A Secret Kiss

by Alexia Praks

  Chapter 41

  Tragedy

  Sakura woke up late the next day since she didn’t get to sleep until about five in the morning. She came down for brunch feeling a bit out of sorts and also noticed that the house was still as quiet as ever. Perhaps everyone was also still in bed because they hadn’t returned home until very early this morning from their night out.

  “My, my,” Beth commented. “You do look horrible.”

  Sakura chuckled. “I couldn’t sleep last night.”

  “Yeah, I can understand that. You’ve seen your best friend getting married and settling down, and now you want that for yourself, too.”

  Sakura wanted to tell her that wasn’t it. The reason she couldn’t sleep was because of that secret kiss last night in the garden by—

  No, don’t think about it, Sakura.

  She stood up and said, “I’m going out for a walk along St. Helena Beach. Won’t be back till much later.”

  “I see you’re planning to skip lunch yet again?” Beth asked, her brows nearly up to her gray hairline.

  Sakura just laughed and walked to the door, ignoring Beth’s disapproving stare. “Don’t worry, Beth dear. I’ll be back for dinner.”

  Beth grumbled under her breath and said, “There’s supposed to be a storm sometime this afternoon. Make sure you’re home before that, won’t you?”

  “I will,” Sakura replied, waving her hand in the air to tell the housekeeper not to worry.

  “Oh,” Beth said before Sakura could disappear around the corner. “The brothers are at St. Helena Beach too, surfing.”

  Sakura, however, didn’t hear her as she was already out of earshot.

  Some ten minutes later, Sakura found herself walking along St. Helena Beach, her bare feet sinking deep into the porous white sand that stretched endlessly across the horizon. With her sandals in her hands, she strolled along, staring off at the pristine blue sea. In the distance, she noted dark clouds gathering, indicating there was a storm coming.

  All too soon she wouldn’t be able to enjoy this any longer. So she might as well take it all in now, enjoying every moment of it.

  She was minding her own business and admiring the breathtaking view when she noticed men surfing on the other side of the beach. She couldn’t help herself and watched with interest, marveling at how expertly they stayed on the boards as they surfed the waves. From where she stood, which was a very long distance away, she could just make out the men’s athletic bodies. They looked like they were having a lot of fun. That was when she decided to have a closer look and headed toward them.

  She regretted it some fifteen minutes later when she realized those men were actually her adopted brothers. There were Nicolas, Tristan, Logan, Hayden, and Conrad surfing the smaller waves closer to where she was at the beach. They were laughing and shouting encouragement at each other as they surfed. On the other side, much closer to the rocks where bigger and more dangerous waves resided, were Sebastian and Darcy. It looked as though they were competing to see who the better surfer was.

  Sakura found she couldn’t take her eyes away from them as they expertly rode the waves. Suddenly, her heart ached within her chest.

  No, she mustn’t think about them now—especially not about them and not now when she had already made up her mind that she’d leave St. Joseph Island. She’d decided she no longer wanted to be their sister.

  With that firm idea in her mind, she turned on her heel and headed the other way.

  As she was walking up from the beach to the high cliff above, Sakura didn’t notice that Conrad had seen her and was shouting at her to come to them. When she didn’t respond, he got out of the water and raced after her. The brothers didn’t notice him go as they continued to surf.

  As she was walking, neither did Sakura notice that someone was trailing her. Then all too soon she came to a cliff that overlooked the ocean below where the brothers were. From here, she could observe them uninterrupted, and she made herself comfortable, relaxing back against the rock. In the distance, both Darcy and Sebastian were surfing big waves, and when they disappeared under the water, her heart raced, praying they’d be all right and that nothing bad would happen to them. A few seconds later, she saw them emerge unharmed. She sighed in relief.

  It wasn’t long when dark clouds started gathering in the distance and heading their way. Lightning flashed, and Sakura jumped at the sound and automatically hugged herself. Then it started pouring—hard. She was totally soaked instantly.

  “Already?” She’d thought that the storm wasn’t due until much later.

  She narrowed her eyes at the brothers. She couldn’t believe it. They were still surfing. In this rain?

