Sausalito Nights
by Stephanie Salvatore
Sausalito Nights (Montgomery Beauty Series: Book 1)
Copyright © 2018 by Stephanie Salvatore. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Cover design and formatting by Just Write Creations and Services
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing: December 2018
Independent Publisher
ISBN-13: 9781790598298
Author’s Note: This book may contain triggers for some people. Due to the nature of the book and characters, certain scenes contain amounts of violence and graphic sex. If while reading this book you find yourself disturbed by its content, please take a break from reading and pick it back up when you feel ready again. Thank you and enjoy your journey.
– Stephanie Salvatore
Chapter One, The Unexpected Journey
Chapter Two, Castillo Familia Rituals
Chapter Three, New Beginnings And A Coffee IV, Stat!
Chapter Four, Jumping Lessons 101
Chapter Five, Precarious Business
Chapter Six, Addicted
Chapter Seven, Spill It, L. Castillo!
Chapter Eight, Breaking Forbidden Rules
Chapter Nine, Emotional Distractions
Chapter Ten, Shine In My World, Montgomery!
Chapter Eleven, Reality Check
Chapter Twelve, Darkened Pathways
Chapter Thirteen, The Time For Self-Preservation Is Now!
Chapter Fourteen, Discovering Betrayal
Chapter Fifteen, An Undeniable Truth
Chapter Sixteen, Protection Orders
Chapter Seventeen, The Castillo Arrow Strikes Again
Chapter Eighteen, The Human Furnace Is A Security Blanket
Chapter Nineteen, Shattered Glass
Chapter Twenty, Get Ahold Of Yourself, L. Castillo
Chapter Twenty-One, A Turn Of Events
Chapter Twenty-Two, The Offer
Chapter Twenty-Three, Dark Operations
Chapter Twenty-Four, Tragic Events End With Dessert Buffets
Chapter Twenty-Five, Repairing The Broken Molds
Chapter Twenty-Six, A Man On A Mission
Chapter Twenty-Seven, The Smell Of Freedom
Chapter Twenty-Eight, Head Above Water
Epilogue, The Devil Within
Coming Soon
Acknowledgements
About The Author
The Unexpected Journey
Christopher
Summer
I woke to the sunlight shining through the bedroom window. No noisy, annoying alarms to tell me it was time for another day of high school. I fluttered my eyes open as a sinking feeling crept through my mind that this summer wouldn’t be the same as the past.
The doorbell rang in the distance and I decided to lay low and wait to see who it was.
“Good morning,” an elderly woman spoke. It was my Nana Rosemary. Stretching, I sat up to listen in.
“Good morning. Come in, Nathan is just finishing up in the kitchen for breakfast.”
“Sorry for just popping in, we were in the area.”
Mom paused before she spoke. “A visit from you is always welcome, Mom.”
I furrowed my eyebrows. I knew better. They weren’t just here for a visit.
“Actually, there is a reason for the impromptu visit,” Papa spoke this time. They were both here?
Footsteps clicked against the wooden floors toward the living room. “When I called the other day, Nathan was telling me about the struggles he’s having at the construction business.” I imagined my parents looking at each other, and back to Nana and Papa.
“We want to help,” Papa said after a moment.
Mom sighed. “You know we’d accept your help, but I don’t think moving again is an option right now.”
“We know the number of times you’ve had to move is significant, Grace,” Papa said. “If you’ll hear us out, the offer we have in mind might be beneficial for all of you.”
“How?” She asked.
The downhill battle for construction work in Oroville and its surrounding areas was competitive, and in my opinion rather scarce. “Well. We have an extra house, in Sausalito,” Nana said.
“Sausalito sits just outside of San Francisco, on the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge,” Papa added.
“This would be an opportunity to be close to a bigger city?” Dad asked.
“Yes, Nathan. This move would bring you to big city living; but rest assured, Sausalito won’t give you that feeling.”
Silence remained in the room before Mom spoke once more. “Okay, but Christopher is in his last year of high school. Shouldn’t we wait?”
“We considered that and saw the summer as an opportunity for the transition. We know it’s not exactly ideal, but three months is plenty of time to readjust your surroundings,” Papa said, and his words were genuine.
“He will miss out on graduating with his friends, but if this is what’s best for the family…”
“We wouldn’t be persistent unless we saw the pros outweighing the cons,” Nana said.
“Where is the house located exactly?” Dad asked.
“It’s located at the Castillo Yacht Club. One of the top elite communities you could live in the Bay Area,” Papa said.
“I brought pictures, Grace,” Nana added.
There was a pause before Mom spoke. “It’s beautiful; but I think one of my concerns is the cost it’s going to take to live there.”
“If you take this offer, we wouldn’t charge you anything to live there, and we would pay for Christopher’s tuition at a prestigious private school,” Papa added.
