Chapter 42 Episode 42
1667 Words
This is the first time I’ve seen Belle like this, so free andunencumbered. Excluding the times where I f****d herworries away, of course.
Part of me is jealous that a landscape can trigger the sameresponse in her as I can. But then I remember I brought herhere. This is still my doing.
“You can take a dip in the blue lagoon later. The silica issupposed to be healing,” I say.
“Because…” She glances around like the other shoe is goingto literally drop on her any second. “Because I’m working,right? I didn’t think—”
“No, I’m working,” I tell her. “I’m here to make sure the hoteland resort has a successful opening week. Your job is to enjoyyourself and take notes.”
And to show Giorgos Simatou that he doesn’t have controlover me. He thinks he can threaten me into doing whatever heasks? Think again, asshole. Not only will I f**k whoever Iwant, I’ll do it wherever and whenever I’d like.
“Can I leave the resort?” she asks.
“You’re not a prisoner here. Go where you please.”
She frowns. “Who wouldn’t want to go explore? I mean, lookat this place.”
I follow her gaze and look out over the lava field in front of us.Vibrant green grass has grown over the craters and valleys,and pockets of water run over the land to cerulean pondsdotted across the property.
“It’s beautiful,” Belle breathes. “I’ve never seen anything likeit. And, I mean, imagine… lava created all of this. It’smagnificent, isn’t it?”
“I should have you write the brochure,” I chuckle.
She snorts. “Do I give you that impression of someone well-traveled enough to write brochures? Do I seem worldly?”
“Correct,” she says, snapping her fingers. “I haven’t beenanywhere.”
“You went on that trip to Washington, D.C.,” Elise says. Ialmost forgot she was standing with us. She watched nonstopmovies on the flight and didn’t sleep, so she’s been draggingass since we stepped off the plane. “You’ve been somewhere.”
Belle rolls her eyes and looks at me. “Our paternal grandmapaid for the trip and took me with her. I was twelve, and Ispent the entire day in the halls of Congress. It was…educational. As all good vacations are.”
Elise doesn’t find it funny. “My grandma never took meanywhere.”
“Yeah, but Shari didn’t abandon you. My grandma bailed aftermy dad died. You aren’t missing anything.”
“I take it you two are half-sisters?” I ask.
Belle nods. “Same mom, different dads.”
I can tell Belle wants to say something—maybe warn hersister to be on her best behavior—but she swallows the words.Instead, she takes a deep breath and pastes on a smile. “Let’sexplore more. Maybe we can—”
“I’m tired,” Elise interrupts. “I’m going to go to the room andtake a nap.”
“But we need to beat the jet lag. You should stay awake and—”
Elise walks away before Belle can finish.
As soon as she rounds the corner, Belle closes her eyes andsighs. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize to me. I don’t care whether she has a goodtime or not.”
Belle studies me for a moment, then smiles shyly. “What aboutme?”
“Do you care if I have a good time?”
I step closer to her, backing here against the railing. She tipsher head back to look at me, and for a second, I considerwalking her back to my suite and saying f**k the landscape ofIceland, all I want to explore is the landscape of her.
Fuck everything else—I want to know every rise and fall ofher body, every noise she makes when I touch her.
But there’s time for that later. Right now, there are only a fewhours left in the day.
And I have other plans.
“Meet me in the lobby in twenty minutes,” I say. “I havesomething to show you.”
“Keep up,” I call back. “We’re almost there.”
“You said that thirty minutes ago,” Belle huffs. “I’m tooclumsy for this. I was pigeon-toed as a kid, you know.”
I snort. “You were what?”
“It means my feet pointed in at each other. I tripped over thema lot when I was little.”
She frowns feistily. “It’s not funny! I had to wear braces andinsoles for a while. I’m all straightened out now, but I’m notthe most coordinated.”
I reach back and offer her my arm to save her from face-planting in a crater. “Don’t worry. I’ll catch you if you fall.”
“Yeah, right,” she mumbles. “This is probably where you planto throw me over the side.”
