Merciless Hunter (Dark Syndicate 4)

37

Olivia

My hand feels small in Aiden’s. His large hands swallow mine but give me that reassurance of safety as we walk down the path in the garden.

He’ll never know what that feeling means to me.

Being safe and having someone tell me not to worry are two things I haven’t had in so long it felt like I’d never have them again.

I never expected to and I never expected that the person who would give me such respite would be Aiden Romanov.

I don’t know where he’s taking me. He just came back after a long day and it’s nearly dark.

I spent the day trying to figure out what he was going to do and what would happen next.

He came home and just took my hand. Although his eyes were troubled and I could tell he’d had a rough day, there was something soothing in the way he looked at me.

I glance at him as we approach the little gate I went through the other night. I can’t help but remember the terror I felt from what happened, and what could have happened but Aiden gives my hand a gentle squeeze.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“Somewhere we can talk in complete privacy.”

When we get to the gate he releases my hand and pulls out a key from his pocket.

The lock snaps open when he places the key inside and he holds the gate open for me to walk through first.

I look over the side of the cliff to where I could have fallen and my stomach tightens before it plummets.

“I never look over there when I’m down here,” Aiden says taking my hand again.

“How do you get down to the beach?”

“Not that way. The path looks like it leads down to the beach, but it doesn’t. That was destroyed in an earthquake long before I bought the place. This is the way to the beach.” He points through the hedge of trees but I don’t see the path until he moves aside a branch of the evergreen tree revealing a sandy path.

I look back to him and his lips curl for a sexy smile.

“You really are a man of secrets.”

“I have to be. Ladies first.”

I walk through the path and instead of taking my hand he places his to the small of my back and runs a light finger over the fabric of my dress. My skin responds to his touch, however, like his finger is on my skin.

We walk down the path and when we turn the corner I’m greeted with the amazing sight of a yacht floating in the crook of the cave.

It’s white and grand with tall sails billowing in the wind.

The palm trees in the distance and the jagged rock formations makes me feel like I just stepped on the set of a film about an island.

“Oh my God,” I gasp. “Where did this come from?”

“A gift from my father when I bought the place. We always lived near water even in Russia. But it was my mother who loved sailing on the open sea. She’d take every opportunity to go and I was right beside her. Me, my brother and Maksim.”

“Wow. I like water too,” I say.

“Yeah I remember that.” he gives a cocky smile. “Come on. Time is of the essence.”

“Time?”