I am relieved for some time alone to process what I’ve learned. Memories of that day flood my mind and I remember sitting watching him on the branch of the tree with curiosity rather than fear. Even at a young age, Romeo was powerful. I never had friends, and he was a strange one for sure. It was such a fleeting moment, but the memory burns bright. I never saw him or his mom again.
My thoughts turn to Drew and wonder if he’s noticed I’m missing. He told me not to be long, it must have been one hour already. I am so wired I can’t think straight because this is a night that will change my life, one way or another.
Will I see Romeo again, and what will that feel like? If I leave with Drew, I am certain to lose something I don’t want to give. I wish I could bury my face in one of the many scatter cushions that surround me and when I look up my future is different.
It feels kind of safe in this luxurious room with my own personal bodyguard keeping watch. He doesn’t say anything, but I know he means me no harm. He has a kindness to him that is evident when I catch his eye, and he smiles softly. I don’t need to fear him, it’s an unspoken agreement between us and I wonder if I told him to lock them all out, he would.
I curl up on the couch and help myself to some delicious food laid out on the platter. It helps to eat something, as the steward said. It takes the sickness away and the water is just what the doctor ordered. The sway of the boat comforts me and the silence wraps me in protection. In here I’m in my own personal bubble and I never want to leave.
I’m not sure when it happens, but I must fall asleep because the next thing I know, I am jolted back to reality as the boat lurches.
Sitting up, I look around me in surprise.
The guard has gone.
The boat starts to move and I blink in surprise. What’s happening?
Quickly, I slip on my shoes and head toward the door. I pull, but it doesn’t open - I’m locked in. My heart thumps as I pound on the door, but there is nobody outside.
What’s happening?
Heading across to the window, I look outside, but all I can see is darkness. The boat rocks and I stumble a little and feel suddenly afraid. Was this always going to happen? Were we meant to head out to sea as part of the party?
For a moment my heart settles. Yes, that must be the case but where is the guard and why did he lock me in?
Wildly, I look around for a phone, a radio, anything to use to alert someone—but who? My heart sinks as I realize I have no one to call, anyway. Nobody I want to save me, that’s for sure and that’s the most depressing thought of all. I’m alone.
I start to panic because I’m not good with being confined. It’s like the punishment room all over again, although nowhere near as bad. What if the boat sinks, I would go with it? I’m completely at another’s mercy and have no control of my life.
Then again, what’s new. It’s how I live, after all.
Sinking back on the couch, I reason with myself. I’m fine, nothing bad is happening here, this is just a moment in time that will pass when Drew comes to take me on shore. I wonder why that thought fills me with an even greater dread, and I hug my body as if to comfort myself.
It must only be a few minutes later that I hear someone at the door. I look up as the door opens and then my heart flutters and my knees start trembling when I see who it is.
Romeo Romano has entered the room like a dense, choking fog. Danger swirls around him as he stands watching me with hooded eyes and a blank expression. Like a predator stalking his prey, he watches me from the doorway and I feel a shiver pass through my body as we share the same space.
Somehow, I find my voice and say with a quiver, “What’s happening?”
He closes the door, trapping us both inside, and my heart rate increases as he turns and stares at me for the longest moment, and yet I don’t feel afraid. Like the guard, I sense I’m safe with him and so I just wait for him to speak.
He crosses the short distance and sits a little way from me on the couch and appears a little lost for words. He’s battling with something, and I’m guessing it concerns Drew. Has something happened to him?
Please God, say it has.
Then I feel ashamed of myself for thinking that way of the man I’m supposed to be in love with.
Finally, he speaks and his voice is husky and laced with emotion.
“Do you remember me, Ivy?”
I can sense my answer matters to him a great deal and I whisper, “Yes.”
He looks at me and I see the emotion in his eyes as he says, “Tell me what you remember.”
Clearing my throat, I say in a small voice, “You came to visit, I was six years old. We sat in the apple tree and you shared your cake with me.”
The memory is all we have and yet it means everything as he sighs and leans back, his eyes glittering with an emotion I can’t quite place.
“You remembered.”
He sounds surprised and I nod. “Not at first. It was only when Stephanie told me your name that it all fell into place. Romeo Romano, the boy who visited one day, and I never saw again.”
He nods and looks down at the floor, and I wonder why he’s so nervous. It’s at odds with what I know about him and then he breathes out heavily and says roughly, “Do you love him?”
“No.”
There is no need to clarify who he’s speaking of, and he visibly relaxes as my answer registers. “That’s good to hear.”
He laughs softly and I just stare at him. I can’t appear to do anything else because this man blinds me to reality. He commands attention just by being here and I can’t rip my eyes from him because if I do, I feel as if I’m missing out on a moment I will never get again.
Somehow, I need this man, I want this man, I crave him. Is that normal, it is to me it seems?
“Why?”
“Because I’ve just kicked him off my boat along with every other guest, does that scare you, Ivy?”
He’s kicked them all off, why?
