22. Chapter 21
Tucker
This week has been the best week of my life. Spending time on the beach with Ari, exploring the local caves and wildlife reserves, and the sex. Holy fuck. The sex had been amazing.
Getting to connect with my wife on such a deeper level made me glad I’d never succumb to the one-night-stands that Potter and some of my other friends had. They talked about how awesome sex was, but that connection I had with Ari during it couldn’t be beat.
Today, we were heading out on a boat tour to see some shipwrecks and hopefully get to swim with sea turtles.
Ari walked out of the bedroom in a cover up and flip flops with a big floppy hat on top of her head. “You ready?”
I picked up the bag and threw it over my shoulder as I took her hand in mine. “Yep. I’ve packed towels, a change of clothes, and snacks.”
She smiled and raised a brow. “Drinks?”
“In the cooler that Sean and Christian were tasked with loading for us.” If they had to follow us everywhere, they might as well be useful. No one in Barbados was coming after us. Aside from our families, no one even knew where we were.
She sighed and laid her head on my shoulder. “Any chance we get to do the boat tour by ourselves?”
I pressed a kiss to her temple as I chuckled. “Nope. Though it will only be Christian and Sean today.”
Up to this point, we’d gotten up at a decent time and spent the day exploring and enjoying our time here.
This morning, we’d decided to sleep in and weren’t heading out until after lunch.
It was awesome to have the morning just to relax and as much as I was enjoying our time here, I was also really looking forward to going home to our new house, spending the next week in bed and on the couch.
It was just the four of us on the boat, and when we got to the shipwrecks to snorkel, Christian and Sean stayed on board. Ari couldn’t help goading them, though. “You sure you don’t want to get in the water so you can protect us against any threats?”
Sean scoffed. “If something gets you in the water, that’s a little above my pay grade. I’m here to protect you from other humans, not animals.”
I stepped down the ladder into the water and waited for Ari to do the same. On the last step, she just couldn’t help herself and yelled back to the men on board. “Humans are animals.”
Even over the splash Ari made, I could hear Christian laughing and I knew Sean would have a scowl on his face.
My family had gone to the beach a few times over my lifetime, but never had I had an opportunity like this. Taking in the sights of the ship inside the water, the colorful fish swimming in and around it was like something you would see in a movie.
When I looked over to Ari, I could see the smile on her face and excitement in her eyes as she took it all in.
We swam around down there until both of us had wrinkled fingers and toes. I seriously don’t think I’d ever seen my wife smile as much as she did on the boat ride back to the dock as we snacked on some of the crackers, chips, and dried fruit.
Walking back to the room hand in hand, her eyes looked up at me, wide and full of joy. “What’s the plan for our last night in paradise, dear husband?”
“Fuck, baby, hearing you call me your husband still almost knocks my feet out from under me.” I pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her lips. “How did I get this lucky?”
She just smiled as she unlocked the door and led us into our room. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“We’re going to a fancy dinner, then coming back here and I’m going to worship my wife like the goddess she is.”
“Hmmmm. That sounds excellent. How much time do I have to get ready?”
I looked at my watch and grimaced. We’d taken longer on the tour than I expected. “An hour.”
She rose to her toes and placed a kiss on my cheek. “Then I better get to it.”
The boardwalk that led to the table set up on the beach was lined in candles, setting the vibe from the beginning.
The table was covered in flowers and there were a couple of candles.
The sun was setting so it wasn’t dark yet, but the mood was definitely romantic and I’d have to thank Gunner for getting this all set up for us.
“This is gorgeous, Tuck.”
It made my heart soar when she looked at me like that. “I’m glad you like it.”
A server came out with salads and rolls and her stomach grumbled in hunger. “I guess we didn’t really eat much today.”
“Not near enough. I’ll have to make sure to do better. Don’t want my wife withering away on me.”
She chuckled. “I’m far from withering away, but I quite like my curves, so I definitely need to keep up my calorie intake.”
We both looked out over the ocean as we ate. “I know we’ve been using condoms here, but I really do want to go on birth control when we get back to Crestwood.”
Her words didn’t surprise me and I couldn’t deny I was glad.
I wanted to get rid of any barriers between us, but I also definitely wasn’t ready to have kids yet.
