Chapter 3

DJ loved the heat of the Maui coast. This was where Reno had grown up and, hopefully, where Rhyne was. He sat on the balcony of his hotel room and enjoyed the cool breeze that rushed past him. His eyes closed and emeralds danced bright at the back of his dark eyelids. He couldn’t get her out of his mind and, honestly, DJ wasn’t sure he wanted to. DJ had never spent an entire night with a woman who wasn’t related to him or who wasn’t Catalella or Lisette, fully clothed and just talking. Evie amused him. It had been a long time since he could…smile or laugh or feel this irrational sense of joy just by thinking of a person, or from not thinking at all. Evie had her own sun, one that he wanted to stand in with her.

Evie and DJ standing under the sun…together.

“This isn’t a vacation, little bro!”

DJ winced when Reno slapped him on the back. The man was built like a mountain, and, for some reason, he thought that everyone else was made out of rock just like he was. “Don’t break my back. I need it for a night of debauchery.”

Reno sat across from him, exhaled, then grinned. There was no part of Reno’s expression that told DJ he believed him. So, he tried again. “I bet the island girls are eager.”

“That depends. How’s Evie?”

“Evie?” DJ looked over his shoulder, half expecting the quirky, shy, yet determined girl to be sitting in the living room of their suite. It wouldn’t surprise him to see her standing there in nothing but an apron. That was all she was wearing when she appeared in his every thought.

“The girl you were dreaming about last night. I could hear it all the way to my room,” Reno teased. “For a moment I thought that you had a girl in there. That is until I didn’t see any naked girls draped around you at breakfast.”

“And you decided to wait until lunch to ask me?”

“Well, Danny isn’t here yet. It is my duty as a big brother to take an interest in your life.”

“It is, huh?” DJ knew Reno was setting him up for a heart to heart. He didn’t want to fall into the plush pit his big brother was so diligently digging for him, but he couldn’t help it. “There is this girl…”

“Obviously. Her name is Evie, and you are completely in love with her.”

“Wow! How astute of you. However, you got one thing wrong, I’m not in love with her. I am…” He had no idea what he was. DJ had to put a name to it. Mysteries and the unknown were the most dangerous elements in a man’s life and sanity. “I am in like with her. I don’t…she just makes me feel…like a man.”

“As opposed to what?”

“Dennis Rogers Kent the sixth. Former heir to an empire I trained my whole life to take over. She makes me feel like a man, as opposed to lost, an unknown, a playboy.” It was weird not knowing who he was anymore after he had spent twenty years being Dennis Rogers Kent, then Dennis Rogers the American in Nice who had a cottage dedicated to sex and alcohol. “She makes me want to be just Dennis.”

“Well, just Dennis, you can come back to the company if you want to. You know that, right?”

“You don’t get it. Your entire life, you were who you chose to be. Lisette fell in love with the island boy. Sure, you had a couple of issues, but she knew you. She loves you. As for me, I don’t know who it is she thinks she is in love with. I wish I did, and then maybe I could be that guy.”

“How long have you known her?”

“One night.” DJ laughed when Reno’s eyes went round in shock. “I met her at a coffee shop a few weeks ago. I looked into her eyes, and I knew she would bring me down to my knees. Then I saw her at a club and had her kicked out. In my defense, she was underage.”

“I hope you aren’t trying to go to jail. As hot as it might look, jailbait is not worth it.”

“She’s twenty. I asked her after I found her in my cottage, cooking for me.”

“What!”

“Steak au Poivre, and that is after she yelled, ‘Stop, don’t take your clothes off’. I was in the middle of—”

“Yeah, I get the picture. She sounds crazy.”

“According to her its love, but I don’t believe in love at first sight.”

“I do.” Reno shrugged and leaned back in his seat. “I saw Lisette for the first time at a bonfire. I don’t know if it was the flames dancing around her or her personality.”

“Bossy?”

“Whatever it was, it got me.”

