Behind the men with tablets stood a few beefy men in black shirts with the word ‘security’ written in English on them. As long as I made it past them, I’d be off this island. The last passenger in front of me passed through the gate, and I stepped up to the board badge checker.
“Are you bringing any alcoholic beverages aboard the ship Ms. De Luca?” the man asked in a monotone. His eyes only rose to read the badge though they lingered on the display my dress made of my breasts.
“Only what I drank,” I replied aping a New Jersey accent, slurred from drinking.
He rolled his eyes when I barked a chuckle but waved at the gate. As the chuckle subsided, I stepped through. The security guard in front of me glanced my way. When Alexei had led me through the streets I hadn’t noticed the attention this dress got from anyone but him. Now, I’d been reminded why I didn’t want to buy it in the first place. I’d really owe Katie after this.
The guard next to him stiffened and stared my way. I froze but heard the altercation behind me. Another man in a linen suit argued with the ticket taker, right in his face, screaming. The guards stepped past me to keep him out. I continued down the pier to the last tender.
The men who’d been approaching the waterfront hurried to their comrade. Oleg watched the Mafioso try and force his way past security. His head kept moving, gaze nearing me. Unless I ran all the way to the tender, I’d never avoid his detection. That’d get too much attention from security. Maybe they’d listen to the crazy man who was trying to get past them if I sprinted to the tender.
I continued my measured steps down the pier. Oleg froze when his eyes caught up to me. A refined thug, indeed, my disguise hadn’t fooled him for a second. I blew him a kiss and offered a wiggly fingered wave. He shook his head slowly and started back to their dinghy, phone in hand.
“Hurry up,” called a red shirted man at the stern of the last tender, “we want to get underway soon.”
Once I found a seat next to a charming retired couple I was about to learn way too much about in a five minute ride, the tender took off. At the next dock, Oleg untied the dinghy. Alexei jogged down the pier as the tender reached the cruise ship’s waterline port. This close, the ship towered over us, at least ten stories of windows and balconies above from my count.
My former captor and his refined thug pulled away from the dock as I stepped onto the cruise ship. With a wave to Barb and Davis from Spokane, I left my seat mates behind and speed walked through the corridors of the ship. The light tan walls and patterned carpets looked almost the same as the ship Katie and I had taken on our short cruise.
I followed the overhead signs to the stairs. Three flights up, I finally made it to the main deck. Dozens of passengers crowded the railings, getting one last look at Syracuse before the ship moved on to the next port. I’d have to figure out where that was.
It took at least a minute to squeeze through the crowd to get a good view of Alexei’s ship, only a few hundred feet from the perch I found myself on. My fingers squeezed the railing. Alexei hopped out of the dinghy before it even came to a stop at the back of his yacht. He flew up the stairs, three decks to the bridge. Pausing before he opened the door, his head swiveled my way.
At this distance, surrounded by other people, he’d never find me in the crowd. Even if he did, I was out of his reach… for the moment. There was no need to worry, but my stomach rumbled anyway. He’d seen me, I just knew it, felt his attention, even from so far away. It sent a shiver through my spine.
He lifted his right arm, fingers to his temple in a salute. I fought the smile that came to my face. He’d called me a worthy opponent and I’d proven him right. I’d won.
My exhilaration faded with the adrenalin now that I’d escaped both Alexei and the men who had tried to take me from him. He’d follow; a man like him didn’t give up after one failure. The other men hadn’t given up easily either. They’d called me by my mother’s maiden name too. I had so many questions and had just run from everyone who might answer them.
My stomach grumbled, not out of worry but hunger. I’d only had tea today. Alexei and I had been ambushed before he could show off the street food he’d been hyping up all morning. My hand tapped against the badge hanging from my neck. On that cruise I’d taken with Katie, our badges worked the vending machines, got us into the buffet. I could sure use a drink.
Before trying it on a person, I found a vending machine selling sodas. A wave of my purloined badge got me a coke and charged Nicola De Luca’s account $2. I added a few bills to that envelope I’d send after I got home as I sipped it, following the signs to the nearest bar.
Ten minutes later I sat at a small table on the balcony, a whisky sour in my hand. My eyes scanned the harbor for Alexei’s yacht. It had left the small harbor and floated outside it. They’d sailed too far out to identify him specifically, but I knew he’d be following us, maybe even find our itinerary and get there before we did. I’d have to keep an eye out. His little game hadn’t ended.
“Where have you been hiding this whole trip?” asked a voice to my right.
My head jerked to the side. The last dregs of my adrenaline had my fingers squeezing the glass, ready to strike. The man who spoke hadn’t noticed. He flashed a smile, and one of his thick but sculpted eyebrows rose with a nod.
“I just know I would have noticed a beautiful girl like you from across the ship,” he continued before extending his hand. “The name’s Anthony, though my friends call me Tone. You, you can call me whatever you want.”
“Gi… Nicola,” I replied and accepted his hand.
If I called him anything, it’d be Mr. Annoying Distraction. Oh, he wasn’t bad to look at. The tight white tee he wore under an open button up shirt showed off an impressive chest. He’d have been handsome if he’d shaved the short beard he wore, and lost about 90 percent of the gel in his hair.
His pick-up line needed work too, though it might have been the truth. I’d only been on the ship for a few minutes and he’d already found me. Maybe he had a ‘beautiful girl’ radar.
He gave my hand a light squeeze. I half expected him to kiss it but he let go in a socially acceptable timeframe. Unfortunately, he dropped to the seat across from me right after.
“So, you going to answer my question?” he asked, pausing to sip from a beer bottle. “How have I not seen you before? I mean it's a big boat, but not that big to hide a beauty like you for five days.”
“You got me,” I replied before pausing to consider an excuse.
As annoying as his arrival had been, he knew a few things I wanted to know. He’d just shared how long the cruise had been. I needed more intel so I had to keep him around until I got it. Now why would he have never seen me on the ship?
“I’m a writer,” I continued. “Crazy as it sounds, I sometimes book a cruise to force myself to sit down in front of my laptop and just type. I lock myself in my cabin and type away. No wifi, I’m not paying those prices, so no chance of me wasting my time on Insta. I finished my draft today. I might even head to shore at our next port, get my money’s worth now that I’ve got my work done.”
“Congratulations!” He slapped his hand against the table. “Too bad you didn’t finish it earlier, the sights in Syracuse were fantastic, and so were the beer prices. Me and the bros, we kind of got kicked out of a bar. Too loud. If you're looking for company when the ship gets to Malta, I’d love to show you a good time.”
