× WARNING! ×
CONTENT BELOW NOT INTENDED FOR YOUNG READERS
× WARNING! × CONTENT BELOW NOT INTENDED FOR YOUNG READERS × READ AT YOUR OWN RISK× ◇ KEL ◇ "You're dead." "A breathless corpse." It was all I could think of while trying to stay motionless on the ground. The ominous sound of the metal bolts locking from inside the room deflated every muscle in my body. Darkness had replaced my vision, cold sweat covered me from head to toe, and the inside of my chest was coiling from all the anxiety. Meeting Leandro Tomassini might just be the end of me. Now that he had thrown me into a cold and dark room somewhere in the basement, I didn't know what to think of my fate. Was he going to murder me now? Slit my throat open? Dump my chopped remains in the ocean? Leave me in a ditch somewhere on the island? My flesh had succumbed to a state of weakened numbness. The nervous aches and the trembling of my hands had subsided,
× WARNING! × × CONTENT BELOW NOT INTENDED FOR YOUNG READERS× × READ AT YOUR OWN RISK × ◇ KEL◇ A drawn out silence and the poignant fear of dying in the hands of a paranoid psychopath kept me quiet on the screaky chair. I waited. I glanced around me while I convinced my own brain that I wasn't paralyzed with fear. The room remained di
◇ KEL ◇"Mykaela?" "Yes." I tried not to scowl as I looked at him. It seemed he wasn't done interrogating me."Any idea who this is?" Leandro gave me a grin that lifted the corner of his dark beard."Niccolo's uncle. His godfather, he said.""Of course he did." He stared at me for some awfully quiet seconds. Then he chuckled when I said nothing more and sat still on the bed.Was he convinced I was telling the truth? Did he want more details? I figured he wanted to know more about the reason Enzo traveled to Belgrade with me, but of course I didn't want to mention the things Niccolo told me. For his and my own safety."What did they tell you?""Not much." I glanced away.Leandro sat next to me on the bedcovers."We had lunch and...we talked about their busi
◇ KEL ◇Hold it in. You're safe...It was what my brain kept reminding me as his hug tightened around my cold, shivering body. I winced. My limbs felt like rotten vegetables. Every muscle ached. My eyes stang and felt strained. Sleep was a rarity last night.After he snatched me from the pool and terrorized me last night, Leandro had been kind enough to transfer me to a room with a decent bed, clean clothes, and a shower...but only to keep me prisoned in an old dirty room in the basement.Worse? He had tried to gag me but decided otherwise when I pleaded for him not to and told him I was claust
◇ KEL◇It would be accurate to say Miles arrived on the island with an army and a burning urge to slit someone's throat.The cool sea breeze wasn't giving me any comfort, either. Any minute now I might just collapse from sleep deprivation or from the multiple physical injuries
◇ KEL ◇ "How'd you even get out?" "Broke the window with the curtain rod." "I'm guessing that's what caused these?" Niccolo glanced down at the pinkish scratches on my pale feet and legs.
◆ MILES ◆"Pappa, I'm not making this up.""No. Leandro wouldn't do that.""He just did." I clamped my mouth shut to bite back a curse as I gripped the satellite phone. My father's tentative tone just doubled the urge in me to haul the phone into the deep blue sea. "Why would I lie?" I scowled.
◇ KEL◇ Unrequited feelings would be my untimely demise. It would happen, for sure. I just couldn't tell when. In my head, the thin line between love and hate seemed to blur even more. I didn't want to forget about him; I wanted to be with him. But I hated the consequences. I hated how he thought it wouldn't work out and wouldn't even try. Nothing made sense anymore.Trying to comprehend the complexity of our situation, although necessary, just took a toll on me mentally, emotionally. It didn't help that he now seemed eager to stay close to me. All of sudden, he wanted to be intimate. Maybe he just wanted to hear everything that happened? Every other detail I left out. Maybe he didn't want to ask, for fear of traumatizing me further. Maybe he just wanted to understand why I suddenly left New York for a wild hunch,risking my life in the p