Chapter 13

Chapter 13
Chapter 13

SOPHIA

Despite my hesitation, I allow Dario to lead me into the monitoring room.

The place is dimly lit, and three men are seated in front of monitors arranged on white desks. Above them, a massive screen displays dozens of live images of the ship in real time.

How does he have access to all of this?

I focus my attention on the camera feeds, noticing that the rooms also seem to be under surveillance.

What the fuck… Does this mean they’ve seen me changing clothes?

“You’ve been watching me this whole time?” I question Dario, wondering just how far he’s willing to go in his pursuit.

“I’m one of the people responsible for the auction. Believe me, I was just as surprised as you to find you here.”

I don’t know if I can believe a single word coming out of his mouth.

“Why are there cameras in the rooms? That’s too perverted even for you.”

Two of the men now seem to be paying attention to our conversation, but with just one look from Dario, they turn back to the screens.

They’re afraid of him? Why? That only confirms my suspicions that Dario is hiding his true identity. But right now, that doesn’t matter.

I need to focus on finding out why I’m in danger and whether Xavier is plotting something.

“Don’t worry. All the cameras in your room are off. They know they’d lose their eyes if they ever dared to look at my wife.”

“Your wife?” I roll my eyes. “I thought you were going to show me something.” I point at the monitors, impatient.

“Is the deal still on?”

“Deal?”

“I’ll show you, and then you’ll have dinner with me at the restaurant.”

What choice do I have? I need to find out what Xavier is planning.

I nod in agreement. Leading me to a chair, Dario hands me a headset.

“Put it on.”

I obey.

“Show her,” he orders one of the men.

A recording of Xavier talking to a strange man in one of the ship’s rooms starts playing on one of the monitors, and now I can hear their conversation.

They’re talking about me. Xavier clearly says that I should be killed, and a knot tightens in my throat, but the other man disagrees. He argues that he doesn’t want to do it here, afraid of jeopardizing the person in charge of the auction.

Are they talking about Dario? The strange man manages to convince Xavier with his argument but suggests approaching me once I leave the ship to take the stones.

Xavier seems to agree, and the recording ends right after that, leaving me in shock.

They plan to kill me once I leave the cruise? A chill runs down my spine. Fuck. What do I do?

Dario steps closer, removing the headset from me.

“Don’t worry. You’re safe,” he tries to calm me.

“Safe? They want me dead.”

“I won’t let anything happen to you. Trust me.”

“Trust you? Are you kidding?”

“Come on, let’s have dinner.” He extends his hand to me.

I stand up, leaving him hanging, and head for the exit.

“I agreed to listen to you, that’s all,” I argue when he catches up to me in the hallway.

“I didn’t know it was you, Sophia. But I suspected something was wrong from your recent behavior.”

“Why keep lying?”

“I’m not. Why would I lie?”

“You tell me. The lawyer told me you ran an investigation, that you had all my information. And you want me to believe you didn’t know?”

“The only thing I knew was your last name. I didn’t want to know anything else about you. I didn’t even look at the information.”

“You know that makes no sense. Running an investigation and claiming you didn’t see anything? Can you explain that?”

“I wanted to know if you were after my money, but I found out your family had no reason for that. So this deal was just an obligation to me, as I believe it was to you. After all, you needed me more than I needed you. You needed to marry me to take over the company.”

Does he expect me to believe he did all this out of charity?

“And why did you accept?”

“I had a debt with my grandfather.”

“What? Joseph is involved in this?”

“You thought this deal was my idea? I didn’t even know your parents.”

Dozens of questions flood my mind. Is he telling the truth? Is Joseph the one behind this arrangement? Why would he do that? And why would my parents agree? How did they even know Joseph?

“Why would your grandfather do this?” I ask as we continue walking toward the restaurant.

“I don’t know.” I doubt he’s telling me the truth.

Dario might be telling the truth about not knowing who I was, but he’s still hiding something from me.

Everything about him feels like one big mystery, and that’s exactly why I can’t trust him.

When we reach the restaurant, we settle at a table near the massive windows of the ship, with a view of the blue sea on the horizon.

If I wasn’t worried about my life being in danger, I’d probably stop to appreciate the incredible view.

“Do you believe me now?”

“I don’t know if I should.”

“What can I do to make you believe me? Let me help you with your problem.”

How could he possibly help me?

“Who are you really? Why won’t you tell me the truth?”

“The truth? You already know the truth. I am Salvatore Dario, the man who was forced into marriage but didn’t know what he was missing when he decided to stay away from his wife.”

“So it wasn’t a fake name after all?”

“I have no reason to use one, docinho.”

“Don’t you think all of this is way too much of a coincidence?”

“To me, the only tragedy in all this was not meeting you sooner.”

“What do you think would have happened if that were the case?”

“I think this deal would have been a good thing for both of us.”

I hold back a smile. It’s impossible not to imagine what it would have been like if we had met back then.

I would certainly have been attracted to my fake husband, and that would have been one hell of an inconvenience.

“Technically, we’re still married… The deal expired, but I never signed the divorce papers,” I say.

“Why not?”

“I couldn’t trust you.”

“Tell me you believe me now.”

“I have other things to deal with right now.”

“Let me help you get out of here safely.”

“I can’t trust you. I still don’t know who you are, and it’s clear you’re not going to tell me.”

“Sophia…”

“Maybe it was better this way, that neither of us knew who we were married to. And I think things should stay that way.”

“Don’t say that, docinho…” He covers my hand with his over the table, making my skin shiver.

“Salvatore…” a blonde woman says as she approaches our table. “I was looking for you.” She continues, ignoring me as if I were invisible.

But I notice the way her eyes flick to how Dario is holding my hand.

The blonde has blue eyes, a curvy body, and is wearing a silver dress with red lipstick on her lips.

“Catherine, I’m busy.”

Dario doesn’t bother to introduce us, pulling his hand away from mine.

“Of course. Should I expect a visit from you later? Or would you prefer me to come to your room?”