It would take time for her skin to adjust to the strength of the Mediterranean sun, even with all the sunblock in the world.
"Have you always been afraid of the water?" I asked, watching as she forced herself to turn her head toward me, while she considered her words carefully.
"No. I—" she paused, sighing as my hand took hers in mine and she breathed a little easier. "I fell into the Chicago River when I was little. We were on the Riverwalk one day, and it just happened so fast," she said. "Odina and I both ended up in the river."
"Odina?" I asked, watching as she realized I didn't know who that was. I was sure it was hard to imagine having someone who was so a part of your identity, a mirror of yourself, and having someone not know she existed.
"My twin sister," she said. "We aren't close. We're totally opposite, even if we look the same."
"There are two of you?" I asked, chuckling because I knew it was impossible. Even if I hadn't seen for myself, there could never have been someone as flawless as Isa.
She shrugged. "Physically yes. Although she's the fun sister. She's so adventurous and unafraid. Sometimes I wish I could take just a little of that from her and give her some of my caution. Balance us out, you know? It's like she got all the extremes on one end of the spectrum and I got the other."
"Polar opposites," I said, nodding my head because I understood and very much agreed with the assessment.
"Anyway, I've never been comfortable with the water since then. I wasn't breathing by the time they pulled us out." I only just managed to keep myself from asking how her mother could have allowed such a thing to happen. To let both your daughters fall into the river was unthinkable.
Insulting her family would do me no good in trying to earn her trust and her love. If she thought I would be an issue with her family, Isa would turn her back on me before I could blink. For now, they were her world. My judgements would have to wait until her perspective on life changed.
Until all that mattered to her was me.
Isa swung her sandals in her free hand as we walked back from the tapas bar on the beach, staring up at the starry sky above us. Her face was more relaxed than I'd ever seen it. Thoughtful in a peaceful way, rather than the concentration I'd grown used to seeing take over her expression.
When she turned those shining eyes my way, I reached over to capture her face with my free hand and lean down to kiss her. The way she smiled into my mouth filled me with hope that my plans for her hadn't been a waste of time and energy. I'd do it all over again, if it meant she could look at me with stars in her eyes and love on her face.
And I knew without a doubt that it was the blooming of love that danced behind her expression when she dropped her guard in these moments. It could be nothing else, even if it was rooted in lies.
Better to do what was necessary and then ask for forgiveness, than to ask permission and never have this time with her.
She glanced back at the tapas bar behind us wistfully, her face twisting into a secret smile as her cheeks flushed. "What is it, mi princesa?"
She turned back to me with a shy glance, focusing her attention back on the beach and putting one foot in front of the other. "I just wanted to remember how it looked. That's all." I grinned down at her, promising internally to make the effort to take her back as frequently as possible.
El Infierno wasn't far from Ibiza.
The city lights illuminated Ibiza Town to our right as we walked back toward the hotel. Out in the distance over the water, the figure of Es Vedra loomed. "I'll take you to watch the sunset tomorrow night. Nothing compares to watching it with Es Vedra in the background."
She hummed softly, making me want a reminder of what the vibrations felt like with her pretty mouth wrapped around my cock. I resolved to find out, given that she'd proven to be a very willing student the first time. Approaching the steps that would take us to the hotel, I turned to tell her about the island being magnetic when I noticed a figure looming at the top of the steps.
Feeling the sudden tension in my body as the smile slipped off my face, Isa turned to face me and looked up to the man in question with confusion on her face. "Do you know him?" she whispered. Pavel's dark eyes shifted to her at my side, his face impassive as he studied her and giving nothing away. His gaze dropped from her face, gliding over her body and tilting his head to the side to scrutinize her scar.
The Kuznetsovs always did like their toys scarred and broken.
Just the knowledge that he'd laid eyes on my woman threatened my patience. Knowing the things he did to women drove me over the edge. I pulled the key card from my pocket, pressing it into Isa's hand while she looked between us and tried to fit the pieces together. Nothing in Isa's life had prepared her for the world I had thrust her into. She could never even begin to guess at the origins of the man watching her, as his face tilted in sudden interest when I tended to her rather than dealing with him first.
He would need to be handled. Quickly.
"Go up to the room. Now," I ordered, keeping my voice quiet. "I mean it, Isa."
"But—"
"Now," I stressed quietly. She swallowed, nodding her head and curling her fingers around the key card. I couldn't afford to kiss her or show her any affection to soothe the discomfort tearing