“We want you guys to focus on getting the construction business back on its feet,” Nana said.
“I agree with your Mother,” Papa said. “You have an opportunity to save the business and, hopefully, pass it onto Chris one day. Plus, we’re getting older, and the winery is getting to be a lot of responsibility.”
“We understand,” Mom said. “I would love to take your offer. I honestly think it’d be for the best.”
“I agree,” Dad said.
This sounded like a done deal to me, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it.
“Then it’s settled,” Nana said.
For as long as I could remember, my Dad’s parents were the only active grandparents involved in my life. They weren’t just there when it mattered the most, they made weekly visits from Napa; or they would invite us out to the vineyard on the weekends to unwind from a long week of work and school.
I tried to absorb what I’d just overheard. I was unsure of how I should feel; but I had to admit, the amount of effort versus actual work Dad made over the last year put a damper of stress and high-strung emotions between my parents. I overheard many conversations turning into arguments about bills. My parents never fought. If this move stopped that from happening for good, this summer could hold a solid promise for the Montgomery family’s future.
***
Three weeks later
I found myself packing up the last of my belongings. Soon enough, I would be bidding Oroville goodbye, ma
ybe for good. I can’t say I’d miss it. This place filled my head with memories, struggles of moving from one run down house to the next as my family attempted to keep afloat. Sausalito had possibilities with unknown promises.
Crawling into the back of my closet, I opened the door in the wall that led to a storage crawl space, and spotted the single wooden floorboard, with a nail sitting on top and picked both items up, and stared down at the tally marks carved into the old wooden floorboard. As a kid, I found the loose floorboard in my bedroom at my first home. I would tuck my favorite toys in at night before bed. It happened to be my earliest childhood memory, and I couldn’t let it go, so I used it to keep track of the moves we made.
Picking up the old nail, I used the shadow of light peeking through as I started scratching in the fifth line across the second set of five tally marks. This one making it a total of ten moves. Backing out of the space, back into my room, I slid the floor board into a box full of books, taped it up and stacked it on top of the other boxes that were ready to go. Turning to look around, the rest of my room was bare. Moving day had arrived and I was more than ready to see where this journey would lead me.
Castillo Familia Rituals
Lorelai
I paced my bedroom as I waited for my older sister to remove herself from the bathroom. I groaned as I stopped and hit my fist on the door. “Luciana! Hurry up! I need to get in there before Father summons us to this Godforsaken family meeting!”
I heard her singing to the music blaring in the background and rolled my eyes when a light bulb went off in my head. I stomped to her bedroom door which was unlocked and walked into the bathroom, turning her obnoxious music down.
“Hey! I was listening to that! What the hell?” She turned to me and furrowed her eyebrows.
“I need to shower and you’re hogging the bathroom. We share this bathroom, remember?” I crossed my arms and scowled.
She scoffed turning around to continue applying her classic Marilyn Monroe Red lipstick. Her hair down in curls, looking perfect per usual. I rolled my eyes at her and went to get into the shower. “So what is this meeting about anyway?”
“I believe it’s that time of year again.” I waited for her to continue as the warm water ran down my body. “You know, where we catch up on the family business and bid on summer jobs.”
“Not sure why I’m still included in these meetings. Papa knows I’m only going to work at the yacht club.”
“Well, maybe it’s time to come onboard the family business. You’re seventeen, and you’re a Castillo, Lorelai.”
I stayed silent as I lathered the soap into my hair. “You know how I feel about the family business. The Yacht Club is where I draw my lines.”
“I’ll never understand your thought process, Lor. It’s in your blood.”
I finished up my shower in silence and stepped out, wrapping a plush towel around my body. “I have my reasons,” I said simply.
“Fine. On another note, when are you going to deal with Santino? You know Mom and Dad are going to find out about him sooner rather than later.” She eyed me through the mirror.
I sighed. “Maybe it’s better they do, so he’ll leave me alone.”
She rolled her eyes. “He has a thing for you, Lor.”
I snatched my clothes. “He has a funny way of showing it.”
She took a moment of silence to finish applying her mascara while I went to find clothes in the walk-in closet attached to the bathroom. “Well, if you don’t tell Papa, Armani will take matters into his own hands; and we both know how that will end.”
I pulled my clothes on while I tried to think of something to say. The truth was, Santino was one of Father’s second strings in the family business. He’d been after me for years. I had no interest in this kid and he wouldn’t take no for an answer; and his advances toward me have been getting out of hand lately. After my older brother Armani caught wind of it, I feared that if Santino didn’t back off that there would be bloodshed. My stomach churned, I felt sick thinking about it.
I sat in the plush chair at my vanity and grabbed my brush. “Hopefully, it won’t come to that,” I finally said.
“Suit yourself, Lorelai. You know the risk you’re taking without letting our Father handle it.” Her tone was cold, and I looked back at her as she started cleaning up. “We’re supposed to meet at the vault in a half hour. Don’t be late.”