“Well, I don’t want to be got.” DJ stood up and walked into the living room. “I think we should go see Danny. We need to make sure that she isn’t falling back into her old habits.”

“Fine, but you need to work on your avoidance issues.”

* * * *

Evie stared at her phone where it lay on the counter. She had first taken it out of her bag, then her pocket. She didn’t want to risk missing a phone call from Dennis. They had shared a night that could only be simply explained as magical. They had laughed, and smiled, and it had felt like they were basking in their own light and warmth. Thirty hours later and she still felt giddy inside. Her cheeks had long grown weary of the smile on her lips, her imagination run ragged from the fantasies she had of the two of them. It was so much in such little time, her body and emotions bombarded by foreign sensations that she had yet to learn how to handle. She was afraid. Anyone in her position would be feeling this almost crippling fear, a fear that could only be overcome by the great joy burning bright inside her. She was brave, strong and completely, irrevocably in love.

Now all he had to do is call and seal the happiness she was experiencing.

“What are you doing?”

Startled, Evie jumped and yelped. The embarrassing sound echoed in the café, making everyone turn to face her. A shy smile on her face, she waved at her audience and crept away, but not before grabbing her phone.

“So, what are you doing?” Philippe asked, and a frustrated and annoyed look marred his face.

“I am working, just like you are.”

“No, you are not. You are staring at your phone one minute and the next your head is off to wonderland.”

“I’m just…” There hadn’t been a word invented to describe the myriad of emotions brewing inside her. So, she stuck to the common one, the underappreciated, “…happy. Can’t I be happy?”

“Yes, you can, but not when it is distracting you from your work. We have customers, Evie.”

“Sorry. I’ll get back to that.”

Evie was about to walk into the kitchen when Sophie tackled her to the ground. Intentionally or unintentionally, her bleeding elbow didn’t care. “What the hell, Sophie?” she cried out as she examined the wound and watched as crimson rolled down her arm.

“The red dragon is here, and she looks pissed.”

Evie immediately cringed within herself. It was a peculiar reaction for a child to immediately seize up at the mention of her mother. “At least you didn’t call her the evil bitch,” Evie said, trying to hide her obvious discomfort.

“Or the Devil’s mistress,” Philippe pitched in.

“I never said mistress,” Sophie said.

“Well, whore is a harsh word, even for a woman as adventurous as my mother. Now help me up and get the first aid kit.” Evie wasn’t in a hurry to see the woman who had brought her into this world and tormented her every second since then. She went into the break room and let Philippe tend to her wound. Evie could only imagine what her mother was there for. Elizabeth’s top two favorite motives for visiting her daughter at work were to humiliate her or demand for her share of Evie’s paycheck.

“There you go,” Philippe wrapped her elbow and helped her to her feet. “If you need backup—”

Evie shook her head. The last thing Elizabeth needed to know was that Evie actually had friends who liked her. It would only cause the woman to up her ante when it came to the insults. “I have been handling my mother my whole life. I can deal with her. I just have to apologize in advance for whatever atrocity is about to go down.”

Deep breath, shoulders back, back straight, her game face on, Evie came out of hiding and walked to the front of the house where Elizabeth was waiting for her.

“It took you long enough.” Elizabeth’s Irish brogue wasn’t lost to her. It just blended with the French accent she had acquired over the years. Evie found it charming and, as a child, she had always wanted to sound like her mother. But now the accent she once admired was used to deliver blows that stunned Evie. She never knew what mistake she had made to make her mother hate her so much.

“Mother, would you like something to drink?”

“No.” Elizabeth’s eyes wandered around the room dismissively. “I am here to tell you to go home and pack your stuff. We are leaving for New York as soon as I can make arrangements.”

“No!” the word flew out of Evie’s mouth before she could think about the consequences. She was lucky that there was a counter in between them. Usually, an act of defiance such as that earned her a slap across the face.

“What did you say?”

“I said no.” Evie forced herself to look brazen all the while her insides turned into mush and her knees buckled. “I have a life here.”

“What life? As the help?”

“Mother, can we talk about this when I get home?”

