Page 90 of Dagger in the Sea

I grinned. “Yes.” No simple thief, though. A thief of identities, self-respect, honor. I’d brought many people to their knees often enough.

Adri’s gaze went to her empty wine glass, but she didn’t look distressed by my admission. She really did appreciate my frankness, and I was giving it to her. No editing with wit or charm. For the first time in a long time, I was being frank with someone.

I poured her the last of the wine and she drank. “I’m going to use the ladies room.”

“I’ll take care of the bill.”

“Okay.” She rose from the table.

I was a murderer in her eyes now, wasn’t I?

She brushed past me, and I grabbed her arm. “Adri, I didn’t just do it for Luca. I did it for you. To keep you safe.”

“I know,” she breathed. “I wish you hadn’t had to.” I released my hold on her arm, and she strode away toward the end of the restaurant.

I caught the waiter’s attention and scribbled in the air—the universal sign forbill please. He raised his chin and brought over a slip of paper and I paid. Adri’s cell phone rang out with a synthesized song for a ringtone. I flicked a finger at her phone and it swerved toward me giving me a better view of the screen.

Alessio.

I let out a huff of air.What are you up to, amico mio? Searching your love boat high and low for your girlfriend? She ran off with the hired help.

Adriana had said she and Alessio were in a fake relationship. Surely he would be collecting a posse of pussy this week like some rockstar. He was certainly doing it at his party, and Adriana hadn’t seemed disturbed by it at all. Only Luca had pointed out to her that she was “straying” with me. Would running off hurt my case with Luca and Gennaro? Maybe sting Alessio more than he or Adri realized and he’d be after us, after her? Or maybe she was lying to me?

No, she couldn’t be.

I slid the phone back to its original position. Adri returned to the table. “Shall we go?”

“You got a phone call.”

She picked up her cell and her small beach bag, and meandered through the tables and chairs, her gaze focused on her screen. Stepping out into the sun, she put the phone to her ear, then looked at her screen again. “It’s no use. Service comes and goes out here.”

“That’s too bad.”

“No, it’s good. I don’t want to talk to anybody, even Alessio. I texted him earlier. He worries, and I wanted to make sure he knows I’m fine and not mad at him for some reason. Leaving the yacht was not about him.”

“It’s not?”

“No.” She pivoted around in the sand, her brow furrowing. “Coming here is about me standing on my own two feet. Not hiding behind my work, my name, a relationship. Just me and what I want.”

“And what is it you want, Adri?”

A grin curved her lips. “You and me on this beach.”

25

Turo

The sun had shifted position,and she pulled her lounger to the other side of mine so she’d be full in the sun and not in the shade. Kicking off her flip-flops, she took off her tunic and unfastened her bikini top, and her breasts—fucking perfect breasts—bounced free of the material. She twisted up her hair, the movement making her tits reach high, her nipples hard in the bracing wind. I chewed on my lip, my mouth dried.

Dionysus, you’re killing me.

She flattened out her chaise and laid down. Both of us stretched out side by side.

“Do you need me to help you with suntan lotion?” I asked.

Her lips twisted into a slight grin, her eyes hidden behind her sunglasses. “Yes, please.”

“Always ask for what you want, Adri.”

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