I furrowed my brows as I watched her finish up and left the bathroom and met my own reflection in the mirror as I tried to think this through. There was no right answer. Whether I involved my parents or let it go, lives were at risk. Who the hell was I kidding? Lives are always at risk at the hands of a Castillo.
***
Entering the kitchen, I watched as my mother stacked the aluminum foil tins full of food. “Morning, Mama.”
“Lorelai. I’m so glad you decided to join us. Your Dad is already down in the vault making sure the agenda is perfected.”
I rolled my eyes. Before I could respond, the door shut. “Familia?” That was the Italian word for family sounding from my cousin Marie, who also happened to be my best friend.
“In the kitchen!” I responded, and she came in bright eyed and bushy tailed. “Mom sent me over early to see if I could help with anything.”
My mom smiled brightly. “Lorelai? Maybe you and Marie could take the breakfast trays down and set the buffet up?”
“Sure, Mama.” I grabbed the trays and waited for Marie to grab the others before I led the way down to the lower level of the penthouse and stopped at what appeared to be a wall of family portraits. I set my hand on the centered portrait of my father. His dark hair and beady eyes, with the stiff jaw line and pressed lips made him appear powerful; and I knew he did it on purpose. Pulling on the edge of the portrait, it opened to a hidden keypad. Entering a code, the wall slid open and I passed through the dimly lit tunnel and descended down a set of stairs. The stairs were backlit with white lights underneath. I came to another wall, pressing my finger tip to the wall. A pair of double doors slid apart on the wall and I entered the stadium seating vault where our family meetings always took place. “Morning, Daddy.”
He looked over, a genuine smile rose on his lips. “Good morning, sweet pea. Have you given any thought to starting your training this summer?”
I eyed him carefully and shook my head.
“Still haven’t changed your mind, huh?”
“No, sir.” I went to set the trays down with my back toward him when Marie spoke up.
“Lorelai and I are the odd balls out, Uncle Armani. Didn’t you know?”
He chuckled. “You’re exactly like your mother, Lorelai.” He looked at Marie. “Sweet niece of mine!” He pleaded. “You don’t want to come work for your Uncle?”
“Hell no! I already completed my sworn secrecy, Uncle.”
The sworn in secrecy was a big deal, and I hadn’t done mine yet. We weren’t cut from the family, but the decision to train and learn the life of what it was like to be a Black Diamond was forced upon us before we turned eighteen. Marie’s parents would give her a trust fund when she turned eighteen, and she was to never be caught in Black Diamond Headquarters without permission from one of the elite members. The consequences were extreme, and would not rule out death depending on the rate of deception. What our parents didn’t know was that we made a pact to never go in the family business when we were old enough to figure out what it all meant, and for Marie and I? We were thirteen. Hell, I didn’t even tell Luciana or Armani about the pact; but growing up watching my parents disappear, growing up relying solely on my siblings instead of my parents for my adolescent needs never sat well with me.
My father looked back to me as Marie and I completed our assignment. “Lorelai? If you’re opting out, we need to complete sworn secrecy.” He paused. “Today.”
I darted a look at him as he took a tone with me, and nodded slowly. “I understand.”
He nodded, his face turned stone cold as he stood up
without another word. He left and I met eyes with Marie. We both knew our parents meant business, but this was a pretty big reality. My Father always meant business, but he looked extremely pissed off when I gave him my final word. Both of my siblings opted to follow in his footsteps, and I think he was hopeful that he would have all of his children there to back him up. I sighed, not knowing what to think about his reaction; but I knew I had already made up my mind. There was no turning back.
When breakfast was set and we were all seated, my Father looked at me over his glasses. “Lorelai, I have some bad news for you, Sweet Pea.”
“Lay it on me.” I hated when he beat around the bush.
“We hired a new chef for the yacht club and he came equipped with his own top of the line staff. All good for the club, but your job has been eliminated from last season.”
I pursed my lips. “Okay. So what are my options?”
“Well, I took some time to think about it. You like the hospitality work, so I’m going to put you and Marie in charge of the boathouse rentals.”
I exchanged a smile with Marie. “I can handle it.”
He slid two packets full of responsibilities toward us. "Moving on to the next order of business…”
I ate my food as I looked through the job description and realized this might not be so bad. The rental boats were never fully booked, which meant I could escape and be hidden if I needed too.
When the meeting ended, Marie left with her parents and I stayed behind while my parents left abruptly. Luciana and Armani stood and moved in front of me with their arms crossed. “What?”
Armani sent a daggered glare toward me, wrinkles creased up his forehead, his dark brown hair falling back and to the side. “Did you tell Dad you weren’t joining the family business?”
I nodded slowly. “I did. Why is this coming off as a surprise?” I sat back in my chair, crossing my arms to match theirs.
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