Elizabeth laughed, not the cackling kind you would expect from a woman as evil as she was. It was melodic, like the sweet chirp of a Robin. It was just another way of mocking Evie. “We’ll see.”

Elizabeth walked out of the shop and Evie turned to her phone. She needed to call Dennis. She didn’t know how or why but she was confident that he would help her, one way or the other.

* * * *

DJ dug his phone from his pocket when it rang. It was Evie, of course. He couldn’t speak to her right now—he was unsure of how he wanted to handle his feelings and their relationship, especially since he wasn’t sure that they should even have one.

“Are you going to get that?” Reno asked.

“No.” DJ turned his phone off and pocketed it. “So, this is Danny’s new home.” DJ took a step back and examined the small but quaint beach house. It was ironic how they had lived in a mansion in the city their entire lives, and their escape was small houses with the beach as a backyard. “I like it.”

“It’s cool.” Reno’s knocking turned into impatient banging. “Is this girl for real?”

“Hold your horses,” a male voice said from the other side of the door.

“Did you hear that?” DJ asked Reno and all he did was nod.

“Don’t open that door!” Danny shouted.

“Why?”

“Because my big brothers are on the other side of it.”

The warning came too late, the door was already all the way open.

DJ wanted to ball over in laughter at the expression on the man’s face. It was a mixture of shock and fear. The blond man was wrapped in a towel and Danny stood behind him, the bed sheet wrapped around her held by her fist at her chest. He couldn’t blame the guy for his obvious fear because the expression on Reno’s face said murder. “Danny, is this the reason you stood us up?” DJ walked past the man and hugged his little sister. “I’m sure Reno would like a hug too.”

“Before or after he murders my boyfriend?” Danny asked. “Reno, this is Kit…I mean Christian. He’s from New York and he is in the army—”

“Navy,” Kit corrected.

“He doesn’t care,” DJ put in.

“Christian is in the Navy; he is stationed here in Hawaii. And I like him, very much. And he likes me too.” Danny rushed over her words.

“You forgot date and place of birth, his pedigree, rank in the military and if he had his wisdom teeth out,” DJ teased.

“Ha ha, DJ, very funny. Almost as funny as the time you were booted out of a girl’s bed with a shotgun, butt naked, and got arrested for indecent exposure,” Danny shot back.

DJ lifted his hand in surrender and retreated.

“Reno Kent.” He stretched out his hand and, for a moment, DJ wanted to warn the unsuspecting Kit against taking it. DJ saw Kit’s jaw tense when Reno’s hand engulfed his. “And you are?”

“Christian Henry.” The man held Reno’s gaze and it seemed that was all it took to earn himself another day of life.

“I’m Dennis, by the way. Can we get this show on the road? I have other things to do.”

“We are just going to get dressed,” Danny said as she pulled Kit behind her.

“I’m surprised you didn’t kill him,” DJ said as he walked around the tiny space his sister now called home.

“I’d be a hypocrite, because I think AJ is sleeping with his sister.” Reno laughed.

“Are you serious?”

“Very. How many Henrys from New York do you know who can afford the Rolex he has on? Besides, the sandy blond hair and blue eyes are identical to Kat’s.”

“Kat and Kit, Kit Kat, that family must have an incredible arsenal of jokes.”

“So, when are you coming home?” Reno asked.

“New York?” DJ shook his head. “I’m not ready for New York.” The truth was no one was ever ready for the big city, even those who didn’t have the family baggage he did. The only thing DJ could think about was getting back to Nice, back to Evie. He would figure out everything else later.

“I’m not trying to rush you, but you have responsibilities.”

“They are your responsibilities now.”

“I have a family. I want to make it home in time for dinner, tuck my kids in bed, read them a story or two. Have breakfast with them and attend the recitals and games that will soon come. I need help, DJ, and you are the only one who can help me. It’s a family business.”

“How are the boy and the baby?” DJ had only seen his nephew twice and niece once. It didn’t help that his father was playing the doting grandfather. It was hard for DJ to witness the man fawn over his grandchildren with the knowledge that he had abandoned his children.

