One Night Bride

by Sarah J. Brooks

  My aunt had a website because she ran a yoga retreat on the coast, about a three-hour drive from San Jose. I found her website and phone number and then borrowed Xavier’s loaner phone to call her. She was thrilled to hear from me. I was nervous at first calling, but her enthusiasm canceled any worry I’d had about my visit being unwanted. I told her something horrible had happened, but we’d need to discuss it in person. She understood.

  The car ride was long, but I cuddled up to Xavier and slept. It felt so good; I just nodded off. Two vigorous lovemaking sessions in one day also made me drowsy. Xavier must have worked while I slept because I heard him talking on the phone and felt him tapping on his laptop. I was so crashed out, hardly any of it registered. When we arrived, Aunt Claudia rushed at me with her arms flung wide.

  “Arcadia, dear,” she yelled as she scooped me in her arms, “look at you, you beautiful thing!” She kissed my cheek and stared at me for a beat.

  “Hi, Aunt Claudia.” I knew I had to be beaming with joy.

  Aunt Claudia was in her mid-fifties, tanned, with long grey hair, a powerfully strong body, and natural beauty. She reminded me of what a goddess might look like; however, she was wild and free-spirited as well.

  “And who is this handsome fellow?” she asked, eyeing Xavier.

  “I’m Xavier.” He offered his hand for her to shake.

  “It’s good to have you.” She took his hand and shook it firmly.

  “I’ve got plenty of room for the two of you to stay. We’re in a little bit of a low season at the moment, so stay as long as you need. I want you to settle in and freshen up, and then we’ll have some lunch. The cook is already preparing something special. Will you be wanting one bungalow? I have a suite available, or two?” I’m sure she knew how loaded her question was, but Xavier handled it with ease.

  “We’ll take the suite if it isn’t any trouble. I’m more than happy to pay for it,” he said with a lilting kindness.

  “Oh, no, no … family never pays.” She waved him off and started walking through the jungle on a dirt path.

  The place was rustic but beautiful. It was located in the jungle, and you could hear birds, bugs, and other things in the canopy. Through the trees was a strip of beach and the vast blue ocean.

  “Your bungalow is down this way. We have lots of critters here, so keep your door shut unless you want to bunk with monkeys; they’re naughty little things,” she chided. “The beach is just down this path.” She pointed to a makeshift stone walkway. “It’s private so no one will bother you there. I have a few yoga clients, but they usually don’t use the beach during the heat of the day. You may find them at dawn and sunset. It’s private enough for you to go au natural. The water is very warm and the sand, soft. I highly recommend it.” She smiled.

  Xavier’s eyes brightened. “That sounds lovely.”

  “Oh, it is,” she confirmed.

  “Oh, my God,” I rolled my eyes.

  “She’s a bit of a prude,” Xavier added.

  “I am not,” I said and hit his arm. “You’re just a bit of a pervert.” I screwed my nose at him, which got a laugh from him and Claudia.

  “Well, don’t be surprised if you see a few nudies about. This place is all about freeing your spirit and enjoying life. We celebrate the God within and without, so honoring our bodies, minds, and souls is what we do here. I’m so glad you came, Arcadia. I think this is just the place you need to be. I don’t know what has happened exactly, but I can assure you whatever it is, I wouldn’t be surprised by it in the slightest.” She gave me a reassuring smile.

  “Thanks, Aunt Claudia. That means a lot.” I couldn’t say more.

  “Okay, here it is. There are fresh linens, soap, shampoo, the works, all organic, and breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served in the kitchen. There’s a little store down the road if you want to buy stuff, and you can use the kitchen to cook if you don’t fancy what cook has on the menu, but I can tell you, everything he makes is heaven. We’re vegans here, so the cuisine might take some getting used to.” Her face curled into a grin after dropping that bomb.

  “Vegans, you say?” Xavier nearly choked. I think I saw him die a little inside. “Well, that might take some getting used to.”

  I giggled; he was so predictable. “It’s all wonderful, Aunt Claudia. Thank you so much!” With that, she opened the door to our bungalow and invited us in.

