by Lucia Black
“Libby,” Reagan yelled. “Libby come swim with us!”
She was just down the beach a little way. Libby looked up from the wall of her impressive sandcastle with all its turrets and a moat, her hair piled in a bun on top of her head just the way Jolene wore hers.
“I am getting kinda hot.” She wiped the back of her hand across her forehead, leaving a trail of sand behind.
“Come in! Come in!” Reagan encouraged.
Libby left all her building tools in the sand and splashed into the ocean. She dove into the water and resurfaced just a few seconds later, but to Reagan, it may as well have been an Olympic worthy move. She looked up to her big sister with all the admiration in the world, and I couldn’t have asked for a better kid for her to look up to.
“Carter! Jolene,” Reagan yelled. She turned to me. “I want all the family to swim. It’s a family swim, Mama.”
I smiled at Reagan’s enthusiasm, but had to reign her in sometimes. “Yes, but remember, Carter doesn’t always like to swim. And we shouldn’t try to make him.”
“Are twins always so different?” Libby asked.
Carter and Reagan, my sweet babies, twins I brought into the world, couldn’t have been more different. Carter was cautious and thoughtful. He took his time with everything—sometimes too much time—but ever since we started running on island time, I didn’t see the problem with it anymore.
Carter and Jolene had been combing the beach for shells and shark’s teeth. It was one of his and Jolene’s favorite activities. They’d become buddies, practically since the day he was born. It was a sweet relationship to see grow. She loved my kids just as much as she loved Libby, and I couldn’t have imagined raising any of them without her.
“I wanna swim today, Mama,” Carter said as he cautiously approached us. “It will be fun.” The words came out like he was convincing himself of that.
“That’s great. Take your time coming in, honey,” I encouraged.
His hair was as blond and as wild as Preston’s, but he managed to take on some of Cal’s expressions. Carter would get a look of determination that was so focused, it was like looking into Cal’s eyes.
“You comin’ in, Jo Jo,” he asked Jolene.
“I can come for a minute,” she said, checking her watch and turning and looking away in the distance.
I followed her gaze to the bank of bungalows built just for Secret Service. The joke amongst the guys was that everyone was trying to get assigned to us. We had known well before the end of their term that we’d be moving to the island. So, he commissioned it early on, building adequate and comfortable housing for everyone that would accompany us in our ‘retirement.’
The decision to move to the island wasn’t a difficult one to make. The President with the highest approval rating in decades leaving office—voluntarily after one term—would be major, national news, and we knew it. We needed to fall off the radar. We needed to not be in the spotlight, and we needed the freedom to finally be ourselves.
There were things I couldn’t deal with yet. Things that had to be done from afar. Things we still had to figure out. But we had time. And we were safe.
We needed this escape, and honestly, I’d live here forever if we could. We had some time to figure out the next step. In the meantime, we were safe. All of us.
I looked down to Carter and smiled. “Jo Jo is going to go see Nolan, baby. We’ll be fine swimming over here. Daddy and Papa will be out soon anyway.”
She smiled and winked at me as she left and headed off. “Thanks, Tess.”
Jolene and Nolan, the head of our security team, had been dating for about two years. I guessed she liked older men too.
They danced around their feelings for each other for what felt like forever. Jolene said everything moved slower in the south, including her. Nolan said she was worth the wait. Nolan said Jolene won him over all the way back to that day in Tennessee when she fed him pancakes.
“I’ll catch up with you guys for dinner,” Jolene called over her shoulder as she jogged down the beach. “Or maybe breakfast.”
I laughed and shook my head.
“What’s that about?” Libby asked as she cradled Carter in the water in her arms like a baby.
“Oh nothing, honey. She’s just in love.”
And I couldn’t have been happier about that. We couldn’t hold Jolene hostage forever, even if we wanted to. But between the kids, me, Nolan, and our frequent trips to Grand Bahama, she still got to lead a full life.
Grand Bahama was where all our “real life” requirements were fulfilled. So far, we’d decided to homeschool Libby, simply because it was the middle of the year and we hadn’t had time to research the schools yet. But we’d signed up all the kids for other activities on the main island. Our boats managed to get quite a bit of work. The twins were in a Pre-K class just two afternoons a week and Libby took dance and cooking classes on those days. Luckily for us, they all seemed to make friends quickly and easily.
“Papa!” Reagan cheered.
I turned around to see Cal and Preston making their way out to us in the water. Just like seeing the ocean, I hoped to never get over the sight of them.
“What?” Preston complained. “No greeting for me?” He pouted in an exaggerated way.
