Eyes So Blue I Drown

54| Underwater Kiss

ARABELLA

Lucius suddenly holds my hair from behind and pulls, "Look, what condition your girl is in" he pauses for serious two seconds and points at Luca, "Wait, is that fear I see in your eyes Luca?"

"Don't hurt her" Luca grunts through gritted teeth and a pained expression, "She's had enough"

"I'm not hurting her, yet" Lucius tells, "You are my dear brother, see I didn't even touch you today?"

Dear brother?

"What's going on here?" I ask Luca while gasping in pain, "Your own brother?"

"Oh I like it. You are still not aware of so many things" Lucius lets out a loud laugh again and pushes me forward to the ground, "Luca is my brother, we have same blood. And will have a same story too soon... to remember our whole lives"

"I said keep her out of this" Luca's voice raises along with anger in voice.

It doesn't answer why did he do this. What can be the possible reason behind all this? Wealth? Hate? Revenge?

Lucius' target was not only Romano but Luca as well. And maybe it was me too, if I think clearly.

"He blamed me for the death of our parents" Lucius says and looks back at Luca with rage, "Even though he himself was supporting the murderer of them"

I nod in silence, looking at Romano, "Did you try telling him that? He might be unaware of this but did you try to stop him?"

"Do you think he would have listened to me? After he just threw me out of house saying those hideous things?" Lucius bites back.

"Luca wasn't aware of it all. You were. You're to be blamed for it as much he is" I say, getting his blood boiled up. It's scary how I'm not aware of what should be my next step. What I'm supposed to do?

"I'm not" Lucius shakes his head, his voice serious than ever, trying to protect himself from a blame that probably feels like a burden to him.

"He..." Lucius' teeth greets harder while pointing at Luca, "He made me go through so, so much."

"My love died. But all he cared for was this Romano. He needs to feel what's it like... he needs to know what I went through" his voice breaks, and he keeps stepping back, away from us. I gulp, pulling out my gun when I spot the remote in Lucius's hands.

Pointing the gun at him, I expect fear in his eyes, but there's none. He's not scared of death.

Behind Lucius, Julian works to remove the bomb from Tess with Gabriel's help. His main motive is to see Luca and Romano suffer, which explains why I and Tess got this thing attached to our bodies.

Stepping back, I keep the gun aimed at Lucius. I wonder if shooting him will stop the bomb from activating. I glance at Luca, feeling helpless. He gestures behind me, and I turn to see the lake's edge.

For a moment, I'm captivated by the water, its eeriness growing the more I stare. I shift my attention back to Lucius, gun steady.

"Stop. It's between us. Do anything you want with me, take my everything" Luca pleads, struggling to stand.

"That's what I'm doing..." Lucius replies, holding the remote high.

Luca moves toward me, despite my silent warnings. Why is he risking himself while he is unable to even walk straight?

Time feels suspended. I'm at a loss. Closing my eyes, I gulp, accepting the harsh reality.

The moment hangs heavy, I take two more steps behind and fall back before finally pulling the trigger at Lucius which hit his chest. My heart's pounding as I slip back into the lake.

The water's cool, a bit scary, but it wraps around me like a strange comfort. Evening shadows make everything look darker, scarier.

I'm going down, and the water's pressing on my ears. Panic kicks in, and I try to swim up, but the deep, dark water won't let me go. The fear of drowning is really scary and my biggest fear.

It's coming true.

Then, something weird happens. I start feeling strangely calm.

The water, once frightening, now feels like a gentle hug. The sounds from above fade away, and all I hear is my own heartbeat and the quiet underwater noises.

Lucius must have pressed the button as I missed the target and shoot his chest instead of his head. It would have quickly made him loose consciousness, but I missed it.

My vision blurs, and the moonlight makes everything dreamy. The fear I had turns into a kind of acceptance.

The lake, my old enemy, now feels like a friend in my last moments. As darkness gets stronger, my senses get sharper. I can feel the water pressure increasing against my skin.

In this strange moment, I start to accept that I won't make it.

The fear of water is almost gone, maybe. My acceptance of what's coming gets stronger.

As I sink deeper into the dark water, a sudden presence above startles me. Someone's approaching, and in that moment, hope flickers.

It must be Luca, I think. Who else could it be?

I lost hope to be saved, but here he is, coming for me, injured.

When he reaches me, he holds me close, providing a safety I never thought I'd feel again.

My lungs struggle for air, he pulls me upward. In this critical moment when light reaches us, I manage to glance at his face--his handsome face.

I desperately try to look into his eyes, hoping to capture the reassurance I seek. But my lungs are giving in, and the fear of not making it, intensifies.

It dawns on me that since seeing him again in Italy, I haven't felt his lips. I touch his face.

The fear of losing the chance to touch him like this again grips me.

Pulling him by his shoulders, I press my lips against his while getting pulled up. In the struggle for breath, the kiss is passionate and desperate. Luca doesn't hesitate a second before giving in too.

Surprisingly, it hits me-these are the same lips I kissed back then in LA. You're so, so real for this, Luca. I don't know what to feel about this.

A flood of memories rushes back, and for that fleeting moment, the struggle for life becomes entwined. I don't realise when I slowly begin loosing my consciousness. Dead or fainted. Drowned or saved.

Julian and Fantino pull me to the ground, and I cough violently. My internal organs feel like ripping apart while I cough.

Tess's cries draw my attention, and I turn my head to see Romano being beaten by Luca's men until he begins to give up.

Luca quickly presses on my stomach, and I spit out water. "Stop them," I manage to mumble, "Leave him"

~~~

A/N: A/N: This book ends here, I know it's kind of incomplete right now with such ending and no epilogue, but I don't really feel like writing more of it. In my mind, this is where Arabella and Luca's story ended. Maybe I'll extend this book upto 100 chapters later, I'll see.