by Eve Langlais
Maybe not, but Portia preferred to be in complete control at all times.
What she didn’t say no to was the ridiculously delicious treats Ted also managed to scrounge. Skewers of shrimp with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce. Chocolate-covered grapes. Even bacon-wrapped chicken bites.
He fed some pieces to her, his eyes twinkling with mirth, his lips curved.
“I can feed myself,” she’d protested.
“Got to make people believe we’re a couple. Wife.” He winked.
“Whatever you say, Pookie.” She gasped and felt her cheeks burn when he dropped a light kiss on her mouth. She flamed to life when he rubbed lotion onto her back.
She made an excuse, and he quickly followed. They practically ran to the room and never made it to the bed. He took her against the closed door, thrusting into her while she clung to him, gasping. Coming. Hugged him as their breathing slowed, then raced back before anyone noticed they were gone together for too long.
She went for a swim to sluice her body—the tepid pool water could have used some ice.
The whole day could be described only as amazing.
Not just for her. Portia wasn’t the only one who got to enjoy Ted, having him attentive to their needs. The girls benefitted, too. He brought them fresh-cut fruit with whipped cream for dipping. Iced tea with fancy umbrellas that the girls claimed were an ecologically unsound and decorative waste, and yet, she noticed they kept them and wore them tucked into their hair.
The twins liked Ted. For the first time in a long while, they weren’t glued to their tablets, or with their faces buried in a book, ignoring the world around them. They were swimming and practicing their martial arts moves—at least Lin was. Mae had started the day doing stuff with them, but as the hours went by, she became withdrawn. Kept asking to go lie down in her room.
“Are you sick?”
Mae shook her head. Still, more than a few times, Portia felt her forehead. Kept asking, “Does your stomach hurt?” She went through a list of possible ailments, trying to figure out what might be wrong with Mae.
In the end, she could only surmise. “I think you got too much sun.”
“Yup. I bet that’s what’s wrong.” Mae nodded. “Meaning, I should go to bed early and skip the show.”
“I’ll pass on it as well and stay with you.” Guilt filled her that she’d not noticed Mae taxing herself in the sun. In her defense, Lin had spent much more time and appeared fine. Yet Portia had to remind herself, that being twins didn’t mean her daughters would react the same. Something was wrong with Mae, and Portia wasn’t about to leave her.
“You can’t stay,” Mae blurted. “You should go. Take Lin and Ted with you. Aunt Joanna, too.”
“I am not leaving you alone.” She knew that heat exhaustion could lead to a fever as the body overheated, then to vomiting. Never mind that Mae didn’t seem that bad-off or have any of those symptoms. What if the reaction was delayed?
“I’m not a baby, Mom. I’m not sick. Just tired. Let me go to sleep. Alone,” she added firmly.
Portia didn’t like this obstinance. “No. You’re only ten. Meaning, by law, you require supervision.”
“Okay, boomer.” Said with a roll of her eyes.
“Excuse me?”
“I said, okay, boomer. It’s a newish slang expression meaning you’re old.”
“As in Baby Boomer old?” Portia blinked. “I’m not even thirty-five. Boomers were born in the forties to sixties.”
“You’re being clingy. I might be ten in Earth rotations, but mentally, we both know I’m much older. And let’s be honest, isn’t that the age we should really be focusing on?”
Exquisite argument, and if this were a debate, she might win. But Portia was a mom. And she didn’t negotiate. “You know what, I will go to the show with your sister and Ted, but your aunt will be sticking around.”
Mae opened her mouth to protest.
“She’s staying, and that’s final. But she’ll be in the other room, with the door open so she can hear if you need her.”
Fine. Treat me like a baby.” Mae sulked, not looking sick at all, more like a prelude to the sullen teenager getting ready to burst free.
Portia didn’t care. In this case, it wasn’t age that was really the factor, it was her caution. She’d talked to Mother that day, and Tanya had been texting, too.
