Depths of Salvation (Love on the Edge) Read Online Free

Excuse me while I try to appeal to his moral center.” She stormed from the room, bumping my shoulder in the process so hard she nearly knocked me off balance. I craned my head out the door, following her movements as she made her way down the hallway.
    “What was that about?” I asked, returning to the room.
    “He speaks!” Slade grumbled as he made his way back to his throne-like chair behind his desk. “ That . . . happens to be your next job.”
    Ryan hissed through his teeth—somewhere between repulsion and amusement.
    “Excuse me?”
    Slade looked at Ryan before motioning to the door. He quickly jumped up and shut it while Slade steepled his fingers over his desk. “The girl is a threat. I need you to placate her.”
    “That’s not in my job description,” I said. “What the hell threat could she pose to you?”
    “She’s one of the top marine preservationists on the island, and the local government respects her opinion. The current site she’s trying to salvage happens to be lying smack dab in the middle of the quickest route for my pipeline.”
    “Can’t you go around?” I arched an eyebrow at Ryan, who gave me the slightest of nods.
    “Of course, we could go around it. If we wanted to spend an extra one-hundred and twenty-million in supplies, labor, and equipment to appease her thirty-mile distance safety regulation to preserve the ecosystem or whatever. Which I don’t want to do. Her site is nothing but an old WWII ship with some pretty plants and fish around it. She’ll get over it. I won’t get over a loss of one-hundred and twenty-million.”
    “Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out.” I headed toward the door.
    “Murphey, stop. Did you not hear me?”
    I raked my hands through my hair and turned to look at him.
    “She’s got pull with the locals. I think I’ve convinced them, but I can’t be sure she won’t sway them. I need you to get close to her. Act as a representative of Slade Pipelines, say we’re taking her requests to heart and surveying her site for potential, viable reasons to go around and not through it. You’ll be the deciding factor. If she can convince you, then we alter course. If not . . .”
    “You blow up her site.”
    “Exactly.” Slade grinned, genuine excitement at the prospect lighting up his eyes.
    “And if I find her site viable?”
    Slade pressed his lips together for a moment before leaning back in his chair. “You won’t.” He fiddled with a pen on his desk. “I’ll triple your payment for this job to make sure you don’t.”
    I licked my lips. That was a whole lot more zeros to the already substantial check I received from accepting this job. I could fund Conner’s rehab facility for three years with that kind of money.
    I shook my head. It was wrong. “I don’t like men who buy wins.”
    Slade shrugged. “It’s business. This pipeline will be a direct route from Nassau to Europe. The first of its kind, transporting billions of cubic feet of natural gas and saving millions in expenses from doing it the old way. Cargo ships and people and gas—it all costs money. This will be a streamlined process, and it happens to be the safest form of gas exportation out there.”
    I looked to Ryan, who shrugged and stood from his position in the corner. “That part is true.” He slapped his hand on my shoulder.
    Slade cleared his throat. “Besides, you know these preservationist types. They’re all poetic passion and fire but over scraps. I won’t be destroying anything of value to anyone but her. I assure you.”
    He had no idea just how well I knew the preservationist types. He wasn’t far off the mark with their passion assumption, but he was out of his mind if he thought this girl would go away quietly with a few assurances from me.
    “Fine, more than triple. State your number, Connell. You’re the only one with enough experience to sway her and the government’s thoughts. I know the girl needs a welder on her team, and if you go