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The brown water of the river swirls below the bow of the yacht, reminding me of the day after our wedding. I looked down at those murky depths and considered jumping in to escape him.
I would not have gotten far. Most likely I’d have hit a rock on the river floor or broken my neck or something.
I lift my chin into the breeze, closing my eyes for a moment and enjoying the warmth of sunlight on my face. So much has happened since that day. Good and bad. But I am grateful to be alive, and glad I took the path I did, because it has resulted in a new life being created inside me.
I cradle my belly, feeling a wave of thankfulness that should be at odds with my captive situation. But I cannot be anything but thankful that I’ve been blessed with the possibility of becoming a mother.
Movement catches my gaze when I open my eyes again, and I watch as a bird dives down beneath the surface and then rises, flapping away with something triumphantly held in its beak. Kill or be killed. It is everywhere, even in nature.
“Do you love me, Rio?” I ask, not sure why that particular question comes out. Why I need to know the truth about how he feels. “I mean, do youreallylove me? Or am I still simply a valuable possession, even now when you already have my inheritance and you no longer need me for that?”
Strong hands grip my shoulders, and he spins me around, steadying me when I sway a little at the sudden movement. “I do, little bird.”
He spears me with the intense look that, in the past, frightened me. I always thought he was trying to decide whether I would live or die when he stared at me like that.
Now, in a flash of awareness, I realize it is simply reflective of the way he lives his life. Intense and passionate, but most of that intensity held tightly beneath the surface so it bubbles there in a whirlpool of fire without ever breaking free.
Is that why the darkness sits so firmly inside him? Is it because he has never had an outlet to release it?
He shakes me slightly, as if aware that my thoughts have wandered. “I never thought I had it in me to love someone to this depth, Bianca. I do not believe I will ever love another, the way I love you. You drive me to distraction, and when you ran, my love turned to hate. I wasmurderous.”
His eyes flash, and I flinch, seeing the rage that still lies beneath his smooth words. “But even if you stood in front of me in that moment, I like to believe I would not have harmed you. I can, and will, do whatever is needed to maintain control and protect my family and the organization I run, but you…”
He places a finger beneath my chin, tipping up my face to his. “You are my weakness,mia cara. The one chink in my armor. And yet, I can never, ever give you up.”
He’s about to kiss me. I see it in the tightening of his expression, the focus zeroing in on my lips. And I want him to, more than anything. But I have to speak up first. Somehow, I find the strength to twist out of his grip and put a few feet between us. Only then do I turn back to face him. He studies me with a faint frown, as if I’ve surprised him, and he can’t quite decide how to react.
“I will stay with you, Rio. Because I love you. Insanely, and even when I know you’re not good for me. It’s toxic, I think, what you and I have. And yet, for better or worse, I can’t change how I feel. But…”
I swallow hard and finish quickly before I completely lose my nerve. “I have conditions, and I want you to agree to them before I promise to stay.”
14
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
Maya Angelou
Bianca
His mouth parts slightly,and I hear the sharp intake of breath. Yep, this time there’s no doubt about his reaction.
I have definitely shocked Rio into silence.
He gathers his composure instantly, and that unreadable implacability returns to his previously softened features. “Conditions? You expect me to fulfilyourconditions?”
I straighten my shoulders, trying to see my husband in the man in front of me, and not the scary Mafia boss. “I do.”
“And what might those conditions be, Bianca?”
A male waiter tops the stairs and starts toward us with a tray of food, but Rio waves a hand in a violent gesture. The man stops then scurries away to the far corner of the deck. There’s a table and chairs set up beneath a shade-cloth awning, and the waiter busies himself unloading the tray there instead.
“Well?” Rio says, forcing my attention back to him.
His voice is soft, but the edge tells me the softness is deceptive. I may be pushing too hard.
I don’t care. This has to be said, and if it results in him locking me back up in the dungeon again, then I’ll kick and scream and carry on until he has to let me out.
Or until he decides to kill me, a traitorous little voice whispers.