He laughs at my expression and I see a little of his swagger return as he smirks, “Does that scare you little flower, you are alone with a monster?”
“No.”
I don’t blink as I stare at him hard and he seems surprised but pleased, I can see it in his eyes.
“Why aren’t you scared?”
“Because it scares me more to be with him.”
Suddenly, he changes, and the storm enters his eyes as they darken with a fierceness that makes me shiver inside. He leans forward and my breath hitches at the intensity of his expression as he hisses, “What did he do?”
It’s too much, too intense, and I lean back to give myself some space and say sadly, “It’s not what he’s done, it’s what he was planning. If anything, I should thank you for removing me from a situation I couldn’t control.”
“Why couldn’t you—control it, I mean?”
“Because it wasn’t my choice.”
He looks surprised and his voice is slow and controlled as he says huskily, “Then whose was it?”
It strikes me that this conversation is a strange one. On the one hand, I should be scared shitless because I appear to be trapped on a boat with a man who should have danger as his middle name. Not to me, though. For some reason, he feels like a safety device that’s been thrown at me. I feel grateful, and I suppose this conversation is setting in place what happens next. It’s as if the last few years never happened and we are having a conversation we should have had that day in the apple tree. There is a strong connection between us. I felt it then and I feel it now, so I’m confident in telling him something I have never voiced out loud before.
“Romeo, I think you should know that my parents have arranged this marriage. They have spent my entire life preparing me for it. Everything I’ve done has led to a marriage like this, and I never had a say in the matter. Do I want it, of course I don’t? Will I go through with it, I have no other choice? You see, my parents have made it their business to control me all my life and subsequently I hav
e no one. No friends, no other family and no options. I have no money and no future, not one I want, anyway. So, I have no other choice but to see this through. Marry a man I can’t stand being around because the consequences are too frightening to imagine.”
Taking a deep breath, I stare at the soft carpet and squeeze my eyes tightly shut because I don’t want to see the sympathy in his eyes. He must think I’m a loser, weak and easily led, he doesn’t know the half of it.
I’m shocked when he crouches low before me and lifts my face to his and I stare into those dark compelling eyes and see a storm approaching. His touch sends a shock through my body I’ve never felt before and where I felt weak, I now feel strong. His power is contagious because here with him, I feel as if I have options. It’s as if he’s been sent here for a reason. And then it hits me.
“You’re him, aren’t you?”
He says nothing, but I know I’m right. “The man on the motorbike, watching me.”
If I saw emotion in his eyes before, it’s nothing to what I see now. He doesn’t have to say a word because I know he is.
My guardian angel, as it turns out, is a devil - how ironic is that.
Chapter 11
Romeo
In one conversation Ivy has connected the dots and seen the whole picture. She knows. She felt it too and now I know where she stands; it gives me the power to see this whole plan through. When I saw her waiting on the couch, I couldn’t breathe. She is so beautiful, so perfect, and so mine. But she’s not, she’s engaged to somebody else and despite what I want, she may think differently. Now I know she needs me it as if the clouds part and open a road that I am keen to take. Save Ivy, and in saving her, just possibly I can save myself.
She is so close to me now. My hand rests on her chin and angles her face to mine, and I have imagined this moment a million times through the years. Her gorgeous eyes are looking at me with so much hope, so much trust and no fear. Her mouth is inches from mine and I can almost feel her breath on my lips and I ache to taste them. Forbidden fruit always tastes sweeter, and this moment is sending me insane. I have Ivy in the palm of my hand and I must handle with care. What I do next will have consequences, so I need to hold back.
I don’t deserve a woman like this, pure, wholesome and innocent. I have done things that would make a grown man cry, and she deserves so much better than me.
With a superhuman strength I pull back and say huskily, “It’s been a long night, I’ll show you to your room.”
“My room?”
She sounds anxious and I nod, holding out my hand to pull her up. As her fingers close around mine, it sends a thousand volts through my body. Like Cinderella’s glass slipper it’s the perfect fit and is she thinks she’s going home, she’s mistaken. We have unfinished business and I want to know what has put that fear in her eyes.
I pull her after me and we leave the cabin and head toward the rear of the boat. There are many cabins on here, and I have the perfect one for her. The boat appears deserted because I’ve instructed my men to turn in for the night. There’s an eerie silence all around, with just the occasional lurch of the boat and the sound of the waves lapping against the sides.
To my surprise, Ivy says softly, “Please Romeo, can we go on deck?”
“Why?”
I look at her in surprise and she says quickly, “I want to breathe freedom.”
I’m not sure what she means, but will do whatever she asks. As we move upstairs, I wonder what she means. Freedom, from me, this situation…
As the crisp night air hits us, she shivers a little. Out at sea there is no protection, and the boat is moving at speed. Quickly, I remove my jacket and wrap it around her shoulders and she says gratefully, “Won’t you be cold?”
“No.” How can I be cold around someone who sends fire to my heart and I watch as she gazes at the moon and stars and sighs, “It’s so beautiful.”
“It is.”
