Page 67 of No Escape

I didn’t know exactly who “we” was, but I stepped into the loop and pulled it tight, wrapping the upper part of the rope around my wrist. When I was ready, I gave the rope a hard tug. “Pull,” I shouted.

As they began to pull me up, I realized at some point, they’d have to reposition themselves to avoid falling off the walkways.

“When you need to reposition, I’ll wedge myself against the sides of the box,” I shouted out. “Just be careful.”

A minute later, they changed positions, so I wedged myself in. I’d lost all track of time since I’d descended into the box. I had no idea how much time we had left.

When I was about halfway to the top, Tito instructed me to wedge myself into the side of the box one more time. “I think that is far enough. If you can hold yourself there, I can reach you.”

“Okay, but you’d better not drop me.”

His face appeared above me in the box opening. “Oh, sure. Drop you and have Gio forever on my case for ruining his honeymoon or drowning his sister-in-law.Nein,meine liebe frau, I will not drop you.”

He thrust his hands down, and I grasped his forearms. In seconds he lifted me out of the box and onto the walkway next to Stefan.

“You did it,” he said, giving me a hug.

“Wedid it,” I corrected him. “And careful, don’t push me in the pool by accident.”

I glanced at the clock, surprised to see we still had four minutes to go. It felt like I’d been down there for hours. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Yes, and everyone be extra careful. You donotwant to fall off after all we’ve been through,” Juliette warned. I held on to Stefan’s shoulder as we shuffled toward the side. I was pretty sure I heard a collective sigh when I stepped onto the deck.

I dropped to my knees, beyond relieved to be on solid ground again. I pulled the disc out of my swimsuit, holding it above my head. Everyone swarmed me, cheering and laughing.

“We did it!” Everyone shouted and congratulated each other.

I had to admit it was a great feeling. I also knew there was a certain fable and aphorism I would never,everforget.

After a moment, I walked over to Juliette and handed her the disc. “This win belongs to you. Slash was right. You reallyarean amazing woman. I know we’ve just met, but I’m already glad that of all the mothers-in-law in the world, I get you.”

Juliette threw her arms around me. “And I know exactly why my Romeo fell in love with you. You, my dearest Lexi, are truly a rare gem. Nonna was right about you. You’re absolutely perfect for him.”

A loud buzz sounded, causing me to jump. I glanced up at the clock, noting our time had run out. The gamemaster walked through the door at that precise moment. For a moment, we stared at each other, and then Juliette held out the disc.

“We did it,” she said simply. “Here’s the golden disc.”

I noted he wasn’t surprised, so I figured he’d been watching us from a hidden camera or two, monitoring our progress. Still, his eyes swept over the wreckage in the pool room—the cans, chairs, skimmer and hose, and the long towel rope. Then his gaze landed and stayed on me.

“I’m beyond impressed,” he said. “Are you sure you’re just a family gathered together for a wedding? I feel like there is a lot more to you people than meets the eye.”

“Oh, there’s definitely a lot more,” Juliette said, putting an arm around my shoulders and pulling me to her side. She snagged her husband with her other arm until the three of us were joined together. Oscar put his arm around Stefan, and Stefan pulled Vittoria to his side. I motioned to Tito, and he stood beside me, sliding an arm around my waist. We stood linked like that, facing Brando.

“We’re a tight-knit family,” Juliette said quietly. “Together we’re strong, stubborn, loving, and…” she glanced sideways at me, smiling “…awfully smart.”

A lump formed in my throat. I’d had no real idea what it would be like to have in-laws, but from most of the literature I’d read, I’d expected it to be more of an ordeal rather than a blessing. How wrong I’d been.

Brando clapped, the sound echoing through the pool room. “I do believe Mr. Zachetti will be most surprised. He might even have to make this challenge harder now.”

“Oh, no!” we said, practically in unison. “It was plenty hard.”

We laughed, and even Brando chuckled as he led us out of the pool room and into the hallway. As instructed, we hung our caps on the hooks and took fresh towels from the other side. We wiped ourselves down and wound them around our waists, still laughing and chatting.

I’m pretty sure I was the only one who noticed the gamemaster had fallen quiet on the way back to our rooms. If Slash’s team had also succeeded, we’d be four for four.

That meant if we continued our winning streak, Brando would have to tell Mr. Zachetti he was on the hook for a substantial payout to the pope. It made me happy we were inching toward securing the money for the orphanage, but I had a feeling that things would only get harder after this.

Slash and I would have to up our game even more.

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