Page 58

I think my day is over even though the sun is just now at its peak. I need to be alone for a while.

I slink back to the bedroom, grateful not to run into anyone on the way, and curl up on the bed. The TV drones on in the background, but my gaze lingers out the window at the dancing water. I eventually ask for dinner to be brought to the room, then eat in silence, my turbulent emotions my only company.

Elio doesn’t return.

I get ready for bed. Put on pajamas. Curl up under the covers.

Still, no Elio.

I decide to give sleep a try, but I’m restless despite my melancholy. I need to talk to him. I need to apologize. Wrapping a blanket around my shoulders, I go in search of the man who has somehow captivated my mind as much as my body. And it’s all happening so quickly that I have to question whether he’s an expert at crawling beneath my skin, or if he’s been there the whole time, waiting for me to find him.

CHAPTER 30

ELIO

I probably shouldn’t be at the helm. Not alone, anyway. These superyachts drive themselves, but there should always be someone supervising. Someone sober. I fell into a bottle of scotch hours ago and have yet to surface.

I’m normally not a big drinker. I don’t like dulling my senses. A glass of wine with a meal isn’t an issue, but my crew would be hard-pressed to recall a time they saw me get shit-faced. That’s why I’m hiding up here. My actions matter. I have to set the standard for the behavior I expect out of them, and this ain’t it.

I needed the escape, though. From her. From my feelings for her.

That’s the other reason I’m shut in the room by myself. I know Isa was lashing out, but it’s still a fucking fist to the gut to hear her say she’d rather be with that psychopath Antonelli than here with me. I know if I went down and saw her, I’d do something I’d regret. The more I drank, the higher the chances.

Therefore, I’ve kept my miserable ass up here and decided to wait until she’s asleep before having one of the others take over and dragging myself to bed. When the door behind me creaks open, I expect to see Drake returning to insist I call it a night, but it’s not him. It’s Isa with her golden hair falling around her face in loose waves, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and my entire world in her eyes.

She stands in the doorway anxiously. “Can I come in?”

As if I could ever tell this woman no.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep by now?”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

I swivel my chair fully around to face her and motion with my fingers for her to come closer. She closes the door behind her, then walks to me. The two bridge chairs are tall, so operators can sit up over the control panel, which means I’m at eye level with her. My feet rest on a crossbar beneath my seat, keeping my knees comfortably open.

I hook a finger into her blanket and draw her a few inches closer so that her body is wedged between my legs.

God, the things I want to do to her. To say to her.

The alcohol has it all floating to the surface, and my restraint frays by the second.

“You’ve been drinking,” she notes quietly.

“I have,” I say with a dip of my chin.

“I suppose I understand. I’m sorry, Elio. I didn’t mean what I said. I was frustrated.”

I gently tug the blanket on either side of her until she allows it to fall away. “Frustration is something I’m well acquainted with,” I murmur, my unseeing stare locked on the bottom of her blue pajama shirt where my fingers absently toy with the fabric before rising to pluck the bottom button undone. I walk my gaze up her body until her sky and my forest meet. “Why did you tell me you’re a virgin when I know for a fact you aren’t?”

She visibly bristles. “Why would you say that?”

I study her, relieved at the numbness offered by the scotch still circulating in my veins. “Because, buttercup, I took your fucking virginity when you were sixteen.”

What a goddam relief to finally say it and quit dancing around the truth.

A shock wave rocks her body from head to toe. Her lips part, gaze searching as though grasping for a rebuttal, but then she stills, and something infinitely more infuriating flashes in her eyes.

Pity.