He squeezes until De Luca starts making wheezing sounds.
“Tomas,” I plead with him. “People are watching.”
What I tell him is true. He has caught the attention of a small group of Asian tourists as well as the owner of a tavern. But I don’t care about that. What mortifies me is that he might murder De Luca and have his whole life eternally shattered.
After a few excruciating seconds, he releases De Luca, patting down the collar of his shirt. “Get out of my sight, little man,” he says. “I have nothing that you want. And if your men come for me, then you’re going to have a few job openings.”
De Luca swipes Tomas’s hands off him. He rubs his throat with one hand, pointing the other at Tomas. “Big mistake, Tommy. That offer about you walking? Off the table.”
“Now you listen to me,” Tomas says with a certainty so severe it’s like he’s another person. “I might be one man, but I am not the man you want to fuck with, do you understand me? There is no security team in the world that will keep you safe from me. I have no beef with you. Let’s keep it that way.”
Fuck. The tension on my skull pounds unbearably. My entire body feels terrified but I cannot deny Tomas’s confidence and brutality are fucking sexy.
De Luca swallows hard and does not speak again. He walks to a black sedan and it drives away.
I stumble forward and sit on a low brick wall. “What did you do?” I say as I try not to hyperventilate. “Are you begging him to kill you? How about me?”
“Screw the bastard,” he says nonchalantly, making me want to slap him for real this time. “If he comes near us again, I’ll kill him.”
“Oh, isn’t that grand? Fucking machismo and murder is exactly what we need. He has men who will take his place.”
He puts his arms around me, lips on my ear. “Forget about spending the night. I’m driving you home so you can pack.”
“Are you going with me?” my voice trembles as I say this because in my heart of hearts I know the answer.
He shakes his head, almost defeated. “No more questions.”
“Tell me what it is he thinks you did,” I plead with him.
“It’s best that I don’t, Taylor. Trust me on this. If you never again trust me on anything, just trust me on this. If they suspect you have the slightest inkling…” His voice trails off, a sudden sadness overtaking him. He takes my face in his hands, kissing my forehead, then my nose. “I won’t let anyone touch you ever. I’ve been reckless enough, I should have put you on the boat the moment I knew he was here.”
He turns away but I grab his arm, forcing him to look at me. “Why didn’t you, huh? Why didn’t you send me away?”
He takes in a deep breath. “Because, Taylor, you give me the best reason I ever had to wake up in the morning.”
A knot forms in my throat. “Why did you wait so long to tell me?”
“Wasting time is a skill I have.”
“And you stayed celibate? Really?” I go back to that because I need to lighten things up before I start crying.
“Well, I’ve rubbed a few out,” he says, smirking from ear to ear.
“Too much information,” I say, my heart pumping faster. “But, you know, that need you have to protect me? I have the same need. You have to protect yourself, Tomas. I want nothing ever to happen to you.”
“No one has ever cared about me in that way,” he says quietly.
“That’s not true. There’s Nathan. There’s me. Even Grace.”
“Grace is pushing it,” he says.
“You don’t know Grace,” I say. “You’re part of all of us now.”
We kiss, a long, passionate, almost desperate kiss, before we head back to the yacht so I can collect my things. We don’t take the car to drive back to the house. We rent a car and drive north instead of south. It will take hours before we get home.
I close my eyes on the passenger seat but sleep stays elusive. Dark thoughts surface again and again keeping my mind restless. I’ve had thoughts like these before, with my father’s gambling debts and the collectors that often visited him and, eventually, visited me.
Tomas saved me from that and now I would do anything to return the favor and relieve him from his demons. But I am no gun man or tough guy or anyone who can stand up to this threat.
All that I am is the woman who loves him. I pray it is enough.
Chapter 16
There should be an easier way to do this. A way that doesn’t involve me wanting to bang my head against a wall. Tomas dropped me at the door last night, kissed me goodnight and vanished. It wasn’t until we reached the house that I realized he never intended to stay. He never said it, but I know he headed straight for De Luca’s villa. I know that in his head that was the only way to make sure I’d be safe.
