Obsessed With My Beautiful Enemy

The Escape Attempt

CHAPTER 18

LENA POV

I was passing by the kitchen when I heard the two soldiers talking, and the words they spoke made my entire body go stiff.

"Caruso's men were seen near the southern waters."

The words weren't meant for me. I heard them anyway.

The two soldiers were standing just outside the kitchen when I passed by, and the moment they noticed me, their conversation stopped abruptly.

Too late. My pulse had already started racing wildly.

Caruso. Dante Caruso. The man I was supposed to marry. The man who had smiled while my

brothers controlled every part of my life. The man connected to more secrets than anyone wanted to admit.

If his men were near the island, everything was about to change. Everything.

I continued walking like I hadn't heard anything. Like I wasn't listening intently to every word. Like my entire body wasn't suddenly filled with restless energy.

But the moment I turned the corner, my feet moved faster. Because one thought kept repeating inside my head over and over again.

This might be my chance. A chance to escape. A chance to get Matteo away from this island. Away from Salvatore. Away from the war brewing around us. Away from the dangerous feelings that had started growing inside me.

The feelings I hated. The feelings I didn't understand. The feelings that made me look for him in crowded rooms no matter how hard I tried not to.

I pushed the thought away immediately. No. This was about Matteo. Only Matteo. Nothing else. Nothing else at all.

That evening, I found Matteo in the library reading by lamplight.

Brutus was asleep beside him, the massive dog barely opening one eye when I entered.

Matteo looked up from his book immediately when he noticed me there.

"You look nervous."

I forced a smile. "I'm fine."

"You always say that when you're not."

I laughed softly despite myself. Sometimes he was far too observant for his own good.

I sat beside him and my fingers brushed through his hair gently.

"What if we leave?"

His expression changed instantly. "Leave?"

"Just saying."

His eyes widened in surprise or fear or both. "Lena..."

I looked away because hearing it out loud made it feel real. Dangerously real.

"What if we could go somewhere else?" I whispered.

Matteo stared at me for several long seconds. Then he asked the question I didn't want to answer at all.

"What about Salvatore?"

My chest tightened uncomfortably. Annoying. Frustrating. Unwanted.

Because the first face that appeared in my mind was his. Cold eyes. Sharp suits. Scarred hands. The terrifying calm in his voice. The way he always seemed to know where I was. The way he watched me like he was trying to solve a puzzle. Or protect one.

I hated that I couldn't tell the difference anymore.

"He isn't our future," I said quietly.

Matteo didn't respond to that, which bothered me more than it should have.

The storm arrived after midnight, dark clouds swallowing the moon completely.

Rain hammered against the fortress windows so hard it sounded like the glass might shatter. Most of the guards would be focused on visibility issues. Shift changes. Security checks. Confusion.

The perfect opportunity had arrived.

My heart was beating so hard I could actually hear it pounding in my ears. I waited another fifteen minutes to be safe. Then I slipped from my room into the darkened hallway. I wanted to take Matteo. He likes Salvatore and I think he is safe here for now.

The hallway was empty. Good. Very good.

I moved quickly through the corridors, and every step felt louder than it actually was. Every shadow looked like a soldier. Every corner looked like a trap waiting to spring.

Still, I kept going forward because turning back wasn't an option anymore. Not now. Not when freedom was finally within reach.

The fortress seemed completely different at night. Darker. Colder. Like the building itself was watching me move through its halls.

The ocean roared outside the windows. Wind screamed against the stone walls.

By the time I reached the lower level, my hands were shaking violently. Not from fear. From hope.

Hope was far more dangerous than fear could ever be.

I slipped through a side exit, and cold rain instantly soaked through my clothes. The dock wasn't far from here. Just a few more minutes. A few more minutes and—

A hand closed around my wrist. Hard. Unforgiving.

My breath stopped. Everything stopped. The world froze completely.

I didn't need to turn around because I already knew. The feeling of his grip was becoming far too familiar to mistake.

Slowly, very slowly, I looked over my shoulder.

Salvatore stood behind me in the rain. Rain soaked his black shirt completely. Dark hair was pushed back from his face. Water dripped from his jaw.

But it wasn't his appearance that frightened me. It was his expression.

Because he wasn't shouting. Wasn't threatening. Wasn't angry in the obvious way that everyone could see.

His face was completely blank. Cold. Controlled. Terrifying.

The kind of anger that came before destruction. The kind that was worse than violence.

"Let go of me."

His fingers tightened around my wrist. "No."

The single word sliced through the storm like a knife.

I swallowed hard. "You were following me?"

A humorless laugh escaped him. "You think I need to follow you?"

The answer hit me immediately. Cameras. Guards. Security. Of course.

This was his island. His kingdom. And I had been stupid enough to think I could disappear inside it without him knowing.

His jaw tightened visibly. "Where were you going?"

I lifted my chin defensively. "Does it matter?"

His eyes darkened dangerously. "Answer me."

"No."

