LUCA Read online

Before I was tired, I felt arms on me and I screamed.

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” He asked as he gathered me in his arms.

  “Anywhere is better than that boat.”

  I pushed him away and kicked and tried to get away again.

  He caught me again and this time he pulled the strings of my bikini top until it slipped off and into his hands, “Stop,” I screamed, “I’d rather drown,”

  “Don’t worry, I prefer my women willing,” he took my wrists and tied them together with the bikini top, then forced my arms over his head. “And it’s too long a swim for all that right now, maybe if you play your cards right we can get to know each other later, but you’ll have to do all the work. All this swimming is going to tire me out.” I’m not sure what enraged me more, the condescending voice or the cute dimples when he smiled.

  If I had a hand I would have slapped him but they were bound and around his neck. And he didn’t wait for my answer. He turned around and started swimming back to the boat with me on his back, my arms around his neck. I rested there, I heard the waves lapping, felt the sun baking, and heard his heartbeat through his chest as he swam

  I struggled against him the closer we got, finally having energy to struggle and feeling the energy leaving him as his muscles tired from work.

  “Don’t make me tie your legs together too, just think what I’ll have to use there.” He warned and I collapsed against his back.

  He stopped at the boat and twirled me around to face him, naked against his chest. His entire body was ripped, bulging with muscles, glistening with water.

  Perfect.

  I forced myself to remember that this striking body belonged to the man who had kidnapped me.

  He opened those arrogant, soft lips, “If I unbind your hands and allow you some modesty up there, will you try to swim again?”

  I didn’t answer.

  “That’s a no then?”

  “I won’t if you promise you won’t touch me.”

  He smiled and flashed those emerald green eyes at me, bright and full of energy. His arms held me close as we floated, I let him pin me against him because if I didn’t I would be exposed.

  The way he looked at me made my stomach flip. He gripped me close, pushing his body into mine and pinning me against the swim platform of the boat.

  His rippling muscles pressed against me. The sun must have hit my eyes, I broke his gaze and he captured my mouth and took it. Claimed it.

  My mind froze, I felt my heart beat against him and felt his heartbeat chasing after mine. His tongue swirled over mine. His hands grasped my hips, a hardness pressed into my leg. And our kiss broke just as suddenly as it started.

  “That was for making me jump in the water and haul you in. I promise not to touch you again until you touch me,” he said and took my arms from his and untied the bikini top and climbed up.

  “Or until you try escape like this again of course.” He watched me in the water, grinning as I pulled the top on and climbed up after him.

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  CHAPTER 3 - NINA

  We traveled for what felt like hours. I got used to the rocking of the boat and the fishy smell went away just like the white haired man had said, when the long line went out little by little close to sunset. The smell didn’t seem to bother anyone except me, but to me it was the worst smell imaginable, especially with a queasy stomach, but thankfully that had gone away too.

  The gentle rocking of the boat gave me some time to think. It seemed like I was rescued from David, but I wasn’t sure if my rescuers were any better than he was. They seemed to be, but David didn’t seem what he turned out to be either. I didn’t know anything at all except the Agnetti’s were kidnapping me. Why would they break the peace like this? What did they hope to gain? Probably Ezrah’s Miami deal. Everything was always about money. But there were easier and better ways than kidnapping me and setting loose that rapist David on me. When people bring risks like that into business they can’t be trusted. Their judgment can’t be trusted. If it was about money, they could have offered to pay us for our Miami connection. Not kidnap me. I had to get away from these fools before they did something else stupid. And they would pay when I did escape. I would watch the green-eyed man suffer myself for being so cavalier about keeping me his prisoner. Even if he did save me.

  I tried to struggle against the bindings I was in. A little cloth gag and cloth around my hands, but there was no use, they were snug. I still wore my swimsuit but a blanket was over me on a surprisingly comfortable bed in what must have been the captain’s quarters near the bathroom. It was small and cramped, with a certain salty residue on the wood and metal, but loads better than the main room further out.

  After a time the boat slowed down and we dropped anchor. It was almost completely dark now, the sky pink and red and orange and quite beautiful.

  The man with green eyes came down and half smiled at me. He sat on the bed next to me and loosened the gag from my mouth and began to speak.

  “Sorry I haven’t had the chance to introduce myself yet,” he began. “My name is Luca. I think it’s important that we understand each other and avoid any more little escape attempts like you jumping into the water.”

  He paused to see if I had questions or didn’t understand. I stayed silent. “Your boat is anchored close to where we left it and your man’s body is there as well with a note attached. The note says you’ve been taken but are safe and comfortable. And Ezrah has to stay cool until he’s contacted by us with more instructions.”

  Again he paused, like a teacher with a student or me trying to explain something to my dog. But I wasn’t going to speak at all. Silence was a trick I learned from Ezrah. It makes people uncomfortable when you sit there quiet and they have to do all the talking. I wasn’t going to make this man, this kidnapper, comfortable around me.

