Chapter 24
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
ALYONA
I wake up in the middle of the night. It's not one thing that wakes me up, but rather the sad realization that this is the last night I’ll sleep beside Leo.
The last night I’ll breathe in his scent or feel his arms wrap around me.
That last night I’ll hear his soft rhythmic breaths in his sleep.
At that realization, a profound emptiness swells within me.
I can’t stay in this bed any longer. Not as thoughts continue to spin through my half-asleep brain. Carefully slipping out from beneath the covers, I grab a robe and head toward the sundeck.
Leaning against the railing, I stare out into the calm sea spread before me. It’s so quiet up here that I can hear the gentle lapping of the waves against the hull, the dark sky above is speckled with stars.
We had set sail for Dubrovnik not too long ago. As soon as we make landfall, the magic bubble we’ve existed in goes pop. It’s what we agreed to from the start.
Still, a thousand doubts plague my mind, each one questioning whether I’m making the right decision by walking away from Leo.
By not telling him how I truly feel. I can’t lie to myself anymore.
I love Leo, and maybe I never stopped, but it doesn’t mean we are meant to be.
Even if I could get past how he hurt me, I can’t get past what he is.
A vor—a high-ranking member of his family's bratva.
Time hasn’t softened my stance. I won’t get entangled with a man who has sworn the oath.
Not even one who has captured my heart as thoroughly as Leo has.
He made his choice a long time ago, and it can’t be undone.
I steady myself and try to push down the sorrow, but I’m so lost in my thoughts, I only hear the footsteps moments before hands grab my waist and spin me around.
But it’s not the rough hands I’ve come to crave.
It’s Jack. His flirty smile replaced by hard eyes and lips curled into a snarl.
“Jack?” I ask, confusion coloring my tone. “What do you want?”
A slow grin builds on his face. “I think you know what I want. What I’ve wanted the whole time.” Terror floods my veins as he grabs my wrists, restraining them behind my back in one hand while the other wraps around my neck.
“Let me go, or I’ll scream,” I threaten, unable to keep the quiver out of my voice.
He chuckles, and the smell of booze wafts off him, turning my stomach. “Go ahead. Scream and see what happens. See what I do.” His hand tightens around my neck in warning, a reminder that I’m all alone out here with a deranged man.
I’ll need to fight him on my own. I just have to wait for my opening. Until then, I’ll play along. “Please,” I whisper, my voice wavering. “You’ve had some drinks. You’re not thinking clearly. This isn’t you—”
He jerks away, anger twisting his expression.
“You don’t know anything about me. Neither does your fiancé.
But I know you’re not who you claim to be.
” His voice drops lower, a dangerous edge creeping into it.
“I’ve got friends in high places, you know.
People who were quite interested to hear about a mysterious American couple showing up unannounced, renting this yacht indefinitely. ”
My stomach knots. “What are you saying? What did you do?”
“Shared your picture with a few interested parties, let them know we’re headed to Dubrovnik in a hurry. I wonder why?”
The smile I return to him is just as cold.
“I think you’ll find that you fucked with the wrong family.
” Adrenaline courses through my veins as I twist against his grip, desperation fueling my fight.
He rocks on his feet, and I seize the moment of opportunity, yelling at the top of my lungs as I crash my knee into his balls.
He doubles over and I take off running, but I don’t get far. He lunges and strikes me on the side of my head. Gasping, I release another scream, but it's swallowed by the warm night air. There’s no one else around, no one to hear me, no one to come to my aid.
Not even Leo.
And so I shake off the pain and fight with everything I have.
I jab my elbow backward, striking his gut.
He wheezes, the air knocked out of his lungs, but he soon regains his footing, tackling me to the ground.
Desperate, I lash out, trying to shove him off me, but he’s relentless.
Straddling me and pinning me with his weight, my wrists are clamped together in his iron grip, and I’m trapped.
My vision swims, but I continue to thrash.
“No,” I choke, but he’s deaf to my pleas, consumed by his own darkness.
Bearing down, he hikes up my nightgown, settling between my thighs. Panic floods my senses, but I fight like hell, summoning every ounce of strength. I will resist until my last breath. I owe myself nothing less.