Novel-novel oleh Maduka Chidera

“You got married again?”The question hung in the room.I blinked.For a second, I thought I had misheard her.Again?My eyes instinctively found Luciano.If the question had caught him off guard, he hid it well.His expression never changed.Only the slight tightening of his jaw betrayed that he’d heard every word.The elderly woman smiled warmly, completely unaware of the confusion she’d just created.Her gaze drifted from me back to Luciano.“Well?” she asked. “Aren’t you going to introduce her?”Luciano released a quiet sigh.“She isn’t my wife.”The woman frowned.“She isn’t?”“No.”Her eyes settled on me again, studying me with renewed interest.“Oh.”A slow smile spread across her wrinkled face.“What a shame.”Heat crept into my cheeks.“I think you’ve misunderstood…”She waved a frail hand dismissively.“I know what I saw.”I frowned.“You mean the way he threatens me every other hour?”A soft chuckle escaped her.“Old people notice these things.”Luciano remained beside her

“What part of stay in the car did you not understand?”His voice wasn’t loud.It didn’t need to be.The words alone rooted me to the polished hospital floor.For a moment, neither of us moved.Doctors and nurses hurried past, their footsteps echoing through the corridor, completely oblivious to the tension hanging between us.I folded my arms across my chest.“I was curious.”His eyes remained fixed on mine.No anger.No frustration.Just that same unreadable expression I’d grown to hate.“Curiosity?” he repeated.I lifted my chin.“Yes.”“You disobeyed me because you were curious.”It wasn’t a question.“You weren’t telling me anything.”“Exactly, you need to know only what i want you to know.”His answer came so effortlessly that my irritation flared.“You drag me across the ocean, refuse to tell me why we’re here, order me to stay in a car like some child, and you expect me to just listen?”“Yes.”I let out a dry laugh.“You’re unbelievable.”“So I’ve been told.”For a brief second

“You coming… or not?”For a brief moment, I considered saying no.Staying on the yacht.Walking away.Then reality settled in.I didn’t know where I was.I didn’t speak the language.With a sigh, I climbed into the SUV.The door shut behind me.A moment later, the cars pulled away from the dock.Silence filled the cabin.The city blurred past the tinted windows while Luciano remained focused on the road ahead, one arm resting against the door.Several minutes passed before he finally spoke.“I’m quite surprised.”I turned toward him.“Why?”“I wanted you to refuse.”“You did?”He nodded once.“Yes.”“Then why bother to ask me?”The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.“It was the polite thing to do.”I blinked.“Polite?”“It has another name.”He glanced at me.“Chivalry.”I couldn’t help letting out a small laugh.“You?”“What?”“Talking about chivalry after everything you’ve done?”His expression remained unreadable.“You just looked uncomfortable.”“So you gave me a choice?

“Put him on the phone now!”I turned toward the endless stretch of blue water.Luciano was several meters from the yacht, floating on his back as though he hadn’t a single concern in the world.The image irritated me.Less than twenty-four hours ago, he had ordered three men thrown into the ocean.Now he was swimming in it.I stepped closer to the railing.“Luciano!”The wind carried my voice away.He didn’t react.I sighed before raising his phone above my head.“Luciano!”This time I waved it.“Your phone!”His head turned almost immediately.Even from that distance, I watched his gaze settle on the device in my hand.I lifted it higher.“A woman wants to speak with you!”The relaxed look vanished.Without hesitation, he rolled over and began swimming toward the yacht with long, powerful strokes.He reached the ladder within seconds.One of his men moved to help him aboard, but Luciano ignored the outstretched hand, climbing the last few steps. Another man appeared beside him with

“What happens when I stop serving your purpose?” The question hung between us. The wind carried it across the deck. Luciano stood perfectly still. For one impossible moment, I thought he might answer. Instead… He walked away. Without a single word. The door closed behind him. I remained where I was. Alone. The yacht continued cutting through the darkness. And for the first time since stepping aboard… I wondered if the most dangerous man on this ship wasn’t the one hunting me. But the one who had saved me. I barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw them. The three bounty hunters. Their desperate pleas. I sat upright with a sharp breath. Sunlight filtered through the curtains, spilling across the cabin as though nothing had happened. For a long moment, I simply stared ahead. Had last night really happened? I pushed the blanket aside and stepped out of bed. The yacht swayed gently beneath my feet. When I opened the door, I stopped.

“I told you to leave.”The words had barely settled between us when another attacker lunged from Luciano’s blind side, a knife flashing beneath the moonlight.My heart stopped.“Behind you!”Luciano moved before I finished speaking. The attacker’s knife sliced through empty air.Luciano caught the man’s wrist, twisted sharply, and a sickening crack echoed across the deck.The knife clattered to the floor.Before the man could scream, Luciano drove his elbow into his throat.The attacker staggered backward, gasping.A single gunshot rang out.The man dropped.Luciano never looked at the body.“Stay down,” he ordered without turning toward me.Then he walked straight into the fight.I had never seen anything like it.Men twice his size charged him without hesitation.None lasted more than a few seconds.One swung a crowbar.Luciano stepped inside the strike, drove a knife beneath the man’s ribs, pulled it free, and shoved him into another attacker.A second rushed him from the left.Lu