Chapter 8
Bianca
Constantine Gold is infuriating. I’ve never met a man more infuriating in my life. I’d let him have it if the jet-black clouds rolling in weren’t ominous. I grip the chair near the helm of the ship for support, hoping Costi knows what he’s doing. To say I’m a little terrified is an understatement.
He looks like a real-life pirate standing at the helm, his dark hair waving at the looming clouds in the distance.
The waves smash into the vessel’s sides, and I hold on to the chair, trying to steady my feet. Streaks of lightning flash in the distance and Costi looks back at me, his eyes wild for the fight coming.
He’s in his element, battling Mother Nature, so I stand quietly in the corner and stay out of his way.
Knox returns, shouting nautical jargon at Costi. Costi taps a monitor, and the screen goes blank. This can’t be good.
“Everything’s still ok, right?” I ask, not wanting to die on this ship.
“It’s fine. Trust me.”
Easy for him to say. But I guess he’d never put his own life in danger, or the lives of his men. Only mine. I’m no longer important to him.
Was I ever?
Our precarious situation has my life flashing before my eyes. Our friendship and the day he walked away.
All this time without him, I liked to pretend he never wanted to leave me. Perhaps, I was the reason he never came back. Maybe I was too needy. I had genuine feelings for Costi that winter before he left. So pathetic. And I’m even more pathetic now.
I’m a fool.
I must stop being this pathetic girl, lamenting the loss of him, and remember the woman I am today. I take no prisoners. I take charge in my life. And I don’t let anyone fuck with me.
So, I need to get a plan together and figure a way out of Costi’s clutches as soon as we get to port.
Because I’d rather die than let Costi hand me over to Bishop.
It won’t happen. Because I won’t allow it. Even if I have to take Constantine Gold out myself.
The wind howls as the waves slam into the ship, making my body sway with the movement. I’d probably be sick right now if I weren’t so dang afraid. I don’t think I’ve ever been this terrified in my life.
It’s an eerie sound, a storm at sea. It roars and hollers, vibrating each of your bones together. I watch as a few more men come to the bridge and Costi shouts commands.
“Batten down the hatches,” Costi says to one man. “The GPS has failed, so we’ll have to keep her steady and heading on this path.”
“We’re gonna be thrown off course,” another man shouts over the deluge of wind and rain.
I hold on tighter to the beam beside me. The ship’s leaning so far, I nearly stumble over myself.
“We’re going to capsize, Cap,” Knox says in a foreboding voice.
“She’ll hold,” Costi says back.
I sway back and forth, stumbling to stay upright, hoping for a miracle. I’m sure any moment now my stomach will empty itself. I’m so nauseous and all I want to do is stop the motion. Everything about this moment right now seems iffy. As in, I’m not sure if we’re going to make it.
My eyes connect with Costi’s maniacal ones. He winks and it unsettles me. Like he’s a man about to take on the Devil all by himself. I think he just might believe he’ll win.
“Get below, B. Now,” he shouts at me over the wind.
He doesn’t have to tell me twice. My feet move swiftly down each step. I’m not sure if it’s safer, but at least I can’t see the size of the waves from down here.
The moment I step into the cabin area, it’s quiet. Like we’ve reached the calm.
But it only lasts a second before men are brushing past me, trying to keep this ship afloat. I try to get out of the way and make myself invisible, because I know nothing about guiding a ship safely through gale force winds.
“This is all your fault,” a bearded man says as he passes me.
I turn away from him, my eyes wide as I search out the safety of my cabin. Hopefully, it’ll be over soon and the sea will calm.
I’ve never been on a ship in the middle of the ocean. Just a few yacht parties that barely went further than the Intracoastal Waterway, and the water was never choppy. If it looked like rain, they’d cancel the party.
I’ve gone sailing a few times, but again, never like this.
This is a whole other experience.
I make it to my room, my stomach coiling with nerves and exhaustion. I’m dizzy from the rocking, and I sit on the bed, waiting for what’s coming.
My nerves are all over the place and I try to calm my galloping heart.
The boat tilts all the way over and I fall off the bed, knocking my head on the bedside table. Everything goes black.
