26. BLUE
BLUE
The murmur of voices spread across the island as Oliver and I huddled together in the narrow shelter of the cave beneath the rocky cliff.
I had never seen him this scared before.
We both knew this day might come, that one day we might have to leave the island, but we hadn’t expected people to appear so suddenly.
Something shifted deeper inside the cave.
Lightning flashed overhead, illuminating the darkness for a heartbeat, and I caught sight of a skeleton.
Its skull stared back at us, its jaw hanging open as if frozen in a final scream.
Terror ripped through me. I cried out, but Oliver’s hand clamped over my mouth before the sound could escape.
My skin prickled. My whole body shook, partly from fear and partly from the lingering aftershocks of him.
“Blue,” he whispered, his voice barely audible, “you have to promise me that whatever happens next, you won’t choose between us. You’ll save yourself.”
His words crashed into me. My heart hammered against my ribs, beating so hard it felt as though it might burst from my chest.
“Who are these people?” I whispered, my voice trembling.
“Bianchi,” he said.
More voices came from the beach. This time, we heard the low growl of a RIB boat cutting through the water before scraping onto the shore.
As they dragged it across the pebbles, I risked a few quick glances through the gap in the rocks.
Faces blurred together until one stopped me cold, striking me like a jagged shard of glass.
Gianni was alive.
He helped two of the men pull the boat ashore. One of his hands was wrapped in a bandage, and half his face was swollen, dark bruises spreading across his skin from heavy blows.
“Gi…” I breathed.
Oliver covered my mouth again before I could say another word.
We stayed frozen until the footsteps slowly faded into the distance. Then he turned to me. My back pressed harder against the cold rock as I tried not to look at the skeleton beside us. Oliver edged closer, shielding me from the icy gusts sweeping into the shallow cave with the warmth of his body.
“This is our chance,” he whispered. “We can get on that boat and try to find our way home.”
“I can’t.” I cupped his cheek with my palm. “My brother is alive, and he’s right there.”
His brows drew together, his jaw tightening. “He didn’t look like he needed our help, Blue.”
My gaze dropped to the pebbles beneath us.
“I know,” I whispered. “But I don’t want to leave until I know he’s okay.”
He let out a slow breath, frustration moving across his face, but he accepted my decision.
His hand cupped my cheek, and his eyes held mine a moment too long.
“If something happens to you,” he whispered, “I swear I’ll kill him.”
A tear, heavy with fear, slid down my cheek. I covered his hand with mine and lifted it to my lips, pressing a gentle kiss against his knuckles.
“It’ll be okay,” I breathed. “I’ll be okay.”
“You don’t understand.” He stepped closer, shielding me with his body. “These men are dangerous, and I wouldn’t survive losing you.”
“You won’t.” I looked into his eyes.
His lips crashed against mine as though he were trying to claim every part of me all over again. His tongue traced across my lips, drawing me closer. My eyes fluttered shut, and when we finally broke apart, only for a breath, I whispered against his mouth,
“I’m safe with you.”
“Fine.” His jaw tightened as his eyes met mine. He grabbed my hand, threading his fingers through mine and holding me close. “But you can’t leave my side. Not even once.”
I nodded.
“Promise me we’ll only check what he’s doing here, then we’ll run.” A low growl rumbled beneath his words. “We’ll get out of here.”
“I’m scared,” I admitted.
He pulled me into him and pressed another kiss to the top of my head.
“I know,” he murmured against my scalp. “But if it means you’ll finally leave in peace and never look back again, I’m willing to do it for you.”
I nodded, drawing in a slow, steady breath.
Still holding my hand, we slipped out of the cave, scanning the shoreline and the rocks nearby. No one was there. The rain had stopped, but although it was only late afternoon, thick clouds smothered the sky, turning everything so dark it felt like the middle of the night.
“We’ll go behind the lighthouse, by the window,” he whispered. “It’s half open, so we’ll be able to hear what’s happening inside.”
My ankle throbbed with every step, and I tried not to slow him down as we made our way towards the lighthouse. We seemed to be alone outside, but as we drew closer, we noticed the door was slightly ajar.
Oliver pulled me close and led me around the back of the lighthouse until he found a spot where we could listen unnoticed. The window was low enough for us to hear every word and catch glimpses of the room inside.
He bent down beside me and whispered, “The old man in white is Andrea Bianchi. He’s connected to smuggling antique art and drugs. The two men beside him, the blond one is Luca, Dante’s twin brother, and the one next to him is Inno.”
“Inno?” I whispered.
My mind remembered Annie. She never got the chance with him, and now he’d gone down the wrong path, just like my brother. I couldn’t stop wondering if that was because she’d died.