  “We’re taking you and this boat to New York and you’ll be comfortable as long as you don’t try to escape again.” He smiled at that and his eyes raked my body. “Even though it showed some spunk. That red can marked a set of rocks only. You were a good 10 miles from any land so really, I saved your life by rescuing you. And it wasn’t all bad either.” He looked away again, smiling, then back at me.

  I stared blankly at him.

  “But, you promised not to try that again. We have an understanding on escape attempts I think. I’ll tie you up so you don’t do anything stupid like trying to swim when you don’t know which way land is, and even though you’re a strong swimmer, you’re not that strong.”

  He waited for some acknowledgment from me but my face was stone. “I’ll have to jump in the water again after you. And even though I’m a strong swimmer I’d rather go in the water by my choice and not to drag some spoiled bitch out of it.”

  He paused again, trying to control himself. It was clear he didn’t like yelling or threatening, but could do it well if he had to. “So, when you’re ready, come up and have some dinner.” He untied the cloth from my wrists quietly as I continued to stare at him.

  We had dinner on deck and it was actually pleasant. A beautiful night with the stars out, the wind cool but not biting, real food that wasn’t fish, only hamburgers and steak, but I wouldn’t have been able to handle fish.

  I started to feel back to normal and started to wonder where everybody would sleep. I pushed it out of my mind.

  I went down back to the captain’s bed and tried to sleep but Luca came down with the cloth bindings again for my wrists and legs.

  “You promised you wouldn’t,” I told him.

  “I’m not tying you up so for that. I’m tying you up so I can get some sleep tonight and not have to worry about you jumping overboard in the dark.” He grinned, “Unless you’re asking me?”

  He got his answer from my face, but his efforts were slightly charming.

  “And we had an agreement that you would beg me first, that was my promise.”

  I tried to change the subject. �
��You said you sent David’s body, what did you mean by that?”

  “I mean he no longer lives. And we didn’t use him for bait though maybe we should have. I didn’t figure you’d be that concerned for someone who tried to rape you. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Not the rape and not me killing him. We were supposed to rough him up and send him home with the message. But he attacked me and I defended myself and he didn’t survive.”

  “Thanks for stopping him.”

  “You don’t have to worry about that from me or anyone else here. That won’t happen on my ship. Not until you ask me very nicely anyhow.”

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  CHAPTER 4 - NINA

  It took forever to fall asleep with my wrists bound to the side of the bed. I had to stay close to the sides and I wasn’t allowed to stretch out or spread myself over the bed, like I like to do. I had to use the pillow under my wrist and squeeze my head on the corner of it. It was frustrating and uncomfortable and every few hours I would wake up, angry at the bindings, cursing my sore wrists and the man with green eyes.

  Luca.

  My green-eyed and soft-lipped kidnapper.

  My rescuer but still my captor. It would be dangerous to try to seduce him with the way his eyes raked over my body. I had to focus on the hate, not the green eyes and soft lips and dimples.

  After an awful night, I was woken up by the anchor being dragged up. The noise of the anchor and the chain against the side of the boat was worse than any alarm clock I ever heard.

  Luca came down and untied my wrists and brought breakfast and freshwater for me to wash up with.

  Finally, without being tied to the side of the bed, I slept most of the day. The rocking of the boat helped. So did stretching over the entire bed.

  When I woke again, they were pulling in the long line of the horrible rotten bait fish that they had set last night. Luca drove the boat as the white haired man hauled in the line by hand for a few feet, then attached it to a winch until the hooks came up, then again by hand.

  At first the hooks were empty maybe 10 empty ones in a row, then a few small fish, flopping and trying to breath on the deck, then the big ones came in, maybe 10 in a row, flopping and creating chaos on the deck.

  I walked out into the morning sun the fish were beautiful and shined in blue and silver and red.

  “Can you clean fish?” Luca asked me.

  “Of course I can.” I had never done it, but of course I could do it.

  “Can you clean a hundred fish?” he laughed and nodded his head at the fish coming in by the winch and piling up on the deck.

  He left the boat idling and came down from the top deck and opened a hatch in the stern and got out a broom and a shovel. He handed the broom to me without a word and began shoveling the fish down below as they flopped around. I followed his lead and used the broom to guide them in.

  When we were done, Luca set up a table with room for two. He showed me a long thin knife, “This goes in the fish, not me.” He ran his finger over the knife’s blade, long and thin and very flexible. It would bend or break against a person, but it could slice.

  He handed it to me, handle down.

  It seemed like hours before I was done but the white haired man worked even harder, after he finished hauling the line he gathered it up and put it away and hauled ice from the freezer and put it below deck. Then he packed in the cleaned fish one by one. All the while correcting how I cleaned them, showing me little tricks and cleaning three or four by the time I finished with one.

  Luca spoke to him, “We’ll have to get more ice and supplies and gas soon.”

  “Anything you need?” he asked me.

  “Some clothes,”

  “I rather like you like this,” Luca said and looked me up and down in my swim suit. “It won’t be until tomorrow anyways.”

  When we finished, we ate and I was sore and tired and ready for sleep. I went down to the captain’s room as they talked and drank, and hoped I would be asleep before he noticed I was gone.

  He crept in the room and held the cloth again to tie me up. “Please, I couldn’t sleep last night,” I implored him.