There’s a banging in my head and a piece of dry cotton in my mouth. Where am I? I can’t open my eyes just yet, so I listen to the surrounding sounds, trying my best to make sense of my pain.
“She took a nasty spill,” a man says.
“That was a rough storm.”
A storm. It all comes back to me in a flood. I try to sit up, opening my eyes and holding my head where it hurts most.
“Not so fast,” Costi says as his face comes into focus.
“Is it over?”
He grins, which takes a smidge of the pain away. “Yeah, we made it through in one piece.”
I try again to finagle my body to a sitting position. “What happened?”
“You must have bumped your head on something. I’m sorry.'' The other men in the room leave and Costi’s eyes meet mine. “I shouldn’t have sent you down here. I should have protected you better.”
“You kept me alive. That’s good enough.” I’m still torn why Costi is so hell bent on saving me and protecting me when he just plans to hand me over to Bishop.
“I have the cook making you a special tea that should help with the nausea.”
“Thank you,” I say as he helps me to my feet.
“Let’s get you to the galley.” He steers me through the hallways and into a kitchen with a large oak table where a few men sit drinking beer and playing cards.
“Out,” Costi barks.
The men follow his order without even a question or groan of disapproval at being told to leave. “They didn’t have to leave. I don’t mind,” I say when the last man files out behind the others.
“These men aren’t what one would call friendly.”
“I deal with the mob. I think I can handle a few pirates.” It sounds like I’m in the 17th century when pirates were a real thing. Well, I guess they’re a real thing now too, because here I am on a pirate ship, somewhere I never thought I’d be.
I take a seat at the table and watch as Costi grabs the tea kettle on the stove the cook left for us.
“Lots of sugar, right?” he asks, remembering how I take my tea.
“No. Plain.” It pains me to say that because I’m a sugarholic, most likely on my way to a life of diabetes. I just can’t help it. Sugar is so yummy on everrrrything. But god, the jabs from Gino took all the enjoyment out of it.
His brow raises. “Not even a little bit of sugar? I hope you’re not giving up everything you like because of that asshole.”
You know, he’s right. I’ve been kidnapped, so to hell with what anyone thinks. “Ok. A sprinkle.”
Costi adds a dash of sweetness, gives it a stir, and sets the mug in front of me. I sip it, trying my best not to meet his gaze. I don’t know what to say to him other than ‘let me go.’
“We should get to the Port of Gibraltar soon. The bad weather helped us shed some time off our trip.”
“Yippee us.” I don’t care how close we are to any port. I want to go back to the Port of Miami.
“Don’t be like that, B.”
“You can’t call me that. Only loyal friends can call me B.”
Costi gives me that look. You know, the look someone gives you when they’re calling you out on your bullshit. Arched brow. Tilted head. Side-eyes.
“I’m serious,” I say, taking another sip of my tea. “Only friends.”
Costi sits back, resting an arm on the table. “Fine.” Below his rolled-up sleeve, I finally get a chance to study the tattoo on his forearm.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a dragon.”
My eyes meet his. “A dragon? What for?”
He grins, his eyes sparkling with laughter. “Remember when we were younger? I said I’d be your dragonslayer? I guess this tattoo represents all the dragons I’ve had to slay in my lifetime.”
My heart skips a beat that he marked his body from our silly conversation so long ago, and I suck in a breath. “Were there a lot?”
He shakes his head slightly. “Not too many.”
I grasp his arm to study the intricate artwork. “What’s this?” I circle my finger across his skin where he has the initials BA and CG intertwined in the stars around the dragon.
He rubs his chin with the other hand while I hold his arm prisoner. “I was feeling sentimental that day.”
“It’s for Bianca Amato and Constantine Gold?”
He nods. “Yeah.”
I blink, trying to keep my breathing under control at his confession. Has he thought about me as much as I’ve thought about him through the years? No, he hasn’t. “But you forgot all about me when you left Miami.”
Costi keeps his gaze downcast as he takes his arm back and rolls down the sleeve. “I never forgot about you.” He stands in a rush, telling me to finish my tea and leaving the galley.
And right now, I need it because his words just sent a chill through my bones.