by Alexa Land
“Is Lorenzo your repairman?”
“He’s a veterinarian, and Uncle Ren’s oldest friend. For some reason, he thinks he can get the fountain running again.” I climbed off Lee’s lap and told him, “I’m going to get ready. Why don’t you try on a pair of my tennis shoes to see if they happen to fit? You can also help yourself to some sunglasses, and anything else of mine that you want.”
While I changed my clothes, Lee sent a text, then put on a pair of white sneakers, some aviator-style sunglasses, and a red baseball cap. Luckily, we wore the same shoe size. He said, “I don’t recognize myself in this outfit,” as he checked his reflection in the full-length mirror.
Once I was dressed in a red T-shirt, white shorts, and sneakers, I put on a vintage, narrow-brimmed hat and asked, “Are you ready to go?”
“Almost. Do you have a spare toothbrush?”
I told him where to find one in the bathroom, and while he went to brush his teeth, I stepped out onto the balcony and whispered, “Oh shit.”
Lorenzo had gotten a member of my staff named Isaac to help him. The two men were wrestling with the five-foot-high seahorse sculpture that normally graced the center of the large, tile-inlayed fountain. Isaac’s nickname was Thor, because he looked a hell of a lot like the actor who played that character in the Marvel movies. Lorenzo was a big, muscular guy too, and yet it looked like they’d gotten in way over their heads when they decided to lift the sculpture.
I cringed as they tried to heave it onto their shoulders and almost dropped it. Fortunately, Ren and Colt ran up and gave them a hand, and I let out the breath I’d been holding. As Lee and I both returned to the bedroom, I closed the double doors behind me and said, “This is exciting. I’m counting it as our first real date.”
“I should have taken you out during our weekends together. I’m sorry I didn’t.”
“Those weekends were all about shutting out the rest of the world,” I said. “I get that.”
“That’s exactly what I was trying to do. But not today.”
We left my room hand-in-hand, and when we reached the courtyard, I went over to the group by the fountain and said, “Everyone, this is Lee.”
My uncle stepped forward and shook his hand as he said, “Ren Medina. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Colt, Lorenzo, and Isaac introduced themselves in turn, and then I said, “We’re about to head into town, so we’ll see you later.”
“Maybe we can all have dinner together when you get back,” Ren suggested.
I was about to make an excuse, but Lee surprised me by saying, “I’d like that. In fact, we’ll pick up some groceries when we’re in town, and I’ll do the cooking. Please invite your staff to join us.”
Ren asked, “Are you sure? I don’t want you to go to any trouble.”
“It would be a pleasure,” Lee said. He seemed very formal, and I realized he was nervous.
After we said goodbye to everyone, I led us to one of the golf carts lined up at the turn-around beside the courtyard. Lee grinned as he climbed into the passenger seat. “This is cute. It’s like an overgrown toy.”
“It’s fun, too,” I said, as I fired up the quiet, electric motor and swung us onto the road.
Lee seemed to agree. He relaxed as I drove us into town, and a half-smile hovered on his full lips. I loved the fact that he rested his hand on my thigh throughout the trip. It was a reminder that we were a couple now, and that made me happy.
We parked near Rus’s hotel, and when I spotted him waiting out front, I couldn’t help but laugh. The human mountain was dressed in a loud, Hawaiian shirt, yellow plastic sunglasses, denim Bermuda shorts, white socks, and brown leather sandals. “Wow,” I said, as Lee and I approached him. “That’s a lot of look.”
Rus glanced at us and looked away, then turned back when the lightbulb went on and exclaimed, “Holy shit cousin, I didn’t even recognize you!”
As we came to a stop beside him, I asked, “Dude, what’s up with the socks and sandals?”
He frowned at me and explained, “These are new shoes, and they were starting to give me blisters. The socks protect my feet.”
“But not your dignity.”
“Whatever.” He turned to Lee and asked, “So, what’s the plan here, boss?”
