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“Thank you, Mr. Horton. I appreciate you taking the time to arrange this,” Dorian placed his fist over his heart and bowed.
Mr. Horton bowed again. “Anything for the man that saved my daughter,” he stood up and turned to me. “Ms. Lopez, I hope you enjoy your time here.”
"I'm sure I will," I answered, and he left us.
I supposed I got the answer to my earlier question, Dorian saved his daughter. How and from what?
“This is beautiful, Dorian,” I threw my arms over his shoulders. "Thank you for this."
He held my waist and turned us, so his back was to the glass. I could easily hear the rushing water and fully intended to check the changing room. Maybe there was a bikini that could fit.
"We were meant to have dinner and watch a movie on our first date, remember?" Dorian ran a finger down my neck to the top of my breast. "I thought we could do that again, but this time, better."
“I remember,” I grinned. “Mixing the old with the new, huh? I like it."
He kissed my temple. "I told you this time around, things would be better."
The door opened with a bang, and I yelped and spun around. There was a man dressed in all white wheeling in a trolley with food, and Dorian wrapped his hand around my waist from behind.
My heart was beating so fast that he had to help me sit down.
“Hey,” he knelt before me. “I’m with you, okay? Nothing’s going to happen. Isaac can’t get to you.”
I couldn't speak. I just sat there until I nodded, and Dorian gave the waiter the go-ahead to come closer. Dorian didn't leave my side until the food was shared, and we were alone again.
It took a moment for my heart to beat normally, but even then, the shock was still deep-rooted, like the roots of a tree, and they were refusing to let go of me. Would Isaac ever return, or was I going to have to continue living in fear like this?
How could a friendship I defended turn so sour?
***
Thirty minutes later, my fright was forgotten. Dorian and I had dinner, dessert, and danced, then we decided to take a dip in the pool before watching a movie to top off our night. It was the perfect date, except for me screaming like a mad woman.
Like Mr. Horton had said, the changing room was equipped with everything we needed, including several selections of new bikinis and outfits branded with the hotel's logo to put on after our swim.
“How did you save Mr. Horton’s daughter?” I sipped my cocktail and half-swam through the water to Dorian by the falls.
The water was crystal clear and heated, so it felt like heaven.
"It was a job in Italy," Dorian answered. "Several people were reported missing. They all vanished weeks apart from each other under different circumstances, but they'd all acted strangely just before vanishing. Some went to work like normal but behaved out of character, quit, and were never seen again."
“An organ trafficking ring kidnapped all of them but sent shapeshifters as cover. No one would ask many questions if a person left on their own, but Mr. Horton was one of two people that contacted the organization because they knew something was wrong."
Dorian dipped under the water, covering himself entirely before reemerging.
"We recovered fifteen of the twenty-six victims, and Mr. Horton's daughter was one of them. Getting out of that facility wasn't easy, and she was almost captured again as a hostage."
"What happened?" I probed. He stared at the water, but I believed he was seeing the past. "No, sorry, you don't have to discuss those details."
Obviously, he did what he needed to save her and everyone, and there was probably a bloodbath. Perhaps many people were grateful for the lives Dorian and his team saved.
“You and your team saved a lot of people, didn’t you?”
He smiled. “They did.”
I leaned forward. "You did," I told him. He was adorable being modest like that. "You saved that man's daughter. I'm proud of you, Dorian, for all the good you've done."
I finished my drink in one swing and kissed him.
