Page 74 of Stolen By the Enemy

I feel like a ghost myself, but I am now so used to not getting any sleep that it doesn’t really bother me anymore.

Grazia, on the other hand, I know she needs to sleep, but she enjoys pushing herself a little. She’s still up with me, even though it’ll be morning in a very short time.

It’s been a long night of working and in the midst of hardly any sleep, I feel my mind gaining some clarity in the bigger picture.

I have always been aware that my life is a dangerous one, but as I’m making these plans, I can see where the danger is magnified.

And who could get hurt if they were to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Looking at Grazia, after creating this plan and now knowing what it’s going to take to make this work, it’s clear that I can’t bring her into the middle of any of it.

She wants to be involved, but it’s just too much to ask of her. She should be safely protected by her mafia family, in her home in the States.

Here in Mexico, she has no safety, and it’s not fair for me to make that even worse for her by involving her in my risky affairs.

I also need to stop sleeping with her and showing her affection, because every time we end up naked in bed together, the lines become even more blurred.

The more attached she gets to me, the harder it’s going to be to keep her at a distance from the danger.

It won’t be easy to turn her down, especially when she now knows exactly how to get me hard, but I’m not a child anymore. I can control my urges for a few more months.

I have no choice, because if I don’t, and Grazia gets hurt, I know that I will feel guilty, and it will fuck with my future plans.

All I am after now is a life that fits what I know I deserve. If I need to make hard decisions now for an easier life later, then that is what I’m going to do.

It might make me the bad guy, but that’s not something I’m unfamiliar with being accused of.

At least this time, it will be for a good reason and I will know that I’ve done the right thing.

And if she doesn’t understand it now, then I’ll have to trust that she will later on. That she will see it wasn’t me being an asshole, but me trying to keep her safe.

The stubborn nature she hides inside of her might not allow her to say thank you for any of that, but I don’t need recognition or praise.

My mind made up, I go back to looking over my plans.

I tap my fingers in time with the song that Grazia has put on, and add in the smaller details that I might need to remember.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Grazia

I yawn, looking at Marco and wondering how he manages to get almost no sleep and yet he keeps going with vigorous energy.

He must have a secret vitamin water or something that he takes every day just to allow him to work on less than three hours’ sleep.

Once again, the morning light filters into the beach house and I am wide awake.

There’s something about Marco that makes me forget that sleep is actually a need. We so easily stay up and ignore the clock.

Tonight we even kept our clothes on, energized only by the thought of this plan.

It’s smart, and not half as evil as I believe Marco could be. He has nothing to lose here since his cousin has already cut him off.

Marco is much smarter than I gave him credit for in the beginning. I always knew he had ideas, and that his emotions were deep, but I had no idea he could plan things in such detail.

It would be almost impossible to surprise him with his planning ability.

I start to feel a little tired now, the initial excitement draining from me, being replaced with an ache in my back and a slight headache.

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