Loving The Boss (Gems 0f Love Book 1)

by Agnes Canestri

  She got to her feet and stepped to the edge of the cliff. Her eyes widened as she gaped into the depth. “How does falling twenty meters down qualify as safe?”

  Matteo swallowed hard. Cath was right. His idea wasn’t without risks. But at the same time, if Eleni was down there, he had to get to her. He couldn’t climb down this wall, but maybe he could pull himself up on the rocks from the ocean.

  It seemed doable. Though risky.

  He turned to Cath and patted her shoulder. “It’ll be fine. This”—he handed the hairpin to Cath—“is proof she was here. Look at these smudges on the ground. Somebody slipped from here. And that orange color…that must be her down there. I know it.”

  Cath paled and her chin trembled. “Could Eleni have survived such a fall?”

  Matteo clenched his jaw, while his mouth turned dry. What if…? No, he shouldn’t think about that. He had to keep his focus. He had to find Eleni.

  “We can’t speculate on that. First, I need to check if she’s really in there.”

  Fluff started to bark and lowered his head towards the rocks.

  Cath squared her shoulders. “Fluff obviously thinks she is.”

  Matteo took off his shoes and T-shirt. He pulled off his shorts. How lucky that he almost always wore a bathing suit on this island.

  He approached the point where the water seemed deepest, and clearest of rocks.

  He glanced at Cath. “I’ll dive in. You stay here with Fluff.”

  His heart drummed. It was just another immersion, nothing more. A routine exercise for him. Though maybe slightly higher than normal. His excursions with his pals from the La Quebrada cliff divers’ club came to mind. They did dives of 38 meters as regular tourist attractions. It was doable. The key was to break the water first with something pointy like his heels or his hands.

  Feet-first entry was probably safer. He drew in a big breath and bent his legs.

  Then he let himself go.

  His body hit the water with unexpected force. His heels broke the water first, then his legs and the rest of his body. The salty waves pushed him down, but he swam up to the top in a matter of seconds.

  Wow, he did it. It was his highest cliff jump so far. He peeked up and caught Cath’s face looking down at him. He gave her a thumbs up to indicate that he was okay.

  The afternoon sun illuminated the depth underneath him. He swam close to the rocks. From down here, the stones looked steeper and more slippery. Could he climb them?

  He put his palms on the nearest rock and applied pressure. He managed to raise his chest out of the waves. He pulled out one of his knees, but before he could take a hold with it, his fingers slipped and he fell back into the water.

  His head went under. He opened his eyes, ignoring the sting of salt in his eyes. His heart skipped a beat, and his fingers rolled into a ball.

  No, way. There was a hole beneath him. It couldn’t be deeper than fifteen meters. Could this be what he thought it was?

  He kicked himself to the surface and cried out to Cath, “I might have found another way to get in.”

  Cath bent further down and pointed at her ear.

  Matteo screamed from the top of his lungs. “There might be an underwater passage. Go back to the hotel and tell James and Hugo what’s going on. They need to come here with a boat.”

  Cath didn’t move for a second, but then she nodded. Her head moved out of sight.

  Did she understand? He didn’t have time to ponder about it. He had to get into the cave and save Eleni.

  Oh, Eleni. Why had he been so blind and foolish? If he’d spoken to her before, maybe this accident wouldn’t have happened.

  No, he could beat himself up later. He had to dive into the cave now. He took a deep breath then exhaled. He repeated the process. Then he waited for three or four normal breaths. Okay, he was ready now.

  He inhaled once more, then turned his head towards the sea bottom and started to swim towards the hole. He moved as little as possible, keeping all his gestures controlled and properly timed.

  If it was a tunnel like he hoped, he would need as much air as possible to get through. Who knew how long it was.

  His stomach knotted for a second, but he focused on releasing it immediately. No tension or thoughts were allowed. Not only was his life on the line, but so was Eleni’s.

  A few seconds later, and he was at the entrance. It was dark, but not entirely. The opening was indeed tight. He had to keep his whole body in a straight line and reduce the wideness of his kicks.