Gianni pushed himself up from the bed in the corner.
“Dante should’ve been here an hour ago with the gold.”
“We haven’t been able to reach them for days,” Inno said. “Do you think something happened?”
“We need that gold, otherwise we’re all fucked,” Gianni said, sniffling before springing to his feet. Restless energy pulsed through him as he paced the length of the lighthouse. “Isabella isn’t returning my calls. She’s supposed to tell me whether her uncle opened the case.”
“Calm down,” Andrea Bianchi said. “We’ve done all we can. Now we wait for it, sell it to Moretti, and seal the deal for New York.”
My heart shattered into a thousand pieces.
My brother was using again.
I knew the signs. The restless pacing. The frantic energy.
His bloodshot eyes. The weight he’d lost since I’d last seen him.
Oliver noticed it too. Sadness washed over his face as he looked at the man we’d searched so desperately to find, only to realize he’d been alive all along while we’d lost so much trying to save him.
He hadn’t disappeared. He’d left by choice. And that choice was drugs.
“Baby, we have to go,” Oliver whispered. “I think we’ve heard enough.”
I nodded as a tear spilled down my cheek. Betrayal crashed through me, sending my heart racing so hard it hurt. His hand never let go of mine, but his grip tightened.
Oliver was all I had now. And I couldn’t lose him.
I just couldn’t.
There would be nothing left of me.
Cold metal pressed against my temple.
“Baby?” The familiar male voice sent a chill down my spine. Then he laughed. “Since when do you call her baby?”
The color drained from Oliver’s face as he saw the gun resting against my head. My chest rose and fell in quick, panicked breaths. My jaw trembled as the man yanked me away from Oliver, my fingers slipping from his hand.
“Lorenzo,” Oliver said, his voice low. “Put the gun down.”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to get rid of her?” Lorenzo asked. “Didn’t you say you never wanted to see her again?”
He laughed again. “I can help you with that.”
He lowered his face to my hair, inhaling slowly before letting the breath out.
“Or…” A crooked smile spread across his face. “Would you rather share?”
“I swear to you, if you touch her, I’ll strangle you with my bare hands,” Oliver growled through gritted teeth, his fists clenching at his sides.
Lorenzo only laughed.
“Everyone!” he shouted.
He fired a shot into the air.
“I found two lovebirds.”
He grabbed my arm and dragged me forward, forcing me to stumble after him. Oliver rushed to my side, but Lorenzo swung the gun towards him.
“Don’t even think about it.”
“Her ankle is sprained. You’re hurting her,” Oliver snapped, staying close enough to steady me whenever I fell.
“This just keeps getting better and better,” Lorenzo said with a grin.
He shoved me towards Oliver, letting him catch me. Then he raised the gun again, aiming it straight at him. He knew Oliver wouldn’t risk doing anything while I was standing beside him.
We moved to the front door of the lighthouse. As it opened, Gianni stood there with Luca. His gaze swept over us, taking in every detail. Me in Oliver’s shirt. Oliver in his trousers with nothing underneath. It didn’t take him two seconds before he lunged.
He grabbed Oliver by the neck and slammed him to the ground, throwing himself on top of him like a lunatic. His fists crashed into Oliver’s face again and again, but Oliver didn’t fight back.
“No!” I shouted.
I limped towards them and grabbed Gianni’s shirt, but the moment I reached him, he shoved me to the ground.
Gianni. My brother pushed me.
The second Oliver saw me fall, he grabbed Gianni’s shirt and rolled him over, driving a hard punch across his face.
“You can hit me all you want, but leave her alone.” He gritted his teeth, one hand wrapped around Gianni’s neck as he shook him. “She’s your sister, you fucking asshole.”
Gianni just laughed.
Maybe we had lost him.
“Sober up.” Oliver slapped his cheek. “She’s hurt.”
Gianni’s eyes shifted to me. I’d pulled my legs to my chest, tears blurring my vision as I watched them fight.
“Do you even know why we’re here?” Oliver shouted. “We almost died searching for your addict ass.”
Oliver stood and walked over to me, holding out his hand. Andrea Bianchi stepped forward too, reaching down to help me up, but I pulled away from the stranger and moved closer to Oliver instead.
“The storm caught the yacht and flipped it over,” Oliver said, taking my hand, his fingers tightening around mine. “Everyone drowned except us.”
“Yacht?” Andrea Bianchi asked. “Deep Blue?”
Oliver nodded.
The old man turned away, dragging a hand over his head before rubbing his fingers through his hair. Then a nervous laugh escaped him.
“We’re all dead.”
He turned to Lorenzo.