I’m not looking at the sky as I say it, there is only one sight I want to see, and it’s the woman holding my hand so tightly.
We head over to the rail and Ivy laughs happily. “Thank you, Romeo, you don’t know how much I needed this. Especially tonight.”
“Why tonight?”
Leaning against the rail, I devour her with my eyes. I can’t quite believe she is here, with me, holding my hand and my mind is all over the place.
She turns and says bitterly, “Tonight I was instructed to sleep with Drew. My parents told me I had to do whatever he told me because it was my duty.”
There is so much I want to say but hold it back. She needs to offload; I sense it and she laughs with a bitterness at odds with who she is. “You see, my parents, as it turned out, weren’t that nice. I mean, what mother pushes aside her daughter’s wishes and tells her to make her man happy despite what she wants? Drew has been pressuring me for weeks and thinks an engagement ring gives him full access to my body, mind and soul.”
She turns and smiles, and it’s as if another star has revealed itself. “I’m not sure why I’m here and why you even did this, but I want you to know, you did me a huge favor and I’m grateful.”
Suddenly, she looks serious and a hit of doubt creeps into her eyes. “Unless…”
My finger halts the words from leaving her lips. “You’re safe with me, you always will be. I want nothing from you, Ivy, I just want to make sure you’re safe.”
Maybe it’s my imagination, but she almost looks disappointed and then smiles and turns back to look at the stars. “So, what happens now, I mean, I’ll need to be back tomorrow, my parents are expecting me. What has this achieved really?”
“Good point, well raised.”
I laugh softly. “What do you want, Ivy, do you want to go back?”
She turns and looks at me in amazement. “You mean I have a choice?”
“Of course.”
“But…”
She appears lost for words and I grin. “Baby, I do what the hell I like and nobody has the balls to stop me. If you want to live on this boat, it would be my pleasure. If you want to go anywhere in the world, I will take you. Escape to a new life, that can be arranged. You see, Ivy, all I want is for you to be safe and happy. Drew was never the man for you, and as soon as I heard of the engagement, I made it my mission to give you the facts.”
“Which are?” Her eyes are wide and shine with excitement, and it makes me smile. I love the fact she’s comfortable with me, there’s no fear, which is something alien to me. Everyone fears me, even my own family are uncomfortable around me. Not Ivy. It’s as if we are those kids again, sitting in the tree. Two children scared of nothing and dreaming the impossible.
She shivers a little and without thinking, I reach for her and wrap her in my arms and pull her close. Then I lean down and whisper, “Drew Warner is just not good enough for you. You will soon learn what a lucky escape you had because that man is the lowest form of human being wrapped in designer clothes. Your parents will thank me from sparing you the humiliation of being associated with him because if you just say the word, by the time we dock tomorrow lunchtime, Drew Warner’s life will be in ruins and you will be free to start again and find the happiness you deserve.”
To my surprise, she pulls away and stares up into my eyes and my breath hitches as I see the fear in hers. She whispers in a small voice, “I will never be free, Romeo. If not Drew, it will be someone very much like him. All you’ve done is delay the inevitable.”
She looks down and I see a lone tear slide down her cheek and then she says in a broken voice, “I will never be free all the time I live with them. Please help me, Romeo, please hide me from the world and never make me go back there. I’m begging you.”
She looks up and her eyes are filled with tears and her lower lip trembles. I can feel the pain slicing through my soul as I sense the pain inside her. I say nothing and just wrap her in my arms and kiss the top of her head, breathing in the scent of hope and new beginnings. There’s no going back, for Ivy
and for me. As I said, whatever Ivy wants, she gets and God help anyone who gets in our way.
Chapter 12
Ivy
I dreamed of him last night. When I wake, he is the first thing I think of. My steel knight, my warrior, my protector. As it all comes back to me, I feel a tingle of excitement sparking inside. He is the miracle I prayed for and rather than waking up wrapped in Drew’s arms after possibly the worst night of my life, I’m here, on the Black Heart with Romeo.
In the early hours he showed me to this room and after making sure I had everything I needed, left me with the promise that no harm would ever come to me in his care. I believe him. For some strange reason our paths are intertwined and probably always have been.
The sun pours through the window and I see the brilliance of a morning sea outside. Fresh, invigorating, and promising. Freedom, even.
I almost don’t want to leave my bed because for the first time in ages I slept well. It was as if he was here with me, watching over me and keeping the nightmares away. When I’m with Romeo Romano, I’m safe. It means a lot.
I have my own bathroom which is impressive in itself and the hot steamy water of the shower feels good against my skin. The products that line the shelves are the best that money can buy, and the huge soft robe that hangs on the hook by the door feels luxurious against my skin.
This place is paradise and I never want to leave.
Romeo told me there were clothes I can change into in the closet and I stare in awe at the pretty dresses, shorts, tops and swimwear that must have cost a small fortune. Studying one of the labels that’s still attached, I can’t believe my eyes—how much?
The Throne of Fear: The Romano's Page 6