Ronin had left China. His plane was sitting in San Francisco…but no one appeared able to lay eyes on him.
Where was he?
It was no coincidence that Ronin had come to the United States for a visit. He’d be looking for them. This might be the last trip, heck, the last day they had before all hell broke loose.
Lin wanted to go to the show. Mae didn’t. If trouble struck, Joanna could handle one girl easily enough, and Portia would have the other.
But she couldn’t tell Mae that Joanna was to be her bodyguard. She leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Feel better. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Nothing happened. Lin sat between them at the show, exclaiming over the bright outfits and the dancing. Every so often, Portia would glance over her daughter’s head and see Ted watching her. Smiling. It made her feel warm inside.
After the performance, they took a stroll on the deck. Hand in hand as Lin chattered ahead of them, more child than scholar for once. A few times, Lin glanced at them, noticing their clasped digits. She wore a smile each time.
Then again, so did Portia. Returning to their cabin, they entered the master part of the suite to find Joanna snoring on the couch. She tiptoed into the other room to see Mae sleeping on her side. A quick touch of her forehead showed it normal temperature. She brushed a few strands of hair from her daughter’s cheek before she kissed it. Then she kissed Lin as she tucked her in. Something she’d gotten out of the habit doing because the girls had begun scoffing at the practice.
Too bad. Portia wasn’t ready to let them grow up yet.
Joanna staggered from the couch to her bed with the girls. The door between the rooms closed. A moment later, she was in Ted’s arms. Their first tumble into bed was hot and fast, her lips sucking at the flesh of his shoulder as the orgasm took her, and she fought not to scream.
Their second bout of lovemaking was slow as they lay on their sides, spooned. He slid into her, and his rhythm was more a deep rocking. Soft and sensual. When she came, she sighed his name. “Ted.”
He also groaned hers against her nape as he remained inside her. “Macey.”
She froze. He’d done it again. The third time now since the trip had started. In vulnerable moments, he slipped and called her by her old name rather than her new one. But she didn’t have the heart to chastise him. What did it matter? In a few days, they’d have to go their separate ways. Her to a new life, a new identity. Him to…somewhere else. Where she wouldn’t see him. There wasn’t really a choice. Until she dealt with Ronin, she couldn’t get involved with anyone.
But the only way to handle Ronin was to kill him.
Kill the father of her girls.
Why did she struggle with it? The man was a monster. One she’d once loved.
The next day, the ship docked bright and early. A shower with Ted left her feeling energized. However, the same could not be said of her daughters.
“What’s wrong?” she asked when she peeked in and saw them both abed.
Joanna finished lacing her shoes. “Not feeling too good. Neither am I. I was going to see if I could find something to settle our tummies.”
“Oh, no.” Concern filled Portia as she sat on the side of the bed and did her mom thing with the hand on the forehead.
“It’s my stomach that aches, not my head,” Lin said with a roll of her eyes.
“We probably have to poop,” Mae stated all too seriously.
Which made Lin giggle. “Do not.”
“Do, too.” Firmly said. Mae then turned her gaze to Portia. “I’m going to stay close to a bathroom today, if that’s okay.”
“
Me, too!” Lin chimed in.
“All right. I can get some work done.”
“You are not staying with us,” Mae declared.
“If you’re not feeling well—”
“If you stay, then Ted stays.”
“Probably.”
“He can’t. What if we do have to poop. Like urgently.” Lin’s eyes widened. “He might smell it.”
Which, having once been a young girl herself, was understandably horrifying. Even now…Portia might be sharing a room with Ted, but she’d been doing any number twos in the girls’ bathroom. Being a scientist who knew how the body worked didn’t mean she wanted the man she was sleeping with to know she didn’t always smell pretty.
“I could tell him to leave.”
“Oh my God. Just go with him,” Mae exclaimed. “Why must you be so clingy?”
