Page 4 of Depths of Desire (The Emerald Dagger Mafia #3)

Nico’s tone is casual, but his body is taut, ready. "We get off. And we get off now. Because even though you’re a paying passenger, this isn’t going to go over well. I don’t know if the captain put you on the manifest, and my guess? Probably not."

A distant sound pricks the air. Footsteps. Heavy. Moving fast.

Nico adds, "People are coming. Right now."

My stomach bottoms out.

Nico sidesteps, pressing himself into the shadows. "You’re going to open the door. It’ll cover me. You’ll find out what’s going on. If anything happens, I’ll be right here."

And then?—

Thump. Thump. Thump. A knock rattles the door.

I freeze.

Nico gives me a look. One that says, move .

I take a breath, force myself forward, and crack the door open.

The captain stands there, his face set like stone. I recognize him from our Zoom call. "You need to hide."

"What?" I blink. "Why do I need to hide?"

His jaw clenches. "Not important."

I scoff. "It bloody well is important! Why the fuck should I hide? I paid you to be on this ship!"

The captain’s eyes flash. "Yes, you paid me. But you didn’t pay anyone else. And now, I need you to hide."

"But I don’t want to hide."

His expression turns hard. "I didn’t ask what you want. I’m telling you—hide. Now. Come with me, and I’ll show you where."

Panic slams into me like a wrecking ball. "No, wait. What’s going on?"

The captain shakes his head. "I don’t know. No one warned me. It’s some sort of customs boarding. No clue what they’re looking for, but I can’t have you lingering about. Grab your stuff and come with me."

"I can find my own place to hide," I snap, my hands shaking.

A voice cuts through the tension. "Captain!" Someone yells from down the hall. "We need you on the bridge. Now."

The captain grits his teeth, then leans in. "Find a place to hide. If they find you, I swear to God, I’ll kill you myself."

I swallow hard. "Okay. Yeah. Fine. Sure."

With that, he turns on his heel and storms off.

I slam the door shut, my pulse thrumming. "Now what?"

Nico’s already moving. "Now we get off this ship."

"How?" My voice rises. "How the hell are we getting off if Customs is here?"

He doesn’t answer. Just pulls out his phone and starts texting.

"Well? What good is that going to do?" I demand.

"It’s going to get us help."

"Help? What kind of—" I stop mid-sentence as he glances up, his expression unreadable.

"You know how to swim, right?"

My stomach twists. "Why?"

Nico’s lips curl. "Because you’re about to get quite wet, sunshine."

My whole body locks up. "Oh, hell no. I am not jumping into the ocean."

His smirk vanishes. "This ship is compromised. There’s a dead body. If I leave you behind, my brothers will kill me. And if you stay, you won’t make it across the Atlantic in one piece."

I shake my head, backing up. "No. No way. We can hide?—"

"No, we can’t."

He moves so fast I barely register it. One second, I’m standing there alone, the next—his fingers close around my wrist, his grip unyielding.

"I don’t care what you want, sunshine," he murmurs. "I told you. You don’t have a choice."

A shiver runs down my spine. He’s right.

I’m stuck.

My lips part, but the words die in my throat.

Nico watches me, his eyes dark, assessing. "Let’s go."

I don’t move.

His gaze drops, lingering on the frantic rise and fall of my chest before flicking back up. Something in his expression shifts—an edge of satisfaction, of certainty.

He already knows he’s won.

"Fine," I grind out. "But don’t tell my parents where I am."

His smirk is slow, lethal. "We’ll see how it goes."

And just like that, I grab my bag and follow him into the darkened passageway.

Within five minutes, I’m completely lost once again.

Nico moves like he owns this ship, navigating the maze of narrow hallways and metal staircases with practiced ease, while I stumble behind him, my heart hammering into my sternum. Every shadow feels like a threat. Every distant voice sends a chill down my spine. And then, suddenly, we step outside.

The cool night air slams into me, a stark contrast to the suffocating warmth of the ship’s interior. The scent of salt and diesel clings to the wind, and the deep black of the ocean stretches endlessly beyond the deck.

I freeze. My fingers curl into the metal frame of the door. "How can we be out here? Isn’t this where people are?" My voice is barely above a whisper, thick with disbelief.

Nico doesn’t falter. "Yes, this is where people are." His voice is steady, unshaken, like none of this fazes him. "Stick close to me, and we’ll get through."

He doesn’t wait for my agreement. He just takes my hand, his grip firm, commanding, sending a bolt of electricity straight up my arm. My heart stutters, but I push the feeling down, focusing instead on survival.

We peek around the corner. A tight knot of men clusters in the middle of the deck, their voices clipped, their body language tense.

A few of them glance toward the bridge, the glow from the ship’s navigation lights cast harsh shadows across their faces.

More men arrive, their movements hurried, restless.

A couple of officers from the Guardia Costiera stand at the edge of the chaos, their arms crossed, stances wide to offset the movement of the stalled ship.

Their presence is like a storm brewing on the horizon.

Nico doesn’t hesitate. He pulls me in the opposite direction, moving swiftly, silently. His movements are controlled, purposeful, like he’s done this before.

We reach the first set of containers and slip between them.

The scent of rusting metal and saltwater thickens the air, clinging to my skin.

