Island Conquest

by Brooke Hastings

  Lani fought down her reaction to his looks. He was over six feet tall, his lean, tautly muscled frame having changed little from his days as a college track star. She noted with surprise that there were a few gray hairs among the dark strands now. At thirty-two Daniel was a little young for that.

  His face had a patrician, New England look about it. Or perhaps only Lani assigned this description to his slightly elongated face and rather thin, arrogant features. After all, among his ancestors were a New England Protestant missionary couple who had arrived in Hawaii during the first half of the nineteenth century. One of their sons had married well, eventually controlling vast quantities of land through his Hawaiian princess wife. The only indications of Daniel's relationship to Hawaiian royalty lay in the blackness of his hair and the ease with which his skin seemed to drink up the tropical sun. His eyes were a cool, metallic gray. At the moment, they rested on Lani.

  Lani met his gaze, careful to keep her expression icy even though his presence disturbed her. Daniel's usual reactions to her ranged from polite concern to blazing anger, and if he was temporarily steeling himself to pretend a certain measured affection, Lani knew it wouldn't last. He walked over to the couch and sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder and kissing her on the cheek. Lani held herself rigid in his embrace, seeking to convey to him that although she was tolerating his touch, it was distinctly distasteful to her. In fact, his closeness invariably sent her pulse rate soaring, and the thought that he might notice was dreadfully humiliating to her.

  After several seconds of undeclared war it was obvious that Daniel had no intention of removing his arm from her shoulder. Lani, unable to cope with her reaction to his touch, flung herself up from the couch and stalked to the center of the room. She noticed the troubled look exchanged by the Seavers, but ignored it. After all these years, they knew that she preferred to avoid Daniel, even if they didn't know why.

  Daniel rose as well, turning to the Seavers and saying crisply, "Thank you for looking after Lani and Brian. I can handle things from here on in."

  Lani held her tongue until the Seavers were out the door, then let fly with a scathing attack. "I'm perfectly capable of handling things myself, Daniel. I'm the one who's lived with Daddy for the last fourteen years. And taken care of him for the last six. I don't need you or your money, and I don't want you here for a moment longer than you have to be!"

  "It won't take long to wrap things up," he replied in a level tone. "You've had a tough day, honey. Go to bed."

  "I'll do whatever I like! Don't you give me orders!" Lani flared. If Daniel had suggested that she stay and talk to him, she would have marched into the bedroom. He had that sort of perverse effect on her.

  There was an exasperated sigh. "Don't push me, Lani. I loved my father, and I'm going to miss him. I'm in no mood to put up with that chip on your shoulder, not in these circumstances. Now get into that bedroom, or I'll carry you there myself."

  Lani didn't doubt it. There was a grim curve to Daniel's mouth that told her not to argue.

  She awoke early the next morning after a troubled night's sleep and quickly pulled on a robe over her baby-doll pajamas. Daniel and Brian were already dressed and had gone into the kitchen to eat breakfast. Snatches of their conversation reached her ears, prompting her to pause just outside the doorway to eavesdrop. They were talking about the most recent volcanic eruption on the Big Island—Hawaii—and Daniel had promised Brian that during the next such spectacle they would fly over for a closer look.

  "Not if I have anything to say about it," Lani muttered to herself. Although Brian was Daniel's half-brother as well as her own, she told herself she had no intention of letting him steal the child away from her. She walked into the room, ignoring Daniel's "Good morning" and refusing his offer of an omelet with a curt shake of her head.

  "Brian is going to school today," he said. It was a flat statement of fact. Daniel wasn't wasting any time in asserting his authority, Lani thought resentfully. She forced back her instinctive retort and looked at the child. "Is that what you want, Brian?" she asked gently, thinking that perhaps it was best if the child's routine remained undisturbed.

  He nodded. "We're having a party. It's Jeremy's birthday today." Lani managed a smile, then bent down to kiss him. "Okay. If you want to come home, you call me, honey."

  It was a relief to watch him kiss Daniel good-bye and run out the door to meet his schoolmates. It left her free to speak her mind to Daniel.

