Free Declan + Coraline by J.J. McAvoy

everything back home for me, including keeping an eye on Otis, until I got back. God knew when I would seriously be interested in anyone again. She wasn’t around me for the money—she was significantly well-off on her own. She wasn’t looking for fame or dying for my attention. She was sweet—she said thank you to everyone around her at least twice, and on top of it all, she was beautiful and intelligent. If she were Irish, I would have already had brought her home to Sedric. We had a rule in our family. Everyone had to be married by their thirtieth birthdays. Because of our lives, it was just easier to marry one of our people…and yet I was here.
    “Are you okay?” she asked, as she placed her hand on mine.
    I stared at her for a moment, my mind completely blank.
    Why the hell am I acting like this?
    “I’m fine. You should rest now, so you aren’t tried.”
    She made a face and I wanted to laugh at how cute she looked.
    “What?”
    “I snore and I’d rather you not witness that.”
    “Do you snore like a cat or drunk trucker?”
    “We can’t all be perfect,” she muttered, not really answering the question as she drank her coffee.
    “I’m the furthest thing from perfect.” I was a drug dealer, a murderer, and anything else the family needed me to be. My mind screamed that she wouldn’t understand, but I kept on pushing forward anyway.

CORALINE
    “Welcome to Mexico. Cancun specifically,” Declan said as he held my hand. We stepped out into the heat and I could smell the ocean on the breeze.
    I couldn’t stop smiling. “Cancun?”
    “Yep. Now, let’s get started,” he said, as he walked down the stairs with me.
    A black Range Rover with tinted windows awaited us, and a Mexican man held the back door open, but Declan shook his head as he took the keys and spoke in Spanish to him. Declan’s Spanish was so fast and fluent that the little Spanish I remembered from high school was all but useless. The man nodded at whatever he said and pulled out his cellphone.
    “Ready?” he asked.
    I stared into his green eyes for a second. I wanted to know what he’d said in Spanish, but I decided not to ask. I nodded my head, and allowed him to open the door for me. When he sat down, the driver outside the window nodded to him and gave him a thumbs up. Declan started the engine and we drove away from the jet.
    When we got to the main road, it was crowded but I could still make out two cars, one came in front and the other behind us.
    “Security?” I asked looking to him.
    He smirked. “You’re a smart one, Ms. Wilson.”
    “I thought it was just Declan plus Coraline? They’re making it kind of obvious that we’re not just two ordinary people.”
    “We’re two rich foreigners, it’s better when it’s obvious, Coraline . They will bother our security while we enjoy ourselves.”
    I shifted in my seat as I looked out at the city. No matter where I looked, I could see the pure blue water and white sandy beaches that were dotted with street vendors who were selling everything from bathing suits to ice cream. We passed a fountain where people both young and old danced as water shot up around them. It was paradise.
    “Now that we’re here, are you going to tell me what we are going to do?” I whispered, unable to shift my eyes away from the view.
    “If I tell you, you might chicken out.”
    “Hey!” I glanced back at him and he was staring me so intensely I fought the urge to look away.
    “Hey, what?” he asked, placing his hand on mine. I liked how his fingers gripped onto me.
    “I’m a lot braver than I look.”
    “I’m glad.” He focused on the road in front of him.
    We drove on in a comfortable silence, while his thumb rubbed circles on the back of my hand. It felt like he was either trying to calm me or comfort me, and I didn’t know why until we pulled into the Sky House. Speechless, I turned to him.
    “You’re braver than you look, remember?” He smiled as he unbuckled my