  It was large and had open windows with screens but no glass. There was a massive king size bed in the middle of the room and a sitting room in the area just adjacent. The decor was simple and tropical. I watched as Xavier peeked into the bathroom and was happy to see a large shower there, but no tub.

  “This is perfect,” he said, setting down our luggage.

  “Okay, well, I’ll let you two get settled, and then we can have lunch in a half hour. It’ll just be us, so we can have our privacy.” She gave me a kiss, closed the door, and walked back down the path.

  “I love her,” Xavier exclaimed.

  “Yeah, she’s just as I remembered her.”

  “No wonder you traveled all this distance to find her. This place is a perfect sanctuary,” Xavier said as he started unpacking our things.

  It didn’t take us long to settle our few belongings, and I was starving, having only eaten a little on the plane, followed by rigorous exercise; my stomach was aching to eat. When we saw our meal, it did look amazing, fresh coconut rice, black beans, bananas, and pineapples, BBQ taro root, and it all tasted amazing, however, Xavier did ask where the nearest grocery store was, and Claudia laughed.

  “There’s one in the next town over. It’s about a forty-five-minute drive,” Aunt Claudia told him. “Or you might be able to work something out with Cook, he’s not a Vegan, so you should be able to persuade him to cook you something a little hardier, Mr. Dean. I’m sure this is a lot to take in at once.”

  Xavier’s face registered surprise. “You know my name?” he asked casually.

  “Yours is a pretty famous face, and so handsome. It’s hard to forget. Don’t worry, though, your secret is safe here,” she assured him.

  “Well, for Arcadia’s sake, I hope so.” He took up my hand and caressed it.

  “You don’t have to tell me anything, sweetheart, but I will say I won’t be surprised by much.” She was encouraging, and I knew I needed to tell her what was happening.

  “I feel really ashamed of this, but the short story is, my dad sold me to one of his clients.” I held my tears back. “I assume to be a sex slave or something,” my voice trailed off, and I bit back hotness pushing against my eyes.

  “Oh, sweetie.” She reached for my other hand and scooped it up. “Your father has always been a horrible, terrible person. He should’ve been in prison years ago. I felt bad leaving you but, I had to. He had threatened my life. I know this is going to be very hard to hear and Xavier, since you came with Arcadia, I assume, you’re comfortable hearing some tough stuff. I mean you know what’s happening to her.” I appreciated Claudia’s frankness; it helped lift the fog of pain and confusion that had been clouding my heart since Vegas.

  “I’m here for her one hundred percent. I’m in this, no matter what.” He squeezed my hand and looked at me to punctuate his words with a tender smile.

  “Well, now that you're old enough, I can tell you. It’s a horrible story, but it might help to know it now that you’re here and you’re safe. Your mother met your father when we were in college. He was a decent human being then, and so handsome, she immediately fell in love. They were studying social work and humanities, and I think she thought he was everything he pretended to be. He still works in environmental stuff, but all he created himself to be was an absolute lie.

  “There was always something off about him I couldn’t put my finger on. She was so excited when he proposed; I didn’t have the heart to ruin it with my suspicions. I smiled and went along with their romance because I wanted her to be happy. I had no proof your father wasn’t who he was pretending to be, just
a gut feeling. They had a huge, lavish wedding so she was marrying into tons of money, and she was happy for a few months. They lived a really great lifestyle. He treated her like a princess, and I hated to admit it but, I was jealous.

  “I kicked myself for ever doubting him. Then she got pregnant with you, and suddenly he didn’t treat her like a princess anymore. I guess he never really wanted kids, but she loved you, Arcadia. She gave you her heart even before you were born. She used to talk to you and sing to you in the womb.” My heart felt heavy and sad upon hearing the story, knowing how easily she left me.

  “She was devoted to being your mother,” Aunt Claudia said reverently.

  I felt really horrible about interrupting her, but it was the great and terrible mystery of my life. “Why did she leave me alone with him then? She must not have loved me that much.” I was more angry than sad, but the tears were still there, right on the surface.

