity, curiosity into conversation, conversation into memory.
If she talked too freely, I didn’t lose control.
I lost containment, and containment was the only reason she’s standing here untouched.
My men stepped aside, clearing the way up the gangway without looking at her again.
Addy glanced between them and then back at me, lowering her voice. “Why do they all look like they could bench press a car?”
The corner of my mouth twitched traitorously. “They work out.”
“For what, exactly?”
I held her gaze and lifted my brows.
She squinted. “You’re not going to answer that.”
“No.” I pursed my lips.
Addy exhaled, sounding half-frustrated and half-breathless. “You are so weirdly calm about everything.”
“Yes.”
A beat of silence passed.
“Should I be concerned?”
I stepped closer, lowering my voice so only Addy could hear me. “You’re probably the only person on this boat who doesn’t have anything to fear. No one here will ever touch you.”
Her pulse flickered in her throat and I bit back a groan. I wanted to mark her pretty little neck. Sink my teeth into the sensitive flesh while my dick was buried in her tight cunt.
“That was intense,” she muttered, a blush spreading across her cheeks.
“Itwas honest.”
She searched my face for a hint of deception but found none.
The deck shifted beneath her feet as we boarded and she instantly grabbed my arm, her fingers digging in. I steadied her, sliding my hand to her waist and guiding her forward. Her body reacted before her pride did.
“I hate unstable surfaces,” she grumbled.
“Nothing I can really do about that, I’m afraid.”
She stared up at me. “How long will we be on this deathtrap?”
I chuckled at her dramatics. “Not too long.”