The bar's warmth wrapped around Nerina like a fragile shield against the damp chill still clinging to her skin. She sat alone now, the translucent fabric of her aquamarine gown pooling gracefully around her slender legs. The soft flicker of candlelight caught the delicate pearls at her neckline, their faint glow pulsing with her quiet heartbeat. Outside, the storm that had brought her here whispered against the island's rocky shore, a reminder of the wild forces that still watched over her.
Across the room, Theo observed her with the calculating gaze of a man who measured every move, every breath. The cold steel in his eyes belied the stirring within an unfamiliar pull that tightened his chest and loosened the grip of control he clung to so fiercely.
He rose from his seat, his footsteps deliberate and slow, muscles taut beneath the rolled-up sleeves of his crisp white shirt. The scent of his cologne sharp, with a hint of sea breeze cut through the bar's musty air as he approached.
"You don't belong here," he said, voice low but edged with something closer to concern than scorn.
Nerina's eyes lifted, meeting his with a calm that surprised him. "Neither do you."
He blinked, caught off guard by her quiet confidence. "I'm here for business. To turn this island into something profitable."
"And I'm here for something priceless," she replied softly, the curve of a smile teasing her lips. "Something no amount of money can buy."
He studied her, the glow of those iridescent eyes reflecting a depth he had long buried. "You speak as if you know things I don't."
"Maybe I do," she whispered. "Or maybe I'm just guided by something beyond logic something the sea has shown me."
Theo's lips twitched into a bitter smile. "Magic and myths don't build empires."
"But sometimes they break them," Nerina said, leaning forward just enough for the faint scent of salt and orchids to brush against him like a whispered secret.
He swallowed hard, the space between them charged with a tension neither dared to name. For a moment, time stilled broken only by the soft crashing of waves outside and the distant roll of thunder.
"I've lost things," Theo admitted, voice rougher now. "Things I thought I'd never lose. Love was one of them."
Nerina's eyes softened, shimmering with unshed tears that felt like they belonged to the ocean itself. "Then maybe love is what will save you."
His hand, steady but reluctant, reached out and brushed hers fingers tracing the delicate curve of her wrist. The contact sparked something electric, a fragile bridge between two worlds.
"Don't get attached," he warned, the edge of his usual coldness returning. "I'm not the man you think I am."
"Don't get attached," he warned, the edge of his usual coldness returning. "I'm not the man you think I am."
Nerina looked away briefly, her gaze dropping to the rim of her glass. After a pause, she whispered, "I don't know what I think yet."
Outside, the storm began to calm, but the real tempest was only just beginning.