“I’m taking my boyfriend on a date.” He turned to me and asked, “What would you like to do, psychi mou?”
Rus chuckled and said, “Oh my God, that’s the sappiest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Why,” I asked, “what does it mean?”
“It literally translates to ‘my soul’, and in Greece it’s the most affectionate nickname there is. It’s way above my love or my darling. I can’t believe those words came out of his mouth!” Rus seemed extremely entertained, until he glanced at his cousin and noticed his stony expression. Then he tried to look serious as he murmured, “Sorry. So, answer the question, Beck. Where are we going?”
I asked Lee, “How do you feel about kayaks?”
“I have no opinion on them, but I’ll do anything you want.”
Rus muttered, “It’s like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The toughest bastard I’ve ever known has been replaced with a love-sick puppy.”
“This love-sick puppy can still kick your ass,” Lee reminded him.
“That’s a valid point,” Rus said. “So, kayaking. That sounds horrible, but let’s make it happen.”
As we started walking toward the harbor, Lee asked his cousin, “Any news?”
“Yeah, none of it good. Apparently Harris called in reinforcements. The word on the street is that he got the McGrath family to back him up. Don’t ask me how that happened, since both Harris’s organization and ours are small fish compared to the McGraths. You didn’t do anything to piss them off, did you?”
Lee frowned and said, “Not that I’m aware of. Have our people been told about this new development?”
“Yup, and you don’t have to worry about any of them. Not only are they hiding out, none of them know where we are right now. So even if someone were to get caught, they couldn’t give up your location.”
A muscle began working in Lee’s jaw as he ground his teeth, and I asked, “Should we go back to the ranch?”
He shook his head. “This isn’t great news, but it doesn’t affect our plans. I’m still safe here.”
“I really think you are,” Rus said, “though overall, the situation’s a lot more volatile now that Harris saw fit to bring in these other players.”
I asked Lee, “What are you going to do?”
He sighed quietly, and after a moment, he said, “I’m going to take my gorgeous boyfriend kayaking, and after that I’m going to buy him lunch. Beyond that, I have no idea. But I’ll figure it out.” He smiled at me, but he still seemed worried.
Lee made an effort to relax as we walked through town. A lot of people were on spring break, which meant Avalon was bustling. Brightly colored signs decorated the businesses, all of which were geared toward the tourist trade and ran the gamut from high-end clothing to kitschy souvenirs.
The sugary, appetizing smell of waffle cones baking at the ice cream shop drifted to us on the breeze, and as we walked, I told Lee a little about the island and its history, because I figured he could use the distraction. I also greeted several locals along the way. At one point, Lee said, “It seems like you know everyone.”
“Not quite. There are over four thousand residents on Catalina. I only know a fraction of them.”
“Still though, it’s obvious you’re very much at home and well-loved here. When I would try to imagine what your life was like outside of our weekends, I incorrectly assumed it was more like mine.”
I asked, “What was your life like?”
“Lonely.”
I stopped him right in the middle of the crowded sidewalk and kissed him. Then I said, “Not anymore.”
He took off his sunglasses and met my gaze as worry churned in his eyes. “It’s all such a mess,” he whispered. “I don�
��t know what I’m going to do. All I can think about is keeping you safe. It was so selfish of me to start this right now, to let you get close to me, when—”
He stopped talking abruptly, and I asked, “When what?”
After a pause, he whispered, “When I might not survive this.”
“Let’s get out of California, Lee. We can go anywhere in the world, and then they’ll never find you.”
But he shook his head. “If we run, we’ll spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders, and that’s no way to live. Besides, I can’t and won’t uproot you from your home, and your family and friends. That would be a terrible thing to do to you.”
I threw my arms around him and held him tight, totally oblivious to the people stepping around us. After a few moments, a hand on my shoulder started guiding us along the sidewalk, and Rus said, “I know you two are having a moment, but let’s not end up drawing attention to ourselves and getting a video posted to the internet, m’kay?” Somewhere along the line, he’d picked up a very large ice cream cone with sprinkles.