  “If I don’t, then I won’t sleep tonight.”

  I let him tie me up, I smelled whiskey on his breath and hoped he didn’t have any ideas to go back on his promise. He was gentle with the restraints, this time, leaving them snug but not too tight.

  When he was done, he leaned in over me, breathing on me, staring at me in the dark until I was uncomfortable. Not sure if he would stay there, or break his promise to me, his lips were inches from mine, the weight of his body almost on me, but held back. I couldn’t take the silence, “You promised,” I said as I pulled my legs up close to me.

  “Silence is uncomfortable isn’t it?” He said and moved off of me. “I did promise and I keep my promises.” He grinned, “And besides, you stink like fish.”

  It was another mostly sleepless night. But in the morning I had a lovely sight.

  Land.

  A tiny island that couldn’t have been more than 100 feet across, the sort you maroon someone on. The sort pirates hide their treasure on. But this one was full of trees, with a tiny sliver of sandy beach.

  We were to spend the day here while the white haired man got gas and supplies. His name was ‘Jack’. I had learned, but I still liked to think of him as the white haired man. A kindly old fisherman who would never be a part of this kidnapping. But he was. He would have to suffer too when all of this was over, despite his kindnesses and white hair.

  I was excited to have a beach and solid ground to stand on that didn’t move and sway underneath me. The closer we got the more excited I got. It wasn’t quite big enough to hide from Luca, but maybe there was someone on it. Some hermit who could save me. It was a silly thought but hope was silly too.

  “Be careful,” the white haired man told Luca as he grabbed a backpack and a gun.

  “I hope it’s not full of snakes,” Luca said.

  “Why would it be?” I asked.

  “If it was habitable there would be a house on it. Snakes, birds, mice, things like that do very well on these little islands without people and without bigger predators. Usually it takes fire to get them out, and even after that they’re not gone completely.”

  Jack pulled the boat away as we waded through knee deep water to the shore. I watched the water and the beach for snakes, feeling much less excited about my island.

  “Stay safe Don Luca.” The white haired man called out from the boat.

  “What did he call you?” I asked, forgetting about the snakes for a moment.

  “Nothing, a mistake.”

  “He called you Don Luca.”

  “A mistake.”

  My mind was racing. “You’re Luca Agnetti?”

  “Yes.”

  I took a closer look at him. There was some resemblance. “Son to Benny Agnetti? Your brother Elio runs the family?”

  “Yes. Adopted son to the late don.”

  Benny Agnetti was his father, at least his adoptive father, but most people thought he was a biological son, only a bastard, out of wedlock. Don Benny died two years ago, and everyone thought Luca would take over, but he was passed over for his younger brother Elio, a mistake Ezrah had said at the time. One of the reasons that family was losing power. Elio didn’t know how to run anything.

  The same reason I didn’t want to marry a kid who couldn’t run anything.

  “So instead of boss, you’re an errand boy for Elio?”

  “I guess,” he smiled a fake smile, he clearly didn’t want to talk about it, but I had a million questions. And some of the answers would be very useful to me. Like what happens when the troops are unhappy with the leader of the family? That was something I would have to deal with eventually, and this guy had lived through it. Was living through it. But to ask him would be to trust him. And for him to answer he would have to trust me too.

  That seemed like a million miles away from where we were rig
ht now. But it was something I would save for later, I was dying to know what happened and what people felt about it.

  He was handsome when he smiled, and now that his secret was out, I did actually feel I could trust him. At least a little bit. Enough to keep the promises he made.

  We had the whole day, I swam and looked out for snakes but didn’t see any. “Are you sure this is an overgrown island like you say? I haven’t seen anything all day.”

  “We’ve been lucky, “ He looked around him. “So far. I’m happy about it, aren’t you?”

  “I’d sort of like to see you fight off a few snakes. Protect me from them. It would be good entertainment.” He didn’t answer me, just tried to ignore me. But when I sat in the sun and let it bake me, he couldn’t ignore me.

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  CHAPTER 5 - LUCA

  I watched her as she stretched out and laid in the sun, her dark, exotic skin beading with sweat. I watched her take the oil from her bag and work it into her thighs and over her smooth, flat stomach.

  It was impossible not to watch.

  I couldn’t help but stare as she spread oil over her chest. I was jealous of the oil. I knew I was staring but couldn’t help it. Her skin was smooth and dark, the heat of the sun made her sweat and the sweat mixed with the oil and trickled down her sides and beaded between her breasts.

  The sun seemed to get hotter after she rubbed the oil on. I watched a large bead of sweat pool between her breasts and quickly run down her sides onto the ground.

  I started feeling light headed from the heat on my skin and the heat starting to boil up under my skin as I watched her breathe and her chest rose and fell setting off avalanches of oil and sweat.

  I jumped into the water the water to cool off. It was icy cold a few feet out, but I needed it. It cleansed my body and my mind.

  I stared up at her, still relaxed and eyes closed and baking in the sun. Her body glistened and sparkled in front of me. There was something about her. Maybe it was more than just the sun and oil and my overheating in the sun.