“When are you going to let it go?” Danny asked as she walked into the room. “It was Reno and Rhyne who were abandoned. Reno has forgiven Father, why won’t you?”

“The only reason Reno decided to let him off the hook is for his kids. I don’t have any children for him to play Pop Pop with, so I can hold onto my grudge if I want to.”

“He is our father.”

“Yes, and it is because of his excellent child-rearing capabilities that we are here today, in Hawaii, looking for our long-lost sister!” DJ yelled.

“You are not pissed because he abandoned Rhyne and me, or because his negligence led to Rhyne’s disappearance,” Reno said. “You are angry because the image you had of him is tarnished. It’s the reason you won’t go home and why you won’t go back to the company. You cannot run away from who you are, or whose blood runs through your veins. Take it from a man who spent twenty years planning vengeance on the man. All that hate, it’s not worth it. You need to find your light within this dark cloud that has consumed you. For me it was Lisette, you need to figure out what yours is.”

Evie “We need to follow this lead on Rhyne first. Then I’ll follow your advice, Yoda.”

“Rhyne isn’t on the island,” Christian said.

“What do you mean Kit Kat?” DJ bit into his cheeks when he realized what he’d said. “I mean Christian, Danny’s boyfriend or Navy person.”

Christian leveled a glare on him before speaking. “I had some down time, so I helped your sister with looking for Rhyne.”

“Amongst other things,” DJ blurted out. “Sorry, go on.”

“I looked into Kono, your mother’s past.”

“The woman is dead, she can’t tell us anything,” Reno said.

“I talked to your old neighbors, and they told me about the boyfriend. He’s dead—”

“Damn shame.”

“I looked into his known associates. Anyway, I knocked on a few doors and they directed me to a hotel,”

“I already know about that.”

“They told me that she left with another maid who worked there. They left the island.”

“So, another dead end.” DJ put his arm on Reno’s shoulder. For a moment there was a spark of hope in his eyes before it was snuffed out.

“Not a dead end,” Danny said. “She is in New York.”

“What!” DJ and Reno both exclaimed in unison.

“The other maid—her name is Nola—she got married to some businessman and left for New York. She took Rhyne with her. I know that it seems like we aren’t getting any closer to finding her, but we are the Kent’s and with the Ross’ help, two of the most influential families should not have a problem finding one businessman.” Danny’s endless river of optimism was something DJ admired.

“What do we do now?”

“We go back to New York,” Reno said. “I mean I go back to New York.”

“I don’t want you to think that we are leaving you alone in this,” DJ said quickly. The last thing he wanted was for his brother to feel abandoned twice over.

Danny took Reno’s hand, “You are not alone in this. DJ and I just need some time to catch up with you. Your life is so perfect right now and we are a mess. You are helping us, you saved me from being a statistic. Overdosed in a rundown motel would not have been a good look for me.”

“I know.” Reno hugged and kissed the top of Danny’s head.

“I’ll take a hug, no kisses for me,” DJ said as he embraced his brother. “You are not alone in this. We are just a phone call away if you need us. Right now, use that big piggy bank of yours and hire the best detectives that money can buy.”

“I love you guys and I’m sure I’ll grow to like you too. Kit,” Reno said with a smile.

“I’ll go get my bag and we can all go for dinner,” Danny piped.

“So.” Reno stepped toward Christian, and DJ took his cue from his brother. He wasn’t sure what Reno was about to say, but he was sure it was going to be interesting. “What are your intentions toward my sister?”

“I like her, we are having fun.”

“You like kids?”

“I don’t intend to have children or to ever get married.” The coolness in Christian’s tone told DJ he was serious.

This was a red flag, especially since all Danny wanted was a winter wedding and two perfect children. A boy and a girl—she already had their names picked out. “I need you to do something for me Kit, I need you to go back to the Navy and stay there. You are not right for my sister.”

* * * *

“He is not right for you.”