  “She didn’t leave you, baby. That’s the story your dad has told you, but she would never have left you. When you were about nine months old, the two of them got into a huge fight. They had been fighting a lot, but this one came to blows, and your father hit your mother hard enough to leave a mark. She called me and told me she was leaving him. She bundled you up and packed your things but didn’t get far. He found her at a diner just outside of town. He had tapped her telephone and always had someone following her, for their whole marriage. She never knew. He walked in the diner, took you, and told her to leave or he’d have her murdered. He then said if she called the police, he’d kill you.

  “She came to my house that night crying, trying to figure out how she could get you back. I had to go to work the next day, but I told her to stay where she was, and we’d figure out what to do. When I came home, she was gone. Your father called me, told me he knew your mother had stayed the night with me and threatened to have you killed if I didn’t help him raise you.

  “He was drunk, and I didn’t believe him at first. He seemed so sad she left him. He was devastated. I helped him because of you. He never spoke of your mom and seemed to be a good dad to you. I started to believe that he had changed, that losing your mom had somehow made him a better man.

  “On your eighteenth birthday, I went to your party.”

  “I remember,” I said, feeling heavy and sad. “And then you left too.”

  “Right. A friend of your fathers came to me and handed me a file with a letter. The letter stated that the file had pictures of your mother in them. The man in front of me would be my escort. When I was out of the state and preferably out of the country, I could open the file. At the bottom of the letter was a promise. If I went to the police, he’d know, and you would be killed. My escort would stay with me for a year. If I behaved, he would leave me alone. If I didn’t, I’d suffer the same fate as your mother.

  “I opened the file and in it were pictures of her dead body.” Aunt Claudia’s voice faltered.

  “She was murdered?” My heart slammed into my chest as Xavier’s grip tightened.

  “Brutally. The man, I never knew his real name, stayed with me for a year as threatened. I was given a job where he worked, and I had to suffer with him for a year. We never spoke outside of work, even though we lived in the same apartment. He was with me day and night, and yet we only spoke at work and only about work-related things. No one knew he was my captor, and I was too afraid to tell anyone. I just thought if I played by the rules, everything would end up fine. Like your mom, I didn’t have any family to turn to; that was one of the reasons why we were so close.

  “I only knew my captor’s fictional name, and when the year was up, he put me on a plane to Russia where I was met by my new employer. I was told when I could write to you, and my every move was watched. You seemed to be doing okay. After five years, I’d proven myself to be loyal to them and was allowed to leave. That’s when I disappeared. I thought about going to the police then, but I still worried he’d find out. I thought you were doing well, and your mother was already dead …” She took a deep stabilizing breath. “My employers were kind as long as I did as they asked. I was brainwashed to believe if I just didn’t make waves, you would live a normal happy life and so would I. When the whole ordeal was over, I never returned to the states. I was happy to bounce around the world until I ended up here in paradise. I contacted you as you know so that you had a place to go. I’m glad you came here. Even though I never said it outright, I wanted you to know I would be here if things got bad. I raised you, after all, you are like a daughter to me, and now that you’re here, I’m not letting you go back. We’ll get this bastard, and he’ll pay for what he’s done.”

  By the time Aunt Claudia had finished her story, I was in shock, and Xavier was fuming.

  “I hope you know I’m going to kill this man,” Xavier boasted.

  “No offense, Mr. Dean, but you’re a fashion designer. A rich and famous one granted, but her dad is scary shit. He’s no joke.” Her eyes turned grave. “Does anyone know you’re here sweetheart? If they do, it’s okay. Going through what I did, I always have a backup plan. I have a place for you to hide if we need it. It’s a remote island and a little dangerous because there isn’t much civilization there. The local villagers will help you, but I think we should hold it as a last resort. Unless you think someone might have followed you here or will in the near future, then we may need to get you folks over there tonight.”

  “We’ve stayed under the radar; no one knows we’re here,” Xavier assured her.

