by Lena North
Charlie turned and smiled happily as she walked over toward them.
“Really?” she said, and Joao almost laughed when he heard the soft dialect from the Islands in her voice.
“It’s uncanny,” the woman said and kept staring at her.
“Guess it’s right what they say, everyone’s got a twin.”
“You’re from Croxier?” the woman asked, brows narrowed in a confused frown.
“Charlie,” Dupree called out from the other end of the bar.
“Yes, Papi?”
“You gonna chat the evening away or sell some booze?”
Charlie turned back to the group in front of her, grinned and said with a shrug, “My father, ignore him. You were saying?”
The woman looked at Dupree and then back at Charlie.
“Guess we were wrong,” she said, but she was still frowning.
“Guess you were. Ask your friend to come see me, it would be fun to meet her,” Charlie said breezily and put drinks in front of them.
The group was watching her intently, and Joao felt a surge of pride when she smiled blandly and started to fill cups with beer. The woman opened her mouth to say something else but closed it when a deep voice bellowed unintelligibly in the kitchen.
“Charlie-girl, I’m out of pineapple,” Ban yelled.
“And I should care, why?” Charlie snapped back over her shoulder as she picked up another empty cup and started filling it.
“Maybe because you’re the one going to the store,” Dupree said calmly.
“Papi,” Charlie whined. “Why me?”
Tina was already on her feet and ambled over, drawling lazily, “Here we go again. You know Charlie only shops for makeup and jewelry, Uncle Dupree.”
Tina stretched over the bar and took a few napkins she didn’t need, winked at Charlie and turned toward Roark who had joined them and also leaned over the bar. He suddenly took hold of Charlie’s hand and yanked her toward him. Then he kissed her soundly, turned toward the group of tourists and grinned, “And underwear.” He wiggled his brows and added, “I think that’s why I’ve been infatuated since the day we met.”
“You’ve known each other a long time?” the woman who had recognized Charlie asked.
“Feels like forever,” Roark said cheekily, kissed Charlie’s hand and turned back to the woman. “Drink up and order more. She works on commission, and I like black lace.”
“Jesus,” Dupree grunted. “I’ve told you a million times, boy. I don’t need to know your underwear preferences.” Then he turned to Charlie and said firmly, “Pineapple.”
Charlie pursed her mouth, made a cheeky turn, waved her hand over the bar and stage-whispered to the tourists, “Order more.”
They laughed, and she walked into the kitchen where everyone could hear Ban tell her that she’d always been a sassy girl, he needed more tomatoes too, and since she was heading out, she should pick up his regular coffee.
Joao kept his face blank and his hands hidden under the table. Slowly he made his fists relax and tried to let go of the frustrating feeling of inadequacy. No one had actually lied but the picture they’d cleverly painted had been one where Charlie had been on the Islands forever. He loved the way the family had rallied to her help but hated that he didn’t have the right to do shit. Roark and Tina sat down again, and they started talking casually about the repairs he had to make on his boat.
“Another beer?” Roark asked and moved to stand.
Tina and Thea declined and shouted to Lippy that they were heading home, informing him that he was expected for dinner the next day. Dupree was making another round of drinks for the tourist group, talking to them about how the Island had been when he grew up, and Ban was singing in the kitchen. Everything seemed normal, and Joao relaxed.
“Yeah,” he said.
Roark put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in close.
“I’m sorry, man. Best I could think of.”
“Hope you enjoyed it because you’ll never get to do it again,” Joao muttered, hoping it was a vow he’d be able to keep.
“I know,” Roark said as a grin spread on his face. “And I did enjoy it.”
Then he got up, wiggled both the empty beer-cups and his brows, and walked over to the bar.
“Can I have a word with you?”
The quiet voice next to him came as a surprise, and Joao raised his brows.
“Sure,” he said and indicated the empty chairs with his hand.
“Okay,” the man said, looked at the badge Joao had clipped to his belt and made a small nod. “I’m a police officer in Prosper.”
Joao narrowed his eyes slightly but didn’t respond.
“I notice shit. She didn’t react when my friends called her Lottie, but everyone at this table did. Your hand twitched, dented your cup slightly and I noticed.”
Shit. They’d known there was a small risk someone visiting from the mainland would recognize her, but a cop?
“She handled herself well,” the man said quietly.
“Not sure I know what you’re talking about,” Joao said calmly.
“I won’t tell him,” the man said, still speaking in a hushed voice. “Hate his fucking guts, always did. Most of the cases aren’t solved by him, but he’s good at taking credit. Saw her in Prosper once, trying to walk away from him. She was afraid. Really afraid, and I couldn’t do shit about it. So I won’t talk, but I suspect someone will mention this funny coincidence. We’re just here for a wedding tomorrow. I’ll downplay this as much as I can, try to get them to stay at the hotel.”
Joao remained silent as he watched the man, making his mind up if he could trust him.
“I’ll let you know if something happens when we get back to Prosper.”
“Any information about criminal activity is always welcome,” Joao said slowly. “Perhaps you could ask them to transfer your call to me. I’m Joao Torres.”
