I smile a little as the cousins banter back and forth and start to scan the people waiting to greet the new students. I drag my suitcase and heft my backpack, nerves jangling through my stomach. I wish I had more stuff, but the college only allows two bags and nothing else—everything necessary is provided, and other personal items can be shipped out over the coming weeks.
As soon as I step onto the solid wood, the rolling ship left behind, I feel like a tether holding me back to my old life snaps. I wonder if Lucy experienced the same thing: I’m truly here, truly trapped, and even though Dom’s right, the students are allowed trips to the mainland for weekend excursions, I still feel like Nathan’s idea of this place is more accurate.
It’s a secluded, dark, mysterious, lonely world all alone out in the middle of the ocean, and there’s nobody coming to save me when I finally find the bastard that killed my sister.
“There he is,” Dom says, pointing toward a mass of waiting people. Some of them are students, and others are clearly teachers and staff directing the new arrivals toward a registration booth set up on the beach.
He catches my eye right away: taller than everyone around him, with the same dark olive skin as Nathan and Dom, but with intense blue eyes and tousled light brown hair, like a sun-bleached version of the cousins. He’s good looking, almost absurdly so, and I notice several of the girls nearby are also staring at him and whispering. For a second, I’m too engrossed by his good looks to think about who I’m staring at, like my mind short-circuits and overloads.
Nathan starts forward, grinning huge.
“Emilio!” he calls out, waiving. “Brother!”
I slow to a stop, my mouth falling open as I suddenly recognize the boy the cousins hurry forward to greet. That snaps me from my stupor.
Emilio Bruno. Son of the notorious Bruno mafia. I’ve spent hours and hours obsessing about him ever since Lucy died, and now there he is, straight ahead. The boy I came here to find, the boy I’ve hated quietly in my room for weeks and weeks. Everything comes down to him, that asshole.
It takes me a few seconds to process what Nathan said, and it suddenly clicks.
Nathan is a Bruno. Which means Dom is also a Bruno.
I feel sick as the implication weighs me down. The two boys I’ve spent the last few hours chatting with, getting to know, almost beginning to think of as possible new friends, are related to the guy I came here to murder.
“Kaye, come on,” Nathan says, waving at me, and I nearly gag. Emilio stands with his arm around his younger brother’s shoulders, smirking with a confident grin and wearing a dark linen shirt unbuttoned down his chest, revealing a muscular torso and strong arms. His pants are lightweight and rolled up to his calves, and tattoos peek out beneath the edges of his clothes. He’s handsome, even more attractive up close and in person than he is in photos, and it’s like the world briefly revolves around this man, this young man standing at the end of a dock on a beach on a remote island in the middle of the ocean not all that far from where my sister fell to her death, and I want to scream in terror. I’m not ready for this, I’m not ready for it at all—
“Kaye!” Nathan says again and I make my legs move.
“We met on the ferry over,” Dom explains as I sheepishly approach, staring at Emilio the whole time. He looks back, head tilted with a dubious smile. It’s a gesture I recognize from Nathan, except Emilio makes it seem piercing while Nathan feels more care-free and joyous.
“Welcome to Saint Parras,” Emilio says to me with a nod. “I hope my brother and cousin didn’t make your trip a living hell.”
“No, they were, uh, they were nice.”
“I was nice, Dom was a gloomy asshole,” Nathan says, squeezing his brother’s shoulder. “Hey, bro, show me to the Calico House. I’ve been fuckingdyingto see the place for years.”
“We’ll get there,” Emilio says, still staring at me intently, his smile slipping. “What did you say your name was again?”
“Kaye,” I answer, forcing myself to meet his gaze. I even try to smile, but my brain is screaming at me to run. This is the grin of a predator, the stare of a killer, the bloody hands of a psychopath and a bastard. I need to turn around, get back on that ferry, and get as far from Saint Parras as I possibly can.
Under no circumstances should I let myself be trapped on an island with that monster.
“Kaye,” he repeats like he’s rolling the word around on his tongue. “Well, Kaye, it’s very nice to meet you. I’m going to take my little brother and cousin here to my place, but once you’re settled, you should come visit.”
“I’d like that.” I sound small, mousy. Since when did my voice quaver so much?
“There’ll be a party in a few days,” Dom says, finally loosening up. He runs a hand through his hair and breathes the salty air deep. “Calico House is amazing. I’ve only seen pictures, but still. You should see it, Emilio here runs—”
“She doesn’t care about all that,” Emilio says quickly, interrupting his cousin with an easy smirk. “Come on, boys. Let’s get you two settled. Kaye, I’ll be seeing you soon.”
Nathan and Dom both wave as the three young men turn and begin walking up the beach, lugging their bags along and ignoring the registration booth like they can’t be bothered, and laughing about something I can’t hear. A nice woman with gray eyes and frizzy hair comes over and gently directs me to the registration table, but all I can do is stare at Emilio’s retreating form as they reach a path that winds into the trees. Before they disappear into the dark, Emilio turns back, and our eyes lock.
He smiles and I swear something sharp and bright glints off his teeth. And then he’s gone, melting away into the night.
My heart’s racing and my hands shake as I sign in. I barely understand anything the welcoming party says as leaflets, pamphlets, maps, and more paperwork are shoved into my hands.
He was right there. Barely five feet away.
And I did nothing.