  "What was all that about Hawaii? Brian isn't going to Hawaii; he's staying here with me." The aggressive challenge flowed readily from her lips, but Lani was far less confident than she sounded. The night before, as she was lying in bed trying to fall asleep, she had realized just how vulnerable her position really was. Her deepest fear was that Daniel Prescott Reid, with his money and his influence, was going to take her little brother away from her. Only now was she acknowledging to herself that she stood absolutely no chance against Daniel in this matter.

  Her bravado failed her when it came to following up her uncompromising words with a haughty stare. She turned her back to Daniel to pour herself a cup of coffee, and heard the scrape of his chair as he pulled it out to sit down at the kitchen table.

  "I would have preferred not to discuss Brian's future just yet, but since you've raised the issue, Lani, I'll give it to you straight. Brian is coming with me, and so are you. It's what Jonathan wanted and it's what I want. And if you'd calm down and think rationally about it, you would see that it's best for you, too,"

  It was a full thirty seconds before Lani trusted herself to reply. In other circumstances, perhaps Daniel would be right. But then, he could have no inkling of the effect he had on her, and did not know why she was so aloof and curt in his presence. How could she possibly manage to live in the same house with him? She carried her coffee over to the table and sat down opposite him, cursing the fact that her hand was trembling.

  "Please don't do that." Her voice was husky with apprehension. "Brian belongs here. His… friends are here. And his school. And… and me."

  "What you really mean is that you don't want to come to Hawaii with me," Daniel translated softly. "I agree that Brian needs you, but if you won't come, I'll have to take him anyway. My father's will names me as his guardian, and I intend to fulfill that responsibility. I can't leave him in San Diego with you."

  Lani felt a hot flush creep up her neck. At the same time, she was overcome by a wave of nausea, forcing her to take several shallow breaths to keep control. It never occurred to her to question Daniel's version of her stepfather's will. He was not the type of man who shaded the truth.

  She buried her head in her hands in a gesture of agonized defeat. Not only did Daniel have money and power on his side, it seemed that he had the full force of the law as well. She should have realized that her stepfather would place Brian's future in Daniel's hands. He could give their little half-brother advantages Lani could only dream of providing. It wasn't fair.

  Given her stubborn nature, she couldn't let the matter rest—not without one final attempt to change Daniel's mind. Swallowing her pride, she met his implacable gaze and begged, "Please, Daniel. Brian loves this house. Leave him here with me. I'll manage. Maybe… maybe you could help out."

  "Do you know how much this house costs to run each month?"

  Lani shook her head! Her stepfather had always handled their finances.

  "Nearly one thousand dollars. I know because I own it. I also pay most of the bills." He folded his arms in front of his chest, his expression bland.

  Somehow this revelation failed to surprise Lani. They had moved into this beautiful house only blocks from the ocean five years before. Lani adored the beach, and she knew that Jonathan had bought the house to please her. She should have guessed that Daniel had paid for it—it was far too expensive for a retired naval officer to afford.

  Now Daniel continued, "I've decided to sell the house, Lani. We'll have a memorial service here if yo
u like, clean up my father's affairs, and then all of us are going back to Hawaii. I'd like my father to be buried on Maui, next to my mother."

  Lani was reeling from the force of too many blows, and this final setback destroyed her tenuous composure. "No!" she screamed. "You aren't taking him back there. He's not going to be with your mother and her prejudiced, snobbish family. Before I'd let that happen, I'd… I'd…"

  But there was nothing Lani could do if Daniel insisted on having his way in the matter, and she knew it. She bolted out of the kitchen and into her bedroom, hurling herself down onto her bed and sobbing wildly. It was several minutes before Daniel followed. When Lani heard him enter her room she bit down on her lip in a desperate effort to control herself.

  "Lani." Somehow she couldn't cope with the gentleness in his tone, and when she felt his hand on her shoulder, something inside her snapped. She jerked into a sitting position and attacked like a cornered animal, taking out all her frustration and grief on the man sitting next to her. Her hands curled themselves into fists and she began to punch wildly at his chest, tears rolling down her face.

