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Hurricane shakes his head. “I’m fuckin’ sorry, brother. I tried. I pulled her aside. I thought I was gettin’ through to her. She’s scared, and she won’t budge. If I’d pushed too hard, she was gonna out me to Park, and I wasn’t about to go one-on-three in the middle of a sushi train to try to bring her back to you. Especially without knowin’ if they had more men waitin’ outside somewhere. Regretfully, I just couldn’t convince her, no matter what I fuckin’ said.”
Mauka huffs, runs his hands through his salt and pepper hair, and begins pacing.
Malia walks over to Hurricane and pulls him into a tight embrace. “You tried your best. Thanks for helping us.”
Mauka picks up a shot glass from the bar, yelling angrily, and hurls it across the room in frustration, shocking us all. “Fuuuck!” he growls, but it’s Malia who walks over and places her hand on his back to calm him down.
“Hey, you listen to me. We are going to get our girl back,” she states.
He pants through his nose harshly as he pulls her into an embrace, and I glance at Hurricane, still unsure what exactly is going on.
Mauka holds Malia tight to him. “She’s my little girl. I can’t lose her to those assholes. Knowing I could have done something to prevent this, it’s killing me!”
Hurricane and I both look at him as Pono slaps his back. “There’s nothing you could have done, brother. Park has inserted himself into her life for a reason. He knew she was his way to get at us.”
“I should have warned her. I was too relaxed with her. I let her get away with too much. She’s my baby, and I never warned her that men could manipulate her. I never thought she would be so damn stupid.”
I’m catching on a little and interrupt, asking, “So, is your daughter hanging out with the wrong crowd?” I ask, trying to catch up.
They all nod, but Malia speaks, “Our enemies in The Ministry have her with them… but she is there voluntarily. The leader’s son, Park, has manipulated his way into Nalani’s life and made her fall for him without us knowing. She thought it was a Romeo and Juliet love story—two quarreling entities and their kin get together. But we know he is abusing her, and we also know he is using her to get to us to get to our business secrets. We must get her out.”
Hurricane tilts his head. “I can confirm he doesn’t respect her. He was manhandlin’ her when I saw them together. It took everythin’ in me not to step in. Nothin’ too extreme, but the signs of more abuse when they’re not in public are definitely there.”
“Dammit!” Mauka snaps, his desperation clear as he begins to pace again.
I step forward. “The thing is, if Nalani thinks she’s in love with this Park guy, even if she is being abused, she’s not going to want some white knight trying to save her. She has men surrounding her who treat her like shit at The Ministry, right? So why would she trust a guy she doesn’t know to be the one to protect her from all those other guys?”
Everyone stands back, staring at me like they know I am making a valid point, but Malia is the first to speak, “You’re right, Kaia. Nalani wouldn’t respond to a male she doesn’t know, even if he is Defiance, because we have taught her to be wary. Even if she did fall for the enemy, she would still be cautious around other men.”
“So what then? All is lost? We’ve lost our girl to those assholes?” Mauka slams his fist into his leg.
Pono grips his shoulder. “We’ll find another way, brother.”
Hurricane slumps his shoulders. “Sorry, I couldn’t be of service to you.”
Pono dips his chin. “We thank you for trying. Lord knows we’ve tried to get her back to us over the last few months and failed on all accounts. We will have to come up with another plan. Mahalo anyway.”
Hurricane wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him. “All right, I better get this one back to the hotel so she can get some loungin’ by the pool time. If I don’t, she might actually kill me while I sleep.”
I chuckle. “He’s not entirely joking,” I reply, making everyone laugh. “It was lovely meeting y’all.”
I move out, embracing Malia, and she hugs me back, kissing my cheek. “You’re a very strong woman, Kaia. I admire that in you.”
Pulling back, I smile. “I think you’re the strong one here, Aunty. Thank you for the cinnamon rolls and your hospitality. I look forward to seeing you again someday soon.”
Hurricane shakes hands with Pono and Mauka. “Good luck,” he states, then we turn, walking for the exit.
As soon as we’re alone in the car, I turn to Hurricane, glaring with vicious eyes. “You fucking bastard!”
He lets out a small chuckle as he reverses out of the parking lot and begins driving back to the hotel. “Okay, let me have it.”
I point a finger at him. “You left to go into enemy territory without telling me you were going. You didn’t even say goodbye! What if they found out about you, huh? What if they killed you on the spot, and I never got a final kiss, a final embrace? Do you know how much that would have destroyed me? You left me pregnant with your brand-new baby, and you left without a single word to me about it.” I slam my fist into his shoulder, making the wheel slightly jerk to the side.
He exhales but continues driving and nods his head just a little. “I know I let you down. We said this trip was about us. This is our honeymoon and there was to be no club business while here. I deserve all this anger, but Sha, they asked me to help. What was I supposed to do? You can see how broken Mauka is about Nalani being with their enemy. How could I say no?”
Folding my arms over my chest, I sit back in my chair and huff. “You’re a fucking idiot. A big, lovable, heart of gold, fucking idiot. And if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I swear I will divorce you. Honestly, I don’t care that you went out to rescue Nalani. I think that’s really great, by the way, and something I would totally expect from you. It’s the fact you left without saying anything to me. Don’t fucking do that again!”
He side-eyes me, a slow smirk crossing his face. “Okay, baby. I promise.”