  When he was about halfway through, he could feel the strain in his lungs pressing on his chest. His throat ached.

  He couldn’t give in. It couldn’t be that far away now.

  Eleni was there on the other end. He needed to get to her.

  Chapter 32

  Eleni opened her eyes.

  The details of her fall came back to her. She had slid down the cliff, but instead of dropping onto the rocks, she’d ended up in a hole. Her pupils focused on the rocky ceiling overhead.

  There was a tiny opening in it. Did she fall through that?

  Her mouth was parched. Slowly, she moved her various body parts, testing them.

  No pain. This had to be a good sign.

  She lifted her hands and rubbed at her eyes. Her left palm had some scratches, but otherwise she didn’t seem to be bleeding.

  How was this possible? She’d fallen from quite high. At least eight or nine meters.

  Eleni pushed herself onto her elbows and looked around cautiously.

  What was this place?

  She squinted as she took in the walls.

  What a peculiar sight. Almost eye-blinding. The stones around her glistened in the most eccentric blue shades she had ever seen.

  Azure, turquoise, sapphire, teal, and rich steel-blue.

  She pressed her hand to the ground. The stones on which she sat were firm to the touch, but somehow elastic at the same time. Like the walls, they glistened in a bluish hue.

  Could this weird material be responsible for her being alive? Or was she hallucinating this strange place?

  She patted her temples and her neck. No. She felt fine. No headache or dizziness, just a sense of thirst.

  The sound of waves caught her attention, and she turned her head toward the water. A clear pool stretched to her right. She stood up and walked over to observe it better.

  It looked deep. There was a hole in the wall across from her, underneath the water. It seemed to be some sort of tunnel. It had to be connected to the ocean, because the waves hitting the plateau on which Eleni stood were quite strong.

  Eleni turned around in a small circle, scrutinizing each angle of the cave.

  Her hands became sweaty and her breathing shallow. There were no exits or entrances. Or none that she could see. Only the tiny opening on the ceiling where she had probably fallen through. But there was no way for her to climb up there.

  Her temples began to throb, and she rubbed them gently. The last thing she needed now was a full-blown panic attack. She had to stay calm and search for a way to escape.

  Because there had to be one.

  She stepped over to the stone wall, and checked the entire perimeter of the plateau. Her hands stroked the humid rocks. When she had done the whole confines, as much as she could reach, she sank to the ground.

  Nothing

  Her head drooped to her chest. How was she ever to get out of here?

  Her eyes wandered to a particularly brilliant sapphire stone. She reached out and brushed her thumb against its smooth surface.

  Why did she decide to walk toward the Purple Rain? She should have kept to the resort’s grounds.

  A sudden chill settled in her spine.

  Wait a minute. The Purple Rain. This Cave. These dazzling blue stones. The underwater passage…

  Eleni’s heart started to pound. She felt its pulsation in her neck.

  Yes, this must be it. This cave was the famous Pearl. The Pearl of the Deep Blue. The one Matt
eo wanted to find. Blood rushed into her head and she felt dizzy.

  Was it fate’s cruel irony that she was going to perish in the place that was more important to Matteo than Eleni was ever going to be?

  The urge to chuckle bubbled up in her throat, but as her laugh sounded on the walls, she flinched. Her eyes welled up with tears, and soon the hysterical giggles turned into sobs.

  Eleni cried with all her heart. She cried for her parents, whom she wasn’t going to see. For her friends, Cath and Laura. And even for Connor. But above all, out of the pain of never being able to see Matteo’s eyes again.

  A swish of water bounced back from the wall.

  It didn’t sound like a normal wave. No, this was much louder.

  Eleni’s eyes darted to the water. The light streaming in through the underwater tunnel disappeared. The cave became darker.

  Eleni’s stomach hardened. What was it?

  She sprang to her feet and hurried to the side of the plateau.

  She glanced down. The water was murky. Did the strong current stir up sand from the bottom?

  A dark shadow passed below.

