"...I wasn't looking for you

yet I found you

and you became my favorite coincidence..."

heo Sinclair's POV

"Monsieur, I wouldn't recommend it."

I kept my eyes on the dark clouds threatening to pour their contents. It will pour heavily. But it's just rain. I always swim when I come here and I'm not going to flake out because of a little rain.

"Thank goodness no one is asking for your opinion." I told my butler.

"Monsieur, what if you drown?"

"Then the chateau is all yours!"

I walked into the cold water, watching the wild waves before I began swimming towards the heart of the wild waves.

I used to serve the navy. Learning how to swim is mandatory and the conditions are not like those of a swimming pool. Seven years later, I have become accustomed to this. I wasn't always a good swimmer. I was around fifteen years old when I learned how to swim. The swimming instructor was patient with me. When I joined the navy, I got better and confident enough to swim in such waters.

It's already raining.

It is better to be under this rain than to be in Marseilles. My plans are not going well. My fiancee is playing games with me. I have given her ample time to get her affairs in order so that we marry but she's full of excuses. I don't understand why she's not taking advantage of the divorce to free herself from him. There are millions of women who would play her part but one thing I like about Margaux Deveraux is how cold she is. She is incapable of loving anyone or anything. It works for me because I'm just as cold. I don't know how to love and I don't want to love. Our union will work perfectly.

The rain is easing. I have swam for quite a distance from my private beach. There are four homes along this stretch of the beach, each with a private beach access. Mine is the second or the third depending on which side one is counting from. But from the lower side, mine is the third. The fourth one is the most elevated one. These four houses were on sale at the same time. I was bidding for the one on the cliff. I lost the bid and had to settle for the one I bought.

"What the hell!" I exclaimed when I saw something fall from the top of th cliff. Feeling drawn in that direction, I began swimming. I stayed under, where it seems calmer than surface. It's a person... a woman. She's sinking. I swam faster, inching closer. I wrapped my arms around her and kicked my legs to propel us both upwards.

I can't go back under. I steadily swam with one arm, the other holding her. I swam all the way to shore where my butler is waiting.

"Help me!" I shouted.

He hurried to assist me. We lay the woman on the sand. I pushed the dark hair away from her face. She has such pale skin, almost white. I pinched her nose and covered her mouth with mine. I gave her two breaths and watched her chest. There's no rise. It's time to begin chest compressions. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven..." I went all the way to thirty and pinched her nose again. Two breaths. Compressions. "One, two, three, four, five, six..."

I pinched her nose. Two breaths. "Come on! One two three..."

"Monsieur, there's no pulse. Perhaps she's dead. Monsieur!"

"Shut up! Twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine, thirty." I pinched her nose, two breaths. Nothing. Is she dead? She can't be. I can't stop. "One, two, three, tour, five, six, seven, eight, nine...." I kept counting to thirty. I pinched her nose. I gave her the first breath, I gave her the second. Nothing.

I'm losing the resolve to try. I was about to get up when she suddenly took a breath. I immediately lay here sideways. She coughed out a lot of water. She lay on her back, her eyes wide.

They are so blue!

"Mademoiselle, miss..." I held her jaw in my hand. "Can you hear me?" She nodded. "My name is Theo. You're all right. I'm going to take you to the house."

I scooped her up in my arms and hurried to the house, almost running. My butler ran ahead of me. I brought her close to the fireplace. He spread a blanket. "Get me dry clothes! Go!"

"Miss, you're clothes are wet. I have to undress you." I ripped the pink dress without waiting for her consent. There's blood coming from the side of her head. I think she's confused. She's not looking at anything in particular. "Don't close your eyes! Listen to me! Listen to my voice!

She's badly bruised. Dark patches are around her torso, some are an ugly dark purple.

"Oh dear!" My butler exclaimed. "The Sea certainly didn't do that to her."

I took the clothes from him. "Turn away."

"Oui monsieur." I took off the rest of her clothing. I tamed my eyes from stating anymore as I dressed her in my flannel shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

"Socks? Put socks on her feet. Dry them first." He worked quickly as I wrapped a towel around her head. "Do we have a blow dryer?"

"No monsieur. You do not own one." He answered.

"First Aid kit." He brought one over at my request. "My dear, don't close your eyes. You may be concussed. Stay with me, the worst has passed. My name is Theo. Can you tell me your name?"

She blinked slowly. "K-K-Ke..." She is trembling. "K-K-Keira."

"That is a beautiful name Keira. It's lovely to meet you." I brought her head to rest on my lap. I looked at the cut on the side of her head. "Keira, you're bleeding. There's a cut on the side of your head. I'm going to try and stop the bleeding. Okay?"

"Okay."

"It will pinch but be brave for me."

I went on to treat the open wound. I got trained as a medic while I was in the navy. I am not a doctor but I can close the wound. She still needs to go to hospital.

My butler covered her with two blankets all the way to her neck.

"Shall I prepare hot soup?"

"Yes please." I'm also starting to tremble from the cold. "Two bowls. Keep the fireplace burning."

"Oui monsieur."

After closing the wound, I covered her hair in a dry towel. I lay her head on a pillow. "Keira, where did you come from? Do you live around here?"

She's beautiful! There's a vulnerability to her that is calling to me to protect her.

"Y-yes. I... I'm s-staying... Where am I?"

"In Santorini. You're in an exclusive neighborhood known as Cliff Rise. Does that sound familiar?"

"No."

"Are you still cold?"

"Yes."

I got a third blanket. Maybe I should get in the blankets with her and transmit some body heat to her. I did just that. I drew her close to me. There's a faint sweetness to her scent. It's faint but it smells sweet, like a dessert. "Do you come from the house on the cliff?"

"Y-yes." She answered.

