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At the end of my strength, I suddenly felt my weak body being carried through the cold by strong arms and curiously opened my eyes to see him directly above me, which briefly felt like a kind of hallucination.

Had I let go and this was the end of my life?

His black hair fell slightly over his face and I admired in fascination how individual pearls of sea water ran over his beautiful face. This sight warmed my heart in a whole new way and even if everything else around me seemed so dark and freezing cold, he was my own little fire that easily managed with its dangerous sparks all the evil thoughts at least for a moment to chase away.

Smiling and overjoyed, I closed my eyes again and wrapped my arms tighter around his neck so I could tuck my face into his chest for protection. I didn't care if I was dead or alive. I ignored the cold, ignored the sound of the waves and also the night sky above us.

Only his heartbeat kept me conscious and I listened to this rhythmic sound to enjoy his closeness with a sigh of comfort.

"It's about to get warmer," he whispered in my ear, pulling my body even closer to his chest, but then, all of a sudden, his warmth vanished and without it, chaos threatened to engulf me again.

Startled, I opened my eyes and stood unsteadily on my legs, where I suddenly noticed a strange man who supported me and gave me more than just a panicked heartbeat.

"Hola," he said calmly, and I widened my eyes in disbelief to take a quick look around. Only when I then recognized Emilio behind me, who was just about to take a blanket out of the trunk of a limousine, did I calm down a bit.

"Don't worry, everything's fine," I heard the man next to me and turned my gaze back to him in total confusion.

He seemed older than Emilio and at the same time you were afraid of his gloomy charisma, but somehow his eyes were so warm that you had to feel comfortable.

"Who are you?" I wanted to know with a trembling voice and he gave me a friendly smile, which I only noticed briefly before I looked into his eyes again, slightly panicked.

"Hector," he replied with a nice accent, and just as I was about to say something to him, I felt a hand on mine and winced violently.

I hastily pulled my hand to my chest and looked Emilio straight into his dark eyes, who immediately raised his hands apologetically.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he said calmly, but he didn't really know why I had flinched.

There was no panic in me and no fear towards him, but his touch seemed to trigger so many things in me that I just seemed overwhelmed by the overwhelming emotions.

"I'm not afraid of you," I breathed, glancing at Hector next to me, who was still smiling kindly. "But in front of him a bit. Does he always smile that creepy?"

"I actually never smile," said this Hektor and Emilio led me on my back to the limousine, so that Hektor disappeared from my thoughts and I restlessly took a seat on the dark leather.

Before Emilio closed the door, however, he suddenly crouched down right next to the open door and looked up at me so thoughtfully that I felt uncomfortable. It was as if he wanted to see through me, but I couldn't explain to myself what I was doing in this sea.

I didn't want to die... At least that's what I assumed now, and it kind of panics me again to think that it had only taken a few fleeting seconds to decide to let go.

"Can you swim?" he suddenly asked me in a dark voice and I nervously looked down at him to nod in agreement, which probably made him slightly angry.

"If you can swim, why didn't you swim?" he wanted to know a little louder and it irritated me that he seemed so upset. What was my life worth to him? Shouldn't he be with his fiancee?

"Answer me Isalie!"

He grabbed my wrist and looked at me intently, as if trying to force an answer out of me, but I felt so overwhelmed, so powerless, so weak that I started crying again, turning in his direction to insult me to drop his arms.

"I wanted to swim," I sobbed like an emotional wreck, digging my nails into his back, but he let it go without a word, without even a hint that he wanted to get rid of me. "But it was so good to just let go!"

He didn't respond to my words, but he didn't need words to make me feel better. His hands laid quietly on my back and when he also began to stroke it soothingly, I closed my eyes and snuggled my face into the crook of his fragrant neck.

"It's okay. We're going to leave here first," he whispered in my ear and pushed me back into the car with his muscular body, after which he sat down next to me, not letting go of me for a second.

The car slowly started to move, but I only noticed it casually, because all my thoughts revolved around Emilio, who held me tightly by his side and breathed very calmly.

"I can really swim," I repeated quietly, not knowing if I wanted to tell him or tell myself.

This whole night seemed so unreal... Like a bad dream that still made you feel good. It was really indescribable.

"And yet you didn't do it," I heard Emilio's flat voice and suddenly felt as if I had done something to him with my action, when he shouldn't really care if I disappeared into the sea or not ...

Thoughtfully, I lifted my head to look at him and when he suddenly returned my gaze, I felt these pleasant goosebumps spread all over my body while I parted my lips slightly to catch my breath.

Losing myself in its darkness was like magic. As if we were surrounded by a transparent veil that completely blocked out everything else, but what was even more interesting to me than my own feelings were his...

I looked at him, just as he seemed fascinated by my sight. I could feel his breathing slowly increasing and as I ran my fingers curiously down his arm, I averted my eyes from his to admire the goosebumps my touch created between all the tattoos.

"We're here!" Hector snapped me out of my stillness and the moment between us seemed to have passed.

Emilio got out, which I did the same, but as soon as I had both feet on the asphalt, he took my hand firmly in his again and led me safely through the night, only to stop in front of an apartment building.