. . .
LILY
I watched as a car approached and slowed too near the ship as I sipped my coffee. I put my forearms on the railing, scanning the expensive vehicle closely. It had been coming here every morning, and I could feel eyes on me too.
Safe eyes.
I knew who was in there. Somehow, I just knew.
I sat Teddy Baby on the railing, keeping a hand on him to keep him from falling. I rubbed his belly with my thumb.
After a while, the door opened, and he got out. His hair shone like gold. His body was draped in a dark suit, and his eyes were hidden behind sunglasses.
He leaned against the front of his black car. The sun was rising in the sky, and for the life of me, I couldn't tear my eyes away from Dante.
I brought the cup to my lips. I wanted to throw the hot liquid at him. Where is Carlina, you fucking asshole?
I let out a breath. He looked impressive. The first time I had seen him, he had seemed to be nothing but danger. The danger existed still, but now it was lined with a certain...tenderness. I felt safe every time he touched me, as if I could hide in his arms and forget about everything.
I hated how much I craved it.
We watched each other for a while. I clutched Teddy Baby to my chest, suddenly feeling a bit overwhelmed. I looked away from him and glared at a nearby yacht.
He stood there for a while. I could almost feel his eyes moving over me.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I looked at him. He had his phone pressed to his ear.
I sighed and answered the call, my heart beating faster. "Yes?"
"Good morning, Blue," he said, and I softened at the sound of his voice. He removed his sunglasses, revealing his stunning eyes."How are you?"
"I'm alright." My voice was tight. "How is your fiancée?"
"You know about that."
"The media is having a field day with it."
"I do not feel anything towards her. I am doing what is expected of me."
"You owe me no explanation." I hugged Teddy Baby closer to my chest. "She won't like you staring at me."
"I couldn't care less about what she won't like, Blue," he said. "She feels nothing for me except fear."
"I wonder why," I said dryly.
"I see Teddy Baby is keeping you warm."
"He is a better cuddler than you."
"I'd love an opportunity to prove you wrong."
"Too bad you won't get it."
"Come to me."
"And become your whore again?" My words were sharp, yet lined with the hurt I couldn't conceal. Why won't you let me be more?
"You were never my whore."
"Everyone else in your Mafia seemed to disagree."
"What they think can be changed."
I shook my head. "You have a fiancee."
He paused for a while. "I could..." He let out a breath. "I will see you tomorrow."
"I won't come out of my room."
"Then I will admire the sunrise here."
"I hope you don't trip and fall into the ocean," I muttered.
"I won't be drowning anytime soon, Blue. Not before Teddy Baby."
I felt my lips twitch, but I stopped myself and muttered a goodbye before hanging up the phone. I marched inside, my heart lighter for some reason.
. . .
It was late at night the same day when my phone buzzed again.
Another call from Dante.
I put the book down. I had stolen it from someone on the ship. I had no idea who it belonged to, but I had just discovered it. It was a thriller. I didn't even read thrillers but this was better than nothing.
"Dante."
"Blue," he said. "I hope I did not wake you up."
"If you were this worried about waking me up, you could have texted."
"I find texting exhausting."
I did too. "Why are you calling me?"
A pause. "I couldn't stop thinking about you."
I paused. "Well, um, a glass of wine helps with sleeping."
He chuckled. "Does it? I had another thing in mind. Why did you kill off Oliver?"
I frowned. Oliver was a character from my books. He got murdered in the last book. "What?" I gasped. "You read them?"
"You write well. Why did you kill him off?"
I scratched the back of my neck. I had never pictured myself having a conversation like this with Dante. "I had to kill someone off the main characters for it to seem real."
"You have starfish shifters in your book," he said in a monotone.
"Hush," I grumbled.
He was quiet for a while. "Come back to me."
"No."
"Is there any way I can make it happen?"
Break up with your fiancee, who you clearly cannot give a fuck about, or maybe you are playing both of us like this.
I shook my head. "Don't call me again."
"Okay." He paused. "Good night, Blue."
I stayed quiet. "I...Goodnight, Dante."
. . .
It was early in the morning the next day when a knock sounded on the door. I frowned, putting my book down. No one ever knocked on my door. I didn't really have friends here, even though I knew there were about two hundred people there.
I got up and opened the door slowly.
"Henry."
He gave me a crooked smile, his green hair dangling from his brow."I begged him to let me visit you."
I took in a shaky breath, waited for a second, and then threw myself at him. The utter loneliness I had been feeling departed from my body slowly, but some of it remained. I dug my face into his neck, trying to keep the sobs in. Henry had always been my rock.
He walked into the room, keeping his arms around me, and kicked the door shut. "I missed you, too."
"I hate this."
"The hug?"
"You know what I mean, Jackass."
He laughed, but I could hear that he was seconds away from tears too. Soon, he settled me on the bed and pulled a chair in front of me, plopping down. "I don't like Elliot anymore," he confessed.
"Don't you think his eyes are pretty anymore?"
He shook his head, glaring at his lap. "This is such a shitshow, Lily."
"I know," I whispered.
"You can't keep living like this," he insisted, grabbing my hands and looking me in the eyes. "There is a solution."
"What?" I asked, rubbing my thumbs on his hand.
"Dante justified keeping you safe by saying that you were his," he said, slowly. "What if someone else from the mafia does the same thing? I know you won't go back to Dante, and you shouldn't when your heart is concerned, but this is the only other way I think you can be safe and have control over your life, a lot more than you have here."
"I can't just approach a mafia man and ask him if I can be his whore."
He flinched. "You were never Dante's whore."
"Let's not talk about him," I muttered, dropping his hands. "Who do you have in mind?"
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Sebastian."
"You're fucking with me."
"I am not," he said. "Sebastian doesn't have as much influence as Dante, obviously, but if you become his fiancée, people will have to back off. Especially your wonderful paternal family."
"You're fucking with me."
"I am not," he said. "This is a good solution."
"I am not going to be with him," I said. "I refuse to do that to you. You're supposed to marry him."
"We can't marry," he muttered. "Half of the mafia thinks we're roommates or some shit."
I shook my head. "This is not a good solution. Clever? Yes. Good? No."
"Just fucking think about it."
I rubbed my forehead. "He'd be willing to do this?"
"I asked him when I came up with it. He knows how much you mean to me, Lily."
"This is fucked."
"This is till the Creeds fuck off and your father's family loses the foothold it has in Sicily, which will be soon as there is a new underboss. Samuel will be dead soon enough, I know Dante has something up his sleeve. You'd be able to live in Italy freely."
I picked at the skin around my thumbnail. "You're okay with this?"
"I came up with this. I am pretty proud of myself." He gave me a grin. "And in this way, we'll be together too."
"Yeah, I'll just have to suffer walls banging around me all the time."
"It's not my fault that men fail to resist me."
"Yeah, your green hair charms their pants off."
"Glad to know you're still a bitch."
I laughed.
. . .