Chapter 2 - The Wrong Bride
Gregory was strong.
But strength without training makes people careless.
His stance was too wide.
His elbows flared.
Most of his weight rested over his front foot, and he held the bat too tightly to redirect quickly.
He expected me to back away.
Instead, I shifted onto the balls of my feet.
Even in white heels, my body remembered.
My shoulders lowered.
My hands rose.
I cracked my knuckles.
The sound echoed through the suite.
Uncertainty flickered across Gregory’s face.
“What are you doing?”
“Giving you one chance to put it down.”
His expression hardened.
“You don’t give orders here.”
He charged.
The bat came toward my ribs with more anger than control.
I stepped outside the arc.
The metal missed me by inches.
Before Gregory could recover, I moved inside his reach, trapped his elbow, rotated my hips, and forced his wrist downward.
The bat slipped from his hand.
I caught it before it hit the carpet.
Gregory stumbled over the edge of the open suitcase and fell beside the bed.
For several seconds, he simply stared at me.
I held the bat low and ready.
“You picked the wrong bride.”
His shock became rage.
“You lied to me.”
“You never asked who I was before you decided I needed to be controlled.”
He scrambled backward.
I moved between him and the door.
The position had reversed.
Gregory looked toward the balcony, then toward the bathroom, measuring exits the way I had moments earlier.
“You think this changes anything?” he snapped. “We’re in the middle of the ocean.”
“You’re right.”
I tightened my grip.
“There’s nowhere for you to run.”
His confidence faltered.
Then someone pounded violently on the cabin door.
“Mrs. Hartman!”
Gregory froze.
The voice outside was male, urgent, and authoritative.
“Cruise security. Open the door immediately!”
Gregory’s face drained white.
Not because I had disarmed him.
Because security had arrived too quickly.
The ship had barely cleared the coast.
No one should have known what happened inside the cabin.
Unless they were already looking for something.
I kept the bat aimed toward Gregory and stepped closer to the door.
“What did you bring aboard?”
“Nothing.”
The pounding came again.
“We know what your husband brought onto the vessel!”
Gregory’s eyes moved toward the suitcase.
It was only a fraction of a second.
But I saw it.
I looked down.
Beneath his shirts was the corner of a dark blue passport.
May you like
I reached toward it.
Gregory lunged.
