My heart juddered and none of us paused to ask why as Nicoli pushed me to the edge of the railing where a ladder led down to the water. I swung my leg over, looking up at the four men as they watched me go, all of them haloed by the moon, their faces cast in shadow so that I couldn’t tell one from the other. They were four pieces of the same whole and there was something achingly beautiful in that.
As I made it down a few rungs, they followed and I hurried down into the boat, dropping onto its deck.
The four of them joined me a moment later and Nicoli tugged me down into his lap on a seat at the back, hugging me tight to his chest. He was warm despite the freezing air and I huddled against him with the happiest of smiles on my face.
Rocco started the engine while Enzo banged his fists against his chest, staring back at the yacht in anticipation.
"Get us going, stronzo," Frankie growled at Rocco, seeming anxious as he looked at the yacht too.
Rocco pushed the throttle and the boat tore away through the water at high speed.
I turned my head to look back at the yacht bobbing on the dark sea just as an explosion tore through it that made me gasp, the windows exploding and debris shooting out in every direction.
Nicoli held me tight while his brothers whooped and we were soon joining them, cheering for our victory as we watched the beautiful yacht begin to sink into the waves, the fire climbing high towards the sky.
Enzo and Rocco started telling us excitedly about how they'd cut the fuel lines in the engine room and used a line of rope doused in gas to create a fuse. I stopped listening as I turned to Nicoli though, his eyes tugging me in and claiming me with nothing more than a single look. My heart pounded out a wild, new tune that I loved the feel of. When we were together, everything just seemed right.
“Stop here, Rocco, let’s watch it go down,” Enzo said eagerly and Rocco killed the engine so the boat slowed and rocked gently in the water.
I nestled closer to Nicoli and felt a lump pressing into my side. I reached into the pocket of Ramon’s jacket, laughing as I found my sock filled with diamonds. A symbol of the life I’d hoped to buy myself one day. But I’d found my way to an even better one without them in the end.
I showed Nicoli what lay inside and his eyes glittered as the moonlight made them light up like a sky full of stars.
“Holy fuck,” he laughed too, closing my hand around them. “You’re rich, baby doll.”
“These are the price of my scars,” I said darkly, my fingers tightening on them.
“If you go Titanic on those diamonds, bella, I will dive in after them like a fucking horny dolphin,” Enzo taunted and I glanced over my shoulder at him with a smirk.
I turned back to Nicoli and he smiled serenely at me. “Do what you gotta do, my savage girl.”
I looked out into the dark water for a long moment then pushed the diamonds back into my pocket as I made my decision. “I’ll make them pay for something good. Something worthwhile. They’re no good to anyone at the bottom of the ocean.”
Nicoli’s arms slid under my jacket, his fingers gripping the bare skin of my hips. My red hair whipped around me in the wind and he watched me like he was hypnotised. “When we get home, I’m going to tend your wounds, wash every fleck of blood from your flesh and brand you as mine all night long.”
“I’m already yours,” I teased, my heart squeezing with bliss.
“We both need a reminder.” He smirked as we turned to face the fire, the heat of it reaching us as the red and gold light danced across our bodies.
I could feel the last of my chains falling from my soul as the yacht sank into the waves, allowing me to offer up myself to Nicoli fully. I was his in every way, in every lifetime, in every universe.
And as I leaned in and kissed him, our souls connected like two lonely stars who'd always been on a collision course in the sky, hurtling towards one another, never knowing that the other was coming. But now we were together and fire was bursting from