Emerging from the house, I hurried to my car, unseen. I pulled the Ferrari from where I'd parked a few houses down, turning toward the Bellandi estate. The time had come to tell Matteo exactly what my plans for Isa entailed.
Her photo sat on the passenger seat next to me, and I picked it up and sighed.
All that was left was to wait.
Part II
Until Tomorrow Comes
Rafael
I came for war. I left with an obsession.
With one look, Isa captivated me. She consumed me, drawing me into her world without ever knowing the dangers of mine.
I intend to make her mine, no matter what lies I need to tell to manipulate her into falling in love with El Diablo. It should be simple enough, but secrets lurk in the depths of her multicolored eyes, and I’ll do anything to understand what broke her before I had the chance.
Because she’s mine to break.
Isa
Rafael Ibarra tore through my life like a raging inferno.
Consuming every part of me he touches, he promises to show me passion and the real Ibiza. Though our tryst can never be anything but temporary, I never want to leave the man who makes me wish things were different. But there’s a nightmare hiding within his multicolored gaze, a phantom rattling at the cages who wants to devour me, to take me and claim me as his.
He’s temptation, pushing me toward sin with his wicked touch. But the sins of the flesh are different from the sins of the mind, and as much as I hate his secrets...
I will never tell him my own.
1 Isa
Whirlwind adventures weren't for planners. They weren't for the meticulous list-makers who couldn't function without order in their lives.
They weren’t for girls like me.
"Where the hell did I put my packing list?!" I groaned, looking around the room in search of the worn slip of paper I’d abused over the past week. Moving to the desk in the corner with the stack of books about Spain I'd borrowed from the library, I shoved them to the edge frantically.
"Language, nōhsehsaeh," my grandmother warned, poking her head into the room. The lines on her face were lighter than I could remember them ever being. The circles under her eyes had faded after she'd been selected for a medical grant and had the bypass heart surgery she needed.
"Sorry," I said with a wince, finally finding the paper with my notes all over it. The edges were torn from all the nights I'd spent agonizing, ensuring that I wouldn't forget anything I needed for my trip to Ibiza. "What if I forget something?"
"I am sure Hugo will make sure you have everything you need," she reassured me, stepping in and wrapping her arms around me. "He wouldn't allow you to visit his country without making sure you're prepared. He cares for you," she said, pressing her lips to the top of my head.
"It's not like that," I explained, and my grandmother nodded her head in response. My family adored Hugo and had practically adopted him as we grew closer after Odina's betrayal left a void in my heart. But my grandmother was the only one who didn't think we'd end up together.
"It is good that it's not. Hugo still plans to stay in Ibiza when your trip is over, yes?" she asked. I nodded, trying not to think about the loss of one of my best friends. Both of them really, since Chloe would go off to college in Philadelphia while I stayed in Chicago to be close to my family. "It will be strange, not having him to look out for you."
"I can look after myself," I reassured her, stepping out from her arms as I looked over the packing list one last time and tried to heave my suitcase closed. My breath caught in my chest as I turned to face her, remembering how weak she'd been after the surgery a few months prior. I couldn't shake the thought that something bad was coming for us, and nothing could be worse than losing my grandmother. "Are you sure you'll be alright while I'm gone?"
She scoffed. "I don't need my granddaughter to babysit me. I'll survive the twelve days without you, my darling girl." She sat on the edge of my bed, patting the mattress for me to join her. I did, willing to give my grandmother anything. She sighed. "Promise me you'll have fun. A girl should live a little on vacation. Real life will wait until you get back. Try not to worry so much."
"I'll try," I said, even knowing it was probably a lie. I'd explore with Hugo and Chloe at my side. I'd enjoy my time with my friends while I had it, but I didn't know the first thing about actually living.
My eyes caught on Odina's empty bed and the lack of mess on what had once been her side of the room. "You're not your sister," Grandmother said, reaching up to touch my cheek. "You can let go a little without being lost." I nodded, even if I doubted the words. There'd been a time when Odina and I were exactly the same, before the accident changed everything.
Before she hated me enough to ruin her life just to make me miserable.
"Okay," I said, instead of arguing. The same demons that haunted Odina plagued me. The same nightmares called to me from the depths. I just believed that I had a family that loved me to keep me from succumbing to their temptations, where Odina had lost that.
My grandmother stood from the bed, leaving me to grab my suitcase and lug it down the stairs. My parents greeted me, wrapping me in their arms the second my foot touched the first story. The knowledge of my trip and the suddenness of it couldn't have come at a worse time.
I'd never told them about our entries when Hugo encouraged Chloe and me to apply for the