  Obviously, she couldn’t stay there watching them any longer. She hastily got up and rushed back toward the side of the cliff, hoping to find shelter. She was in luck. She spotted a small cave not too far away and rushed into it. Once inside, she hugged herself, shivering severely from the cold. She surely hoped the storm would pass quickly because she didn’t want to return home late. Beth would be pissed that she didn’t listen to her, and of course, Daddy James and Mom Brenda would be so worried.

  She turned her attention to her surroundings and that was when she realized she’d been here before. Lightning flashed and Sakura blinked. Then it all came back to her. That day after she’d drowned in the sea years ago when Alaina had pushed her over the cliff, she’d decided to run away, and then she had fainted because of the fever. That night she had found herself in this very cave. There had been a small fire, and she’d felt the warm body of a boy hugging her, keeping her warm.

  Sakura gasped and her eyes widened. Sebastian! He had been here with her that night, hadn’t he? He had looked after her during those horrible hours when the fever had broken.

  She brought her fingers to touch her lips. The kiss! She remembered the kiss that Sebastian had given her.

  “I love you,” he had said to her that night.

  Suddenly, tears brewed in her eyes. Oh, Sebastian! Tears rolled down her cheeks, and her heart tore even more as she fell to her knees.

  “Aw, does the lightning scare you so?” a voice said behind her.

  Sakura lifted her head and blinked. She hastily got up and turned around to see Kate at the entrance of the cave.

  Kate slowly walked in, looking around her as if she were interested. “I’ve never been here before, but it’s a pretty good place, don’t you think?”

  Sakura didn’t reply. “What are you doing here?”

  Kate cocked her head to one side. “Exploring. I like the island. After all, if I were to marry Darcy, then—”

  Sakura gritted her teeth at the mention of Darcy. Then she noted that something wasn’t right. How come Kate was here? How did she get here? No one ever used this part of the island except for the Princetons because it was private. Anyone seen walking through was trespassing.

  Sakura was suspicious and knew something didn’t sit right with her. At that moment, she didn’t care to find out what it was and thought she better get out of here fast. But the rain! How would she get back home safely in this weather? Furthermore, she didn’t bring any warm clothing to wear because she’d expected to return home before the storm even started.

  Mind made up, she started walking back toward the exit. Kate intercepted her and roughly caught her arm, which surprised Sakura. Kate smiled darkly, and then with all her might, she shoved her back, slamming her against the wall of the cave.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” she gritted out, her voice ice cold.

  Sakura wriggled her arm free from the tight grip, her heart hammering in her chest. Oh, shit! Kate was here to hurt her—again! Suddenly, the images of Kate bullying her in high school came back to her in full force. Kate slapping her face. Kate slamming her head against the locker. Kate kicking her. Kate slamming the basketball against her face in PE.

  Sakura felt tears burning in her eyes. “Home,” she gritted out coldly. “Now lea
ve me alone.”

  Kate smiled pleasantly as she cocked her head to one side. “Home? Sakura, do you even have a home to go to?” Then she laughed maniacally. “If you mean Princeton Mansion, I don’t think that’s your home.” She pulled Sakura by the collar, which took Sakura by surprise. Then she shoved Sakura forward. “You don’t have a home, you slut. You don’t belong at Princeton Mansion. In fact, you don’t belong with the Princetons at all. You’re just a freeloader, sucking their life and money.”

  Sakura gritted her teeth and pulled back. “What are you talking about?”

  “What am I talking about? What am I talking about?” Kate asked sarcastically. “Why don’t you just get it straight in that dumb head of yours? That you don’t belong with the Princeton family. That all you’ve ever done is cause the family to break apart. Let’s just face it, why don’t we? You’ve destroyed both Tara’s and Alaina’s life.”

  Sakura shook her head as Kate started moving toward her in a threatening way, like she’d always done in high school.

  “First, you burned down the orphanage and killed Tara’s mom because you bloody well hated Tara’s and her mom’s guts so much. Then you played the helpless little girl so you could get adopted by one of the wealthiest families in America. Then, of course, you use your bloody tricks to take poor Darcy away from Alaina, spinning his head with lies and making them turn against one another. Now you even take dear Sebastian away from poor Tara. Now, did I forget something else? Ah, how about James? He’s so bloody smitten with you that he forgot about his own children. Oh, Alaina told me all about how you used your bloody tricks on James. How he took Alaina’s inheritance away and gave it to you.”

