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Sure enough, Dani emerged instantly and grabbed on to the large blue-and-white water tank floating beside the boat, pulling the regulator from her mouth and letting out a strangled cough that Valerio felt deep in his chest. He watched with awe as she gasped, holding on to the safety lanyard as she tried to adjust the mask on her face and remove the water.
‘See, I’m a natural!’ she shouted nervously. ‘Well, Marchesi, are you coming in, or are you having second thoughts?’
Valerio finished his own set-up and eased down the ladder. They followed the guide’s instructions, paddling out a specific distance from the boat before preparing to dive down. It had been a long time since his own deep-water scuba diving days, but he still felt the thrill of being out in the depths, with nothing below them but glittering blue adventure, pass through him.
He had only dived down about a metre when he looked to his side and realised Dani hadn’t come with him. Using his own natural buoyancy, he kicked his way back up to where she still clutched tightly to the safety lanyard on the raft.
‘Okay, so I was bluffing. You go ahead. I’ll just watch from here!’ She spoke over the noise of the waves.
‘What about adventure?’ He popped his own regulator out and pushed his mask up on his forehead, looking into her eyes. ‘What about trusting me?’
‘I do trust you. We both know that you can do this. You’ve always been brave and fearless. So don’t let me hold you back. Go...please.’
‘While you just wait around up here in the safe zone? Is that it?’ He hardened his gaze. ‘And how much happiness has that got you so far, Dani? All that fear and tiptoeing around...not taking any risks.’
‘It’s kept me alive, hasn’t it?’ she retorted, then gasped at the realisation of what she’d said, shaking her head. ‘I’m going back to the boat. I’m sorry.’
‘Look at me.’
He pulled her towards him, the water lapping at them on a light current. He could see the instructor watching from a short distance away. He didn’t care—he wasn’t letting her go without saying what he needed to say.
‘There’s a difference between actually feeling alive and just going through the motions of life. This, right here, being so far out of your comfort zone, is where you’ll find the former.’
‘What would you know? You’ve practically been a ghost for six months. Are you telling me that you feel alive?’
He took the hit of her words, knowing they were the truth. ‘I deserve that. But the truth is I forgot how this felt—how healing it is to let yourself just be free. These past few days you’ve brought a part of me back to life that I’d thought lost for ever. I just want the chance to push you to do the same. The way I should have done the first time you asked for my help.’
She frowned, her bottom lip quivering slightly. For a moment he worried that he’d gone too far and opened too many old wounds. A part of him hoped that she would just swim away from him—that was what he deserved. Maybe it was just too little, too late, as the old saying went.
But, as usual, this woman had far more strength than anyone gave her credit for. She steeled her shoulders, taking one hand off the raft and extending it to him. ‘I’ll need your help. I’m shaking too hard to let go.’
For a moment Valerio stared down at h
er hand, shocked at such an open show of vulnerability and trust. Then, once she had the regulator in her mouth, he grabbed hold of her, feeling the tremors in her fingers vibrating against his own. He grasped her tightly, embracing her for a long moment as he pulled her bodily from the raft.
She stiffened, then moved with him, following his guidance as they trod water together in an easy rhythm. Valerio locked his eyes with hers, gesturing with the fingers on his free hand as he silently counted down from five and they slowly dropped below the surface together, hand in hand.
Daniela remembered, as a child, running after her brother through the gardens of their country home and always stopping the moment she got as far as the black gate that led into what Duarte had christened ‘the haunted forest.’ It had been just a normal country wood, but the trees had been so dense it was almost pitch-dark once you were a few steps in.
Her brother would assure her it was okay, but her fear would always stop her from stepping nearer the shadows and into the unknown beyond. She’d needed to see safety ahead—not jump in and think later, the way he had.
Now, even as an adult, she trod softly and kept to her plans. She was fearless in the boardroom, and fearless in what she wanted for her career, but deep down she sometimes felt that she was still that child, staring at the line between safety and the unknown and keeping herself stubbornly behind that line.
But once she’d emerged from the water with Valerio’s hand still in hers, she’d finally had a taste of what it was that pushed him to test his boundaries the way he did.
Pushing past her own fear had been terrifying, but that fear had got less and less as she’d dropped down into the ocean and seen the wonders that lay below the surface. Schools of tiny, vibrant coloured fish had danced through the current, and as Valerio had guided her deeper, she’d been entranced by the play of light on the seabed. She’d watched tiny creatures as they scuttled in between rocks and coral, and had spotted a couple of spiny lobsters locking claws with one another. The highlight of the dive had been the moment a sea turtle had swum nearby, its graceful body turning in the water and reflecting glorious beams of turquoise and blue light.
Dani had been utterly charmed by the world below the surface, filled with such simple quiet wonders. Wonders that she would never have seen from her spot on that life raft. She was grateful that Valerio had pushed her. Clearly he had seen something missing in her life—something she had never known she needed. And he was right. This feeling of adrenaline and triumph was healing.
She felt free. She felt as if she could take on the whole world.
The feeling carried on for the rest of the afternoon as, back on the speedboat, Valerio unveiled a small picnic lunch which he’d had delivered from a local restaurant. She knew he was still worried about her safety, and was thankful for the time he was giving them alone together, without their security detail.
Valerio took them out to a remote spot along the coast of Rodney Bay, from where they could view the impressive length of Pigeon Island in the distance. The food was from one of the finest chefs on the island: a delicious spread of green figs and fresh lobster, followed by a dessert of banana cake—a special St Lucian recipe that was deliciously spiced and sweet.
They talked for what felt like hours and she remembered exactly why she had always liked talking to him. He didn’t just listen and nod; he gave his full focus to her—just like with everything he did.
She found herself telling him how she’d been relieved to cancel her plans for her own firm and how fear had always held her back. He seemed surprised at first, then quietly pensive as he listened to her ramble.
