Ruthless Prince (Dark Syndicate 1)

“I promise you the best meal you’ve ever had.” He intertwines our fingers and leads me toward the house.

Massimo was right. He made me the best meal I’ve ever had.

Steak. I’ve had some amazing steak in my life, but his was definitely the best, and the best meal too. He made me eat my words and impressed me further with an afternoon filled with talking and laughing. With us.

I couldn’t believe that we spent the afternoon in such a way.

To think that I might not have been here at all if he hadn’t saved me yesterday hurts. But I’m pretending that this is our life. In this version of us, we escape here for a break. We live in the gorgeous mansion on the beach and come here when we need a breather. In this version of us, he’s been listening to me talk about art and Florence and what I would be learning at the Accademia.

In this version of us, I look at him and get lost in the beauty of him inside and out. I like it. It feels like this could be our future. Today it is.

It’s starts to get dark, which saddens me because I know tomorrow, we’ll have to leave and return to the real world.

We clear the table and unpack our stuff to get comfortable for the night. We didn’t bring a lot. Just enough to change our clothes. It all fit in a carry-on.

“One more thing to do before the sun goes down,” he says, tugging on my hand.

“What? What are we doing?”

“You’ll see. This is the highlight of this trip.”

I’m intrigued to find out what it is because everything about this trip so far has been striking.

Taking my hand again, he leads me away. We walk across the meadow and down to the river. I tense when I see a little rowboat as memories of yesterday come rushing back to me. I don’t know how I managed to stay alive when the boat capsized. It was the most horrible feeling. A moment of doom and helplessness in which I knew I wouldn’t be able to save myself.

“Are we going inside the boat?” I ask because it sure looks like we’re heading that way.

He smiles and slips his arm around me. “We are, but don’t worry. You’ll be in this boat with me, and we’re going on the river. It’s a lot calmer than the sea. Trust me, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I believe him, so I nod. As we step into the boat, I hold on to his hand for dear life.

“Sit, you’ll be okay,” he promises.

I carefully lower to sit. The boat feels sturdy. He sits too and releases the boat from the dock. He rolls his sleeves up his thick forearms, and we set off down the river. As he rows with the oars, I see exactly how it’s supposed to be done.

It’s vastly different from what I did yesterday.

He rows with strength and surety. He makes it look easy. He chuckles when he sees me watching.

“You make it look like it’s nothing.”

“Trust me, it’s not nothing. Years of practice. My father taught me to fish when I was a boy. He liked going out in the rowboat. He hates speedboats or sailboats. You wouldn’t catch him in anything like that. Says it disrupts the water. If you want to catch fish, you do the least thing possible. You blend in. That way, you catch the best fish.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I can’t refute his claim, since he’s always been right. That’s why I had the rowboat. The sailboat I only take out when I want to go diving or just be out on the sea.”

“I’m sorry I lost your boat,” I say, raising my shoulders.

“Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t even a thought. I’m just glad you’re okay and here. Not anywhere else.”

Dead or alive. Although I think if Vlad had gotten me, my life would be worse than death.

“Here… this is where it happens.” He looks around as we drift deeper into the woods. It gets darker suddenly because the trees enclose the area.

“What?” I ask.

“You’ll see, but I suspect you’ll see more than I do. My mom used to bring me and my brothers out here. Every time we came, she saw something different. I guess that’s the way artists think.”