A Vow to Forget

Prologue

THE gleaming black yacht cut swiftly through the green waters of the Mediterranean Sea, slowing as it approached an exclusive island of Ibiza. With a satisfied smile, Elizardous Zade handed the wheel back to the Captain.

Siguro naman panahon na rin upang siya naman ang magpahinga. Sa hinaba-haba kasi ng kanilang paglalayag ay ngayon lamang unti-uting umepekto ang pagod sa kaniyang katawan.

"Now it's your turn, just call me if something goes wrong and please secure everything."

Wearing only black shorts and soft shoes, he walked out onto the deck. He cast a fleeting glance at the bustling tourist-filled waterfront of town, before turning his attention to the crew as they secured the ship to its mooring. Satisfied everything was secure, he let his dark gaze wander admiringly over the classic old yacht berthed alongside his. It stayed. His tall frame tensed as his eyes narrowed intently on the two women sunbathing on the timber deck.

Para bang tinatawag siya nang tanawin na iyon at para bang may kung anong bagay ang pumukaw sa kaniyang dibdib. Hindi tuloy mapigilan ni Elizar ang sarili na makaramdam ng pagtataka.

One, a brunette, was sitting up and watching the arrival of his yacht with obvious interest. But it was the other one, lying flat on her stomach on a sunbed, who captured his attention and made every predatory male sense he possessed leap to instant attention.

It could not possibly be her, he told himself. But the compulsion to make sure was overwhelming. Slowly he lifted the binoculars strung around his neck to his eyes, and focused on the prone female. From the soles of her feet his gaze trailed slowly up long, shapely legs to a small pert bottom, and he drew in a stunned breath.

Damn! Paanong nagkakaroon ng kakaibang epekto ang babaeng iyon sa kaniya? Hindi maiwasan ni Elizar ang tanongin ang sarili niya sapagkat hindi niya akalain na sa sandaling paglandas ng mga mata niya sa katawan nito ay daldalhin siya sa isang sitwasyon kung saan hindi niya magawang takasan.

They were there nestled near the base of her spin two perfectly formed circular dimples. Napalunok ako sa nakita ko at hindi ko alam kung ano ang naging rason upang agad na nakaramdam ako ng kakaiba sa aking katawan. Swiftly he looked up the length of her body, noting the slender indentation of her waist, the smooth shoulders and the rich golden-brown hair haphazardly looped in a knot at the back of her head. She was reading a book, oblivious of his scrutiny. His firm mouth twisted in a grim smile as his dark gaze slid back down the length of her spine again. Para bang walang pakealam ang dalaga sa mga taong nasa paligid niya mas gusto pa nitong malunod na lamang sa binabasa nitong libro o sa sarili nitong mundo. Nakakadismaya lamang dahil gusto niya pa sanang makita ang mukha nito.

Pero mukhang malabo iyon kung hindi niya lalapitan ang kinalalagyan ng dalaga.

Only once had he ever seen a woman or known a woman who had such distinctive dimples in just that place.a The kind that had totally fascinated him. Matagal na kasi pero hanggang ngayon ay naaalala niya pa rin ang parehong biloy na iyon na nakita niya lamang sa isang babae na minsan niya nang nakasama. She's a woman na sinubukan niyang kalimutan pero hanggang ngayon ay ginugulo nito pa rin ang isip niya.

The kind of body his lips would love to touch and the kind of curves his tongue had dreamed to tease, he can't help but let his mind wander, picturing how he would eventually possessed her hot, welcoming body. Mukhang mamomoblema siya ngayon kung paano niya aalisin ang dalaga sa kaniyang isip. Mukha kasing ngayon palang ay apektadong-apektado na siya sa mga nakikita niya.

Isa pa parang hindi na nga maikakaila na ang babaeng nakahiga at ang babaeng minsan na niyang nakasama ay iisa pati ang dalagang nakikita niya ngayon sa malayo.

He let the binoculars fall and shoved his hand in the pocket of his shorts as his body reacted with lightning-fast enthusiasm at the thought.

It had to be her. It was her. His soon to be fiancee. Eliyah Flish.

Alam niyang hindi siya nagkakamali, dahil kahit nasa malayo ang babae ay pamilyar pa rin sa kaniya epektong hatid ng presensya at katawan nito.

Tanging si Eliyah lamang ang nakakagising ng matinding paghangad sa kaloob-looban ni Elizar.

Memories he had thought long-forgotten came rushing back.

Even now he could still remember the exact moment he’d set eyes on her.

