Does It Hurt?

Who am I? It’s a question I stopped knowing the answer to a long time ago, ever since I ran from that house with nothing but the clothes on my back, leaving everything behind, even my name. Since then, I’ve been surviving however I can, stepping into borrowed lives and stolen identities, losing myself in people who never mattered. Until him. Under a crashing waterfall, he made me forget who I was completely, and somehow, I walked away carrying his name instead. Enzo Vitale, a man as mysterious as the ocean he loves, drawn not to its beauty, but to the predators lurking beneath the surface, creatures that mirror something dark within him. I didn’t realize I was just another thing to be lured in, caught in his trap as he sought revenge for something I barely understood, and if I had known where it would lead, I would have run before ever stepping foot on his boat.

But it’s too late for that now. A violent storm has left us stranded, forced into hiding inside a crumbling lighthouse, where danger feels closer than ever. He hates me almost as much as he wants me, torn between hurting me and keeping me close, but he might not be the worst threat on this island. The caretaker who watches over this place has secrets of his own, and now, who I am no longer matters, only whether I’ll make it out alive.