Page 384 of The Romance Adventure

Jolie’s eyes widen with knowing. She’s done her treasure-hunting and pirate research.

The corner of my lip lifts.

Magnus’s brow lowers. “What’s going on between you two? It’s like you’re speaking in code.”

“What is the Salty Skeleton?” Harley’s tone verges toward bratty as if she’s losing patience. No shade. Pregnancy is a full-time job.

I answer. “It’s a thingamajig. A doodad. A gizmo.”

Royal tosses his hands in the air. “You don’t know, do you?”

“It’s a contraption.”

“But is it the key to unlock the chest?” Ryan asks.

“Not technically.”

My brothers gang up on me, engaging in their usual banter.

Finally, I say, “The Salty Skeleton is a key, but as in a key to a code. A cipher. It can solve any riddle, puzzle, or encryption.”

As if waiting for Halloween candy, Jolie stares at me as if I’m about to produce such a rare and powerful tool.

I cross the room and open a safe made to look like old books on a shelf.

“What? I didn’t know that was there,” Royal says.

“You should read more,” I retort.

Royal scowls. “I didn’t know you were literate.”

“Yet you went through the entire room.” I scoff.

Holding the Salty Skeleton in my hand, I flash it toward them. “It’s a cipher wheel.”

Isla says, “Looks kind of like a compass.”

“In a way, it is. Reveals a direction of sorts.”

“Where did it come from?” Lally asks.

“It was used by pirates. See, for the most part, it seemed like all the various pirates during the golden age were single-minded opportunists. They wanted what would most benefit themselves. Occasionally, some banded together to form a league of sorts. Captaining the Crimson Tide, the Devil’s Charm led fleets of ships all over the world. She’d send encrypted messages to communicate about their conquests. All the pirate captains had one of these, called a Salty Skeleton.”

“I thought they were all destroyed,” Jolie says.

“Except this one. It was Márcia’s.” I can only imagine the sly smile I wear by the various expressions of shock and surprise on everyone’s faces.

Jolie

CHAPTER 15

Over the years, I’ve been in many sticky situations: dangling from the sides of buildings while searchlights swept past, riding a motorcycle while being pursued by men firing guns, and one time, I rode all the way from one city to another, clinging to the undercarriage of a turnip truck. I didn’t even fall off.

I’ve experienced hostage exchanges, urgent extractions, and made it to one side of a bridge while it crumbled, leaving the bad guys stranded on the other side.

My job can get intense. But never have I felt so torn, so broken up inside about how to handle my marriage.

Now I’m certain CJ isn’t a hapless (and very handsome) surfer. He’s still handsome and getting more so by the moment as he explains the Salty Skeleton. Who knew the skilled handling of artifacts and recitation of history could be so attractive?