Not knowing what happened last night or even where the villa is drives me crazy. Suppose I called the police. What would I tell them? It’s fucking hopeless and I’m a total coward.
The suitcase is open on the bed, my clothes hastily thrown in, in untidy heaps. I don’t know how he expects me to pack my things and go when his life could be at risk. How on Earth do I leave him behind? But what do I have to offer if I stay? I’d probably just be in the way and he’d have to worry about me on top of everything. If only he’d quit being so pigheaded and left with me.
The ringing of the doorbell snaps me out of my miserable thoughts. Adrenaline makes my heart pump faster as I’m stuck between two possibilities: Tomas is back or the goons are here for me. Going down the stairs, I get trembling knees because, why would Tomas be ringing the bell when he has the key?
I’m standing in front of the door, too scared to even look through the peephole. Maybe if I don’t make any sound, they’ll go away. There’s no car parked outside, they could assume I’m not here.
“Taylor, are you in?”
Adrian’s voice. A sigh of relief. Fumbling hands that struggle to open the door but at last manage to do it to find two smiling faces at the doorstep. Adrian is with Sophia.
“Are you all right?” Sophia says as soon as she sees me, her smile turning into concern.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I say with a labored smile.
“You don’t look very well,” she says.
“Oh, that. Just went to bed late,” I say, letting them in. I don’t feel like entertaining anyone but on the other hand, it’s good that they’re here to distract me. A little hope enters my head that Tomas might have sent them but it quickly gets brushed aside. As far as Tomas knows, I’m on my way to the port already.
“Did you go out?” Adrian says.
His meaning escapes me but then I realize it’s his response to me going to bed late. “Something like that,” I say. “What brings you by?”
“We’re on our way to the Sunshine Café,” Sophia says. “We thought you might want to go.”
I lead the way to the porch as I don’t want them to notice I’m getting ready to go. Sophia and I sit on the two lounge chairs while Adrian takes one of the straw chairs.
“Not today,” I say as soon as we’re settled, “but thanks for the offer.”
“Why not?” Adrian says. “It will be fun.”
“I’m sure it will be, but I have something else to do.”
“What?” he says.
“Oh my God, Adrian,” Sophia says, reprimanding him. “Don’t be rude.”
She turns to me and winks. I guess it’s her way to remind me of Adrian’s feelings. How do I tell her that my heart belongs to someone else when that someone else is the man she’s crazy about.
“Sorry.” Adrian says. “I don’t like to be rude.”
“It’s okay, Adrian. I wasn’t going to answer you anyway.”
He stares at me as if trying to figure out if that was a joke or something that should be taken very seriously.
“Promise me we’ll meet later today,” Sophia says. “Maybe we can have that dinner we were talking about. I have so much to tell you.” Her whole face beams like I�
�ve never seen it before. It’s obvious she’s very excited. I should stop being a selfish bitch and let her tell me whatever she wants. The sun doesn’t revolve around the Earth, nor the world around me.
“Why don’t you tell me now?” I say.
“Now? I thought you had something to do.”
“Well, yes, but I have a few minutes free.”
“Tell her,” Adrian urges her with a broad grin on his face.
“Well, all right then. Guess what! It finally happened! My life will never be the same.”
“Did you win the lottery?” I say, smiling at her childlike enthusiasm. If only I could be that carefree.
“Better than that,” she says. “Remember when we went to the farmers’ market the day before yesterday?”
The day before yesterday? Has it really been only two days? And to think I felt down and kind of desperate then. “Yes,” I say with a nod. “Of course I remember.”
“Okay. So, shortly after you left, I received a call from Tomas.”
As hard as I try, I can’t avoid a sudden jerk of my knees and shoulders. I sit up in my lounge chair to take a closer look at her. Is she just making the shit up? “Really?” I say, trying to sound moderately indifferent.