She’d had her back to him, and the low-slung hipster jeans she’d been wearing had just covered her delightful bottom, but had fallen short of meeting her top by a good nine inches, revealing the two dimples that had totally intrigued him. When she’d turned around her beauty had taken his breath away, and the well-filled short sweater, tiny waist and long legs had turned him on so fiercely he hadn’t dared move. It had been lust at first sight—or so he had thought at the time. In hindsight he realized his mind was right because until now he can still feel it. It had been sheer unbridled lust on his part.

Walang pa ring pagbabago, ganoon pa rin ang bawat pasok ng kakaibang kiliti sa katawan niya lalo na sa oras na nakikita niya ang ganda ng katawan nito.

But Elizar's brief relationships with different women had been an education in the faithlessness of women.

Marami na siyang pinagdaan na siyang naging daan upang tumatak sa kaniyang pagkatao at upang matuto siya na hindi niya dapat basta-basta na lang pinagbibigyan ang bugso ng damdamin na kaniyang nararamdaman.

Masyado nang mulat ang kaniyang mga mata sa mga laro at pananakit na ginagawa ng mga babae and his mother was one in particular. As soon as his father's back was turned she had left him, clutching the cheque she had demanded from him. His father had returned home to find his wife gone—no sign of her remaining except a short note wishing him farewell. His father was fool that he had refused to believe it. But a quarter of a million pounds cashed within days of her return to the UK had managed to convince his father. The divorce had been handled swiftly by the lawyers and he and his father had never seen his mother again, not even in his father's funeral.

Pagkatapos ng libing ng kaniyang ama ay kinailangan ni Elizar na umuwi ng pinas upang makitira muna sa kaniyang lola, pero hindi rin iyon nagtagal sapagkat kinailangan niya ring bumalik sa France upang bawiin at palaguin ang mga iniwan sa kaniya ng kaniyang ama.

At dahil na rin sa sarili niyang pag-iimbestiga ay kusang nalantad sa kaniya ang rason ng pagkamatay ng kaniyang ama, na siyang naging rason upang mas magpursige si Elizar na gawin ang lahat makaganti lang.

Pero hindi naging madali ang lahat para sa kaniya. Napagtanto niyang kailangan niya pa ring mag-ingat lalo na’t demonyo ang kahaharapin niya.

"Look Eliyah! Oh God! Now, that is what I call a yacht. I think it’s the new Predator class. Wow! Never mind the ship—what about the man? Look…Look…Oh, my God. Isn’t he just the most gorgeous hunk of masculinity you ever saw? Look at those shoulders, that chest, the legs…"

Eliyah felt the dig in her ribs and reluctantly tore her attention away from the tale of murder most foul she was reading. She cast a sidelong glance at her companion.

Hindi alam ng dalaga kung matatawa ba siya o maiinis sa inaakto ng kaibigan. Pero wala siyang magawa kundi pagbigyan ito, kahit na ang gusto niya lamang gawin sa ngayon ay manahimik at mag-enjoy.

Siguro ganito talaga kapag laki sa ibang bansa, hindi naman sa nilalahat ni Eliyah ngunit para sa kaniya ibang-iba pa rin talaga ang laking pinas. Oo inaamin niya may dugong baniyaga siya, pero hindi pa rin maiaalis ang katotohanan na pinalaki siya sa pilipinas kasama ang kaniyang pinay na ina at foreigner na ama.

"Oh, please, Vic—not another Greek god stepped down from Olympus. He must be about the hundredth you have spotted in the past week." She grinned. Totoo naman parang hindi nauubos ang enerhiya ni Victoria or Vic for short sa kakahanap ng mga gwapong baniyagang mabibiktima.

"And you are a married lady, remember?" Hindi alam ng dalaga kung ano ang masamang kaluluwa ang pumapasok sa kaniyang kaibigan dahil ngayon ay halatang-halata rito ang kagustuhan na puntahan na lamang ang lalaking tinutuloy nito na nakikita nito sa malayo.

"Believe me, this one is exceptional. Unless he has rolled-up socks stuck down his shorts, he has to be the best-looking, most rampantly virile male I have ever seen. Unfortunately, he’s focused on you." Vic sighed ruefully. Ano naman ang mapapala niya kung may itsura ang binatang sinasabi nito? E' kung tutuusin mas maganda pang magbabad sa pagbabasa kaysa ang magpakabaliw sa mga lalaking wala namang ibang hatid kundi problema.

"Still, I bet he’s great in bed." Dagdag nito na siyang ikinairap ko. Kahit kailan wala itong ibang iniisip kundi ang mga bagay na tulad ng ganoon.

"You are disgraceful." Eliyah shook her head and returned to her book. Wala siyang panahon para sa mga lalaki dahil hindi iyon ang pinunta niya sa bakasyon nila ngayon.

Ang gusto lamang niya ay maging malaya mula sa stress na nakukuha niya mula trabaho.