The corrugated container walls are cold beneath my fingertips, the dampness seeping into my bones.

The wind picks up, whipping against me, sending my hair flying around my face.

My pulse pounds as I try to focus. We’re headed to the front of the ship. The bow. My brain latches onto trivial thoughts, clinging to them like a lifeline against the rising tide of panic.

Yeah. The bow. The front of the ship. That’s where we’re going. But what the hell are we going to do once we get there? My breath comes too fast, too shallow, each inhale sharp and desperate. I try to slow it down, but fear wraps around my ribs like a vise, squeezing tighter with every step.

We reach the end of the containers, and Nico leads me to the railing. The ocean stretches below, dark and endless, its surface rippling under the moonlight. The drop is dizzying.

"Okay,” he says as he turns to face me. “You’re going to have to climb down the anchor chain."

His voice is calm, but there’s an edge to it now—urgency, steel.

I blink. "I’m sorry, what now?"

"The anchor chain," he repeats like it’s the most normal thing in the world. "You’re going to jump over the railing and grab hold of it."

I stare at him, my stomach plummeting. "Are you out of your freaking mind?"

"Look at the chain," he says, gesturing toward it. "It’s wider than you are. You’re not going to miss. You’ll land on it, slide down, and there’s a boat waiting. You’ll hit the water, and then you’ll swim. Don’t worry, I’m coming right after you."

"Nah. Nope. Not doing it. You cannot convince me this is a good idea."

Nico exhales, his patience thinning. "Do you want to go to prison?"

I blink again, my brain scrambling. "I’m sorry, what now?"

"Do you want to take your chances with them and the dead body? Or with whatever the hell they’re smuggling on this tub?"

I glare at him, my pulse hammering. "What are they smuggling? Is that why you’re here? Or are they smuggling for you?"

Nico’s expression hardens. "None of your fucking business. And right now, we’re getting off this ship."

"But I have my stuff?—"

Nico picks up my bag and, with zero hesitation, hurls it over the side.

I watch, stunned, as it disappears into the night.

A slow, burning rage ignites in my chest. "I fucking hate you."

He smirks. "Hate me all you want, but we’re getting off the ship. Jump down onto the chain, and then I’ll show you. If you slide a little, it won’t be so bad."

"Oh, sure. Won’t be so bad. How about this? You go first, and then I’ll get you."

His grin is sharp. "Okay. Fine."

And then—he jumps.

Effortless. Smooth. Like it’s nothing. He grips the chain as if it’s second nature, balancing with ridiculous ease. He looks up at me. "Now jump."

Every instinct in my body screams run. So, I do. I spin away from the railing, my heart slamming against my ribs, and bolt back toward the containers. I wedge myself between two rows and press my back against the cold metal, my breath ragged.

Jumping onto some damn chain? He’s out of his freaking mind. And I’m not swimming, either. I creep to the edge, peering around the corner. The men on deck are still arguing, their faces drawn tight with tension.

A hand clamps over my mouth. I try to scream, to fight, but I’m yanked backward, my body slamming into something solid.

"Sunshine," Nico murmurs, his breath warm against my ear. "Did you really think I was going to leave you behind?"

My entire body locks up. "But I?—"

"I don’t care." His grip tightens, his voice edged with amusement and irritation. "You’re coming with me."

I glare at him, my body rigid with defiance.

He clamps his hand over my mouth again. "I don’t want to hear it. You do this, or I’ll make sure those men know you’re here."

I narrow my eyes. He would.

I grit my teeth. "Fine." The word is bitter, sharp.

We weave through the containers again, shadows stretching long around us. Then we’re back inside. Another maze of hallways whizzes by as Nico leads us deeper into the ship. By the time we stop, my legs are shaking, adrenaline burning through me like fire.

“Why are we here?” I gasp, trying to suck in as much oxygen as possible.

Nico grips the handle. "This is a door. It’s closer to the waterline. You won’t have far to fall before you hit the water. When I open it, an alarm is going to go off."

My stomach drops. "And then?"

"And then we jump. No matter how high this is, we’re landing in the water. Then we swim. Fast."

A loud boom shakes the ship.

"What the hell?" I whisper, my chest tightening.

Another boom. The ship groans, metal straining under the force of something I don’t understand.

Nico mutters a curse and yanks the door open. The ship lurches violently. It tilts left. I have no idea if that’s port or starboard. I should know these things, but my brain can’t process anything except the overwhelming certainty that this is bad.

"Okay, we have to go. Now."

"But—"

"This ship is going down. When I tell you to jump, you jump."

"You know what? I’m really not great with heights, and I think?—"

Nico doesn’t give me a choice.

His fingers tighten around my wrist.

One step. Two.

And then he shoves me out the door.

The wind screams past me.

Cold, dark water rushes up to meet me.

I hit the surface hard, the impact robbing me of air.

And then Nico is there, pulling me up, his grip unrelenting.

I cough, gasping. "What did you do that for?"

“Swim, princess. Swim as fast as you can, or we’re going to get sucked under when the ship goes down.”

There’s another large explosion. I let out a yell as fire shoots from the gaping hole on the side of the ship.

“Swim!” Nico yells.

He doesn’t have to tell me again. I start swimming for all I’m worth.