Submitting To The Devil - The Devil's Snare - Book 2

Chapter Twenty Six

Niko

I keep Bianca close as we walk outside of the house. We travel towards the beach in silence, where a boat, dissimilar to the one last night, is on the sand for us.

A man, indeed, does await us, as Dimitri suggested in his handwritten note. He's standing in the water, barefoot and relaxed.

He's not native to the islands, and I know exactly who he is. He's one of Dimitri's men, one I've had the displeasure to have worked alongside since the day I pledged my services to Dimitri because of my desire to keep my father very much alive.

The funny thing is that I've completed many tasks for Dimitri alongside this man under Luca's nose—an achievement I hate.

"Ah, if it isn't the unhappy couple," Sven greets us with a snarl. He's an outsider, in all honesty, one who resides in Tuscany to be the ears and eyes for Dimitri in his homeland and, by extension, for Luca. Not that Luca works with this bastard very often.

"Correction, Sven. Happy. Very fucking happy," I hiss with annoyance as I flex my hand around Bianca's waist in a show of happiness.

"If you say so, boss. Her face doesn't tell that picture," he chuckles dryly.

Glancing sideways, I see Bianca staring at him with an indifferent face. But her eyes flick to mine, and it's as if we communicate without words for a brief moment. She reaches down to take ahold of my hand, lacing her fingers through mine as if in defiance. A show of solidarity that I admire her for in this moment.

I guide Bianca to sit on the bench beside me as Sven pushes us out into the calm ocean before starting the motor. I watch intensely as he jumps into the back of the boat, starts the motor before dropping it into the water, and then sits before smirking our way.

Tense silence fills the air around us, but I try not to let it get into my subconscious. Instead, I reach for Bianca, bringing her close to me to concentrate on her touch over the discomfort of being around the outlaw.

Sven drives us to the southern borders of the island, passing by the picturesque scenery of the untouched part that Lucia couldn't bear to touch.

Only when he starts to head inland do I realise he's heading for my favourite part of the island.

He leads us down through a makeshift canopy made from the branches of natural trees to the embankment that houses a beautiful waterfall eroded into the cliffside to create an inset.

"Wow," Bianca mimics my awe. I chance a look at her. Her mouth is agape, and her eyes drink in the scenery just as I hoped. And it's as if she can't choose where exactly to look. I was the same the first time I was brought here. It doesn't matter how often I stumble upon this beautiful piece of Mother Nature; my breaths are also taken away.

For a moment, I allow her the time to process all that she sees, remaining quiet to allow her to take control of the situation. But the silence stretches further than I'd like, so I must retake control.

"Shall we swim?" I ask her quietly.

"What about nethanderal back there?" She whispers.

"He stays put," I shrug without so much as a glance backwards.

"Okay," she mumbles, almost as if to keep her side of the conversation to a minimum. "Race you!" She dares me out of nowhere. In a flash, she's stripped my top and dove overboard. I watch, entranced at her disappearance into the shallow water, taken by surprise at her sudden change in energy.

"You got your hands full with that one. But fanculo, her body is fine," Sven laughs throatily, as if we are two friends vying for the same girl.

"I have my knife, Sven. One slit and your pathetic excuse for a life would be gone. You mean nothing to me. The ocean would conceal your death, and I'd move on as if your murder never happened."

"Your life would be toast," he warns, but I can hear his scepticism. He fears me and my abilities, which is good—very good.

Life's easier when you are feared over laughed at, and he'd do well to remain on my good side, for I have enough dirt on him to ruin his life for good.

"Keep your eyes off my wife; no one gets to look at her except for me. Station here until we're done exploring the island."

"I'm not your slave."

"You are today," I state with a cheeky smirk before jumping into the ocean, unwilling to give him more of my time when Bianca seems to have forgotten her bad mood entirely.

Breaking the ice-cold water, I swim in land, finding Bianca paddling water when I reach her just before the breaking point of the waterfall. The waterfall loudly fills the air, and water splashes all over her, yet she looks to the sky with a sure smile on her face, looking more at home than I've ever seen her. She's truly at one with nature in this very moment.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I hum beside her ear. My hands grab her waist underwater before I can think about my actions. Perhaps it's an innocent touch to her, but for me, it's me taking my claim on her body any way she'll allow. That's why I expect her to push away from me and make excuses as to why I shouldn't be touching her, but she enables my hold to remain, making me melt into my touch.

"There's nothing here to taint it; why wouldn't it be beautiful?" She asks me.

"True. Except for Sven back there."

"He hates me," she tells me as she looks back toward the boat; holding in my laugh, I refrain from admitting that's anything but the cold-hearted truth.

"He's a Moretta slave; of course, he hates you. You represent everything he wants to be but never will be. You're worth more than him, and that's why he hates you, Bianca."

Looking thoughtful, she regards me with a look of pure indignation. She doesn't believe a word I say, and she confirms as much when she scoffs and laughs.

"I'm just the 'spare'," she air quotes that word. "I mean nothing to no one."

"That's a lie, and you can taste it," I tell her, but it's more to try to convince myself that she's worth more than everyone else believes, or at least to me, she now means more. Honestly, to others, she is only seen as the second daughter of the Rossi's, as she said, a spare to the heir, so to speak, when she is the heir.

It briefly makes me want to reveal the truth and put it out there, but I couldn't do that to Emma. I'm stuck between two sisters, but what's worse is that one is my wife, and the other is my sister, and I'd hate to have to choose a side.

"Come?" I request, reaching for her hand just below the water's surface. Pulling her along, I swim underwater, ensuring she's right there beside me. Ducking under, I only resurface on the other side of the waterfall. It's hiding a private area that allows us to move around without being watched.

"Wow," Bianca hushes into the makeshift cave as she surfaces. Above us is eroded stone, water curtains us inside and just before us is a small ledge that's just dry enough to sit on. That's where I paddle to, pulling myself up on the ledge before I turn and sit.

Bianca remains in the water as I look at her.

"You coming, or you gonna paddle in the water all afternoon?" I ask.

"I'm coming," she tells me.