Page 25 of Duty and Desire

Chapter Twenty-Three

Nick

I watched as my second booking of the day walked away from the boat, a couple from Wisconsin who’d had their first experience of snorkeling. Their enthusiasm had been delightful, and the woman, Mary, couldn’t stop thanking me as we headed back to the ferry point.

Two down, one to go.

I had an hour before the final customers would arrive, and I toyed with the idea of dashing back to Gio’s place to have my lunch there. Then I dismissed it.

I could wait. Some things were worth waiting for, right?

That didn’t mean I couldn’t send him a message, however.

I got my phone out to take a selfie, and saw several texts and missed calls, all from Franz. I’d had it on silent, as I always did when I was working on the boat. I tapped Call.

“What’s so urgent?”

“Look to your right.”

I turned, and there he stood on the dock. I blinked at the sight of him.

What on earth…

I disconnected, then climbed out of the boat and went over to him, smirking.

“I turn a blind eye when you wear jeans and a jacket, because you’re obviously comfortable in them, but I’m going to have to draw a line at a suit. You stick out like a sore thumb.” And why a black suit? It made him look like a hitman.

To my surprise, Franz didn’t smile. “Sir…”

I stared at him, his grave expression and formal greeting sending a shiver through me.

Then I saw what sat at his feet. Two suitcases.

My suitcases.

My throat seized, and I swallowed hard. “What are you doing with those?”

“Sir, we have to go.”

I gaped at him. “You’ve received orders to take me home? Just like that? Why wasn’t I informed? He can’t do this.” My scalp prickled, and I took a step back, as though that would somehow halt whatever was coming at me, hurtling toward me.

An unstoppable force.

“Sir—”

“Will you stop calling me that!”

Then it hit me.

Oh God.

No.

There were several explanations for Franz’s formal attire and language, none of them good. I couldn’t suppress the shudder trickling through me from head to toe.

“What’s happened?” Because it was obvious something had. Something huge.

His eyes held so much compassion my heart quaked, and I knew before he spoke that of all the explanations, what was about to hit me was the worst.

“There’s been an accident. Your father…and your brother…. Sir, I’m so sorry.”

I was ice. I was numb to the core. Pain lanced through my chest.

“You… you’re telling me they’re dead? Both of them?”

Tell me I’ve got this all wrong.

Tell me they’re still alive.

He nodded, and my heart sank.

“We have to go now.” He pointed to the dock. “I have a boat waiting for us. There’s a jet on standby at the airport, ready to fly us to Tahiti.”

I followed his gaze. Sure enough, a boat was moored, and two suited men stood in it, watching us.

It was such an incongruous sight that my brain would not compute.

I needed answers.

“How, Franz? How did they die?” It didn’t matter that we’d been estranged for years. It didn’t matter that every time I thought of my father, my chest tightened.

Everything had changed in the blink of an eye. I’d lost the two people closest to me in blood.

“We can talk on the way, sir.”

My mind cleared a little. “Can we delay it? I need to tell?—”

Franz shook his head. “No, sir, we can’t. And don’t worry about the house. I’ve already spoken to your landlord. It’s empty. We packed up everything.” He gestured to the suitcases. “These are the last of it.”

I stared at him in growing horror. “Let me at least say goodbye to him.” My hand shook as I called up Gio’s number.

Franz took the phone from me with a firm hand. “I’m sorry, sir.”

“I can’t use my phone?” A rock had settled where my stomach used to be .

“Sir, you know I have to do this.” He slipped it into his pocket, then stared at me with a resigned expression. “This is protocol.”

Those three words brought the situation into sharp relief. I wasn’t Nick Wenzel anymore.

I was someone else.

“And as for Gio… It dies here. I know it’s not the way you would have wanted to end this, but at least it’s a clean break.” He laid his hand on my arm. “You knew this would happen eventually, either when he went home or when you did. So it’s best to end it now.” He sighed. “It’s over.”

What made my heart ache was that I knew he spoke the truth.

My world, the one I’d created for myself on the island, had just crashed and burned.

I had a father and a brother to bury.

A new life to lead, one that meant leaving the only man I’d ever loved.

And I can’t tell him what’s happened.

I can’t even say goodbye.