"And you, girl, are wasting your life. You’re on a yacht with six single men and only two female guests. It’s perfectly obvious Hipton has the hots for you, and do you encourage him? No. When you’re not cooking you spend most of your free time with your head buried in a book. Where is your spirit of adventure? If I were you I would be straight over there and trying to find out who that beautiful man is. In fact, I think I will anyway. I’ll invite him to our farewell party tonight. My husband won’t mind if I tell him the man is for you."

Ano raw? Biglang nakaramdam ng kaba ang dalaga. Agad na napalunok siya at hindi siya agad nakahanap ng salita para sabihin rito.

"No." Eliyah spun over and sat up. "Don’t you dare." But she was talking to her friend’s back. The trouble was Vic did dare… anything. And Jacob, Vic's husband, was just as bad…Initially, as their sometime accountant and friend, Eliyah had tried to teach them the benefit of restraint. But the word was not in their vocabulary.

So Eliyah had answered Vic's frantic telephone call to ditch her own holiday, get down to Marseilles and join their cruise as the cook. The one they had hired had failed to turn up and they’d been desperate. Having shared her apartment with Vic when she’d first started work with an international accountancy firm in London, Eliyah knew how useless Victoria was in the kitchen.

Eliyah knew without conceit that she was an excellent cook and an excellent baker, but her father won't let her chase her passion. Kaya wala siyang choice kundi ang bitiwan na lang ang pangarap at magpursige sa pag-aaral ng paghawak ng pera at negosyo.

At gaya nga ng inaasahan nakilala niya ang mag-asawa sa unang pinagtrabahuan niya.

She also knew just how perilous Victoria and Jacob's financial situation was.

On their marriage one year ago they had both given up their jobs and sunk all their money, and some more besides, into this yacht—the idea being to make a living from running cruises with an element of training people to sail when they were not sailing off somewhere themselves. It had sounded good on paper, but with Vic now pregnant they would shortly need somewhere to live—preferably back in England.

Jacob confidently expected to keep the yacht, and rent a place in London until the baby was born and able to sail with them. But Eliyah had seen the figures, and knew how horrendously expensive it was simply to own the yacht.

The trouble was, although it was a decent size with four guest cabins, the ship was quite old. A stunning timber-built sailing cruiser, it was very romantic to see in full sail, but very expensive to maintain and run. Even with Jacob as instructor and certified captain and Victoria as crew, the bare minimum they could sail with was three qualified sailors plus a cook and a cabin boy—and their wages had to be paid. As for the insurance, it was colossal to cover the yacht and the paying guests. Eliyah knew because she had arranged the policy for them.

Pero wala rin naman siyang magagawa para pigilan ang dalawa sapagkat sila na mismo ang nagdedesisyon, ni hindi nga siya magawang pakinggan ng sariling kaibigan sa mga simpleng payo niya paano pa kayo kung may mas malaki pa siyang ipapayo?

The charters tended to be groups of young people who had experience of sailing and liked the idea of learning more. But they were on an expensive holiday, and if the wind dropped and it looked as if they might miss a single port of call they expected the engine to be utilized.

Given the astronomical rise in the cost of fuel over the last two years, calm seas could virtually wipe out any profit on a charter. Plus, simply keeping it berthed in the Mediterranean accrued very hefty fees—which was why Eliyah had given up the second week of the Cordon Bleu cookery course she had been attending in the South of France to help them out.

Eliyah glanced up idly at the much bigger vessel opposite. Good Lord, it actually had a helicopter on the top deck. Heaven knew what kind of money it took to run a ship like that… millions, probably, she thought, her gaze skimming down.

Sino ba ang nagmamay-ari ng ganitong magarbong yate?

Kung sino man ito talagang nakakamangha ang yaman nito.

Iyon ang nasa isip ng dalaga pero hindi pa rin niya mapigilan ang hindi mainis para sa may-ari ng yate pakiramdam niya kasi ay sinasadya ng may-ari na ilapit sa kinaroroonan nila. Na halos kulang na nga lang ay ibangga ang yate nito sa yate nila.

Then she saw the object of Vic’s enthusiasm—or at least the rear view of him. He was tall, with black hair, wide shoulders and a broad back tapering to a lean waist and hips and long, muscular legs, and he was about to enter the wheelhouse. Great body, she thought, and then inexplicably she shuddered. Someone walking over her grave. She shrugged and, rolling over on her stomach, was soon lost in the intricacies of a very bloody murder case.

Mas mabuti pang malunod sa binabasa niya kaysa ang magpakalunod sa kawalang katuturan na bagay. Kahit anong mangyari hindi ako matutulad sa babae niyang kaibigan na ngayon ay naroon ay siyang-siya sa bagong rating na bisita.