Ruthless Prince (Dark Syndicate 1)

He’s just my husband on paper. Business.

God. I’ve been so stupid. Dad said I’d eventually just become a thing in the house. He was right.

“Make time,” she coos with seduction, and as her kimono floats down her back, revealing her nakedness, my mouth falls open.

When she walks over to him and sits on his lap and he does nothing to get her off him, an uncontrollable tear slides down my cheek and my heart shatters.

I back away from the door and fight the tears that threaten to come. I will not stay in this house another minute. I’m leaving now. I’m leaving right now. Rushing back up the stairs, I return to the bedroom and get my phone to call Dad.

He answers on the first ring, unusual for him. He’s always in a meeting or something business related. Answering shows he must have been waiting on me, waiting desperately.

“Dad, I need to come now,” I blurt, trying to hold the emotion in. “I need to escape now.”

“Emelia, stay calm. Are you okay?”

“No, I need to leave.”

“Okay, tell me what side of the beach the boat is on.”

“The south side.”

He sighs. It sounds like he’s relieved. “Okay, we need to get this right. We have one shot. Go now, and I’ll send someone to get you. Just try to be okay once you get on the water. Call me again if you can, but go now. They’ll wait if they don’t see you, but they won’t wait for too long.”

I nod even though he can’t see me. “I’ll go now. Thanks, Dad. I love you.”

“I love you too, sweet girl. I love you with all my heart. Go now, quickly,” he says and hangs up.

I won’t take anything other than the phone. Massimo has a door leading out to the beach, so I leave through it.

I walk down the steps on the terrace and head down the sandy path, walking like I’m just enjoying the weather, like I usually do. There aren’t any guards around, but there will be someone on surveillance watching this part of the beach. I walk along and pretend I’m picking up shells until I reach the camera Candace told me about. The one that’s not working.

The cave is just ahead of me. I start to run when I get past the camera. I have to walk in the sea a little, and the water is rough. I pray I’ll be okay once I get out on the open sea. Earlier, it looked like a storm was brewing. The angry gray clouds rumbling in the sky do nothing to calm me, especially knowing the waters are dangerous.

I rush past boulders and try to focus, pushing aside the sight of Massimo with that woman. I can just imagine what he’s doing with her now. I saw what she looked like. I can’t imagine him saying no to her, and why would he? For me?

I’m a fool.

I push and splash as I enter the cave. There’s a little dock. Moored there is the rowboat, and a massive speedboat in front of it. I know nothing about boats, but the speedboat would make me feel a lot safer. It’s not like I have much choice though. Candace said even if I could get the thing started, Massimo has a security system on the boat he can control from inside the house.

I rush down the dock and exert extreme caution when I step into the boat. It rocks from side to side on the water, making me unsteady. I almost fall. Luckily, I stable myself. I look at the large wooden oars, take a deep breath of courage, and unhook the ropes holding the boat in place. As soon as I do, the boat drifts away, pulling out with the current, which is quite strong.

As I drift, I think of what I’m doing. Escaping. I’m doing it. I’m actually doing it.

God…

I’m leaving my husband. The man I was forced to marry. Forced? It feels weird to think of it being forced now, given all that I’ve done with him and the way I felt. I loved him. The sad thought hits me. I fell in love with him. It was the stupidest thing I could have ever done.

I can’t think of that now. It’s my fault my heart is shattered. My grandmother used to say that a snake will always be a snake, no matter what you do. Shame on you if the snake tells you it’s going to hurt you, yet you refuse to believe it. Massimo warned me. He told me he was the big, bad wolf. The devil. That I shouldn’t want him. He told me don’t. That don’t was in reference to everything. Look what he did today with that woman.

I gather my strength and start rowing. I’ve never done this before. It looks much simpler in the movies. Granted, it looked a lot easier when I’ve seen people rowing on the river as opposed to the sea. What I think of as I pull out from the cave and row out to sea is Titanic.

Huge waves roll toward me, fueled by the oncoming storm. The boat lifts high. I yelp when water splashes inside the boat and rocks it so hard I think it’s going to capsize.

I row hard, but it’s like trying to move concrete. It’s not working. I’m not strong enough. Ahead of me, another wave flows toward me. It’s what Jacob would call a surfer wave.

It comes for me, and I row hard, As it slaps the boat, I fall and drop one of the oars. It’s gone. I made the mistake of looking and nearly fell over the side. I have one paddle now, and I don’t think it’s going to be able to do what two paddles would do.

The angry sea takes me further out as the water turns fiercer. I can’t imagine Massimo using this boat on these rough waters.