"I saw you falling."

"You s-saved m-me."

"And you fought to breathe again. Let's just call it team work."

She smiled fleetingly. I got lost in her eyes. So lost I barely noticed my butler with a tray. "The soup, monsieur."

He came down, setting the tray on the side. "Thank you. Keira, please have some." I scooped it on the silver spoon in and brought it to her mouth.

How did she fall into the water?

Nick's POV

It is official that Bruce is a better swimmer.

We have made it to shore. We are on someone's private beach. The house is not far off. We could not swim back to my place because the rise of the cliff will deny us access to the house. We would have swam for much longer, around the cliff to the low point where a yacht is docked.

"Let's ask for some help." Bruce suggested.

But before we could move, a man cane from the house, walking towards us. He looks concerned.

Bruce started chuckling as he got closer. "This guy is your neighbor?" He asked me.

"Who is he?" I asked.

"Sinclair."

"St Patrick." They shook hands like they know each other.

I have heard of Sinclair. The billionaire circle isn't that big. His name is behind a successful shipping business based in Marseilles. I have never met him.

"What are you doing here?"

"My friend and I... Hold on. This is Nick. Nick, this is Theo, a good friend."

A good friend? My best friend has a good friend I don't know about? I'm not surprised. His military career has given her m friends I don't know about.

We stared at each other and mutually didn't shake hands. Bruce made an awkward expression that lasted seconds.

"What are you doing in the sea? It's cold."

"We are looking for someone."

"Little Mermaid?" He suggested and they burst out laughing.

"It's not a joke." I broke my silence. They both stiffened a little. "I'm looking for a young woman. She's about 5'7", long hey black hair and stunning blue eyes almost the color of sapphires. Have you seen her on your property?"

"What is her name?"

"Keira." I answered. "Have you seen her?"

"How would she wind up on my property?"

I almost responded rudely when Bruce intervened. "Nick lives up there. We suspect she fell into the water and probably swam her way to your beach."

"She did fall into the water." He answered. "I saw it. She was wearing a pink dress, no?"

I left Kei in a nightgown. She was happily having her breakfast. It concerns me that he's using the word 'was' to talk about her.

"Is she dead?" I asked.

At this point I just want to know.

"She drowned." He told me flatly.

I think my heart has stopped. I plastered my hand on my left side trying to breathe but it seems like I'm suffocating. For a moment I lost both of them to a sound ringing in my ears. I turned around and threw up a lot of water on the wet sand besides me. Bruce patted my back. "Nickolas." The ringing in my ear ceased. I can hear again and my heart is resuming it's rhythm slowly. "Nickolas, are you all right?"

"What did he say? Is she dead? She drowned?" I asked Bruce.

"Follow me." Sinclair started walking towards the house. Bruce willed me to move, one step after another until we reached the house. I don't want to see Keira dead. I will die from shock. If he presents me with a corpse I'll die too.

A different man offered us towels. We followed Sinclair into a room that appears to be a living room. Right there at the base of the fireplace is a human form covered in a thick blanket. My knees almost buckled as I slowly made my way towards her falling on my knees. She is heavily wrapped in multiple blankets with the fire giving off enough heat to warm her.

"Keira." I whispered feeling relieved to see her squirm slightly. She is alive! She is alive! I pressed a kiss on her forehead. "I'm so happy to see you mia amore. I'm so happy to see you. You said she drowned."

"I saw her fall. By the time I got to her and swam back to shore, she wasn't breathing. I resuscitated her for a few minutes. No response. I was ready to call it when she took a breath."

"I need to take her a doctor. Just to be sure."

"I already examined her."

"Are you a doctor?" I questioned his qualification.

"I used to be a naval medic." He answered with his blue eyes narrowed at me. "She's fine except for a possible concussion."

"Keira?"

"Hi Nick." She spoke in a rough low tone. "He saved my life. It's okay. He saved my life."

And I endangered it by leaving her alone for Margaux to find.

"Thank you." I forced myself to speak. "Thank you for saving her "

"Let me get you some dry clothes." He spoke again his voice laced with a French accent. He left Bryce and I.

My best friend got closer and smiled at Kei. "It's fangs!" She chuckled.

"It is." Bruce responded. "I'm glad you're alive Keira. This man was about to follow you to the after life."

The three of us will laugh about this some day, but not today. Today I almost lost her. I peeked into the blanket. She is dressed. "Did you dress yourself?"

"No. He dressed me."

"Don't throw a fit." Bruce told me. "I would have done the same thing. I'm sure he was a gentleman."

"Was he?" I asked Keira.

"Yes he was." She confirmed.

He returned with dry clothes. "Who is she to you? Your sister?" He asked me.

"The woman I love." I answered sincerely. What else can I call her?

Both Bruce and Keira look surprised. It just came out of me, not at all planned. I have fallen in love with her.

"My butler will attend to you. Excuse me." He left.

Bruce and I changed into the dry clothes, discarding the wet ones. The shirt is a little tight but beggars aren't choosers. It will have to do.

I gathered Keira into my arms and kissed her lips as I breathed out warm air against her cheeks. "Hey beautiful... hey, I'm here." I spoke softly. "It's going to be okay, I'm here."

"I'm sorry I left the house." She whispered.

"Wherever you go I will always find you mia amore. I will always find you."

She struggled to smile.

I ma be freezing but her smile warms up my heart.

The chauffeur presented us with three bowls of soup. "Feed her this. It will warm her up." He offered it. "You can take some as well."

I held Keira slowly scooping a spoonful of the thick soup. I blew on the spoon to cool it down slightly before guiding it to her mouth. My hands are shaking. Bruce has the same problem too but he seems happy to be eating something.

That was a close call.

I almost lost her.