Twisted Desire (21 page)

She paused then, looking down at the floor. Before I could beg her to continue, she looked back at me. “You are in danger. Roman has plans for you, and they’re not good. Be careful, Penny, trust no one. Find a way off this yacht and never come back.”

She headed for the door, but I blocked her. “Wait, what do you mean? You can’t just leave and not tell me what he’s doing,”
I cried.

Her eyes looked at me sadly. “I’ve already said too much. Roman hates me after what I did the other night. I’m not sure I’ll ever get off this yacht alive. He’d not hesitate to kill me on the spot if he knew I was here. He’s a very dangerous man, Penny.”

I squeezed myself and bent over. I knew all this, I knew he was a horrible man, but what was he planning for me? “Please tell me what you know,”
I begged her. “I’ve never been told why I was taken and put on this boat.”

Her eyes turned sympathetic for just a brief moment. “I don’t know the whole story as to why you were brought here, but I do know it’s for Roman’s benefit, in more ways than one. Don’t trust a thing he says, ever. I’ve got to go.”

I didn’t stop her as she rushed out of my room, shutting the door behind her. I had a feeling I’d never see her again, and I prayed she’d get off the yacht safely. Still trembling, I went to the bathroom and filled a glass with cold water. Taking a slow sip, I looked at myself in the mirror and again wondered what the hell was going on.

When I thought about her visit, she really didn’t help me. In fact, she made things worse. Telling me I was in danger but not saying exactly why only made me more confused and angry. Why did she come to tell me if she wouldn’t share all she knew?

Of course I didn’t trust Roman, and never would. His creepy glances and words of concern were nothing but a facade to me. The fact he’d forbidden Tag to tell me what was going on had always been a huge burden to me, an unforgivable one.
 

Running my hand down my face in an attempt to gain some sense of control, I realized since Tag and I had become lovers, I’d let a lot of my anger fall to the wayside. He was so loving and so good to me, it had definitely helped make each day on this prison of a yacht more than bearable, but I was a fool. No longer could I stay quiet and just accept my fate here. I had a life and a family back in New York, and not doing anything to get back there was over.
 

I had to talk to Tag about where his loyalty lied. I knew asking him to betray Roman and the cartel was a lot, but I was no longer just a prisoner to him, a job. He’d always made me feel like he hated I was here, taken against my will. He’d said numerous times he hated what Roman did to me, that he hated Roman.
 

Something had never added up about Tag and the cartel. I’d felt it from the beginning but never dared question it much. He never fit in with the “bad guy”
routine. He was warm, sweet, funny—not someone with no soul.
 

I knew I needed his help to escape. The question was, would he do it?

When he came back a few hours later, I’d calmed down enough to be able to talk without freaking out. Fiona hadn’t really told me anything I didn’t already know. It was obvious I was in danger and that Roman had a plan for me. The only thing that worried me was how she said it, that I was here for more than one reason.
 

“Hey, sweet girl,”
Tag said as he came in.
 

I looked up from my sketch and gave him a small smile. “Hey.”

He came over to me and dropped down to his knees, wrapping his arms around my waist and burying his head in my chest. “You always feel and smell so good.”
He sighed, taking a deep breath.

My arms found their way around his shoulders, feeling like they belonged there. This man had become my everything, and it was more than him just being with me on the yacht. I loved him with all of my heart, and it hurt. It hurt not knowing what would become of us once I got out.

He tilted his head to look up at me. “What’s wrong, querida?”

He always knew.

He always knew what I was feeling. I couldn’t hide anything from him. I shook my head, smiling at it all.

“How do you always know?”
I asked.

He sat up and ran a hand through my hair. “I told you, I know you better than you think. Now tell me—what’s wrong?”

I sighed and sat back against my pillow. “Do you remember the lady from the other night?”

He scrunched his face in thought; it was adorable. “Which one?”

“The blonde.”

He tilted his head to the side. “Yeah, what about her?”

I started to twist my hair around my finger again. “She was here.”

That made him sit up straight. “What?”

“Yeah, she came by right after you left.”

He swore and rubbed the back of his neck. He stood up and started pacing across the small room. “What did she say?”

I watched him go back and forth, trying to read him. “Well that’s the thing,”
I said. “She really didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know, except for one thing.”

He stopped mid-step and looked at me. “What was it?”

“She told me Roman took me for his own benefit, in more ways than one.”

He cursed again. “What the hell? I have no idea who she is, didn’t know she was still on the yacht. She could get in serious trouble for doing what she did.”

That alarmed me. “You’re not going to tell Roman, are you?”

He shook his head. “No.”

Sighing in relief, I sunk back on the bed. “Thank you. Tag?”

He stood still and looked at me. “What, querida?”

