Page 99 of Twisted Obsession

‘Yes, Miss.’

‘Are we still on our way to Calabria?’

He turned towards the windows, casting a glance outside. ‘That’s not my business to know.’ He smiled an apologetic, half smile. ‘I’ll go and get you that cold plate.’

‘Thank you.’ I smiled at him, while inwardly cursing myself for asking him a question I should have known he wouldn’t be able to answer.

As his footsteps faded away, I watched a wave begin to increase in its size and strength, as it made its way in from the starboard side. Moving quickly, I sat myself down on the fixed, leather couches against the wall, and used the table nearby to hold on to. In what seemed like minutes, but I knew was only seconds, the wave engulfed the side of the huge boat we were on. The noise was deafening, both inside and out. With my knuckles turning white with the strength of my grip, I watched as heavy ornaments wobbled and came crashing to the floor around me. The boat was lifted and rolled onto its side with the sheer force of the water. My body was thrown about like a rag doll in a child’s hand. And just as fast as it had hit us, the water moved over and away. After, the boat rocked from side to side several times before righting itself. All over, I could hear shouts as people checked on others. I instinctively looked myself over. I had pain radiating from one of my shins but no visible injuries. Looking around, I could see there was debris all over the beautiful saloon. A sudden sharp pain as I moved let me know there were pieces of broken China inside the sliders I’d pushed my feet into earlier. Quickly, I checked the sea in both directions. It was rough outside, but the waves were nothing like the one that had only just hit us. I released the table I was holding, bent over and after removing my sliders, I banged them hard on the floor to empty the broken pieces from the footwear. Making sure that Peter and the boat’s captain weren’t facing my way, I hurriedly made myway to the wooden chest by door that led out to the deck. With my eyes still on them, my heart thumping in my chest, working quickly I released both clips simultaneously, pinching both of my thumbs and forefingers tightly to the metal, as I attempted to dull the noise. With my eyes focussed ahead, and my ears trained on behind me, I found what I was looking for. Taking out the flare gun, I pushed a cartridge home and tucked the loaded gun into the back waistband of my Lycra workout leggings. Then I grabbed at the remaining cartridges I could see, replaced the lid and moved back to the couch, pushing the spare ammunition into the front of my waist band. Luckily my baggy workout t-shirt covered the additional bulges.

I understood how dangerous it was to have the loaded gun with no safety in place against my body. But I also comprehended how much safer I felt knowing it was locked and loaded should I need it.

Using what I knew would only be a few minutes of solitude, I began to run through the facts as I saw them. My mama was seeing Ricco, I was certain. In my head I could see flashbacks of when I was a child, of the way she’d smiled at him, and reached to touch him, when only us children could see, and I was now convinced that she represented a danger to me. My stepfather; I had no idea what side of the fence he was on, until he showed himself. But why was he married to her? What had he to gain from their marriage? Lorenzo was Ricco’s nephew, and I understood now that whatever he’d said he felt for me, it wasn’t love, he was just doing his Don’s bidding.

But which Don?

Salvatore, like my grandfather it seemed, was happy for me to remain within the De Luca walls. He wasn’t concerned if I stayed his unmarried sister, because with that would come the fact that he could keep me safe. Why on earth would Ricco wantme married to Lorenzo, unless it meant I was his way into the De Luca family?

Outside, the sky lit up, as forks of lightening danced across the sky.

‘The eye of the storm,’ I spoke to myself. ‘And we’ve always embraced a good storm haven’t we, Nonno?’ I whispered. ‘It clears the air and takes out the trash—Today, I think we will both get to see the woman you saw inside of me, and I can only hope you’re not left wanting.’

The sound of the vacuum being broken brought me to my senses. I looked up to see my stepfather walking back into the saloon. His pallor was white.

‘Are you okay, Giovanna?’ he asked looking a little concerned.

‘I am, thank you. I watched the wave building out at starboard, it was as though I was watching a film.’

‘The reports are that the storm is building, in strength and ferocity.’ He crossed the floor between us, until he was a few feet from where I was sitting.

‘What happens now?’

‘We have requested a safe harbour from the Sicilian authorities.’

‘You plan to dock in Sicily?’ I almost shrieked, showing him my unease as I repeated what he’d just imparted. He smiled back at me, allowing his earlier look of concern for my safety slip. Quickly, I mulled over my current situation. In my head, I understood that I had to disembark from the boat. Sicily was closer than Calabria, but Calabria was where my family was, and where my brother ruled absolute.

Will I find any sort of sanctuary in Sicily, given my family name?

Panic began to enfold me in its clutches, until the boat lurched unexpectedly to the left, and the flare gun against mywaist touched its icy steel against my back. Whatever happened, I would use anything and everything to get back to my family.

‘Yes, I do.’ Peter Ariti nodded as he spoke. ‘You see, I’m Greek. I have no cares or worry for my safety in Sicily, unlike others on this boat.’ I watched as he over balanced and grabbed hold of one of the highly polished, wooden pillars.

‘You mean me?’ I questioned.

‘You know I do, and so do you.’ His eyebrows lifted, as he looked at me. ‘And another on here.’

‘My mama.’ I didn’t question him as I already knew the answer.

‘Exactly. You see, given the history between your crazy Italian families, I’m not sure to who you are the greater prize.’

‘I will be no one’s prize.’ I spoke with a vehemence I hadn’t heard from myself before, knowing that if it came to it, I’d use my concealed flare gun on myself.

‘That remains to be seen,’ he added.

A knock from the captain on the glass between us, caused us to both look over. I watched as he nodded and flashed up his fingers to the count of ten, which I presumed meant the boat had permission to dock and it would take us about that many minutes to do so.

‘I’m telling you so,’ I replied adamantly.

‘It’s funny, you are nothing like your mama described.’

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