  “What? That’s not true,” Sakura said, shaking her head. “Kate, I don’t have to listen to your stupid accusations. Now get out of my way. I’m going home.”

  “Shut up! Just shut up, bitch,” Kate said. “You know, these people are good people, and I, for one, will not allow a wicked bitch like you to hurt them.” She grabbed Sakura by the hair and roughly slammed her head and body against the rocky wall of the cave.

  The impact was so great that it nearly broke Sakura’s bones, and she fell to the ground, her head spinning and her body aching. Her breathing was short as she tried to get up to get away from the woman who obviously wanted to kill her. She needed to gain control of herself. She needed to defend herself. She had to. She couldn’t allow this woman to bully her anymore, to hurt her anymore.

  When Sakura managed to gain control of her body again, she looked up to see Kate taking a Swiss Army knife out of her belt.

  Sakura gritted her teeth and pushed herself up, ignoring the pain that was coursing through her body. She tried to get up but found that her body was too weak and the pain was too unbearable. Suddenly Kate was on top of her, kneeing her to the ground.

  Sakura watched in horror as Kate brought the Swiss Army knife down toward her. She screamed, and instantly, before the knife could cut her flesh, Sakura’s hand shot out and held Kate’s wrist, stopping her in time.

  “Why are you doing this?” she panted out lowly, her face pale.

  “To get rid of you. You’ve destroyed too many lives. You’ve destroyed Tara’s life. You’ve destroyed Alaina’s life. They’re my best friends. Now you’ve also destroyed my life. You took my Darcy away from me. You’ve ruined my life, you bitch.”

  Kate applied more force, her face red as she brought the knife closer to Sakura’s throat, ready to slice her life away.

  Sakura wanted to cry out. Oh, God! The fear within her was overwhelming. What if Kate did manage to slice her throat here and now and kill her in an instant?

  Sakura couldn’t think further and managed to jostle the knife out of Kate’s hand. Kate scrambled for her precious weapon. Sakura took the opportunity to shove Kate back, causing the other woman to fall on her backside. Sakura chose the chance to run out of the cave and into the storm outside.

  The rain was hard and heavy and beating down on her with a ferocious anger. She couldn’t see a thing as she raced down the narrow pathway she hoped would lead her to somewhere safe.

  “Come back here, bitch,” Kate shouted after her. “I’m going to kill you for what you did.”

  Sakura wasn’t listening. She raced around the sharp corner, nearly slipping on the muddy pathway. She blinked away rainwater from her eyes as she searched in panic which way to go.

  “Sakura! Where the fuck are you?” Kate screamed in the rain. “Come back here and let me kill you properly!” Then she laughed.

  Sakura came to a sudden stop and nearly fell off the cliff. It was a dead end. She shot back and clung flat against the wall. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, praying very hard that she wouldn’t fall.

  “You know,” Kate said, not too far away, rain beating down on her. “This is a pretty good place for you to die. Instead of me slicing your throat to make it look like suicide, maybe I’ll throw you off the cliff and make it look like an accident. What do you think, Sakura?”

  Sakura felt her heart thumping loud and furious within her chest, her head spinning and her whole body shaking. How did it come to this? Why was Kate trying to kill her? She hadn’t done anything to deserve this.

  She bit her lip and peeked down. She shouldn’t have done that, for straight down below her was the sea—very angry, with those big waves crashing against the cliff’s edge. It was ready to devour her.

  She swallowed and tried to stay as calm as she could, telling herself to take a deep breath and not move. If she kept quiet and still, then Kate would realize she wasn’t here and would leave.

  She breathed in heavily and clung to the side of the cliff as the rain beat down on her, her whole body cold and wet and her head throbbing with pain. She felt blood sliding down her face and quickly wiped it away. That was when she realized her head was injured, probably from the impact against the rocky wall in the cave.

  “Where are you?” Kate sang merrily.

  Suddenly Kate appeared, and Sakura jumped in fear.

  “There you are.” Kate chuckled. “Just like old times, eh? Now then. Time to die.” She grabbed Sakura by her arm and shoved her toward the edge of the cliff.

