‘Surprise,’he signed as we passed the guestroom where the two bodyguards must have been asleep.
I didn’t ask whether he had gotten permission for our little impromptu outing or whether Elio and the others knew about it because, frankly, I didn’t care.
Excitement filled me at the thought of going against the rules and sneaking out with a guy I liked. It almost felt like I was a teenager in a romcom.
The SUV was waiting for us outside, already on and idling despite the headlights being turned off.
Nico opened my door for me and I slid into the passenger seat, my heart pounding in my chest as he got into the driver’s seat and we set off.
It wasstill dark, the sky lighting up with a bright full moon and a million dazzling stars—more than I would have ever seen at the estate because we were living so close to the city and the light pollution was horrendous.
Once we were away from the beach house, Nico flipped the headlights on and I could see the passing jungle as we drove along the coastline. Every bit about this tropical vacation was so different from anything I had ever experienced before and I was eating up every moment before I had to return to the cold Amante estate and back to my life as a veritable prisoner.
Nico’s warm hand capped my knee, bringing me out of my abysmal thoughts. I glanced over at him and found his eyes on me instead of in front of us.
I pointed two fingers at my eyes before pointing them at the road, trying to remind him that he was currently piloting a very large vehicle.
Nico’s mouth opened in a laugh as he did as he was told, though he still kept one hand on my knee, his thumb rubbing idle strokes as he continued our drive.
Twenty minutes later we were pulling into the harbor just as the sun was slowly starting to cause the sky to lighten from an inky black color to an almost bruised lavender.
‘Are we going on a boat?’I asked before accepting his help to get out of the SUV.
‘Yes,’he signed as he led me down the wooden dock until we stopped at a sailboat with‘La Bella’written on the side.
There was a man waiting for us and I watched him shake hands with Nico before he headed back down the dock with one last wave over his shoulder.
‘Isn’t he coming with us?’I asked as Nico took a step onto the pathway connecting the boat to the dock.
Nico just grinned and pulled me up with him.
The boat itself wasn’t huge—it only had two rolled up sails and a small cabin—but it was made up of warm woods that made me feel immediately comfortable as he deposited me on a bench at the back of the boat while he got to work.
This was definitely not Nico’s first time on a sailboat. He moved around the deck as if he’d done it a million times before, checking off things on a clipboard that had been hanging next to the door of the cabin.
Soon enough the engine of the boat kicked on and we pulled away from the dock, sails still rolled up as Nico navigated us away from land just as the first real rays of morning sun illuminated the water.
It was beautiful and I couldn’t help but get up and wander around the boat, peeking in at everything I could see.
At the front of the boat I realized that, instead of more seating, there was a net hanging from one end of the ship to the other over the still-dark water.
A finger tapped my shoulder and I turned to find Nico smiling at me as the ship continued forward.
‘It’s a C-A-T-A-M-A-R-A-N sailboat, that is why there are nets,”he signed, spelling out the name of the strange boat.
He stepped onto the net and for a moment I was sure it would break and send him head-first into the ocean below, but it held firm as he took my hand and led me onto it.
It was springy, the net holding both of our weights with ease.
‘You can sleep for a bit,’he told me as he helped me settle down, the net caressing my body and making me feel like I was being cradled.
‘Do you need my help?’he asked, pointing at the still rolled up sails.
But Nico just shook his head as he reached for the bag he’d given me earlier and pulled out a soft, fluffy blanket.‘No I can do this all on my own.’
Bundled up in the warm blanket that warded off the early morning chill, I found myself yawning.‘How did you learn how to do this?’
He grinned, his dark curly hair bouncing as he made his way back to the wooden deck of the ship.‘My parents taught me. Now rest.’