  “We may have a chance to go to the police now and catch him as long as he doesn’t find us. I’m not sure how we’re going to do it, but I’m willing to help in any way I can.” I couldn’t believe that Aunt Claudia was willing to risk getting mixed up with my father again to help us.

  “Are we putting you in danger being here?” Xavier asked, concerned.

  “No, he doesn’t care about me anymore; he has no idea where I am. I’m history.” She gave my shoulder a reassuring pat.

  I was numb hearing all of the horrors my father had caused. “She was murdered? All these years I hated her …” I put my face in my hands and just let the feelings of devastation and sadness wash over me.

  Aunt Claudia was bright and breezy. “There’s not much we can do right now; it’s too late in the day. How about I show you around the place, and we can put our heads on this tomorrow.”

  Chapter 23

  Xavier

  Claudia introduced us to the resident sloth and a family of “naughty monkeys” so named for the amount of fornicating they did daily. I saw Arcadia’s wheels turning in her pretty little head. I can only imagine what she’d be calling me soon. The warm weather, healthy food, and relaxed beach lifestyle did us both a lot of good. I was able to talk with my assistant, so I could work remotely and found my creativity increased as I strolled through the quaint sea village near Claudia’s retreat. The locals were beautiful people, and in the few days we spent there, I’d already found myself falling in love with Costa Rica.

  Arcadia and I took Claudia up on her offer of au natural beach play, and we had the time of our lives. It was a bit sandy and gritty, but liberating. I made love to Arcadia morning and night, and during the day we took walks to the village, talked about her feelings whenever she wanted to share them, and I worked while she tried to study, even though she wasn’t able to officially register for school. She researched local conservation groups and dreamed of joining one at a later time.

  We had a plan where Arcadia’s father was concerned, which involved finding out the name of the man he wanted to give Arcadia to. She didn’t recall the name ever being mentioned in his texts and didn’t want to risk turning on her phone. I decided the best thing to do would be to hire a private detective when I was in San Francisco to dig up as much as could be found. With Damon’s wedding coming up, I was sad to leave Arcadia if only for the weekend, but it was Friday, and I had to return to San Francisco that night. Before I left, I hired three security guards to watch the
retreat.

  Claudia was going to have a busy weekend with her clients coming for the weekend and wasn’t too happy I’d hired some muscle, but I told them to take off their shirts and pretend to be hippy vacationers there to relax. They must have thought it was the gig of a lifetime. Arcadia laughed every time she saw one of them.

  “Xavier, really? You had to hire three?” Arcadia protested, which she knew was futile, but she liked to wind me up sometimes.

  “I can’t be here, so they will be,” I said in a stern and salty manner.

  “And so, it takes three of them to replace you?” she teased with a smile.

  “I’m sorry, what? Oh, no one replaces me, Arcadia, let’s make that perfectly clear. However, yes, three is the absolute bare minimum, and if you keep complaining, Mrs. Dean, I’ll add a few more.” She shut her mouth and widened her eyes. “That’s better. I’ll only be gone two nights.”

  “Ah finally, Little Mrs. Dean can read a book and get her hair done,” Arcadia teased, flipping her hair for effect.

  “Well, if you're consulting BLMD on the subject, he’d prefer Little Mrs. Dean go bald. It’s very sexy.” I gave her a lust tainted glance.

  “Is it? I always thought it a little prepubescent.” She was the worst, so cheeky. “I am considering having her hair shaved into the Xavier Dean logo, though. I thought that might be novel.” Still sassing me, that’s what I loved about her, so irreverent!

  “How about you just bedazzle her and post her new do on Instagram?”

  “Oh, my God, what a great idea!” Arcadia rolled her eyes.

  “Enough talk about your pussy. My car is going to be here in a few minutes, and I don’t have time to give that cheeky gash of yours a proper fucking before I go,” I playfully pouted.

  “Oh, trust me, she got a proper fucking this morning. It’s almost like you’re still in there,” she said, touching between her legs.

  I was immediately concerned, “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Ugh, I was a little rough with her this morning. She really did make me crazy; I had to work on showing a little more restraint in the future.