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She giggles. “This part of sex, the talking about it part, makes logical sense to me. It gives me time to think about things, and the brain is supposed to be the biggest and most important sexual organ, so yes. I don’t think it’s all that fancy, but—”
“Okay, not fancy, then. Sexy.” I groan, leaning in to seal my lips over hers before I break the kiss abruptly to get off the bed. “Let’s go before we decide to ditch them, because I’m about this close”—I hold my thumb and index finger a fraction of an inch apart—“to doing just that.”
“Same,” she says, getting up and laughing when I smack her ass as she walks past me.
After putting the flowers in some water in the bathroom sink, we take off hand in hand as we walk through the gardens to the massive infinity pool closer to the main part of the resort. There’s a swim-up bar, lounge chairs under wide umbrellas, and just about the entire fucking group already there.
My semi dies a slow, painful death at the sight of my mom and dad, Max, Lize, Tim, Valerie, Jolene, Emma, Mason, and Isabella all gathered around the blue water.
Olivia giggles, nudging me as she squeezes my hand. “Well, this is unexpected,” she comments lightly. “We’re not going to be able to keep teasing each other without anyone noticing and then going back to the room in about an hour, are we?”
“Nope,” I say with absolute certainty. “Well, we’re here because Izzy said she wanted to spend time with you and that I’ve been monopolizing you, so let’s divide and conquer. You go spend time with her, and I’ll go find out why the parents are here.”
She nods, sighing as she turns to press a quick kiss to my shoulder before releasing my hand. “See you later.”
“See you later,” I reply, then head over to Max and drop into the lounger next to his. “What’s up? I didn’t even know you knew nine a.m. existed.”
“Rockstars shouldn’t be forced to do mornings.” He agrees but then nods toward where Valerie, Jolene, Emma, and Lize are sitting together at the other side of the pool. They’re all huddled under one umbrella, cups of coffee and printed pages of what I assume is Emma’s next book littering the small tables they’ve surrounded themselves with. “Val had to come down for that, and with fucking Joe back in our lives, I’m not letting my family out of my sight.”
“Where’s James?” I ask, still a little pissed with him about buying Olivia that bikini, but not pissed off enough that I want him to be off on his own somewhere while the rest of us are here.
Max jerks his head toward the swim-up bar. “He’s back there rummaging up the ingredients for a Bloody Mary. If this rockstar in particular is going to have to do mornings, I ain’t doing it without the best breakfast cocktail out there.”
I laugh. “I knew there was a reason I loved you. Think he’ll make me one too?”
He chuckles. “As long he keeps it light on the vodka for both of us, I’ll think we might be able to convince him.” Max’s expression darkens. “Fucking Joe, back from the dead. This is fucked up. Maybe I’ll ask James to make just the first one a double.”
“To be fair, he’s not back from the dead,” I say, but I know that’s how all the parents are feeling. “He just left the world a little present in the shape of an equally psychopathic son. Speaking of whom, have we heard anything more? Do we even know how he’s affording all this travel and shit?”
“Joe did well with us before we found out what he was,” he admits. “Mike tracked down an investment fund that he started way back. It seems that, in a way, we’ve been funding this vendetta, which is just delightful.”
His jaw clenches. “As for hearing more, we have. The little fuckface is here in Spain. He had the balls to send a picture of the sign at the airport welcoming him.”
“Wow. That’s bold.”
“Yep. Joe liked to play games with us too. He sent us an email captioned, ‘Who saves Camille,’ the first time he took her and postcards from prison from time to time while he was incarcerated, and then he made it crystal clear that he’d taken Lize, Ash, and your mom because he felt we owed him money.”
“Sure, but Justin is taking it to a whole different level with these taunts. He’s basically letting us know he’s coming, so why can’t we find him?”
“Mike’s working on getting access to his financial records, but it’s not as easy as sending a request to the bank. In the meantime, the town we’re closest to is about ten miles from here, and it’s small. He’s got guys roaming the streets and combing through the lodging options, so if and when he gets there, they’ll find him.”
“Yeah, but why risk it at all?” I ask, frowning as I prop my elbows on my knees and stare off at the palm trees swaying in the distance. “It seems stupid.”
“It’s egotistical,” he replies with a shrug. “His father was that way too. Ego the size of the fucking continental US. They think they’re invincible.”
“Joe wasn’t, though. What would make Justin think he is?”
“We think a lot of things in our early twenties that aren’t true. Speaking of which, you’re sure about Olivia, right? Because Mike will have your balls if you hurt her.”
“I’m sure, so you can spare me the lecture.”
He chuckles, raising his hands in surrender. “There was no lecture coming. I just wanted to make sure you knew. With everything going on right now, emotions are running high. If something happens between the two of you right now, it could blow up in all of our faces.”
“Nothing is going to happen,” I say confidently. “I love her. I’m not letting her go for shit, and I’m being honest with her. She knows I might fuck up.”
“Good,” he says, sighing heavily as he brushes a hand over the top of his black hair. “There’s talk of going home if we don’t find Justin soon. Just so you know. Personally, I don’t think there’s any point in running. He’ll just follow, and I’m sure as shit not hiding from some kid with an inflated sense of self and a camera phone as a weapon, but I could be overruled.”
“Do we know why he targeted me specifically yet? If it’s a vendetta against all of us, why start the whole thing by trying to cozy up to me?”
