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The car dropsus beside the most magnificent boat I have ever seen. All black and shiny and filled with dark menace. It’s as if we are walking into hell dressed as paradise and the devil’s soldiers are waiting to welcome us in.
We are guided toward a seating area where a steward brings us refreshment and I could be excused for thinking I’m on vacation. However, nothing about this boat, or these people allow me to dwell on that for long because this is exactly what it is, a homecoming. Do I want to be here? Hell no, because the people I am tied to by blood aren’t really the textbook family I am looking for.
I’m silent and nervous and Adonis has switched from being the easy-going companion he has always been around me to a predator. He is now a dark angel by my side, and I can sense the violent vibes pouring off him surrounding us in a cloak of menace.
I’m guessing he has a certain status among men like these. He is an heir to another mafia family and will demand a certain level of respect from the other soldiers surrounding us. It makes me think of my own cousins. Are they as formidable as he is? I reckon so and I wonder if I’m up to meeting them at all.
I am nothing like that. I’m an open book and yet, apparently, my own mother was one of them. Who knows who my father was? I’m still struggling with that, but perhaps I take after his side of the family. I’m hoping that despite their son, the family had morals. I must hold on to that because I’m falling out of my comfort zone.
It doesn’t take long and Adonis points to the horizon and says huskily, “That is Serenita. Your family’s island.”
I stare in interest at the majestic land that is rising from the sea like an oasis in a watery desert. I am fascinated by it because who the fuck has their own island? Not anyone I know, for sure, and yet here I am visiting my grandparent’s one. It’s still weird to think of them as my grandparents when I still fondly remember my own, and I wonder what they would think if they could see me now.
CHAPTER 50
TROY
Ihate walking away from Melissa and leaving her here, but after twenty minutes a guard appeared, and I knew our time was up. I reassured her that everything was fine, and I hope to God I’m right because I don’t have a fucking clue how I’m going to prove to this family they can trust me.
I walk with a heavy heart to the water’s edge and note the boat heading our way. I’m a little surprised it isn’t moored where I left it, but expect it was taken somewhere out of view while I was here.
As it pulls up a short distance away at the end of the jetty, I note two figures waiting to disembark and it must be the sun affecting my vision, because one of them looks very familiar.
I peer closer and see a woman beside a beast of a man stepping off the transom onto the jetty, and as they move closer, I stare in astonishment as Laura runs toward me.
I disregard the sullen guard by my side and head toward her at speed, and as she reaches me, my arms close around her in a tight embrace.
“Laura, what the hell?” I growl as I bury my face in her hair and inhale the sweet scent of my woman.
“Troy, I’m so sorry, but I had to come. I couldn’t bear the thought of you here with, well, facing those people alone.”
I pull back and shake my head. “Those people are your family, Laura.”
“If you say so.”
Her eyes flash angrily. “I came to tell them what I think of them and demand they give Melissa back.”
It makes me smile and I pull her hard against me and kiss her gorgeous mouth with a desperate passion that shocks me a little. She came to help, and I couldn’t love her more, but I’m also afraid because what if they keep her too? I could lose both women I love in one day while they decide if they can trust me or not.
I’m aware of a huge shadow behind us and stare past her to a beast of a man literally covered in black ink. He is wearing a polo shirt, but his arms are testing the fabric to its limits.
Laura pulls away and smiles at the beast. “Adonis, come and meet Troy.”
What the actual fuck? Who is this man and as he advances, I’m left in no doubt about his occupation and my throat dries as he holds out his hand.
As I take it, he grips mine hard and says in a husky drawl, “Mr. Remington.”
“Adonis.” My hand tingles as he drops it and I wonder if he broke one of the bones because a flash of pain hits me as my fingers escape his iron fist.
“Adonis is my guardian angel.” Laura grins and I note the amusement in his eyes as he glances her way. There is a certain fondness between them that makes me feel a lot better because it’s obvious they are friends of sorts, and she hasn’t been brought here under duress.
She peers past me with an anxious gaze. “Have you met them?”
“Yes.”
She leans forward and whispers, “What did they say? Is Melissa here?”
“Yes.” I shake my head and sigh. “They don’t trust me and want me to prove my loyalty before they let her go.”
