I chuckle softly. “Bianca, the more you resist me, the more I want you.”
She shrugs. “Sucks to want, doesn’t it?”
“You have no idea.” I rush out of the room, no longer wanting to get into the reasons I never answered her letters.
Or going into why I never contacted her. Why we lost contact. Why everything? It's because she’s right. I became the monster she says I am.
It’s been two days since we arrived in Greece, and Bianca has been just as cold toward me since the day I took her from Miami.
We eat in silence. We move through the house like the strangers we are.
I gave up trying to talk to her after the first twelve hours. Now we both just exist.
I’m going insane, not hearing a single peep from Bishop.
Does he know?
Unable to think about anything, I decide to get Bianca out of the house. It’s too risky to take her into town, but I can take her for a hike into the mountains.
“Get dressed. I want to show you something,” I say, knocking on her bedroom door.
She swings it open. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.” I turn away from her stark beauty and head down the hall.
“What should I wear?” She leans out the door of her bedroom.
“Wear something comfortable and walking shoes.”
An hour later, after Bianca has dressed in hiking clothes and we’ve eaten lunch, I lead her out the back door with a couple of water bottles tucked in a backpack.
We head straight up the side of a hill, to a trail flanked by purple and blood-red wildflowers, leading deep into the woods. There’s a light breeze coming from the ocean, flowing through Bianca’s hair like a dream.
After what feels like an eternity, with no one talking except the birds, I can no longer take the silence. “Bianca, listen, I know you’re upset—”
She cuts in, “Upset? Oh, I’m more than upset. You kidnapped me. You plan on selling me to Bishop.”
“Well, technically, Bishop is the one who plans to sell you.”
If laser beams could shoot out of Bianca’s eyes, I’m sure they’d be aimed right at me. “You know what I mean.”
We walk in silence until we are high enough to sit on a nearby boulder and overlook the city below. It’s peaceful way up here, but I can tell Bianca is anything but at peace right now. I don’t blame her. I dig into the backpack, handing her a cold bottle of water as I sit down next to her.
She unscrews the cap. “You always take care of me. Even when we were little, you were always making sure I was well cared for.” She takes a long pull from the bottle, and then sets it down. “Doesn’t mean I like you, though.”
“Listen, I know there’s a lot you don’t understand.” I take a deep breath, and let it out slowly before continuing, pushing a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, memorizing the way she looks right now. Stunning and sunkissed. “When I went to live with my father, I didn’t want any part of a life with him. I couldn’t stop missing you. I was rebellious when I first arrived here in Greece.” I stare into the depths of her green eyes. “I wrote to you every day.”
“You did?”
“I did. But they never got mailed. My father was very unconventional. He let me sulk for about a week before he put me to work.”
“To work?” Her lips purse together.
“My father ran his own fleet of ships… pirating, pillaging. Doing whatever he could to take down shipping vessels in the Indian Ocean.”
“So, you were a real pirate?”
“When I first arrived at fifteen, I mainly scrubbed the decks.”
“But you worked for your father?”
I nod. “I did.”
“Where is he now?”
I suck in a deep breath, watching puffy white clouds sail across the light-blue sky. “Dead.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
I shrug off her sympathy. “There wasn’t anything that could have been done. He died a few years back from a heart attack.”
Bianca rests her soft hand on my rough one, squeezing softly, making my heart beat a million miles a minute. I love her touch on me. “I’m truly sorry.”
“There’s just a lot I can’t tell you, B. You’ll have to trust me about kidnapping you for Bishop.” I swipe another strand of hair behind her ear, lingering my fingers on her, tracing down her jaw and over her bottom lip.
My chest swells, the need to kiss her strong and fierce, vibrating through my bones. I wish I could tell her everything.
She studies me for a moment and pops up from her seat, parking a hand on her hip. “What is that supposed to mean?”
I stand, plunging my hands into Bianca’s hair to keep her still. “I’d never give you to a man like Bishop. You’re mine.” I slam my lips against hers, roughly.