That name. I had hated it first, but now it meant the world to me. “I need to ask you a question.”

He sighed and sat down on the bed by me. His beautiful hazel eyes were looking straight at me, into my soul. This man was my world, and if he told me no, it would break me.

“What is it, sweet girl?”

“I need you to help me escape, to get back home.”

He didn’t say anything, just continued looking at me. My heart was racing, freaking out at what he could be thinking. If he said no, everything would change between us.

“Okay.”

My eyes shot to his, shocked. “Okay?”

He cupped the back of my neck with his large hand and pulled me to his chest. My heart was still racing, but now in relief. “Yes, querida, okay. It’s the only way I know how to keep you safe.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist, still so surprised he agreed. “Does that mean you’ve already been considering this?”

I felt him nod against the top of my head. “Yeah.”

Looking up at him, I ran my fingertips across his unshaven face. “Since when?”

He sighed again, pulling me closer. “A little while actually. Things aren’t adding up with this job, and it’s making me nervous more and more. Roman isn’t acting himself, and I can’t shake the feeling there’s a lot more to him taking you than just the retaliation.”

“That’s what Fiona said.”

“Yeah, hearing that solidified it for me. I need to get you off this boat.”

Tears of joy fell down my face. I grasped him harder against me. “Thank you,”
I whispered. “I didn’t know what I’d do if you said no.”

He tilted my chin with his finger to look up at him. “Do you really not know how I feel about you, Penny?”

My heart slammed in my chest, not expecting that. “What do you mean?”

He bent down and kissed the tip of my nose. “Let me fill you in,”
he teased. “From the first moment I saw you in that horrible room you were put in, I felt it. Seeing you shaking and crying, it got to me. That had never happened to me before, querida. I pushed it all aside and just did my job. But guess what?”

I couldn’t stop staring at him, completely entranced by his words. “What?”

He smiled as he looked down at me. “I couldn’t ignore it. You charmed me with your naivety and your attitude, not to mention you’re incredibly hot.”
He smiled bigger when I swatted his arm. “I felt a fierce protectiveness toward you, and I couldn’t explain it. When Rico…”

He paused then, anger flashing in his eyes. I never wanted to talk about Rico and what he did , but I had to know what he was going to say. “What, baby?”

“When Rico attacked you…
”
His fist clenched as he spoke. “When I ran in and saw him there on top of you and heard your cries,”
he paused again, his anger taking over.

He melted my heart. No one had ever felt this way about me before, ever. I loved him so much.

He shook his head as if to clear it. “When I saw what he’d done to you, I knew without a doubt how I feel about you, querida.”

The tears were still running down my cheeks, and I started trembling again, this time in anticipation.
 

He framed my face with his hands and pressed his forehead to mine. “I’m in love with you, Penelope Santoro. Full blown in love with you.”

His eyes were blazing into mine, and I saw his Adam’s apple constrict as he swallowed. He was nervous after telling me that, but he had no reason to be. I slammed my lips to his and kissed him with all of the love and passion I felt for him. His hands squeezed my face as my tongue delved in his mouth, tasting the sweet taste of mint.

I broke the kiss and copied his hands and framed his face with my own. “Oh baby, I love you too, so much.”

His eyes took on relief and a passion I’d never seen before. He dipped his head to look straight at me. “Say it again.”

“I love you, Tag.”

This time his mouth crushed mine, his hand moving to the back of my neck and fisting my hair. He gently pulled my head back so he could deepen the kiss, his own tongue tracing the seam of my lips. I opened them and he dove in, his tongue started to dance with mine. When I felt his lips start to suck on my tongue, jolts of pure pleasure spread through me like wildfire, making me utter a loud moan.
 

He pushed me down on the bed, his body covering mine. His kiss was slow and sexy, not rushed. He moaned against my mouth, telling me everything he loved about my body. Each word he said turned me on more, to the point where I was panting and pushing on his shoulders.

He tore his mouth from mine. “What do you need, sweet girl?”

I grabbed his crotch, making him hiss. “This, now.”

He sat up and ripped his shirt off with a grin. “Your wish is my command.”

I had a lot of wishes he delivered on that night. Over and over. And over.

Chapter 22

“The plan is being set in motion.”

I pressed END on my phone and looked out over the light blue ocean. The plan to get Penny off the boat was being hashed out, and it wouldn’t be easy. Betraying Roman Vitale was a move I knew was coming, just not in this way.
 

But it was the right way.

My contact had given his okay to start it after my most recent report back. It was time, and doing it with getting Penny off was the perfect opportunity. We were killing two birds with one stone.
 

It was perfect.

My thoughts went back to the night before. She loved me. Penelope Santoro loved me. I didn’t try to hold back the huge grin that came over me as I situated my sunglasses over my nose.