The rebuke stung. They didn’t understand what she did to protect them. Maybe she should take Ted’s advice and tell them. Tell them while they were sick? Later. “Tell you what, if Joanna doesn’t mind sticking around, then I’ll go and take Ted with me.” Mother had lined up two more houses for her to look at. Although, if the girls couldn’t handle the heat, then maybe life in the Caribbean wasn’t for them.
She wondered where Ted planned to move.
Joanna returned with a mini pharmacy of stomach remedies. “Aunt Jo, tell Mom she should go do the tourist thing with Ted.”
“Go do the tourist thing,” Joanna parroted. “I’ll hang with the hooligans.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Joanna exclaimed. She handed the bag to the girls. “Read the instructions and figure out what dosage we need to take.” She practically shoved Portia into the other room and shut the door. “You need to stop acting crazy.”
“I am not acting crazy. I’m their mother. I want to make sure they’re okay.”
“They’re fine. I don’t even think they’re sick.”
“Why would they lie?”
Joanna snorted. “Are you really that dense?”
“Apparently, so why don’t you explain it to me?”
“They’re trying to give you and Ted some alone time.”
She blinked. “Why?”
“Why do you think, idiot? They like him, and they obviously think it’s time their mom stopped being alone and found someone to love.”
“I don’t love him.”
“Maybe not yet, but he makes you happy. And they see that. Is it any wonder they’re conspiring to have you go out and have a day of fun with your man?”
“Shhh,” she hissed. She glanced at the closed bathroom door. “He is not my man.”
“He could be.”
“You know why I can’t get involved with anyone. Ronin—”
“Has been out of your life for ten years. And, hopefully, that will last ten more.”
“Doubtful. He knows I’m alive.”
“Or so we assume. What if he wasn’t the one who burned down your house? Could be Chen had friends, or a lover who decided to retaliate. It might not have been him.”
“Then why else would he come to the US?” she countered.
“Business. It wouldn’t be the first time. And for your information, he’s gone now.”
“What?”
“Did you not read Mother’s latest report?”
Portia shook her head. She’d not had time yet.
“Ronin’s plane went back to China, and he’s been spotted there.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s not looking for us. He—”
“Would you stop it with the excuses.” Joanna grabbed her by the upper arms and gave her a little shake. “Don’t be me and miss out on life. Embrace every chance at happiness while you can.”
Portia might have replied, but Ted emerged, hair still slick, jaw freshly trimmed. Looking delicious, especially as he said, “I’m famished. Ready to eat?”
She was ready for all kinds of things with him.
They spent an idyllic time, hand in hand, visiting an old fort, playing the part of tourist. Having lunch at a cute open-air bistro on the beach. Playing the honeymooning couple who were thinking of renting in the islands and relocating.
She’d called Joanna a few times to check on the girls. Fine. Reading on their tablets. Relaxing. The midafternoon check-in text didn’t receive a reply.
Could be Joanna was busy. She waited even as she aimed their steps in the direction of the ship. Fifteen minutes later, she texted again, and when she still didn’t get a reply, she called.
It went to voicemail, and her pace turned into a jog.
“What’s wrong?” Ted asked, keeping up.
“Joanna’s not answering.” Which was bad. So bad. She could feel it in her gut.
“Could be she has a good reason.” Said even as he lengthened his stride.
“Could be.” But Portia knew. She just knew something awful had happened. Punishment because she’d dared to put her selfish needs in front of that of her kids.
The cruise ship appeared the same as they’d left it. Not on fire, which had been one of her fears. No local constabulary appeared to be interested in it.
A few early returnees straggled up the gangplank to the ship, carrying large tote bags crammed with local artisanal treasures. Conscious that she might be watched, Portia marched quickly, doing her best to appear calm. Ted didn’t fare any better, his expression grim as they moved onto the ship then quickly to their level and hall. Rather than enter her room, she used her passkey to go into the one the girls and Joanna shared.