We kept walking until we reached the casino. The round, white structure with its iconic orange roof was located at the edge of the harbor, and it was featured on what seemed like every Catalina Island postcard ever. Rus asked me what it was, and when I told him the name, he said, “A casino? Awesome. Can I go gamble while you two try not to drown?”
“It’s not that kind of casino,” I explained. “The word is Italian for ‘gathering place’. I guess the people who built it thought that sounded classy or something.”
“You can go back to your hotel, or do whatever you want,” Lee told him. “Asking you to shadow us was a bit paranoid. I just wanted to make sure Beck was safe, but there’s clearly no threat here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. Thank you, cousin. Obviously call me if there’s any news, and I’ll check in soon.”
After Rus left, I took Lee’s hand and led him to an uncrowded path along the water’s edge. “I have so many questions,” I said, after a few moments. “I don’t even know how you earn a living.”
Lee guided us to a bench, and we sat and watched the low waves wash up on the rocks for a while. He was still holding my hand, and he rubbed the back of it with his thumb as he stared out at the water. Finally, he said, “You deserve to know the truth. All of it. So, I guess I need to start at the very beginning.”
He took a breath before saying, “I was born in a town called Kalabaka, in north-central Greece. It’s situated near the Meteora, which are breathtaking rock formations. Some of them are topped with ancient monasteries that seem miraculous, given their precipitous location. It’s the most beautiful place in all the world. That’s what’s depicted in the main tattoo on my arm, though that certainly doesn’t do it justice.
“It would have been a great place to grow up, except for the fact that my father was a monster. It was just him and me, because my mother died when I was a toddler. It was worse when he was drinking, but it was never good. He’d beat the shit out of me for any reason, or no reason at all.
“When I was ten years old, I finally found the courage to defend myself. I took a swing at him after he struck me, and he became enraged.” Lee kept his eyes on the horizon while he paused for a few moments, and then he said, “I ended up in the hospital with broken bones and a long gash down my face. He came at me with a knife and told me he was going to kill me.” He touched the scar on his cheek absently.
“My nurse was a tough, tiny little woman, and she promised me she wouldn’t let my father hurt me anymore. She did some digging and found out I had relatives in the U.S., so she called my Uncle Fred, and he came to get me. I’d never met him before, but he was so kind. He told me he was going to take me to California to live with him, and as soon as I was well enough to travel, he made good on that promise.
“On the plane, I noticed his knuckles were bruised and bloody, and when I asked what had happened, he said my father would never hurt me again. Then he told me we couldn’t go back to Greece, not for any reason.” Lee was quiet for a while, and then he whispered, “I think he killed his brother before taking me away with him.”
I asked quietly, “You never found out for sure?”
“I didn’t want to know. Fred was more of a dad to me in the four short years we were together than my real father had ever been. I couldn’t have handled finding out he was a murderer.”
After another pause, Lee continued, “My uncle died when I was fourteen. He was a widower with a young son, my cousin Rus. He took care of a lot of other people too, including my great aunt, who lived in a nursing home in L.A. He really was a good person, even though he didn’t exactly obey the law. Fred made his living as a bookie. He wasn’t very good at it, so he supplemented his income by fencing stolen property and occasionally liberating merchandise off the back of a truck. By the time I was twelve, he’d already started teaching me the business. It turned out I had a head for numbers, so I took over for him when he died.”
“Really? You became a bookie at fourteen?”
Lee nodded. “I picked up right where Fred left off. I took care of Rus, and my great aunt, and I ran the business like a pro. Needless to say, nobody would have trusted a scrawny little kid with their money, so I hired Fred’s oldest friend, Douglas Poulos, to front the organization and give us some clout. Then I built that two-bit illegal sports betting operation into an empire.”
