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Chapter 20
Leilani
The bed is cold and empty when I wake up, and I notice the clock says eight in the morning. It's been a month since Simon was beaten by my brother. Thankfully, his bruises have healed, and his ribs are better. I grab my clothes and look out the motel door, knowing before I opened it, the car Simon got here in would be gone. I go to the room where Alec has stayed, wondering if Simon ditched him too.
When I knock, the door swings open, and Alec smiles at me. “It's about time you got up.”
“You just let him leave?” I open and close my fists at my sides, ready to deck him.
“I already told you there isn’t anything that will stop him. I'm here making the final arrangements. He'll be stowing away on a freighter headed to California tonight. He's changing his identity,” Alec says, motioning me in where I notice he has coffee and donuts.
I shake my head, wondering where he got those from. Still, I decide that isn't what's important right now. “Do you think the Kapulet's will retaliate if he kills his father?”
“It's highly probable, but Simon never intended to stay alive,” Alec says nonchalantly.
Cold dread spikes through me at Alec's callous words. I'm about to pummel him into the ground when he says, “relax, love, we're faking his death.”
“What the actual fuck?” I yell and punch Alec in the arm.
He winces and frowns at me. “Hey, there's no need for violence. I'll tell you everything.”
“You'd better,” I scowl at him.
***
It's been a few hours since Alec and I left the motel. I'm sitting on the beach at Simon's place, watching the tide. I'm in awe of the detail and planning that Simon put into his plot against his father. Alec told me about the money he's been siphoning away. He's already created a fake identity, which I have a hard time accepting, Jacob Hansen. A file will be delivered to Bane in three days with some essential information about Kapulet businesses so my brothers can infiltrate the organization. But my famiglia may have already heard about the death of William Kapulet at his downtown condo in Honolulu and his son's demise by fire right here at his cottage.
Alec was sketchy about how Simon intended to end his father's life, but I don't actually care to know. What keeps going through my head right now is how I will live after he's gone. I know we've only known each other a short time, but it's like I was only surviving until Simon Kapulet found me that night on the beach. I did ask Alec how things would be for him once the Kapulet patriarchy was gone, and he said his plan was always to leave Hawai’i. That's the part that has my heart hurting the most. Should I convince Simon to let me go with him and start over, away from the chaos that surrounds my famiglia? But what happens when one day when I decide I need to see my brothers or these islands. It's probably heartless, but the thought of never being on Oahu or any of the other islands makes my heart break into a dozen pieces. But won't it always be with me in spirit? Haven't I always wanted to see the world? Is it worth the risk? All I knew for sure right now was that I would see Simon at the docks tonight, no matter what I decided.
Chapter 21
Simon
I arrive outside my father's condo at just after ten. Chuck is on guard duty tonight, and his favorite snack is sausage and pepperoni from a pizza place down the street. I tipped the delivery guy one hundred bucks to let me deliver it to the lobby desk, but I add some crushed-up Ambien before I do. I've let my beard grow and am wearing a baseball cap to help obscure my face. I don't usually enter my father's penthouse by the main lobby, so the desk clerk does not know me. I wait about an hour before taking the back entrance up to the penthouse. I use my key card, but I've already set up a program to erase my footprint and put the cameras on a loop while I'm inside. I smile when I see Chuck’s head on the side table he's sitting at, snoring away. I proceed into the suite. I check my father's office, but he isn't there for once. When I look further into the condo, I notice the sliding glass door is wide open.
My father is sitting at the table, sipping directly from a bottle of bourbon. I notice the picture of my mother and me from his home office in Kauai. While I recovered from Mano's beating, I'd sent a message saying I needed to go back to New Zealand.
The month away was a bit intense with Leilani. She still hadn't forgiven me for not giving up on my plans. But it wasn't all bad, it gave us a chance to be together. Last night, I was desperate for her, but she seemed to match my intensity when we made love. I left her in my bed without a goodbye because I couldn't handle seeing the hurt in her eyes. I planned to get on a cargo ship tonight headed for Santa Barbara. After that, I'd disappear into the wilds of the world. Leilani was burned into my heart and soul, but I knew she didn't belong with me. I couldn't give her ohana, at least not the kind she had with her brothers. Being with me meant changing your identity and leaving your life behind, and I couldn't ask her to do that for me.
My father looks up at me, a scowl greeting me.
“Where the hell have you been?” he slurs.
I don't reply. I'm surprised my father is drunk. I've never seen him lose control.
I go to the balcony railing and turn so I can look at him at the table. He clumsily gets to his feet, bringing the bottle with him, taking a sloppy drink of the alcohol. He stumbles over to me and gets in my face.
“I needed you here, Simon,” he says as I take a step to the side, so we're not so close together. His back hits the railing, and I don't know if it's the abrupt motion or if he's starting to lose his motor functions. The bottle drops from his hand, shattering on the balcony. The smell of hard liquor wafts up.
“Did you ever love my mother?” I want to know.
“I tried, I really did, but she was such an insane bitch,” he looks up to the sky when he admits this. It's too hard to see details given the moonlight's quality and the hallway light streaming from the condo interior. Still, I wonder if he's really focusing on anything in front of him.
“So, why marry her?”
“She was pregnant with you.” He turns to me and gives me a half-smile.
I'm not quite stunned by the news, but it does surprise me a little. I'm sure my grandfather preferred his daughter not to have a bastard, but I'd have assumed he'd overlook it given he despised my father and where he came from. Or maybe it was more what he stood for, a penniless thug who spent time stealing and gambling his way through life.
