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I eat my breakfast. I am after all endowed with common sense. I’m going to need the energy, but I toe off my shoes underneath the table, quietly so nobody hears.
It’s when Burley settles back with his second cup of coffee, relaxed by the sun and a false sense of security, that I make the split-second decision.
I stand and at the same time start running. I bolt away as fast as I can, sprinting with all the energy I can muster for the wall. Immediately there are voices that call behind me, but I know Burley won’t be able to catch me. He is big, but I’m fast. I only need to get over the cliff.
There’s a commotion, shouting between the men as they don’t know what to do. All the bullets in the world and they dare not shoot. The man who kills Matteo Scalera’s wife is dead meat.
I make it to the little wall and scale it quickly, watching in rising panic as two guards on either end of the wall rush in my direction. They’re close, they’ll have me in seconds.
I’m at the edge of the cliff, looking down. I sway with vertigo, almost falling back. My heart beats everywhere. My throat, my head, my stomach. There’s a fisherman’s boat right there, two men in a motorized boat that will help me. Surely they will help me.
I take two steps back, then run and hurl myself into the air, swimming with my arms to get away from the cliff.
My skirt flips up to my face. I hardly register it before I bring my legs together and slice into the cold water. I plunge deep, but there’s no bottom.
I heave up, using my arms to swim to the light.
As I break the surface, I drag in a deep life-affirming breath. I’m alive.
And I’m finally free.
31
TASHA
I glance around, my hearing still dulled by the plunge I took. High above me, men are shouting at me as they cautiously lean over the cliff. I don’t care to hear. Already the speedboat is coming in my direction. Soon I’ll be gone and not a bullet wasted.
A man on the speedboat tosses a lifebuoy out to me and I’m grateful that I can stop kicking. I’m frantic as my dress’s fabric is heavy when soaked and I’m weak with the shock of what I’ve done.
I actually jumped.
The men on the boat are calling to me now, speaking in fast Italian, as they maneuver the boat closer to me. I watch them as they glance up the cliff to where Burley is screaming my name.
I can’t stomach looking in his direction. Matteo is going to kill him for letting me slip through his fingers.
A hand reaches out for me and pulls me from the water. I’m beaching on the boat’s floor like a whale, relief seeping into my veins.
I actually jumped.
I’m free.
The two men talk to me at speed, gesturing with their hands, but I don’t understand as I just try to catch my breath. One of them touches my shoulder but I pull away. “I’m fine. I’m fine.” Adrenaline is rushing through my veins. I’m only vaguely aware that the boat’s engine is going again, that we’re heading away from the cliff.
My dress clings to my body, a second skin. Matteo’s mom’s rings are still on my finger, and for a short second I’m tempted to toss them into the sea. But then I recall the way Matteo said my mom’s, how something in his eyes told me not to probe. That man has so many soft spots, weak points in his armor that he’s exposed to me.
I sob, suddenly and uncontrollably. It’s relief and regret and heartache all in one.
I had no choice.
Eventually I look up to where one of the men is waiting for me to calm down. He holds out his hand to me. The other man is at the helm, and we are hitting the swell at the speed we’re going, making it hard to stand.
The man helps me up and I pull at my clingy skirts, the salt water already itchy on my skin. I need to keep my balance by leaning slightly forward with the speed of the boat.
“Scalera?” the man asks as he points at my chest. “You. Scalera?”
“No,” I say, confused. How can he know Matteo’s name?
It’s only then that I notice the gun that he is holding in the other hand. A cold chill invades my whole body as the man grabs my shoulder, and I do a two-step not to fall over with the force he is gripping my flesh.
