Page 7 of Enraptured

CHRISTOS

AS SOON AS JIN TRACKED down Jessie’s location using intel he gained by digging into Dimitri’s affairs, I wanted to charge in and haul her out of Greece by her hair.

But I didn’t.

It took all the self-discipline and will power I had, but I reined in my need to see her, so I could set my trap. It took weeks to get everything set in place… and I thought of everything. My cunning and ruthlessness is about to pay off as I watch her through the windows. Cloaked by dusk’s dim light, my eyes drink her in. Satisfaction washes over me as her slim form and bright gold hair calls out to me like a beacon.

My fists tighten, clenching at my sides. I want to barge in there, right through the café doors and carry her out kicking and screaming.

But I can’t.

Not this time.

The muscles between my shoulder blades tense. My eyes keen as I scan the small stucco building where flowers fall down the wall from planters fastened outside small square windows.

It’s bright, cheery—I hate it.

Jin looks like a dumbass. I told him to blend in, watch the back door and when darkness falls, get ready to help me carry out my prize. He dressed like a damn American tourist. His bright Hawaiian print shirt hangs over pink shorts and he’s wearing a wide sailor’s hat. Christ, he’s getting attention instead of deflecting it. But with everyone in this small fishing town giving him a double take, no one is looking at the real threat—me, biding my time until the sun’s rays slip past the rocky cliffs, trying to hold on. But darkness always comes.

Now I know what it must feel like to be giddy. All those Christmas mornings where I never felt the anticipation…of getting that perfect gift. I feel it all now. But it won’t last. My brain chemicals are slowly receding, going back to the same patterns and rhythms of the past thirty-five years.

Just like the sun’s rays, my emotions try to cling; fight to stay…but they can’t. I won’t allow them to. Emotions are what got me here; wrecked and devasted that this slip of a girl who promised to stay and love me, left. She made me believe that a broken, soulless man could still have love.

Now I must punish her.

For lying and leaving.

For making me dream for the first time in my bleak life, for things that will never be.

It’s time. Jin texts.

Is the old woman gone?

Yes. She left to go play cards.

I grunt in satisfaction, snuff out my cigar, feeling in my pocket for the syringe and the letter I’ll leave for the old woman. I paid a small fortune to forge it. My ruthlessness knows no bounds. The handwritten note is identical to Jessie’s cursive writing. It says I was close to finding her…. that Dimitri came in secret and snuck her out on one of his boats before I could get here. The old woman will believe it because Andre will. And Dimitri will keep his mouth shut or I’ll rip apart his company next, not stopping until I bleed every cent from his bank account dry.

But I know my dove won’t go without a fight. Especially, after what I did that night at Dimitri’s. I was driven by my dark passion for her. My rage boiled over. Lava ran through my veins at what we almost had…at what she had me believing. But our love isn’t a fairytale. I’m not a knight in shining armor. I’m the dark knight; about to charge and take back my captive. The small shops clustered around the small harbor are quiet. I would’ve never found her here, in Greece, practically under the nose of my family’s estate on Santorini. Andre is a clever bastard, I’ll give him that much. He found a job working for Dimitri and I should’ve known. Dimitri is the second wealthiest man in Capri after me, and he also employs people to run his houses and yachts.

Fucking Andre.

He’s number two on my hit-list. Dimitri left for America. He’s sick and disgusted by Alex and me. And I can’t blame him. If I cared enough to admit it, I’m disgusted with our twisted games myself. That’s partly why I craved Jessie so strongly. Now Dimitri wants something similar for himself, but he can’t have my dove. He needs to find someone like her across the ocean and stay the hell away from us. If he ever steps foot back in Europe, I’ll kill him. Even though I told him to play with my pet, I wasn’t expecting him to fall for her…but then again, why wouldn’t he? She was a fresh, ripe plum who fell in the paths of the wrong men. Just like Fiona did.

Fate is cruel to some but sweet to others.

Jessie’s fate is sealed. I’ll have her again, and this time she won’t ever be able to hide.

No matter how much she hates me for what I did—I know we’re dark magic, weaving spells of lust and obsession over each other. Who knows where or how this story will end? But right now, I’m starting the sequel.

My head swivels in both directions as I step out of the shadows and cross the cobblestone street. My hand twitches as I reach for the handle of the door. I pause giving her three more seconds of peace before I shatter her world again.

My heart picks up its beat. Sweet victory is minutes away. Her back is to me as she clears tables, wiping them down.

She’s alone.

Humming a Greek pop song as she works. Its sweet melody moving through the air and straight into my heart. My heart, whose door is seconds away from being slammed shut forever. But her notes snuck in. I hang my head, ashamed at who I am. And what I’m about to do. I let it escape…right before my heart clenches, then locks.

I text Jin,I’m going in.

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