  Eleni lowered herself to her knees and leaned forward, squinting. The grains of sand started to settle, and the water became calm again. She couldn’t see anything unusual. Maybe she had just imagined it?

  She straightened up.

  What had she hoped? That somebody was coming to rescue her? No, this cave was the last place she would ever see.

  She sighed, and her shoulders slumped.

  She saw something emerge from the water out of the corner of her eye.

  She snapped her head, her muscles contracting. She let out an acute shriek that echoed back from the walls with ear-splitting intensity.

  She took a quick step back, but her feet slipped on the wet stone. She fell back on the plateau.

  She pushed herself to a sitting position and gawked at the approaching figure.

  Chapter 33

  Just as the first contractions of Matteo’s diaphragm started, the tunnel got larger. He gave the last few pushes and slid into a round deep pool.

  He swam to the plateau stretching in front of him. He lifted his head for air and looked around. He needed all his control to suppress his desire to breathe in too quickly or too much all at once.

  The walls around him shone in mesmerizing shades of blue. His eyes almost hurt from the parade of dazzling colors.

  His heart sank. So he had been right. Wasn’t it ironic? Finding the Pearl under these circumstances?

  He shook his head. Who cared about the cave now? He had to see if Eleni was here. That’s all that counted.

  She was all that counted.

  Matteo grabbed with both hands on the rocky surface and pulled himself out of the water.

  As his eyes fell to the ground, his chest expanded.

  There she was.

  Eleni sat on the plateau, propped up on her elbows, as if still collecting herself from a fall. Her eyes were wide with panic, and her lips trembled.

  Then her expression changed. Her mouth opened. “Matteo? Is that you?”

  Relief washed over him. She was alive.

  He jumped toward Eleni and kneeled down next to her. “Thank heavens. You’re okay.”

  A smile spread across Eleni’s lips. She threw her arms around his neck, hauling him to her. “You came for me.”

  Her voice was husky. Her hair collapsed untidily about her face and shoulders.

  Passion ignited in Matteo. His tired body sprang to life through Eleni’s touch, as if feeling her soft skin made him reborn, sending fresh energy into his limbs.

  “Did you doubt I would?” His words, a quiet whisper, reverberated in the silence of the cave.

  She stared at him without blinking, a strange emotion hiding in her eyes.

  Matteo swallowed. Fear. Yes, that’s what it was. Eleni didn’t think she could be found.

  Sweet Eleni. She had to be so terrified. How long had she been here, alone? He wished he could have come even sooner.

  As he held her gaze, an aching pull of desire swept over him with a force so elemental, so powerful, he knew he couldn’t resist it.

  He leaned in and pressed his lips on Eleni’s.

  She didn’t protest. Her lips opened, letting Matteo’s eager tongue enter her mouth.

  A trembling ran through Matteo’s body. His yearning for her was like the instinct for something unknown, yet as familiar as breathing. Every inch of him craved her.

  Her hands caressed his nape, and she moaned in his arms.

  How could he ever think he could let go of Eleni?

  She was all he wanted, all he needed.

  The urge to confess his feelings pulsed in his veins. He had to tell her.

  He pulled back.

  She watched him with half-closed eyelids, like somebody waking from a dream, not yet fully conscious of her surroundings.

  His throat thickened. No, he couldn’t do this now. If he really cared for Eleni, this wasn’t the time to show it, and certainly not the way. He had come here to save her, and that’s what he had to do. First and foremost they needed to get out of this cave.

  His eyes flicked to the walls for a fleeting second. His cave. The Pearl.

  Eleni followed his glance.

  Her eyes opened fully, and she straightened. “You realize it, don’t you? This is what you’ve been looking for all this time. You’ve found it.”

  There was a trace of sadness in her voice.

  Matteo nodded. “Yes, I know. Rosalie was right after all. The Pearl was under my nose the whole time. Here, in the lagoon of the Purple Rain. I just couldn’t see it. I was blind to it.”

  Just like to his true feelings for Eleni.

  Matteo turned his head to the ceiling.