“I know who you are,” the man said. “You do good work out here, so everyone does. I’m Barry Marks.”
They shook hands, and the man moved as if to get up. Then he turned back toward Joao.
“Can you… Just tell her I’m sorry I couldn’t help. There are others who are sorry too. Tell her that.”
The group was moving toward the door, calling out to him that he’d left his badge at home and should stop with the cop-talk.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” he shouted.
“Enjoy your stay here and stay out of trouble when you’re back in Prosper,” Joao said.
“Yeah,” the man said and stood.
“I mean it. Stay way out of trouble. We know how to take care of our own,” Joao said and got up too.
The man had to tilt his head back and watched with a grin how Joao slowly crossed his arms over a chest which was a lot wider than his own.
“I imagine you do,” the man said with a nod.
***
Charlie.
It took two days, and then Sebastian walked into the bar. I knew he’d come, but I had expected it to take a while longer.
“Hello, Lottie,” he said.
His short, golden hair was swept back, he wore a pale blue golf-shirt and beige shorts, and his brown eyes smiled at me as if we were friends. It was as if he’d forgotten the bruises his fists had put on my face and body and the fact that I’d jumped off a balcony rather than stay with him.
“Sebastian,” I said, knowing I could try to pretend I didn’t know him, but also that he’d never believe it.
“Leave,” my father said calmly and put an arm around my shoulders. “You get one chance. Leave now and don’t ever come back to the Islands.”
“Your father, I assume,” Sebastian said, still looking straight at me.
“You heard him,” I said. “Leave.”
The door suddenly opened, and a group of people walked in. They clearly knew exactly who Sebastian was, and lined up along the walls, watching him silently. All m
y cousins were there, and so were Nicholas and Pauline. The fierce look on Tina’s face contradicted the worry in her eyes. I nodded at her, and she must have seen the calmness I felt because she nodded and her lips twitched with a small grin. Joao was the last one to enter, and he marched straight up to the bar, turned his broad back toward me and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Look around the room. At her father. At me,” he said, paused and snarled, “Do it.”
There was a long pause during which I assumed Sebastian looked at my cousins. They were tall, broad and muscular. And many. Tina took a small step forward and spat on the floor in front of her.
“You only got on the plane taking you here because I allowed it,” Joao said. “I won’t allow it again. Now you know who’s protecting her. You won’t come back here.”
“What would you do if I did?” Sebastian asked with a confident smirk and let his gaze slide over Joao’s shorts and gray Croxier PD-tee.
To my surprise, Joao barked out laughter, although it didn’t sound happy.
“You look at me and see a beach bum, but I am the fucking chief of police on these islands. Don’t make me arrest you for breathing our air,” Joao said calmly. “I know who you are Sebastian Lievens, and you have friends, but so do I. And my friends are the kind you don’t want to mess with, even on the mainland.”
“Oh, really,” Sebastian tried to cut in, but that made Joao lean forward.
“Leave her alone, you fool. I hold the power here on the Islands, not your father. I also have Hawker Johns, Dante d’Augustine and Domenico d’Izia on speed dial,” he snarled in Sebastian’s face. “You know who they are, and you do not want the considerable shit-storm they can unleash on you on the mainland, so we won’t see you here again.” He paused and took a threatening step forward. “Is that understood?”
He put it as a question, but it wasn’t one, and when he made a small movement with his hand, Roark and Toby walked up to Sebastian.
“We’ll take you back to the airport. The plane is waiting for you,” Roark said calmly.
And just like that, he was gone again.
I blinked and watched my grinning cousins walk out, followed by Joao. None of them said a word to me.
“Papi?” I asked weakly. “What just happened?”
“We had a meeting,” he said. “I voted for killing him and putting the sorry son of a bitch under some rocks far out in the ocean. This way got more votes.”
“You… voted?” I asked. “About killing my ex-boyfriend?”
“Yup,” Dupree said. “Can you go and get us some coffee?”
“But –”
“Charlie,” he said with a sigh. “You’re safe here. We won’t let him harm you, so yeah. We voted.”
“It was a tie,” Ban chimed in. “Joao cast the final vote. Said you would prefer to not have him killed. Fuck that I say, but that’s what he decided.”
Joao had been right. I didn’t want anyone to have Sebastian’s death on his or her conscience. I would have done it myself if he hurt me again, but most of all, I just wanted him to stay away from me.
“Okay,” I said, not knowing what else to say and a little rattled from remembering how well Joao understood me.
“Right,” Dupree said. “Coffee?”
“Okay,” I repeated.
The town was its usual bustling inferno of people and cars and scooters. One of the fishermen waved at me, and so did a couple of the cousins who were sitting outside the hotel where they worked. I waved back but didn’t stop, and I was still in a daze when I walked into the coffee shop. The line was short and the girl behind the counter smiled as I walked in, calling out a happy greeting. I waved at her too, and slowly relaxed as I stood there waiting for my turn, hoping I’d finally seen the last of Sebastian. With that display of angry power around him, he’d surely know it would be in his best interest to stay away?
“I heard your boyfriend is here,” I heard Mimi say behind me and I jerked around.