  Sakura held on to Kate for dear life. “Don’t!” she begged. “You don’t want to do this. You shouldn’t be doing this! Kate, please listen to me.”

  “Why? Why shouldn’t I be doing this?” Kate asked. “You’ve ruined my life. I have to get rid of you so we all can live happily ever after.” She shoved Sakura harder, but Sakura held on to the groove of the rock with one hand and Kate with the other.

  Then when Sakura thought she couldn’t hold on any longer, Conrad suddenly appeared on the other side, shocked to see her hanging on to the cliff within a thread of her life.

  “Shit! Sakura!” he screamed. “Kate, what the hell are you doing? Get away from Sakura!”

  Kate, after hearing Conrad’s voice, went into shocked stillness. Then she panicked, and as if she couldn’t help herself because she’d come too far, she shoved Sakura harder, which caused Sakura to lose her grip on the rock.

  “Conrad!” Sakura screamed as her body fell back, her hands reaching out to him. Oh, God! She was going to die.

  Conrad raced to Sakura, screaming her name. “Sakura!” His hand reached out for her, but he was too late. She was already falling from the cliff and into the ocean below.

  “Sakura!” he screamed again, his voice echoing across the sea.

  The voice, though mostly muffled out by the rain and the storm, reached the brothers down below. They all turned just in time to see Sakura’s body flying down like a little doll and hitting the water.

  Sebastian went cold the moment he saw her body. Darcy screamed his head off. “Sakura!” he howled, his voice loud, his face red, his stomach flipping with dread.

  The brothers discarded their surfboards, diving deep into the ocean, and swam toward her. They propelled themselves against the current, their strong arms and
legs working hard against the waves. In that instant, an enormous wave came crashing toward them, steering them off course. Sebastian dove deep under and then emerged again. Darcy was behind him, and then suddenly another wave came and smashed against Darcy, swirling his body about and throwing it off against a rock, scratching his skin and breaking his arm in the process. He fell unconscious immediately.

  As soon as it was here, the wave was gone again, and Sebastian swam back to Darcy. He caught his brother and brought him up to the surface. Nicolas, Tristan, Logan, and Hayden finally got to them. Hayden took Darcy and slid him on top of his surfboard.

  Sebastian, leaving Darcy in Logan and Hayden’s care, dove back down and went in search for Sakura. Nicolas and Tristan weren’t far behind him.

  Please, God, let her be all right, Sebastian prayed. Please let her be all right.

  He finally found her and vigorously swam toward her. He caught her by the small of her waist, hugged her against him, and brought her back up to the surface. Nicolas and Tristan came to help. They put her on Nicolas’s surfboard and started heading back. Once they got back to the beach, Sebastian took Sakura in his arms, testing to see if she was breathing. She wasn’t. Oh, shit!

  He laid her back down, his heart thundering in his chest and his stomach knotted in dread. Don’t die on me, sweetheart. Don’t you dare die on me! he cried internally in anguish.

  He opened her mouth and blew air into her lungs. Then he pressed on her chest.

  “Come on,” he said, anguish in his voice and tears in his eyes. He moved to blow air into her lungs again and then pressed her chest. “Sweetheart, Sakura, wake up!” he growled.

  Hayden and Logan were fixing Darcy up as best as they could so he wouldn’t bleed to death.

  “So much blood,” Hayden said. “Shit!”

  “Sakura! Sakura!” Conrad shouted from the distance as he raced down toward them. “Sakura!” He came to kneel beside her, his face pale. “Shit! Sakura!” he cried.

  Sebastian continued to do CPR, and then finally, she coughed, spurting out loads of saltwater, and opened her eyes. Sebastian sighed with relief and hugged her tight within his arms, tears rolling down his face. “Sakura,” he whispered against her wet hair.

  Sakura gazed at the man who had saved her life once again. “Sebastian,” she whispered weakly. Then she hazily looked around. Her heart was pounding violently within her chest when she saw Darcy lying on the ground not too far away from her, bleeding.

  Blood. There was so much blood. “Darcy,” she whispered dryly, her head spinning. Then, as if as she couldn’t take it any longer, she closed her eyes again and fell unconscious.