“Yes,” she corroborates her story. “He asked to meet me.”
“Where?” I say, getting more and more suspicious of her motives.
“On a yacht,” she says. “Can you believe that?”
My heart sinks to depths I never thought existed. He asked her to meet him before he met with me? He must have. How else would she know about the yacht? But why would he do that? He’s never shown any particular interest in her. “What did he want?” I say, coldly.
“What do you think?” Adrian says, interlocking his hands behind his neck.
“Stop it, Adrian,” Sophia says. Then to me, “Don’t listen to him. He belittles everything. But he doesn’t mean it, right Adrian?”
Adrian nods. “I do it all for the ladies.”
I realize that I’m annoyed by him, more so than usual. But it doesn’t matter what Adrian says or does. What matters is what Sophia has to say. “So, what happened?” I say.
“We met on the yacht and we talked.” She lowers her eyes, blushing. “That’s when he kissed me.”
Now I’m back to not believing a word that comes out of her mouth. I don’t know how she found out about the yacht—maybe it wasn’t her at all, maybe it was Adrian who found out since he was the one looking for Tomas. Whatever it is, I grow very suspicious of both of them. They came here to play me although I have no idea to what end. What I know is that Tomas would never kiss that little troll, no matter how cute her fucking everything is. Not after what he confessed to me yesterday.
My interrogation begins. “Where was it?” I say.
She looks confused, her eyes growing bigger. “Where was what?”
“The yacht. Where was it moored?”
“Right here,” she says. “Well, not at the house, at the marina in Kalloni.”
Kalloni is the closest marina to the village. Nowhere near Petra. “Right here,” I repeat.
“Yes, but he did say he’d sail for Petra right after.”
The more logical her sentences get, the more I disbelieve them. Maybe I’m just a blind fool. “Right after what?”
“Right after we made love.” Her grin is so wide it goes all the way to her ears. She throws her venom so innocently, so happily, I want to gouge her eyes out and step on them.
“And you wanted that?” I say, doing my best to remain calm.
She reaches over to squeeze my arm. “I know that you knew that Taylor. You knew I was in love with him. Everybody knew.” Her words almost sound like an accusation. Was I supposed to stay away from Tomas because she was in love with him?
“What is wrong?” she says, noticing my apprehension.
“I just don’t think Tomas would use you that way,” I say, knowing exactly how bitchy I sound.
“Are you saying I’m lying?” All the innocence is gone from her features. She’s pissed off and, to be honest, I don’t blame her.
“No, no,” Adrian says, getting off his chair to take her hand. “Taylor didn’t say that. You misunderstand.”
Sophia’s expression softens. “Yes, you are right, Adrian. Taylor doesn’t want me to get hurt. But it’s okay.”
She reaches for her purse, taking out her phone. “I have pictures,” she says, handing me the phone.
I take the phone from her and hold it in my hands, not quite understanding.
“Look,” Adrian says.
I glance at both of them, first Adrian, then Sophia, still unable to comprehend why they want me to look at the phone. My curiosity gets the better of me and I do as they say. There’s a picture on the screen but the sun is too bright and I can’t quite see what it is.
Adrian puts his palm over the phone to shield the image from the direct sunlight. As the screen darkens, I finally see what they want me to see— Tomas on the yacht’s deck, Sophia standing right next to him.
It’s photoshopped, I tell myself, but then I swipe the screen and another picture comes up, then another and another and another.
Tomas putting an arm around Sophia’s shoulders, kissing her cheek, holding her hand, her head against his shoulder. And then they’re not on the deck anymore. They’re in a room I don’t recognize, a hotel room possibly, with a king size bed and beige drapes on the windows.
Sophia is in red, lacy underwear and Tomas sits on the bed. In the next picture, she sits on his lap. Then he’s sprawled out on the bed and she’s on top of him. Too damn realistic to be faked.