Well, shit. I hadn’t heard her come in and her sweet voice had an undertone of cattiness.
“Ex,” I said quietly and turned away from her.
There was only one customer before me, but he ordered seven friggin’ lattes. What the hell were the odds for that?
“Now you can stay away from my man,” Mimi said.
Then she poked me in the back.
Poked. Me.
With a hard finger.
“Don’t do this,” I said and turned slowly.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” she said haughtily.
I watched her sullen expression and sighed. We’d have to find a way to ease the tension or else Joao’s life would continue to be godawful.
“Things are not good between you right now, but they can be,” I said quietly. “Mimi, please. Figure out what he needs and give him that. For his sake.”
“He has what he needs,” she said and put a hand on her belly.
She wore another loose-fitting tunic, and I wondered how big the child was. She’d be what? Four months pregnant? Five maybe? Underneath the tunic, she’d start showing by now.
“No, he doesn’t,” I insisted, hoping I could get her to understand.
“You don’t think I know my man?” she asked.
“You don’t know him at all,” I told her.
The way she smiled smugly at me riled my temper, and when she scoffed, I leaned a little closer. I spoke quietly but the place was completely silent, and my voice carried through the room.
“You don’t know that when he comes home after a long day doing what he does, he doesn’t need syrupy sweet compassion. He also doesn’t need a woman he can’t talk to simply because he and everyone else knows she’ll spread whatever he shares high and wide. He doesn’t need someone playing him, saying that goddamned nail polish can’t take walking barefoot in the sand just so you can make him walk on the boardwalk where you want to show him off or whatever the hell you want to do. He does not need someone who’s gonna pretend to agree with everything he says and then do everything in her power to get something entirely different.”
Her mouth had fallen open, and I kept talking.
“He needs a partner. Someone who’s going to stand up to him, hold him, challenge him and have his back in every possible way. Someone who will swim with him in the moonlight.”
Her back straightened suddenly and her eyes hardened in a way I hadn’t seen before. Ruthlessness and fury pushed away their usual sweet look, and I braced.
“You are nothing but the bastard child of a lazy, womanizing bum, and everyone knows both your mother and grandmother were insane. And you can say whatever you want, but I got him in the end, didn’t I?”
That’s when I lost it. Mimi should not have tossed slurs about my father in my face, and my voice was suddenly not quiet anymore. It was also full of all the considerable disdain I felt for her.
“Yeah?” I said with a cool grin. “He ever comes to you, so hungry he can’t wait, and push you up against the wall? Skipping lunch even though the whole city council is gathering to hear what he has to say, so he has to do the afternoon on an empty stomach, and doing it easily because what you have is more important?” She paled, and my grin widened. “I didn’t think so. So, yeah, you got him, Mimi. But you know he didn’t choose you. He chose his child, which makes him a man to respect. The way you made that happen makes you something entirely different. And every time you go through the front door of his house, you should look to the left. Look at the wall there and know that you might have him. But you still don’t have him, not really. And if you don’t figure out what he needs and give it to him, you never will.”
She made a soft sound, and I realized what I’d just thrown in her face. I’d tried to make her understand, but my words had turned ugly, and I knew who would pay for them.
“Please, Mimi,” I murmured. “You’re in his home, and it doesn’t matter how you did it because you got him.
”
Then I turned to walk away, realized the coffee shop had filled up with people, and it hit me that I’d announced to a rather substantial crowd that we’d had sex against the wall.
Yikes.
With as much dignity as I could muster, I walked out of there with my head held high. And with cheeks which were burning.
***
Joao
Tina called and told him every word that had been said in the coffee shop, and it hurt to hear how she’d been pleading with Mimi to give him a good life, but good Lord how proud he was of Charlie.
He wanted to move forward with the documents the lawyer on the mainland was preparing, and as soon as they had proof the child was his, they would. The evening before, he’d consequently informed Mimi about the hereditary heart-issues sometimes occurring in his family and told her they needed to make sure the doctor tested for it, so they could prepare. The child wouldn’t survive natural birth, he said and added that he could arrange for a visit with specialists on the mainland so they could get it done within the next few days, and perhaps visit her parents at the same time. It had to be a neutral clinic, the lawyer had said and handed him a list of options. It couldn’t be done on the Islands, and definitely not by his uncle Nico. Joao had assumed his offer to visit her parents would make her agree immediately, but Mimi had been surprisingly reluctant and shared that they didn’t need to rush. It wouldn’t be an issue, she said, because she wouldn’t go through a natural birth anyway. He’d been surprised, and she’d laughed at him, saying that a C-section was what all women did these days. It sounded strange, although he hadn’t ever felt any particular need to discuss birthing details with anyone, so he didn’t know, and maybe they did.
“Joao,” an incredibly angry voice snapped from the door to his office, and he swiveled around.
“Mimi,” he said.
“You did her against the wall?”
He didn’t respond because what was there to say? He had indeed done that, which she knew, and enjoyed it, which he wasn’t going to share.
“You already heard about what she said in the coffee shop, I assume,” she snarled.
“Yes.”
“I also assume you’re going to take her side,” she yelled.
