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I thought I heard a splash, then everything faded as I closed my eyes to my watery fate.
Chapter Sixteen
Valentino
I’d never believed in God until the moment Chantilly slipped underwater and I prayed he’d allow me to save her.
That it was an oxymoron when I’d planned to kill her didn’t even occur to me, not in that moment, all I cared about was sucking in a deep breath and diving after her as I kicked down into the blackness. It was only the brush of her hair against my hand that made me aware of her presence.
Thank you, God.
My lungs were already burning when I dived deeper and grabbed one of her arms, then kicked upward even harder to make it to the surface of the ocean. When I broke through and sucked in oxygen, my head was spinning and my senses reeling.
A quarter moon allowed me to see Chantilly’s alabaster face, and my heart gave a spasm of fear. Her golden skin was pale, her dark hair that fanned out around her face a sharp contrast to her normally healthy glow.
Fuck!
I couldn’t lose her, not now. She was all that I had in life, all I truly cared about. The epiphany should have surprised me, except deep down I’d accepted my feelings had been powerful from the start.
I pressed a finger to her throat, relief flooding through me at the faint pulse.
I grunted as I towed her toward the shore. She’d been smart enough to swim parallel to the undercurrent, so my swim now wasn’t as arduous as it would have been if I’d had to negotiate a rip while keeping her afloat.
I was only grateful for the regular swimming in my lap pool that kept me fit.
My legs still shook though by the time my feet finally touched the sandy bottom and I waded out of the ocean with Tilly in my arms. I lay her carefully onto the sand, checking her pulse once again before I tilted back her chin and ensured her airway was free.
She wasn’t breathing and I blocked her nose and sealed my mouth to hers before I blew a careful breath. Her chest rose and I waited five seconds before giving her another. Then another. Rinse and repeat. That I was numb was a conditioned response to stress I’d developed over the years.
I’d needed it to survive mentally as an enforcer.
Chantilly suddenly coughed and I rolled her onto her side as her shoulders quaked and she vomited up seawater and other liquids. My jaw tensed. That she’d consumed a bottle of champagne before she’d entered the surf was a mistake she’d nearly paid with her life.
But then she’d probably chosen drowning over whatever I planned for her in the near future, and for that I didn’t blame her. That it took her near death to fully open my eyes to my feelings wasn’t something I wanted to examine too hard.
I’d been in denial, but not anymore.
I had to get her back inside the house and get her warm.
That she wouldn’t be in this condition right now if I hadn’t left the balcony door unlocked in the first place was on me. I’d allowed my reeling emotions to take control. That there was clearly a fault in my security system—where the alarms still activated with the balcony door unlocked—was a secondary concern, one that would be fixed promptly.
I doubted the state of my emotions would be overhauled half as easily.
I shuddered. What if I hadn’t already been on my way home while checking the footage to notice Tilly was gone?
“I don’t feel good,” she muttered hoarsely.
I picked her up, her whole body trembling. “You nearly drowned,” I said in a low voice. “You’re lucky to even be alive.”
If I hadn’t followed her the moment I’d seen her enter the surf, she’d be dead now. The very idea made my stomach roll and my knees weak. The world would have lost a bright, shining light if she’d succumbed to the sea.
And I would have been left with a hole in my heart while an even bigger chunk of my soul withered away like dust.
She coughed fitfully, then blinked up at me. “The fishermen didn’t see me?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. But rest assured I will pay them a visit and ask some serious questions.”
Her brown eyes dulled a little more. “Please don’t take any more lives.”