“Keep saying that and I might decide you’re right. Throwingyou off a glacier would be a lot less work than dragging yourass up a mountain.”
She bites back a smile. Then it sharpens, turning intosomething dark. “Maybe that would be easier for me, too.Better than muddling along like I have.”
“How do you know?” she snaps.
“Because I wasn’t always powerful,” I murmur.
Belle hesitates before she responds. “I forgot you said thatbefore. To Elise. You grew up poor?”
I pause for a long moment before sighing. The last thing Iwant to do right now is tap into my f****d-up childhood andfamily. That s**t is dirty fuel. It burns hot, but it leaves behinda nasty wake.
“It doesn’t matter,” I say finally. “The point is, life can belike… well, like these lava fields. Like what you said earlier.Sometimes, devastation is what it takes to make beauty.”
Belle stops walking, and I turn around to find her staring atme.
“Completely,” she admits. “Maybe you’re a bit more like theselava fields than you want to let on, too.”
I wave her on and continue towards the precipice. We’re close.Just a few more yards until the grand reveal.
“If you’re looking for some redeeming quality in me, I’d stop.You’ll just be disappointed.”
“Oh, I don’t know—” Belle starts to say, then her voice cutsoff. She tilts her head to the side. “What is that?”
I smile and step up the last foot. Suddenly, like a curtain beingyanked away to display a masterpiece, the lava field falls awayand we’re standing on the edge of a cliff. Opposite is anothercliff covered in luscious trees with a chasm between. On theopposing cliff, water is pouring over the side in at least fiftydifferent rivulets, collecting in a stream far below.
Belle gasps. “What is this?”
“Hvatvíslegur Falls,” I tell her. “It means ‘precipitous.’”
“Checks out. We are so high up.” She peeks over the side andthen takes a nervous step back. “Where is the water comingfrom?”
“Snow melt and rain running over the lava fields. It all movesover the land and makes its way here.”
“It’s incredible,” she breathes, shaking her head like she can’tbelieve it.
“I love it,” she whispers sincerely. “Thank you for bringing mehere.”
“Of course. I chose a beautiful place for you to die.”
It takes her a second, but then Belle’s eyes widen in horror asshe processes what I said. “That—that isn’t funny.”
I smirk. “It’s a little funny.”
She rolls her eyes and looks out over the waterfall. “Whatcomes next, Nikolai?”
She shakes her head. “No. I mean… what am I doing here?”
“You’re here because I said I’d take care of you.”
“There’s more to it.” She turns to face me. “There’s somethingyou’re not telling me.”
I laugh again. I’m doing a lot of that today. Strange. “There area million things I’m not telling you.”
“Then tell me one of them.”
She thinks she wants to know, but she has no idea. The Greeksand Xena Simatou and the Battiato mafia and my family’stragedy and on and on. It’s a tangled web, and Belle should begrateful she isn’t more enmeshed in it.
I should probably let her escape before she’s in too deep.
But there’s not a chance in hell I’m doing that.
“We’d have to make a lot more of those tapes for me to bewilling to tell you everything, beautiful Belle.”
She flushes a deep red and takes a step away from me. “Stopcalling me—”
But before she can get the word out, her foot slips. In aninstant, she hits the ground hard. It’s slick, so she starts slidingdownhill…
She scrabbles for purchase on the bumpy ground, but she can’tseem to get a good hold. “Nikolai!” she shrieks.
The way she calls my name does something to me. A panic Idon’t recognize comes to life, and I sprint after her. There’s noconcern for my own safety, no concern for whether I fall overthe edge with her.
I just know I can’t stand by and watch her die.
I dive onto the hard rock and throw an arm out. My fingersbrush across a strap on her windbreaker. I latch onto it, myknuckles turning white with the strain, but I can already feelthe fabric giving away.
“Belle, climb up and grab my hand,” I say, trying to keep myvoice even.
She’s one foot from the sheer drop. If I let go of her, I knowshe’ll fall. Her hazel eyes are as green as the moss growingover the stony ground.
And they’re as terrified as I’ve ever seen them.
“Nikolai,” she whimpers. “I can’t.”
- Writer