  Daniel simply grabbed her wrists and forced them down into her lap, holding them captive with one large hand. The next moment she was pulled firmly onto his lap as he sat on the edge of the bed, her body enveloped in a relentless bear hug. Lani struggled impotently, demanding that he release her. Eventually, exhausted, she gave up and rested her head against his shoulder, crying softly.

  Daniel's grip relaxed into an embrace, his hand lightly stroking Lani's back. There was a brief moment when he rested his head against her own, his lips lightly nuzzling her hair. Lani stiffened with shame at the rush of heat that tore through her body as a result of this innocently comforting action, and abruptly pulled away. She felt much calmer after her emotional firestorm—perhaps she had needed to explode that way— but if she had ever learned anything, it was to fight against the way Daniel so easily aroused her. Allowing herself to show such feelings would only lead to a repeat of that ghastly episode seven years ago.

  Daniel permitted Lani to draw out of his embrace, but continued to hold her loosely about the waist, staring down at her with knowing amusement in his eyes. It was mortifying to her that he understood the reason for her hasty withdrawal.

  "Don't look so outraged," Daniel murmured. "Put it under the heading of friendly comforting."

  "You're not my friend," Lani mumbled, intensely conscious of the way his breath had fanned her cheek. "Please let me…"

  "Believe me, I have no desire to be your friend." Daniel lifted her from his lap to the bed, a mocking smile on his face. "Before you insulted my family and ran out of the room, we were trying to discuss funeral arrangements. You might have made your objections known in a less dramatic manner than a fullblown, frontal attack." He continued to hold her wrist firmly, forcing her to remain seated next to him.

  Lani said nothing. Although Jonathan Reid had legally adopted her, she couldn't dispute Daniel's moral right to decide funeral arrangements. Part of her dislike of his mother's family stemmed from the manner in which they and their kind had ravished Hawaii. The rest of it was rooted in her awareness of how shabbily they had treated her stepfather after he married Daniel's mother. It was ironic that Jonathan Reid, who had been icily tolerated by the Prescotts while he lived, would join them in death.

  "Not speaking to me, hmm?" Daniel had never taken his eyes from Lani's face; she hid her confusion by plastering a rebellious expression on her face.

  After a rather dramatic sigh, he tucked a finger under her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Okay, princess, you win. If you want him next to your mother, that's what we'll do."

  Lani stared at him, amazed by the uncharacteristic concession. "Why? What made you change your mind?" she asked suspiciously.

  "I'm giving you something you want in exchange for something I want," Daniel said teasingly. "You and Brian will come back to Hawaii, and live in my house. Let's not argue about it anymore, princess."

  "I should have known. My feelings don't matter. It's always business with you, isn't it, Daniel?"

  "If you say so. I admit that when I want something, I usually find a way to get it. It will be best for Brian, and best for you. Trust me, Lani."

  Without waiting for her acquiescence, he rose from the bed and strolled out of her room. Lani's emotions were deeply divided. She loved Hawaii and had always longed to return to her home state some day. But she doubted her ability to disguise her feelings from Daniel, and if she slipped, she was going to make an even bigger fool of herself than she had seven years ago. It was one thing to put up barriers against a man she scarcely ever saw. But how would she manage when they were living together in the same house?

  Chapter Two

  Lani emerged from her room only after she realized that Daniel had closeted himself in her stepfather's bedroom, apparently to make business calls. She heard the muffled sound of his voice when she hesitantly poked her head out of her open door. Then she ventured into the kitchen, and had just poured herself a glass of juice when the doorbell rang. Barbara Seaver stood with her arms full of packages containing home-baked goods contributed by various friends, many of whom stopped by during the day to offer their help and condolences.

  Funeral arrangements were left to Daniel. He decided against a military burial in favor of a simple church service and graveside ceremony to be conducted by their minister. Lani was informed of this immediately after Daniel's hushed conversation with Reverend Taylor, who had arrived late in the morning to offer what comfort he could to Lani. Although Daniel's plans were in accord with her own preferences, she would have preferred that he had consulted her first. Could she trust his gentle explanation—that he wanted to spare her the anguish of dealing with such painful details?

