Chapter Fifty-Eight Ella
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Ella
After my call with Rhia, I go down to the beach. Tiero is still on the phone, pacing slowly along the shoreline. I settle onto the warm sand and look out over the azure-blue sea.
My sullen mood refuses to lift. I let out a long breath, trying to push it away. I don’t want to spoil my last few hours here.
The waves roll gently toward the shore, their rhythm steady and soothing. Sunlight dances across the surface of the water, turning the sea into a field of shifting silver and blue. A faint breeze carries the salty scent of the ocean, brushing softly over my skin.
Normally, this would calm me instantly. But today my thoughts refuse to settle.
What a trip it’s been.
It has surpassed anything I could have ever imagined.
While I had a fabulous time with the girls before Tiero entered the picture, there’s no doubt in my mind he’s the reason this vacation turned into something spectacular. Something unforgettable.
My gaze drifts to him. His back is to me as he walks along the far side of the moon-crescent bay, unaware I’m here.
Who am I kidding? He knows I’m here. He’s always aware of everything around him.
I watch him, and that electric pull toward him hums persistently beneath my skin. Even from this distance, something about him draws me in, like a tide I have no control over.
Hasn’t it been like that from the first moment I laid eyes on him?
My body recognizes him instantly, responding in ways my mind can’t quite make sense of.
For a moment, I imagine what it would be like to give in to that pull. To stay. To see where this thing between us might lead if I stopped fighting it.
Why am I not staying longer? Why is a part of me so adamant to leave?
Rhia’s earlier question echoes in my head.
What are you afraid of?
On our first night here, I wished on a star for our time not to end. But when he asks me to stay… I run.
Why?
Is it because this feels bigger than anything before?
Because if this doesn’t work, it won’t just bruise me. It will break me.
My stomach churns.
He is dominant. Powerful. Used to deciding and being followed.
In the bedroom, I love that. It frees me. I don’t have to think. I don’t have to lead.
But outside of it?
Since I met him, he’s been orchestrating my movements, and he rarely asks. It irked me at times, but fighting it wasn’t worth it, given how short our time together was. Long-term, though?
Would I just disappear inside his life? He’d expect me to surrender mine, wouldn’t he?
Or am I inventing obstacles because leaving feels safer than risking everything?
I don’t know.
And that frustrates me more than anything else.
There are too many questions and no answers. I rub my neck, rolling my shoulders to ease the tension.
We’ve grown closer over the last few days. He’s told me things no one else knows, I’m sure of it. Yet I still know next to nothing about him.
What secrets is he keeping?
Argh, more questions again. I’m driving myself crazy.
“Hey, princess,” Tiero says, stepping up behind me and kissing the top of my head.
I jump, startled.
So lost in my own head, I hadn’t noticed him walk up.
“You appear deep in thought.”
Too deep.
And he really doesn’t need to know about my meanderings.
Still staring out at the sea, I deflect. “It’s like paradise here… so peaceful. I can see why you retreat to this place.”
“Yes, it’s beautiful,” he says, watching me. “But this,” he gestures toward the sea and the island behind him, “is nothing compared to your beauty. You, Ella Rose O’Neil, are my paradise.”
Swoon.
Why does he have to be so goddamn sweet right now? This is making it so much harder.
I smile, trying to come up with something clever to say, but my mind is still scrambled.
He pulls me up and wraps his arms around me. I breathe in his scent, musk with a hint of sea breeze.
“I don’t want you to leave,” he murmurs. “I have to go to Rome early tomorrow morning. Come with me, Ella.”
For a moment, I let his plea sink into my heart.
He doesn’t want this to end either.
My doubts disappear and my heart lifts, but only for a moment. Then they come crashing back in.
“I can’t, Tiero,” I choke out. “I need to go home.”
He says nothing. I can tell he wants to argue.
“Please,” I add softly. “Let’s not spoil our last day together by being sad.”
Am I trying to convince him or myself?
He studies me for a moment, then nods and pulls me back into his arms.
“I have an idea that might help us forget any sadness,” he says, hiding his disappointment behind a grin before bending to lift me over his shoulder.
I laugh despite myself, clutching his back.
“Tiero, put me down.”
“I will, princess,” he says, smacking my bum playfully. “When we reach the bedroom.”
“You’ve got a one-track mind, Signor De Marco.”
“I sure do,” he agrees. “But so do you, Miss O’Neil.”
Well, I can’t argue with that.
Since Tiero entered my life, I’ve turned into a bona fide sex maniac. Good thing I’m leaving tomorrow. I couldn’t sustain this pace forever.
When we reach the bedroom, he tosses me onto the bed and I bounce a few times before he follows. Tiero quenches his insatiable thirst for me, and we don’t emerge until the yacht honks to signal it’s time to leave.
I take one last look at the place where I spent some of the happiest hours of my life and try to burn it into my memory.
With a heavy sigh, I climb onto the jet ski and wrap my arms tightly around Tiero as he revs the engine.
As we leave this sanctuary, a single tear escapes and slides down my cheek.
Goodbye to this island.
Goodbye to this vacation.
And goodbye to the happiness I found in Tiero’s arms.
One last night.
That’s all we have left.