And it took Liana’s body hitting the water to realize I’d gone about everything, from the moment I took her from that cliffside compound, the wrong way.
Without thinking, I jumped after her, but the current was already ripping her out of reach. I watched her head bobbing in the distance, the waves tumbling her around like a ragdoll.
Fuck, she can’t swim, I realized. She jumped inknowingthe risks.
Dammit, dammit, dammit.
I swam harder and faster while Kian’s words rang in my ears, mocking me for not heeding his warning.
They’d broken her.
I wished Santiago and Perez were alive, only for me to make them suffer. Maybe gift them to this woman so she could have the final word.
My brother’s voice barked out orders from above, and soon a life raft was thrown overboard.
I swam in her direction, determined to get her to safety. She fought to survive, flapping and gasping. I reached her a moment later, grabbing her wrist right before she went completely under, and drew her to me.
“Crazy woman,” I muttered, banding an arm around her waist as her labored breathing feathered against my wet neck.
A broken sob tore from her lips, and she seemed to deflate.
A wave slammed into us and I tightened my grip as she choked and gagged on salt water. I kept swimming, hard and fast, making my way to the raft.
I pushed her blonde strands back from her face. “It’ll be okay. Just hold on.”
Her lips appeared almost blue, and I internally cursed myself. The last thing she needed was hypothermia to hit her.
Holding her tightly, I continued swimming. It seemed to take hours to get to the raft. Or maybe it was mere minutes, I couldn’t tell.
“Climb in,” I hissed, looping my fingers through the handle.
She kicked her feet, trying to climb in, but her strength was waning, so I gripped her thighs and helped her the rest of the way in. I heaved myself over and fell back against the side, lifting my eyes to the darkening sky.
“Pull us out!” I shouted to my men, locking eyes on Liana. Her wet clothes clung to her body, revealing her curves. Her teeth clattered and she pulled her knees to her chest, her eyes darting around.
“You can’t swim,” I deadpanned, my muscles aching from the exertion.
“No.” She didn’t meet my gaze.
“Then why jump?” The life raft rocked as Romeo and the men heaved us toward the upper deck. “Don’t tell me my proposition sent you diving headfirst into the ocean.”
Guilt gnawed at me, and I once again regretted our conversation earlier—regretted my actions since she’d come aboard my yacht. With everything she’d been through, why did I think it was a good idea to keep her restrained? To dangle the idea of marriage, even though I offered the option to find this mysterious mistress she was looking for to avenge all the hell she’d been through.
Let her find every person who’s ever hurt her and take her revenge. I believe she’s down to one person.Kian’s words were mocking me while they played on repeat.
“I’m never going to see her again.”
She stared out unseeingly, and her words came out on a whisper through clattering teeth. When her eyes met mine, I finally saw the true Liana Volkov.
And just how fragile and vulnerable she was.
I sat in my bedroom with an unlit cigarette in hand, watching Liana sleep. After today’s events, I didn’t have enough trust to leave her alone in the room I had designated for her, so I’d had her tucked in my own bed, which left me with a choice of the couch or chair to sleep on.
Silence held steady in the room, my brother sitting next to me, and when I turned, I found his cool eyes taking me in.
He was worried, obvious concern etched on his face, and I found myself irritated by it. I knew he had something to say, so I waited for him to spit it out, unwilling to break the silence.
“We should have never gotten involved in this shit. The woman is killing our men. Four of our men are dead, Giovanni!”
