Of Blood and Bone (The Minaldi Legacy #1)(57)
Author: Courtney Cole

Chapter Thirty-Five

Luca

The sea is a lonely place.  I had forgotten how much so and we’ve only been sailing for three hours.  My melancholy is already laughable.

“I don’t know how you talked me into this,” Adrian calls from where he is sprawled on the starboard side.  “Being out here indefinitely without any female company whatsoever?  It’s inhumane, Luca.  I deserve a raise.”  He laughs and props his feet on cushioned seat.  “But it is beautiful out here.  That’s a plus.”

“You’re a good friend, Adrian,” I tell him.  “You do deserve a raise.  Think of how many women you can charm when you have more money to spend.”  I smile even though my heart isn’t in it.  My heart is with a beautiful red-headed doctor.  I push the thoughts away.

“True,” he answers good-naturedly.  “And we’ve got a nice supply of Scotch, and that’s what is really important, no?”

I nod. “If only we had a cell signal, it would be perfect,” I tell him.

Adrian agrees.  “The satellite phone should be up and running soon.  I spoke with the company right before we set sail.  They assured me that they were working on the problem.”

“It makes me slightly uncomfortable being out here without a phone,” I admit to him.  “I know we have a radio and I realize that sailors have sailed for hundreds of years without cell phones, but still.”

Adrian laughs. “Pansy.”

“If by pansy, you mean that I’m accustomed to the comforts that the twenty-first century has to offer, then yes.  I guess I am,” I banter back.  Idle conversation with him is helpful for me.  It keeps my mind off of her.  Off of my heart, which vacillates between being numb and broken.

Jesus.  My own thoughts are making me sick.  Maybe I am a pansy.

And I have a f**king headache.

“I’m going below for more Scotch,” I tell him.  “Do you need anything?”

“Not unless you find a gorgeous blonde down there,” he answers back lazily, his eyes already closing.  “If you do, send her my way.”

I shake my head as I walk down the steps that lead to the living quarters below.  This sailboat is large, and it houses two small bedrooms, a galley area and a bathroom below.  I poke through the bathroom cabinet to find aspirin and come up empty-handed.  I don’t have any in my bags either.

Son of a bitch.  My head is throbbing.  I blame it on the emotional toll of the day, which would have given anyone a headache.

I duck into Adrian’s room. He’s always prepared.  I know he will have painkillers in here. He’s very accustomed to hangovers.

His room is neat, almost Spartan.  He has already put away his things and I quickly rifle through his toiletries, hunting for what I need.

What I find, though, is not aspirin.

My fingers stumble upon a leather bag.  It looks like a toiletry bag, so I open it.  And inside, I find several clear bottles.  One contains a black thick liquid and is capped with a dropper.  The other two contain clear liquid.  They also are topped with droppers.

Interesting.

But not surprising.  I’ve long suspected Adrian of using recreational drugs.  It’s just something that goes along with his carefree and adventurous personality.  But to bring them on the boat when it might incriminate me in case of a border check is annoying and I’ll have to speak to him about it.

“What the f**k are you doing in my room?” Adrian snaps.

I look up, his bag still in my hands.

His face is hard and rigid and I am surprised by the tone of his voice.

“I’m hunting for aspirin,” I snap back.  “But this is my boat, so technically, all of the rooms are mine.  What’s with the attitude?  Afraid I’ll find your little stash here?  What are you thinking?  I don’t want the kind of bad press that would come from a drug sting.”

I toss the bag back onto his bed.  “You need to get rid of it.  In fact, I’ll get rid of it.”

I snatch it up again, then push past Adrian to go up on deck. He clenches his jaw so tightly that I can practically hear his teeth grind as I pass.

I am halfway up the stairs before there is a sharp pain in the back of my head and everything goes black.

* * *

“Why did you have to snoop?”

I hear Adrian’s voice, but it is as though it is through a fog.

Did I black out again?  I think harder, trying to focus.

I did.  But it wasn’t from my curse.  I was hit in the head.  And there was only one other person on this boat.

I open my eyes and the light in the room is blinding.  Unnaturally blinding.

I’ve got a concussion.  That much is clear.  My wrists are bound to the back of a chair.  I wiggle them, but the knots are tight.

“What happened?” I ask, even though I already know.  For some confusing reason, Adrian hit me and bound me while I was unconscious.  The problem is, I don’t know why.  Has he sold me out to someone?   Has he kidnapped me for ransom?  Nothing makes sense.

“You were being rude,” Adrian snaps.  “You were going through someone else’s things.  We were taught better than that, Luca.”

“Adrian, I don’t understand what is happening,” I tell him.  And I don’t.  He laughs, finding my confusion funny.

“I’m a f**k up, that’s what,” he says, his face growing serious.  “I’m the first one in my family to f**k this up.  My father would be so f**king proud.”  He’s sarcastic now and I still don’t know what he is saying.

“You f**ked what up?”

I struggle to keep my eyes open, but the light is so bright that it hurts.

“This, you f**king idiot.” Adrian shoves my shoulder hard, hard enough that the chair I’m sitting in flips over on its side.  Since I am bound, I can’t right it.  I struggle with it for a moment, then lie still.  Adrian laughs.

“Look at you now,” he sneers.  “The great Luca Minaldi tied on the floor like a trussed up hog for slaughter.  Your father would be so proud.”

I am silent now, my confusion growing by the second, but I know that Adrian isn’t going to enlighten me.  I’ll simply have to wait.  My silence annoys him and he tries to bait me, but I ignore it.  He kicks my chair in agitation.