The latter was snoring on a bed. But the twins…the twins were gone.
Chapter Seventeen
The Twins
Sitting in the pizza shop, Mae made a point of not fidgeting as much as her sister. This was, after all, her idea. Lin just came along because Mae told her to.
Her sister kept casting worried glances around. “I don’t know if this is a good idea. Mom will be worried if she gets back to the ship early and can’t find us.”
“Mom is worried all the time,” Mae replied. Even more since they’d left to come on the cruise. Something had happened. Something that necessitated them leaving in the middle of the night. Because she didn’t, for one minute, believe that fake story Mom had put out about Ted winning some contest. Nor did she buy that Ted hid from an ex-wife.
By now, her observations had led her to believe that Ted acted as some kind of bodyguard. It would explain his gun. She’d seen it by accident, tucked in his suitcase. Bigger than the one her mom carried around.
They were spooked, and it had to do with Mae’s dad. A father who wasn’t dead.
Lin was the one who had overheard everything the first day on the ship. She’d immediately told Mae.
Funny how their mother worried that Mae and Lin weren’t like other kids. Yet in one respect, they certainly were. They’d both always wanted to meet their father.
Knowing their dad existed and hadn’t died, that their mother never wanted them to meet him, that she’d lied? It was the ultimate betrayal.
Once Mae knew that he existed, she’d decided that she had to meet the man who’d given them half their DNA. The problem was finding him. As it turned out, their mother hadn’t even given them his real name. Or hers, for that matter. Mae had always known her as Portia, although her friends, those whom she called aunt, sometimes referred to her as Tiger.
But Ted knew her as Macey. Macey who? Knowing their mom had gone to school with Ted didn’t make it easy to find. There were no public records with that name.
Nothing at all. It was as if their mother hadn’t existed in the past. Or she’d been wiped clean.
Which led to Mae looking for her father. Not easy given all she had to go on was a possible first name: Ronin. More than ten million results popped up when she searched. Adding Asian to it on a wild guess given her obvious heritage didn’t reduce it by much.
She needed a way to fine-tune the results. On a lark, she’d done a search on Mace
y and Ronin. Not expecting much, only a zillion more useless hits.
Bingo.
The very first thing to pop up was a blurb in Chinese, which she’d taught herself to read at the age of eight. Meaning, she could tell it was a marriage announcement. From over a decade ago. Could it be possible? She hardly dared to believe it. And yet when she loaded the tiny article with its corresponding image, there was no mistaking the face. However, the hair was much lighter in color. It was Mom, her nose not quite the same, and her chin now wider, less pointed. But still her.
Standing beside her, solemn-faced, was a man with Asian features. Mae and Lin’s father.
“He is handsome,” Lin said when Mae showed her what she’d found. Silly Mother, thinking the parental controls she’d enabled would keep Mae off the Wi-Fi. The hardest part was finding excuses to leave her family so she could have some privacy to do her searching. She’d finally had to fake being sick to get some uninterrupted time.
It had paid off.
While Joanna had snored, ensconced in the bathroom with the door closed, and the fan running, Mae had filled Lin in on what she’d found. “There aren’t too many pictures of him, but it doesn’t look like he’s changed much. And he’s rich. Some kind of businessman.” Mae had been digging, looking for every nugget of information she could find.
“Do we have other siblings?” Lin had asked, perched on the toilet, chewing on the ends of her hair.
Mae shook her head. “He never remarried when Mom left.” A nice way of saying that she’d faked her death, because once Mae started looking, it was as if clues intentionally popped up.
“Why would she do that?” Confusion wrinkled Lin’s brow.
“I don’t know.” But Mae didn’t appreciate it. A mother didn’t have the right to keep a child, in this case children, away from their father. Plenty of parents divorced and shared custody. Not to mention, why lie? Their mother had had ten years to explain why their father still lived, and they couldn’t see him. Ten years of silence.