“Why would you take pictures like that?” I say. “Who does that? Who took them, anyway?”
“The ones on the deck, it was Adrian. In the room, it was Tomas’s idea. He set the camera. He’s a bit kinky,” she says, chuckling. “There are pictures I’d never show you.”
I’ve heard enough. I get up, handing her back the phone. “Time to go,” I say.
“Are you okay?” Adrian says, trying to hug me.
I push him away with both hands. “Please, just go, both of you” I say, barely able to control the growing fury inside me.
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Sophia says when she steps out the door.
“I’m sure you didn’t,” I say, shutting the door with a kick.
None of this makes sense. I bring my hands to my face. I want to cover my ears and eyes and pinch my hand until I wake up. Is it a setup? But why? And what if it’s not? What if the man I trusted with my life is nothing but a whoring, lying bastard? Wait, that’s exactly what he is, isn’t it?
I’m too fucking disgusted with myself to call Grace and reveal all this ugliness. It’d freak her out and it wouldn’t be fair to her. She’d be caught between a rock and a hard place—her loyalty to me and her loyalty to Nathan.
I run upstairs and start taking my clothes out of the suitcase, heaping them on the bed. Screw him and screw packing. I’m not going anywhere. He owes me an explanation if I have to slap it out of him.
Chapter 17
Two days in limbo. Waiting for something to happen, good or bad, it makes no difference. Anything to take my mind off my misery and self-pity. I’ve tried calling Tomas several times but I’m always sent straight to voicemail.
I’ve tried calling in the morning, noon, afternoon, evening, even in the middle of the night. He might not care about what I have to say. He might be imprisoned. He could be dead for all I know, which means I won’t have the chance to yell at him until he wishes he was dead.
Adrian and Sophia have been smart enough to stay away. Nobody should risk being around me right now. I’ve turned myself into a hermit, avoiding the slightest human contact, trying to put my head in order. Do I have a fascination with death? Any reasonable person would have flown back home long before now.
The thing is, no matter what he might or might not have done, I can’t stop thinking about him, caring about him, lov
ing him. There’s that word again. Am I forever cursed by this thing called love?
There’s no milk in the fridge and only one egg left. That means I’ll probably have to walk to the village for a few groceries as we left the car in Petra. A shower wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
As I get off the couch to go get a towel, a key turns in the front door. My senses panic and tell me to run to the kitchen to grab a frying pan, a knife, something heavy or dangerous.
Instead, I stay put to watch him waltz through the door, only to stop cold in his tracks the moment he sees me.
“Why are you still here?” he says, dropping his backpack to the floor.
“You’re alive,” is all I manage to blurt out.
“Of course I’m alive. Why would you think otherwise?”
“Because of a certain gangster.”
“What are you doing here, Taylor? You’re supposed to be in Athens.”
“No tickets,” I lie. “The first ship with tickets available sails tomorrow. High season.”
He sees right through me. “High season? I’d have to be high to believe that bullshit.” He studies my face with eyes so intense I have to look away. “What’s happened? You’re mad.”
“Aren’t you going to kiss me? Not even a hug?” I say to throw him off.
“Is this a joke to you?” He gets dangerously close, placing my left wrist in a lethal grip.
“You’re hurting me,” I protest, writhing my wrist violently until it really starts to hurt.
“You behave like a child,” he says. “Maybe I should treat you like one. Go upstairs and pack your things. I’m driving you to the port myself.”
He releases my wrist, nudging me forward.
“Screw you, asshole,” I shout in his face before I plop down on the couch, letting my weight fall like a rock.
“That temper,” he says, keeping his stern expression on. “What’s got into you now?”
“You condescending bastard. What’s got into you now? As in, Taylor, you act as if there’s always something wrong? Who do you think you are? You think you know me just because you fucked me twice? You know nothing about me.”
Tomas’s expression goes from frustrated to disbelief to concern. “Are you all right?” he says. “Did someone threaten you?”
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