Fucking Florida!
She had taken one long dunk underwater, afraid this might be the end, when she felt a strong grip on her arm pulling her back up. Coughing up water from her lungs, she found her arms placed on something that floated, and she was able to put all her weight on it as she tried to catch her breath.
“Are you fucking crazy?” Dante’s harsh voice cut through the end of her coughing fit. “You could have hit your head and killed yourself falling off the boat like that!”
“Well, I was trying to get away from you!” Her hoarse voice cracked as she yelled back at her rescuer, who was still holding her to the floating device.
“Yeah, well, you were doing a great job at that.” His sarcastic tone couldn’t be missed over the sound of the water lapping against them.
She tried to push her wet hair out of her face. “Well, I swam this far, didn’t I? I wasn’t expecting anyone to jump after me, let alone that person being a faster swimmer than me.”
“Swimming?” He laughed sardonically. “Is that what you call what you were doing?”
“I went swimming as a kid once, and I thought I was going to be a much better performer than th—”
“Once?” He caught what she had said and seemed like he was reaching the end of his rope on dealing with her bullshit. “You’ve swam once in your whole life, and you still fucking jumped?”
She matched his tone. “Well, I decided to take my fucking chances with the water instead of One-Shot!”
It was like when she said the mysterious name, she could feel the mob boss’ presence completely change.
He took a deep breath, his anger dissipating as he took his hand off her to push his own hair out of his face. “I suppose that was smartest thing you’ve done all day.”
“Wow, thanks,” she quipped, slightly wishing he had just let her drown if One-Shot was as horrible as he was making them out to be.
“Listen, Ms. Brooks”—Dante caught his own breath while giving her complete honesty—“if you’re scared of One-Shot, like you should be, than the safest place you could be is on that boat for the weekend.”
“Okay, fine.” She finally gave in to him, defeated.
“So, we have a deal, then, Ms. Brooks?” This time, he removed his hand from the floaty instead of the one attached to his arm that held her to it.
She stared at the tanned hand, wondering if she should take the deal with the devil in the middle of the ocean or take her chances with the one out there … But, hell, this man had jumped in to save her, after all. She supposed she could give him a couple of days.
Finally, she took his hand. “We have a deal, Mr. Caruso. But, please, call me Nadia.” There was no point in keeping up the pleasantries, as she had a feeling this was going to be the longest weekend of her life.
“Nadia,” he repeated her name before asking her to do the same. “Dante, then.”
“Dante,” she agreed, their hands still clasped together, but she suddenly found her hand being dropped as he motioned for them to be pulled in.
“Just promise me one thing.”
Nadia looked at him curiously, wondering what the hell he wanted now.
“Don’t ever try to swim again.”
Five
Dramatic Effect This—
The sound of water dripping on the deck could be heard from both her and Dante, from being drenching wet as they were finally pulled back onto the yacht.
“Have a nice swim?” Amo asked her with a smile.
Nadia shivered, too cold to get her smart comeback out before Leo’s remark.
“I’m not sure you could call that swimming.”
Just when she thought the youngest Caruso was nothing like his father … “That would have been funny, if your father hadn’t already made the same joke five minutes ago.”
Both Leo and Amo furrowed their brows together as they looked over at Dante strangely.
She was just about to ask them why they were looking at him like that when Dante addressed the small staff that had just helped pull them out of the water.
“I’m sure one of you can show Nadia to her room and find her something dry?”
“Of course.” A blonde woman in a white Polo stepped forward. “Please, follow me.”
“Thanks,” she muttered, falling in step behind her, but her steps weren’t the only ones she could hear as she turned her head to see Dante following close behind, holding his dry jacket and shoes that he must’ve taken off before taking his dive.
“I’d like to get dry, too.”
“Right,” Nadia said with a nervous laughter. She tried not to feel guilty for his current state, but she certainly was responsible for him being wet.
Continuing to follow the staff woman, she led them to what appeared to be an outdoor living room with a bar that looked like an oasis in the middle of the ocean. However, it was when they went through the huge sliding glass door that her mouth dropped to the floor.
It was the most beautiful living area you could dream of, and it was on a freaking boat! Whenever Nadia thought of a yacht, she imagined them decorated in white and gold, but this was clearly no ordinary yacht. The walls were matte black, and the furniture was a rich velvet in a navy color. You’d think it would make the yacht appear too small, but it actually made it beautifully intimate, especially with the sliding glass doors open so you could hear the peaceful sound of the ocean. Nadia just wanted to be dry, curl up on the couch, and read one of her favorite books while she watched a movie on the ginormous TV screen. And that was just the living room.
There was also a small indoor bar and gaming section that held a pool table. This yacht was insane, and she couldn’t begin to wrap her mind around not only the cost of something like this but the fact that it was just a “vacation home.” She would be shocked if it was used more than five times a year.
This must’ve been the middle deck, as the woman led them to a staircase in the back. One half went upstairs, and the other half led down.
The woman motioned her hand toward a staircase that went upstairs. “Mr. Caruso.”
Dante simply nodded his head as he started to disappear up the steps.
“Ms. Brooks, you may continue to follow me,” the woman said as she began to descend below.
“Right, sorry.” Nadia quickly fell back in step … after she removed her gaze from the mob boss.
She didn’t know what was upstairs exactly, but down below held extravagant cabins, and as they passed each room, she could see a suitcase sitting beside the foot of each bed.
Nadia’s room came last. It appeared to be one of the more feminine rooms, decorated in a royal purple rather than a beautiful shade of blue. Unfortunately, her room didn’t hold a suitcase that was going to be magically filled with her stuff from home.
“I believe we have plenty of clothes for you here, ma’am. We typically get a lot of late arrivals of the female variety.” She winked before opening the small closet to reveal it jammed full of brightly colored clothing that appeared to be mostly skimpy dresses and cover-ups. “Boss likes us to keep anything that has been left behind.” She tried not to chuckle. Then, getting a hold of herself, she pointed toward the chest. “You will find plenty of bathing suits there, and any other items you might need will be in the head.” She now pointed toward a door. “Bathroom,” she explained the boating term when Nadia seemed confused.