  The weekend passed without further incident, primarily because the house was constantly filled with visitors and Lani was able to avoid being alone with Daniel. Usually she was defensively aloof in his presence, but from time to time over the last seven years she had given in to the urge to provoke him, not really understanding why she did so. When this happened, Daniel usually took her complaints literally, answering in a calm, reasoned fashion. But not always. Lani could remember a few occasions when her taunts had clearly found their mark, and his subsequent, rather frightening anger. The fact was, Daniel Prescott Reid intimidated her.

  And now she was tense and unsettled whenever he directed his attention to her. At the same time, she was almost obsessed with protecting Brian from doubts and fears. She refused to let herself cry, feeling certain that if Brian saw her break down, his own anxieties would rage out of control. Many people commented on Lani's apparent composure, unaware that the perfect hostess was constantly struggling to maintain her self-possessed facade. By nine o'clock every night she was emotionally and physically exhausted, too wrung out to dwell on the future and too tired to do anything but fall into bed and sleep.

  Daniel had not informed her of the specific arrangements for Monday's service, and Lani was too intent on avoiding him to ask for details. Thus, when they set out for church on Monday morning, she had no idea of what to expect. Daniel drove her car; Brian was tucked between them on the front seat. Lani smoothed an imaginary wrinkle from the matching jacket of her navy and white shirtwaist dress and reached over to return an errant strand of Brian's blond hair to its proper position. She glanced across at Daniel; his suntanned face was set into a composed expression which showed no signs of the wanness and dark semi-circles that Lani had hidden with make-up.

  Always aware of Brian's small hand clutching her own, Lani sat stoically through most of the service. Her eyes grew moist when she listened to tributes from the minister and Dr. Seaver, but the handkerchief she carried remained in her purse, unneeded. Somehow it had never occurred to her that Daniel might wish to say a few words, and she was surprised when he rose to address the mourners.

  His father, he said, had suffered two great tragedies in his life: the dea
ths of Daniel's mother, Laura, and of Jonathan's second wife, Anne. But he had also found great joy in the love and devotion of colleagues and friends. In a soft monotone, Daniel went on to thank many of them by name. Lani was impressed by his knowledge of his father's life here in San Diego, so far from the tropical paradise where Daniel made his home. She realized that Daniel and Jonathan must have been even closer than she had assumed.

  Daniel continued his talk with a few words about Brian, saying that the child's birth had enriched Jonathan's last years and cushioned his grief over Anne's death. At the mention of his own name Brian began to whimper, and Lani pulled him out of his seat and sat him on her lap. She had been deeply affected by Daniel's reference to Brian, noticing how the increased huskiness of his voice contrasted with the rigid control he exercised over his features.

  "But most of all," Daniel was concluding, "my father found comfort and contentment during the last years of his life because of Lani. She captivated both of us as a flame-haired little girl, and won our hearts as she grew up. She matured into a beautiful and devoted daughter who loved him and nurtured him and gave him strength. She has been as loving a mother to Brian as any woman could possibly be. I owe her a very great debt. Thank you, Lani."

  For the first time, Lani reached for her handkerchief, dabbing at tears which could no longer be suppressed. As Daniel returned to his seat on the other side of Brian, she thought she saw his hand dart to the corner of his right eye to brush away a single tear.

  After a brief graveside ceremony they drove back to the Seavers' house for a buffet lunch. No one spoke. Lani was pondering her stepbrother's emotional paean, still rather stunned that a man who had been so distant could profess admiration and appreciation for the loyalty and love she had shown his father. She was sure that any affection Daniel himself had ever felt for her must have vanished after that disastrous evening during the summer following her fifteenth birthday. Obviously he could disregard his own negative opinion of her character as a woman in assessing her qualities as a daughter and sister. If he was grateful, it was only because of Lani's devotion to his father and half-brother.