Lee took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes before continuing. “My nickname was ‘the Prodigy’ and the more my reputation grew, the more others tried to challenge me and take what was mine. They figured, incorrectly, that a kid would be an easy mark. But I brought in plenty of muscle, and I paid my people very well, so they were loyal to me.
“There were all kinds of rumors going around. One of my favorites was that I was actually fifty years old and a seasoned hitman, but I had some sort of disorder that made me age in reverse. It was crazy. A lot of the stories were, but they turned me into a legend. Meanwhile, I was working hard and getting rich, and I made sure my family would be taken care of, no matter what. That was all that mattered to me.”
Lee exhaled slowly, and then he said, “Now here I am, twenty years down the road. My great aunt passed away, and Rus really doesn’t need me to take care of him, but everything else is basically the same. I’m still breaking the law, and there are still more rumors than truths out there about me. I like it that way. It keeps my enemies on their toes. I’ve made plenty of those over the last two decades. It’s inevitable in this line of work, especially when you let your ego get out of control and start to believe there’s nothing you can’t do.
“That’s how I got in this current predicament. I was so full of myself that I believed I could waltz right in, pluck that cross out from under Harris’s nose, and escape scot-free. I almost did too, but I made one mistake. I let a traffic camera capture my license plate when I was two blocks away, and somehow Harris obtained the footage.
“It’s certainly not the first time I’ve fucked up, but it’s looking like I can’t talk, scheme, or buy my way out of this one. I tried, but money isn’t enough for Harris. He wants to teach me a lesson, and he doesn’t care who he hurts in the process. Last night, he tried to burn down one of my office buildings. It was empty and the fire was quickly contained, but people could have been killed. I still don’t know how he obtained a list of my properties, but it’s a real problem. It makes me vulnerable, and so does…”
He cut himself off, but I finished for him. “Me.”
Lee turned to look at me and ran his fingertips along my jaw. After a few moments, he said, “It’s as though the universe has a warped sense of humor. Why else would that shit be happening right now, when we’re finally admitting our feelings for each other? Well, you’ve admitted your feelings, anyway. I’ve stared down the barrel of a gun on more than one occasion, and as it turns out, that’s not half as frightening as saying these four words: I love you, Beck.”
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I whispered, “You do?”
“God yes. I fell in love with you months ago, but I didn’t know what to do with that. I tried to handle it by setting up a trust fund for you and by basically building a nest for us in that apartment. But I didn’t discuss any of this with you, because I have no idea how to be in a relationship.”
I kissed him and said, “You’re doing a good job of making it up as you go along.”
“I’m not sure I believe that. This wasn’t exactly a cheerful, first date-worthy conversation.”
“It was an important one, though. Thank you for trusting me with your story.” I kissed him again, and then I asked, “Would you like to move on to the frivolous, water-based portion of our date?”
He got up and pulled me to my feet as he said, “Absolutely.”
Within minutes, we reached a weathered kiosk backed by three dozen brightly colored kayaks, which were stood up on end along rows of wooden supports. I greeted the pretty brunette behind the counter with, “Hey Sarajane. How’s the boat biz?”
She stepped out of the kiosk and gave me a hug as she said, “Ridiculous. Tourist season just started, and I’m already feeling homicidal. I had to go out and rescue three separate couples today, because turns out, this isn’t freaking Disneyland and my kayaks aren’t on a rail! Propelling yourself through the water takes actual effort, people! I tried to explain this to them, but did they listen? Hell no.”
“Well, I promise you won’t have to rescue us. This is my boyfriend Lee, and I’m going to try to impress him with my endurance and athleticism.”
Sarajane and I both laughed at that, and then she shook Lee’s hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you. Have you ever been kayaking before?”
“Definitely not.”
“Well, don’t worry. Even kids can do it. The only tricky part is getting back in your seat if you capsize, but Beck knows better than to take you out into the open ocean where a wave might knock you over.” She turned to me for confirmation and said, “Am I right?”