“What?” It was closing time and Evie had yet to go home. She sat in the empty café, still staring at her phone. Dennis hadn’t called and he had turned his phone off right after she tried to call him. He wasn’t right for her, Philippe was right. However, she couldn’t ignore the steady rhythm of her heartbeat. It was like a song telling her to hold on and not to give up on Dennis. “I don’t want to make any rash decisions. He just needs time.”

“You know that he is probably banging a couple of women right now.”

“I didn’t need that visual.” A tear rolled down Evie’s cheek as the phantom fist around her heart squeezed tighter. She had no other explanation as to why he was M.I.A. She had already made a run to his cottage, and it was empty. So, the only thing she knew for sure was that he wasn’t having sex in his cottage. “Leave me alone, please.”

“So, New York—are you going to go?” Philippe slid into the booth with her.

“I don’t have a reason to go to New York. My friends are here, my goals are here. I have no idea why my mother wants to uproot our lives and take us to New York.” Actually, she did have one. Elizabeth had said that they would leave as soon as she made the arrangements. Evie was sure arrangements was just another way of her mother saying as soon as she found a sucker to foot the bill. She must have found one and the fool must live in New York. Somehow her mother must have convinced him to take her and Evie along.

However, Evie had no intention of being dragged across the ocean to a life that didn’t have any stability, with the only guarantee it offered being disappointment. Here she was comfortable, and she had friends she could lean on. She only had to convince her mother to go to New York without her. That way she would have some peace for the first time in her life.

“Last night when you went home, she didn’t explain why she wanted you to move.”

“She wasn’t home.” Evie was used to her mother’s disappearing acts. Sometime Elizabeth would disappear for weeks at a time. It had worried Evie at first, not knowing where her mother was or if she was all right, but she soon got used to it. Right at this moment, Evie was sure that her mother was securing their arrangements to New York. Evie was sure her tactics would be convincing and maybe, when she went home, she would find herself packed and ready to leave the only home she knew.

All this would be easy to handle if her mind wasn’t heavy with other thoughts. Where was Dennis? Evie fiddled with her phone once more. No messages, no missed calls. She ‘d had her phone in her hand the entire time since that night, so it would have been impossible to miss anything.

“You have been staring at that phone for three days straight. Don’t you think it’s time for you to give up?”

“Give what up?” Evie was angry—at herself, at Dennis, her mother and, right now, Philippe was really pissing her off. “What exactly do you want me to give up? You have no idea what it is I am holding onto and yet you want me to throw it away.”

“You have a death grip on a fantasy that will never happen. Dennis Rogers is probably back in America having an orgy.”

“I consider myself a stud, but I don’t have that kind of stamina.” The sound of his voice spread through her like warm honey. She hadn’t realized, until this moment, how much she had missed him. The continuous hours of obsessing over whether or not he had reached out to her didn’t compare to the volcanic eruption taking place in her heart at that very moment. Evie slowly turned her head toward the café’s glass doors. She was afraid that it was her mind playing tricks on her and that he wasn’t really there. But when her eyes met his she knew it wasn’t a figment of her imagination. Dennis stood halfway in and halfway out, a shit-eating grin on his face, as handsome as she remembered him.

Evie stood up walked up to him, and she did something she never thought she would ever do. With one hand she pushed him out and, with the other, she pulled the door shut.

* * * *

One thing he hadn’t expected upon his return was that the same woman who climbed through his window to cook him dinner would literally push him out of her life. DJ would never admit it out loud—heck, he even had a hard time admitting it to himself—but the moment Evie’s palm settled on his chest, fireworks had exploded beneath it. However, all that heat and excitement was replaced by a chill when she pushed him out and closed the door in his face.

DJ had expected her to be angry. He had been ignoring her calls, something he probably shouldn’t have done. But he was trying to separate DJ from Dennis Rogers and picking up her calls would have disrupted that. Now, he was going to apologize and somehow make up for it. Reno had asked him to find his light. The funny thing, something that DJ had realized was that his light had found him, and now he had to make sure he didn’t lose it.

