Read I Kill for Free Online

leaned his cheek against her shoulder and spoke without looking at her.
    ‘That’s not the problem. Roland has issues, like everyone, but he’s a friend and his heart is in the right place.’
    ‘Did you tell him?’ asked Arianna, running her fingers through his hair.
    ‘I didn’t want to talk about it over the phone. I think I’ll tell him and Ferguson in Barcelona next week. But I’ll make the official announcement at the end of the
season. I don’t want to be followed around by journalists any more than I am now.’
    The international press was having a field day with their relationship. Their faces were plastered on the front pages of all the gossip magazines, and reporters were making up all kinds of
stories about them.
    Jochen raised his head and sought her eyes. His voice was a whisper of emotion.
    ‘I love you, Arianna. I loved you even before I met you.’
    She didn’t answer, but silently watched the glimmer of light from below. Jochen felt a shudder of insecurity but he had already said it, and he couldn’t and wouldn’t go back
now.
     
SECOND CARNIVAL
    The man’s head emerges from the water not far from the prow of the yacht. Through his underwater mask, he spots the anchor chain and swims to it slowly. His right hand
grabs hold and he observes the boat, its fibreglass hull reflecting the full moon. His breathing, fed by his oxygen tank, is calm and relaxed.
    The five-litre tank on his back is not for long dives, but it is light and manageable and gives him enough air for his needs. He is wearing a plain black wetsuit, without logos or colours, thick
enough to protect him from the cold water. He cannot use a torch but the almost glaring light of the full moon is more than enough. Careful not to splash, he slides back underwater, following the
outline of the submerged hull with its long keel extending down towards the sea bed. He reaches the stern and grabs on to the ladder still hanging down.
    Good.
    No acrobatics needed to get on board. He loosens the rope around his waist. After affixing a snap hook to the ladder, the first thing he does is attach it to the other end of the hermetically
sealed box he is carrying. He removes the tank and the belt of weights and leaves them hanging on the ladder, a couple of feet below the water’s surface. He does not want to limit his
movements. He intends to take the two people above by surprise while they are asleep.
    He is about to remove his fins when he hears footsteps on the deck above. He abandons the ladder and moves to the right so that he is hidden by the wall. From his position in the shadows, he
sees the girl walk to the side of the boat and stand looking out, enchanted by the play of moonlight on the flat sea. For an instant, her white bathrobe is yet another reflection. Then, in a fluid
gesture, she lets it fall to the ground and stands naked in the light.
    From his position, the man sees her profile and admires her toned body, the perfect form of her small, firm breasts. His gaze follows the line of her buttocks that melts into her long, nervous
legs.
    With quicksilver movements, the young woman reaches the ladder and sticks out a foot to test the water.
    The man smiles, a tapered smile like that of a shark. A stroke of luck! He stealthily puts his scuba equipment back on and waits for her next move.
    He hopes the girl won’t mind the cold and will give in to the temptation of a moonlit dip in the sea. As if reading his mind, she turns and starts climbing down the ladder, gently slipping
into the waves, shaking as the cold water gives her goose bumps and firms her nipples.
    She swims away from the boat, out towards the open sea in the opposite direction from where he is waiting in his black wetsuit. The man’s silent movement below the water has the sinister
fluidity of a hunter starting to close in on his unwitting prey. The game is cruel and its stakes are life and death.
    He slips noiselessly below the surface and descends easily