The word left before I could stop it. A mistake. A huge mistake.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke. Rain poured between us. The wind howled around us. Still, he didn't look away from my face.

"Try again."

I hated the way my pulse reacted to his voice. To his attention. To him.

"I was leaving."

Something dangerous flashed across his face. Gone almost immediately. But I saw it.

"I know that."

His voice remained calm. Too calm. Dangerously calm.

"What I want to know is why."

I laughed bitterly at the absurdity. "Are you serious?"

His stare hardened considerably. "Very."

"You kidn*pped me."

"You've been alive every day since."

"Congratulations."

His nostrils flared slightly. Barely. But enough.

"You think Caruso is safer?"

I froze completely. There it was. The truth. The reason I had risked everything.

Because part of me believed Caruso's arrival changed things. Part of me believed I could use the chaos. Part of me believed anything was better than remaining trapped here.

Even if I wasn't entirely sure anymore.

"At least he isn't my captor."

The words landed hard between us. I watched them hit him. Watched something flicker behind his eyes. Pain. Then anger. Then nothing.

His face became unreadable again.

"You don't know what Caruso is."

"I know enough."

"No."

His voice turned deadly quiet. Scarier than any shout could ever be.

"You don't."

The certainty in his tone made my stomach twist. Because a part of me believed him. A part of me had started believing him weeks ago. And that terrified me more than anything else.

His grip loosened slightly. Not enough for me to escape. Enough to remind me he could. If he wanted.

"You heard rumors."

I didn't answer him.

His silence stretched between us. Then

"You should have asked me."

I stared at him in disbelief. A laugh escaped before I could stop it.

"Asked you?"

"Yes."

"You're unbelievable."

His eyes narrowed. "I'm the reason you're still alive."

"And you're also the reason I'm trapped."

The words exploded between us like a grenade. The storm seemed quieter suddenly. Smaller. Because all I could hear was my own breathing. And his.

Salvatore stepped closer to me. One step. Nothing more.

Still, it felt like the distance vanished completely between us.

"You think this island is your prison."

"It is."

"No."

His voice dropped lower. So low I could barely hear it over the storm.

"It's the only place your enemies can't reach you."

My heart stumbled because he sounded sincere. And somehow that made everything worse. Much worse.

I didn't want sincerity from him. Didn't want concern. Didn't want whatever this thing growing between us had become.

I wanted a monster. Monsters were easier to hate. Monsters didn't confuse you. Monsters didn't make you want things you couldn't have.

"You don't own me."

The words came out softer than intended.

His gaze dropped briefly to my mouth. Then returned to my eyes. The movement lasted less than a second. I noticed anyway. So did he.

The air shifted dangerously around us.

"You keep saying that."

My breath caught in my throat. "Because it's true."

His jaw flexed visibly. For one terrible moment, neither of us looked away from each other.

Rain soaked us completely. Thunder rolled across the ocean. And suddenly I couldn't remember why my heart was beating so fast anymore.

Fear. Anger. Something else. Something worse.

Salvatore took another step forward. Close enough now. Far too close.

"You should have stayed inside."

The words sounded almost tired. Almost weary. Almost human.

I hated that. Hated the glimpse of vulnerability beneath his armor.

Because it made him human. And I couldn't afford to see him as human. Not when he had destroyed my life. Not when I was starting to see the cracks beneath his armor. Not when those cracks made me want to reach out instead of run away.

"I want freedom."

His eyes softened slightly. Only slightly. Only for a second.

Then they hardened again. "You want safety."

"You don't get to decide that."

His expression became unreadable. "I already have."

The answer made anger explode inside me like a bomb. I shoved his chest hard.

He didn't move. Of course he didn't.

"You don't control me."

His hand caught mine instantly. Not violent. Not gentle. Just firm. Certain. Dangerous.

The storm raged around us. Neither of us noticed anymore. Because suddenly the world had narrowed to this. To him. To me. To the impossible tension stretched between us like a taut wire.

Then footsteps echoed behind us. Fast. Urgent.

A soldier appeared from the darkness, breathing hard. Pale. Terrified.

Salvatore released my hand immediately. The change was instant and complete.

The dangerous man standing in front of me vanished. The king returned.

Cold. Merciless. Deadly.

"What?"

The soldier swallowed. "Sir..."

Something in his voice made my stomach drop. The same way it had during the wedding. The same way it had before bloodshed.

The soldier looked between us. Then back at Salvatore.

"We found the source of the leak."

Everything went absolutely still.

Salvatore's expression turned to stone. His entire body tensed like a coiled spring.

"Who?"

The soldier hesitated. Fear filled his face completely. Real fear. The kind grown men carried when death was standing in front of them.

Then he finally spoke. And whatever name left his mouth caused all color to drain from Salvatore's face.

For the first time since I met him, he looked shocked. Not angry. Not violent. Shocked.

My pulse thundered in my chest because if the man who terrified an entire mafia world looked like that, then whatever came next was going to destroy everything.

And judging by the darkness that suddenly entered Salvatore's eyes, the betrayal had just become personal.