DJ stood at the door of a small apartment. It hadn’t taken a whole lot of arms twisting to get Sophie to give him Evie’s home address. He only hoped that she would see him. The fear of rejection had already kept him standing outside for five minutes. This was also a new experience for him. DJ didn’t track women down so that he could try to explain himself. In the past, there hadn’t been a woman who had been worth his effort outside the bedroom.

He was about to give himself another couple of minutes to compose himself when he heard shouting coming from inside. Worried, he knocked insistently on the door and didn’t stop until it swung open. DJ was worried that Evie might have been in danger. His heart didn’t stop racing, even when she stood before him unharmed but miffed.

“You?” she asked, surprised.

“Yes, me.” DJ didn’t wait to be invited in. He stepped into the apartment and took in the surroundings. No one was in the living room with her, but there were clothes tossed about and DJ spotted a suitcase. “Going somewhere?”

“No, and I never said you could come in.”

“I thought you were past the asking for permission stage. At least I knocked.” DJ smiled and was glad when Evie blushed.

“This isn’t a good time,” she said as she shifted nervously on her feet.

“I could hear. So, who were you fighting with?”

“Her.”

DJ turned around and saw a middle-aged woman walk out in her robe, her fiery red hair tumbling in waves on her shoulder. The woman smiled at him, but it wasn’t the appropriate greeting for a stranger. It was seductive almost, and quite discomforting. DJ moved to Evie’s side, trying to make his stand clear without having to say it out loud and embarrassing the woman. The woman’s piercing green eyes told DJ that she was Evie’s mother.

“Hallo, Evie’s mom.”

“Elizabeth, please call me Elizabeth.” She swung her hips as she closed the gap between them.

“Your accent, it’s got a little bit of Irish and New York in it. I’m guessing you haven’t lived in Nice very long,” DJ said as he shifted closer to Evie.

“Twenty years,” she smiled. “You look familiar.”

“Dear God, please tell me you haven’t had sex with my mother.” The horrified look on Evie’s face said it all.

DJ barked out a laugh and, when he realized he was the only one amused, he sobered. “The only thing I like over thirty years old is my alcohol, wine, whisky, brandy and scotch. Definitely not my women, I prefer them to be young—no offense, Elizabeth.”

“So, if you are not here to see me, then who?” Elizabeth asked, her lip curled into a sneer.

“Your daughter.” That should have been obvious, right? With Evie living in the same house as Elizabeth he couldn’t imagine a man knocking on the door in search of the mother and not the daughter. “Do you mind giving us a few minutes?”

“This is my house; you can speak to her outside.”

“Come on,” Evie said quietly as she opened the door for him. It was obvious that she was used to this kind of mistreatment. It angered DJ that a mother could be so hateful and dismissive with her daughter. But he shouldn’t judge, he didn’t have the perfect parents either.

“So?” Evie asked, a huge gap between them, her arms crossed over her chest defensively. “I try calling you for three days you don’t answer and now here you are.”

“I was going through some things with my family. I wasn’t in a position to answer. Listen, Evie, right now there are things that I can’t tell you. I don’t know you well enough to offload my problems on you, especially since I don’t have a solution to them yet. But I am sorry for hurting you and I would like to make it up to you.”

“How?”

“Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?”

“I can’t. I’m working.”

“Oh!”

“It’s karaoke night. You can come if you want to.”

“I promise I will.”

“Don’t do that. Don’t make me promises you might not keep. Just say that you’ll try to be there.”

“All right.” DJ couldn’t argue with that. He’d broken more than a few promises to women in his lifetime. He didn’t want to break one to this woman. “I’ll try to be there.”

“Thank you. I have to get back inside, good night.”

“Good night.” DJ tried to get close to her, to give her a kiss or a hug goodnight, but Evie ducked into the apartment as if she knew his intention.

This was definitely uncharted waters that DJ had no choice but to learn how to navigate. That is, if he wanted to keep Evie in his life.