Chapter Twenty-Three #2
I look back at Aurelia, thinking about last night, and how she comforted me with both her body and her words. I’m more than a little in love with her. In fact, now I understand what the phrase ‘head over heels in love’ means. I’m crazy about her.
I’ve never been one to think much about the future, but for the first time maybe in my life, I wonder what it holds for me.
If it works out between us, we could end up owning a home.
Having a family. Growing old together. I’ve not really considered it before, and I’m surprised how it makes me feel.
That’s not to say she wants the same though, I caution myself. I mustn’t get carried away.
The waiter brings over our coffees and scrolls, and we bite into the soft dough covered with icing, sighing at the sweet taste. I sip my coffee, watching Aurelia, and she smiles and says, “What are you thinking about?”
“I was wondering whether you want children?” She’s only twenty-six, so it wouldn’t surprise me if she said ‘not yet’ or ‘maybe in a few years.’
“I don’t want to frighten you off,” she teases, although her eyes are cautious.
I grin. “I want six kids, so it won’t scare me.”
“Six?” She laughs, but I can see the answer has delighted her. “I’d love children,” she admits. “Maybe not six… although I’m open to discussion!”
“Why did you think it would scare me?”
“Dom was anti-kids. He made that very clear from the beginning.” It’s obvious that he didn’t take her wishes into consideration. She reaches out squeezes my fingers. “You really want them?”
“Definitely. Having a little girl like Millie or a boy to take fishing would be great.” I hesitate then. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“It’s a bit of an awkward subject, but obviously, your family is extremely wealthy, and I’m… not. I mean, I do okay, and I don’t have any debt, but… do you think your father would be against us dating?” I’m aware that Dominic works in finance, and no accountant I know is poor.
“We weren’t always wealthy,” she says quietly. “And my father isn’t a snob. All he wants for me is someone who’s kind and considerate. So no, I don’t think he’d be against us dating.”
“What about Marcus?”
She blows a raspberry. “It’s none of his business.”
“Well, I’m a little concerned about telling him I’m dating his sister, especially when he’s the one who hired me as your CPO.”
“I’ll handle Marcus,” she says, “don’t worry about him.”
I will worry until I can speak to him alone, but I put it to the back of my mind and concentrate on the present, as we finish our lunch and head out into the bright sunlight.
We walk back slowly to 35 South, holding hands and enjoying the blustery sea breeze.
We watch the fishing boats making their way from the waterfront out into the open sea, and both say that we’d like to live near the sea.
We talk about having dogs and children, and I can see the same wonder in her eyes that I’m feeling, as a whole future opens up before us full of happiness and hope.
We’ve a long way to go yet, and lots to sort out before we even start thinking about settling down together, but I sense that she’s enjoying this glimpse into the future as much as I am.
Maybe her relationship with Dominic was similar to mine with Penny, in as much as it was like walking on gravel, uncomfortable and tricky for so much of the time.
It’s wonderful now to feel as if we’re walking on cool, damp sand with the water washing over our toes.
When we get back to the villa, we decide to pour ourselves a cold drink and sit on the deck and read for a while. We’ve just sat down and opened our books when we hear a knock at the front door.
Surprised, as we haven’t ordered any room service, I go over to the door and look through the peep hole. It’s one of the staff holding a bouquet of flowers. Frowning, I open the door.
“Good afternoon, sir,” he says. “Delivery for Ms. Ashford.”
My heart bangs against my ribs. “Were they delivered to the main reception?” I ask, taking the bouquet.
“Yes, sir. The caller specified Hydrangea Villa, but that’s empty at the moment, and as it had Ms. Ashford’s name on it, we assumed they’d just got the villa name wrong.”
There’s no point asking him who the caller was, as I doubt it was he who took the call. I thank him and close the door. I stand there for a moment, my brain working furiously.
“Oh,” Aurelia says, coming into the living room. “What beautiful flowers!” Her smile dies as she looks at my face, her mouth opening in an O of shock. “Oh no.”
Six feet apart, we stare at each other for a long moment.
“Are they from him?” she whispers.
“I’m not sure.” It’s possible that her parents or Marcus could have sent them. I remove the card where it’s stapled to the cellophane and pass it to her.
She opens it, and we both read it. It just says, “Hope you’re enjoying the island, Beauty.” It’s what he’s called her before, so the flowers are definitely from him.
She presses her hand to her mouth, her eyes darting around. “Is he here, on the island?”
“I don’t think so.” I take out my phone, pull up Ella’s number, and press dial as I take the flowers into the kitchen. I lay them on the counter and put the phone on speaker.
She answers in a few rings, “Luke? Everything okay?”
“We’ve just taken delivery of some flowers.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah. Ella… they were delivered to Hydrangea Villa. We’re staying in Hibiscus.”
“You told me Hydrangea.”
“I know.”
“Oh…” Understanding dawns in her voice. “You told me that on purpose?”
“Yeah. I wanted to know whether information was leaking from inside the team.”
Aurelia stares at me, clearly surprised. “It’s someone on the security team?”
Every piece I’ve been trying to fit together suddenly clicks. “I’d stake my career on it.”
“What made you realize?” Ella asks.
“He knew my name. He seemed to know Aurelia’s movements a little too intimately. I suspected he was in the security business because of the way he avoided the cameras at her apartment. Just a lot of little clues.”
Aurelia’s jaw has dropped. “Do you know who it is?”
I shake my head. “I think I should be there when you address the team, Ella.”
“It’s nearly two p.m,” she says. “When can you get here?”
“I’ll contact Gabriel and see if he can arrange a heli flight for us, otherwise we’ll have to wait for Caesar. If Gabriel can, I suspect we’ll arrive around four p.m.”
“I can keep the team here for the afternoon. I’ll make something up, say we have an operational briefing. I should call the police.”
“He’ll be a flight risk. He’s smart, and he could give you the slip. Wait until I’m back, and we’ll see if we can work out who it is.”
She pauses. “Are you bringing Aurelia with you?”
“She isn’t going anywhere without me,” I say firmly.
“All right.” She’s smiling. “Let me know once you’re en route.”
“Will do.” I end the call.
I look at Aurelia. She’s white-faced but composed. I walk toward her and take her hands. “Don’t be scared. It’s good news.”
She lifts her chin. “I’m not scared.” But her eyes are full of fear.
I pull her into my arms and wrap them around her. “If you want, you can stay here, and I’ll ask Gabriel to put a member of his security team on the door.”
But she shakes her head. “I want to go with you.”
“Okay. I’d prefer that. I just wanted to give you the option.” I kiss the top of her head. “If I can, I don’t ever want to make decisions for you. It’s important to me that you know that.”
“I know.” She lifts her face, and I give her a long kiss.
When I finally move back, she says, “I should pack, then.”
“Okay, and I’ll call Gabriel.”
She nods and goes off to the bedroom.
I take my phone over to the window and look out at the ocean. I feel a twist of disappointment that our time here didn’t last longer. But we were only postponing the inevitable. It couldn’t last forever. At some point, we were going to have to return to the real world.
And now it looks as if we might finally have a clue as to who the bastard is.