I felt the sun on my skin, but Vito's presence killed every bit of its warmth. He stood just a few feet away, and something in the way he looked at me made my stomach drop. My body wanted to run. Every instinct I had was screaming at me to move, to get away from him. But when I turned, all I saw was the ocean stretching out behind me, endless and grey. And ahead, the tree line was thick and wild and full of things I didn't want to meet.
There was nowhere to go. I was on an island, and I had no way off it.
He walked toward me slowly, like he wasn't in any rush, because he knew he didn't need to be. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and measured, each word landing with the kind of weight that doesn't need to be shouted to hurt.
"Anna," he said. "You can't escape."
I told myself later that I didn't believe him. But even in that moment, something deep in me already knew he was right.
