Her Mafia Daddy (Book 1) novel Chapter 38

Valentina POV

I was certain I would die that night. For the first few hours, I explored the yacht. The ship was amazing, with no detail or expense spared. I saw all the bedrooms, the living areas, the bathrooms. Only one room remained locked, and I assumed that was Rafael ’s office. The crew nodded politely, and I came to quickly realise they didn’t speak much English. When I asked for a snack, they brought me more prosecco.

I ended up back on the pool deck where I found bottles of water in the mini fridge. They brought me dinner, which was some amazing shrimp and lobster pasta dish that I wanted to eat every day for the rest of my life. Then I watched the sunset over the water, wishing I had a phone to call my sisters.

Wait, there had to be a phone on the boat, right? Rafael had taken a call at one point. Wandering to find a crew member, I asked about a phone, holding my hand to my ear. He shook his head.

“No, signorina. Sta nell’ufficio.”

“Ufficio?” He waved me forward and led me to the locked door near the master suite. Rafael ’s office. Shit. “Grazie,” I said, inwardly sighing.

Then something else occurred. “Television?” “Ah, sí.” He nodded and motioned for me to follow. In the master suite, a television was hidden in a cabinet. I clapped my hands, beyond giddy to be saved from total boredom.

“Is there a remote?” I moved my thumb to mime a remote. He lifted his hands and shrugged, his expression saying he had no idea.

Then he pointed to a drawer under the television. Ah, that made sense. I pulled open the drawer and I found a remote there, along with stacks of DVDs. Old movies? I examined the titles, hoping to recognize at least one.

They were all Italian porn. Jesus Christ, Rafael . One track mind much?

At least it would save me from silence… and maybe help me learn Italian. Especially dirty Italian, the kind Rafael would like. Not that I cared

what Rafael liked at the moment, that asshole. I chose one featuring two men and one woman.

The crew member disappeared, leaving me alone in Rafael ’s big bed. Rain pelted the glass, sheets of it coating the deck beyond. The wind was louder than I’d ever heard, a fierce roar so strong it was a wonder the roof didn’t blow off. I didn’t have any personal experience to compare this night with, but I couldn’t help but wonder if this was a tropical storm. Worse, a hurricane?

Fear turned my blood to ice. I couldn’t move, my body frozen in dread as the waves rocked the yacht. Should I be searching for a life preserver? I stared out at the black water and shivered.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t a great swimmer. I certainly couldn’t swim to shore, which meant I’d either drown or become shark food if the boat sank.

Oh, God. The waves seemed to be getting larger. Angrier. I tried to think of it like a roller coaster, a ride I had to endure for a little bit, but it didn’t work. The longer it went on, the worse it became.

At one point, my stomach revolted and I had to rush to the toilet to vomit. I had no one to hold my hair, no one to tell me this was all going to be okay. I was in the middle of a terrible storm all alone in a place I barely knew. If we died tonight, I would never see my sisters again. I would slip under the waves and disappear.

That scared me like nothing else. As the waves continued to batter the yacht, I clung to the bed and prayed, queasy and miserable. I could only wonder, had Rafael known the storm was coming? Was this his way of punishing me?