  Eleni’s brows moved into a grimace of concentration “How did you find me? I can’t believe you came through that tunnel.”

  Matteo told her quickly how Cath had found him, and how they’d come with Fluff following on her traces. He spared the small detail that he was on his way to find Eleni anyhow. He needed a better moment to discuss his future plans with her.

  “So it was all thanks to my hairpin?”

  She grabbed a handful of her blond mane and let it fall back to her shoulder. “I can’t believe I could be so careless. I was very lucky. That fall should've killed me. I have no memory of how I ended up in the Cave. It’s a miracle I’m fine.”

  Matteo’s heart leaped. He could have prevented all of this, if he had just been honest with himself and the woman he loved.

  “I’m so sorry, Eleni.”

  Eleni wasn’t looking at him. Her eyes were fixed on the water. “How are we going to get out of here? We can’t climb up, but I can’t…” Her voice broke off, and she gulped.

  Matteo pointed at the tunnel. “There is only one way out for us.”

  Eleni shook her head. “No, no, no! I can’t do that. I’ll die in there.”

  Matteo squeezed her hand and leaned close so their foreheads touched.

  He captured her eyes. “Eleni, you have to. I’ll be with you the whole way.”

  He tried to sound more confident than he felt.

  She angled her body back. “You said Cath went to look for James. He must be contacting the coast guards as we speak.”

  Matteo nodded. “It’s getting late. They won’t get here in time. The tide will rise, and I’m not sure what that means for this cave. Look at how the walls are wet. If the water comes in and covers the plateau, we might drown.”

  Her mouth popped open, and her jaw trembled. “Are you sure?”

  “Pretty much.”

  The situation was less than ideal. Matteo had barely made it out in time from the tunnel, and he had been alone. The pit of his stomach fell. Would that work with Eleni?

  He inhaled and suppressed the worry snaking through him. They didn’t have a choice.

  He stroked Eleni’s face with his thumb. “We can do this together.”

 
; Her eyes filled with tears, and Matteo had to hold himself back from kissing each salty drop away from her rosy cheeks.

  Eleni needed him strong, focused, and determined.

  “Hey.” He bent so close to her that their lips almost brushed each other. “Do you trust me?”

  Eleni didn’t answer.

  “Do you trust me?” Matteo repeated with an urgent voice.

  She peeked up, and drew in a breath. “Yes.”

  “Then let’s do this.”

  Matteo let her hands go and stood.

  Eleni followed him, and they walked to the edge of the plateau.

  Eleni narrowed her eyes as she observed the water. “Am I going to get stuck in the tunnel?”

  Matteo shook his head. “You’ll be just fine. You need to keep your movements as narrow as possible and stay calm. If you’re agitated, you’ll lose too much air.”

  Her eyes widened. She looked anything but calm.

  He took a hold of her hand. “Listen, you know what? You’ll go first. Keep your arms ahead of you and your body in a straight line. I’ll grab your ankles, and push you through.”

  “You’ll what?” Eleni shrieked.

  “This way you don’t have to swim with your legs in the straight tunnel. I’ll paddle for both of us. We’ll make this work.”

  He beamed encouragingly at her, hoping his smile didn’t come across as fake. His heart wasn’t in it. He knew the risks all too well.

  Eleni gawked at him for a moment then nodded. “Okay, let’s try it your way.” She licked her lips. “Matteo, I—” Her voice wavered.

  “What?”

  His pulse picked up speed. What did she want to tell him?

  Eleni pressed her mouth into a line. “Nothing, just be careful. For the sake of both of us, okay?”

  Matteo’s heart sank. What did he expect? He couldn’t be sure Eleni felt the same way about him. Not after what had happened. If he were to confess his feelings, he had to do it without hoping for anything in return.

  No, these were bad thoughts for now. He had to keep his head straight.

  He squared his shoulders. “Sure. Let’s hurry before the tide comes in.”

  He jumped into the water and waited for Eleni to reach him. They swam on the surface till they arrived at the other side of the wall.