Read Epic: Book 02 - Outlaw Trigger for Free Online Page B

to laugh, but did anyway.
    “ There yeh go. Laughin’s good!”
    Becan genuinely was who he was. Genuinely superficial, usually, but genuine nonetheless. Scott supposed that was better than nothing.
    “ So enough abou’ tha’. How abou’ Nicole?”
    “ If you say one thing about the size of Nikki’s breasts—”
    Becan raised his hands in defense. “Righ’, I’m not tha’ dumb.” A moment later, he smiled. “Yeh must be excited.”
    Excited didn’t even begin to cover it. Ecstatic was a more appropriate word. “I can’t wait. I almost can’t believe it’s this Friday.”
    “ I can’t wait to meet her, either.”
    Scott could definitely wait for Becan to meet her. Without guilt. “She already feels like she knows everyone. She’s heard stories about the whole crew.”
    “ Yeh better not be tellin’ her lies abou’ me.”
    “ Everything I told her was true. Like the time we were in Turkey, and you forgot to bring ammunition.”
    “ Grand. Thanks for sharin’ tha’ one.”
    “ And the time Jay crippled that canrassi, and you tried to ride it.”
    Becan broke out in a laugh. “Class.”
    “ I pretty much told her everything.”
    Becan smiled for a moment, before he fell into purposeful silence. It lasted for several seconds before he spoke. “Did yeh tell her a date?”
    Scott stopped in the hall. “What?”
    Becan turned to face him. “Did yeh tell her a date? To get married. Did the two o’ yeh even talk abou’ it yet?”
    Scott met him with a silence indicative of uncertainty. They hadn’t set a date. They’d barely even talked about it at all. In truth, he wasn’t even sure how to go about it. She was in North America, and he was in the middle of Russia. They were engaged, yes—but what did that mean in a relationship like theirs? It would work out. He knew it had to. But he still wasn’t quite sure how. “Not yet, but…I know we’ll talk about that when she gets here. We’ll figure it out, rest assured.” Some kind of way.
    The Irishman smiled. “I know yeh will, Remmy. You’re a good man. Good men figure things like tha’ ou’.”
    “ And we will,” Scott said. “We definitely will.”

    Though that was the last time that day Scott spoke of Nicole, she played in his mind from then on. The same as she had all week. The two of them would surely figure it out. It wasn’t a choice. It was something the two of them had to do. Everything hinged on their faith.
    And of that, they had plenty.

    * * *

    2050 hours

    Though night was beginning in Novosibirsk, it was 9:50 in the morning in Michigan. It was the perfect time for him to call. After Scott had punched in her number, he listened as the phone rang on the other side of the world.
    The months since Scott’s transfer from Richmond had been lonely ones. Scott’s earlier conversation with Becan only served to remind him of it. He and Nicole had passed through every negative flurry that an engaged couple could have passed through. Confusion. Disheartenment. Bitterness. He still remembered the last thing he had said to her in person. See you in Detroit. How life had dramatically changed.
    And yet, they held on. Love held on. He could still call, and she would still answer with that smile in her voice. That was all they needed.
    The ringing stopped. The line picked up.
    “ Hello?”
    “ Dobry utra, my American princess.”
    She was smiling. He could tell. “Hey there, handsome prince…”
    It didn’t matter what she called him. She was there, and that was all that mattered. There had been several times when they’d almost lost it. They’d almost lost everything they’d built for six years. But they pulled through. The fires only served to refine them. “What’s going on?”
    “ Not much. Just getting ready for my little trip .”
    “ Little trip?” Scott smiled.
    “ Yesss,” she drawled. “I won a free vacation on a game show.”
    He knew what the little trip was, and a game show had nothing to do with it. The