“Hi, Daddy.” Reagan splashed over to him and hugged him.
“We didn’t miss a family swim, did we?” Cal asked.
“No, no,” Regan answered very seriously. “We were just getting started.”
“How’d the call with your publisher go?” I asked.
“Good,” Cal nodded. “They loved your edits and hinted that they’d love for you to write your own book.”
I sort of preened knowing the publishers loved my edits, but I groaned at the suggestion I write my own book. “Not that conversation again,” I whined.
“I told them you might be able to be persuaded this time.” I glared at him in mock annoyance. “I know, I know. You don’t want to because of your family. But you don’t have to put anything in there you do want to. You’ve done so much good for people. For education, and literacy programs, and children’s charities, and just public awareness in general. I think a lot of people could benefit from reading your story. That parts you can tell.”
I took a second and considered his thoughtfulness. Maybe . . .
“They need first draft by August,” he said quickly, trying to duck away from me.
I jumped at him and luckily enough for me, Cal caught me. I kissed him on the lips, my arms around his neck, and Cal kissed back.
“Not happening,” I laughed. “Go on,” I shoved him. “They’ve been waiting for you.”
I yelped when he reached behind me and grabbed a handful of my ass, pinching it before he dove in and swam a few feet underwater before resurfacing next to Carter and Libby.
“Well, she’s in heaven over there,” Preston whispered in my ear as he came up behind me.
“She’s been waiting to practice all morning.”
I leaned back into Preston, the water only coming up to our knees, and he wrapped his arms around me. “Is Jolene with Nolan?”
“Of course, she is. She said she might join us for dinner. But then she said it might be breakfast,” I said, laughing a little.
“I’m happy she found someone,” he mused, kissing on my neck. “And who would have thought it all started with pancakes?”
I chuckled and turned my head to look at him. “It all started with me crashing into you and spilling my drink all over your tuxedo. Pancakes aren’t that far of a stretch.”
“You also landed on top of me,” he whispered, cocking an eyebrow suggestively. That look did things to my insides I hoped would never stop.
“Daddy,” Libby called, interrupting the moment. “Count how long I can hold a handstand underwater, please. Carter’s counting can’t be right.”
I laughed and he planted another kiss squarely on my lips before turning his attention to Libby and Carter.
&
nbsp; I looked over, seeing Jolene and Nolan holding hands. They were walking on the beach in our direction, waving at us. I smiled and waved back, then turned my head and looked to my family. I stood there, watching my whole world swimming in the paradise of the Bahamas.
I’d come a long way from the girl who was simply following her father’s orders. The girl who’d never opened up to anyone. The girl who missed her sister so much she was half a person. I couldn’t have imagined the woman I’d grow into. But I ended up becoming exactly who I was supposed to be.
That big family I was accustomed to; the big family I dreamed of having one day? It was real. I had it. Just not in the conventional way one would expect. I had the family I never knew I always wanted, and it was perfect.
The End.
If you’re interested in reading about the Moretti brother’s and diving deeper into this world, flip the page for the cover and blurb of the first standalone novel: Mafia Prince.
Mafia Prince
Everything good in his life started and ended with Lorna Bianchi.
It began ten years ago on a hot summer night. Before she walked out on him.
But Alessandro never let it go.
Even if she was a Don’s daughter. Sole heiress to the Bianchi empire.
Destined to wed the eldest Moretti brother as an alliance between their families.
She was also his.
And he wasn’t giving her up this time.
Not for family. Not for money. Not for power.
He was the shadow in the back of her mind.
The one she could never escape no matter how hard she tried.
Ten years was a long time, but not long enough for her body to forget the heat of his hands on her skin.
One look was all it took and she knew that nothing had changed between them.
He was colder. Crueler. More determined than ever.
She might be back to marry his brother, but Alessandro wasn’t letting her go.
**Mafia Prince is a full length second-chance mafia romance standalone in the Moretti Mafia series.**
—Preorder Mafia Prince—
Also by Lucia Black
The Moretti Mafia Series:
Mafia Princess (Prequel Novella)
Mafia Prince (Standalone Novel)
Mafia Possession (Coming Soon)
Mafia Power (Coming Soon)
Mafia Payback (Coming Soon)
Their First Lady Series:
American Scandal (Book One)
Campaign Promises (Book Two)
Capital Lies (Book Three)
About the Author
Lucia Black is the contemporary pen name for a fantasy author that avoids social media like the plague and loves tacos. As an author of unconventional romance, she loves exploring the many ways a girl can fall in love. If you want to keep up with her books, give her a follow here on Amazon.
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