“My mom already made an appointment for you to see our doctor. I mean, I think technically she booked it under Leyla’s name, but told the doc it would be you.
She just didn’t want your dad to be able to figure it out. ”
“God, I love your mom. She really is the best.”
I shrugged but couldn’t hide the smile. “She’s alright.” That was a lie. My mom was the best. “What are you looking forward to most in senior year?”
“Graduation. I hate school.”
It had never been something Ari put a lot of effort into so that didn’t surprise me. “You don’t want to go to college?” We hadn’t really talked about it before. My family wouldn’t be upset at all if she wanted to get a degree and her dad now had no say in what she did.
Ari laughed. “Not a chance in hell. The only thing college is good for is parties, but being married kinda makes those off limits.”
I shrugged. “We could still go to parties.”
“It’s not the same. But that’s okay.” She reached across the table and took my hand in hers. “I don’t regret marrying you and missing out on that. I know that we’re going to have a great life together and I’ll be able to live vicariously through Leyla and her party stories.”
Ugh. I did not want to think about Leyla partying, but that was definitely something my sister would be doing when she went to college.
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, but I ignored it. This was the last night of our honeymoon and I didn’t want to waste it on the phone with others. They could all wait.
Well, I thought they could until Sean approached the table with his phone held out to me. “Alessandro is on the phone for you. Said it’s urgent.”
Ari’s eyes met mine, but she didn’t say a word. I pushed the speaker button because there were no secrets here. “You’re on speaker. I’m here with Ari.”
“Lucian is dead.” My eyes widened as they snapped to my wife with surprise.
“His security said he went to his office around lunch time saying he had a migraine. I got home around four and went to his office to debrief and found him dead. Fuck. It looks like a stroke, but you know protocol. The other families will want an autopsy so I have to know, Ari, is it going to show anything that contradicts what meets the eye?”
“Are you fucking for real right now Sandro?” My voice was low and cold. “How dare you insinuate she had anything to do with this. We’re not even in the fucking country right now, so how in the world would she have pulled that off if she wanted to?”
He sighed. “You know as well as I do that she doesn’t have an issue ordering a hit. How many have we thwarted because of the little cumstain your sister is dating? I just need to be prepared if this isn’t what it seems.”
“Fuck you, Sandro. I don’t care that you’re the Don now, I’m breaking your nose when I see you.” Was Ari a wild card? Yes. But enough to kill her own father? No.
Ari took the phone out of my hand. “Think about it, Sandro. How would I have ordered a hit on him? The only connections I have are within the family, and no one is stupid enough to do that. It would be a suicide mission.”
“I know. I’m just scared, Ari. I don’t know how the other families will react and I’m not ready to lead the family in a war. I’ve only been fully initiated for two weeks.”
Ari’s eyes closed and her posture relaxed a little.
“You’re going to do just fine. The other families won’t want to break the accords as long as nothing shows as suspicious on his autopsy.
And even if you just took the oath two weeks ago, Sandro, he’s been training you for this since you were born.
Marco will be by your side the whole time, as will Elio.
Together you’re going to make the Vitale name better than it’s ever been before. ”
He let out a relieved sigh. “Okay. I’ve got to go deal with all this. You two are flying home tomorrow, right?”
I took the phone back from Ari to take care of whatever arrangements we needed to. “Yes. We fly into Crestwood but I’m sure that can be changed.”
“No. Fly back to Crestwood and drive in. Come through New Jersey so you don’t go through anyone else’s territory. We want to take every precaution right now. Bring plenty of security. As many as you can. A rush was put on the autopsy and we were told we could hold the funeral in two days.”
I nodded, not that he could see me. “How long will you need us to stay in New York?” Ari started school in just over a week and while I knew her missing the first few days wouldn’t be a big ordeal, I didn’t want to be in New York any longer than needed.
“You should be able to head back to Crestwood the day after the funeral as long as everything goes well.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I wasn’t going to question him right now. The weight of the world had just been placed on his shoulder, and other than the punch I owed him for suggesting my wife had something to do with her father’s death, he needed support, not questioning.
“Alright. We’ll see you tomorrow. Call back if you need anything.”
He hung up without another word and I reached for Ari’s hand. Even though Lucian was a despicable human being, he was still her father. “Are you okay?”
She smiled at me sadly. “Yeah. But we need to talk.”