Yet, the beach was empty, with the sun just starting to rise beyond it.
She pushed her small foot into the wet sand and let the tide roll in to submerge it. I stood on the edge of dry land, not sure if I wanted to remove my shoes and step in with her.
My phone rang, making her jump. I slid it from my pocket and switched it to silent.
“You can answer it.”
“No, I can’t.” I shook my head. “I forgot to silence it.”
She breathed out like me turning off my empire for a second eased her. “Thank you.”
We let the minutes pass by as the sun rose.
“So, we get another sunrise,” I murmured. We’d agreed not to discuss that time. I knew it, but my mind went to where we got along. It was how you built a base to trust on. I needed that with her and she needed it with me.
“I get the sunrise over a beach a lot. Your island was pretty too.”
“I get why you love the town. This is a definite perk.”
She sighed. “I guess I’ll be moving sooner than I planned.” She breathed in the salty air and I did the same. It was fresh in a weird, warm way, like it could wash away all your sins and still give you something to live for after.
“Because of the food truck?” It would be better to let her come to terms with the arrangement instead of forcing something from her.
“Maybe. Or maybe because I read my grandma’s letter.” She wiggled her feet deeper until they were almost completely sucked down by the sand. “I think you’re right that my grandmother was trapping you into protecting me.”
“Now, we see how smart she was to do so. No one would have ever attempted ransacking my girlfriend’s food truck.”
She turned to me. “You’re that powerful and well-known?”
“Outside this town, ragazza, I’m a god.”
She squinted into the sun like she was trying to see something way out there. “Do you think if there really were gods, they would enjoy it? The decisions, being responsible for lives, moving mountains maybe when they were tired?” Her sapphire eyes cut to me. “Do you get tired, Bastian?”
I didn’t answer her. If I opened my mouth, I’d say something I didn’t think either of us could handle. Morina could see somewhere in me that I didn’t want anyone to see. She asked questions and rolled with things in her mind no one else would. Her thoughts put into words so quickly were dangerous.
At least to me.
The wind blew her dark chocolate waves off her shoulders and the sun just started to rise enough that it kissed her tanned skin. The silhouette she created against the sea and sunrise was one an artist should have captured.
She cleared her throat, perhaps realizing I wouldn’t answer. “Anyway, you think I’m stupid for not giving in right away, for not taking your hand in marriage immediately. Maybe I was. I need time to adapt.”
“I understand that, but you haven’t got the time.”
“Well, I’m starting to get that.” She grabbed for her wrist, perhaps seeking the beaded bracelets I’d spotted before, but they weren’t there. She still ran her hands back and forth, trying to find comfort without them.
“Should I get someone to pack for you?”
“Pack for me?” She chuckled. “I wonder how many times you moved over the years and just had someone pack it all up for you.”
She liked to point out our differences. It created a barrier that she felt like she needed. I was okay with that. We’d need boundaries anyway.
“If you’re fine packing yourself, I can have Dante drive you over when you’re ready.”
“I have a pickup truck. I just don’t use it much.” She cleared her throat. “I can look over some buildings with you. I don’t have access to everything with regard to rent yet but I can owe you for half of wherever we stay.”
“I already own a building near the company.” I’d only recently purchased and furnished a place because I felt inclined to make her happy with where we stayed. Why I was going to such great lengths, I didn’t know. No one was going to be scoping out our living room. “No need for rent when I’m as invested in this venture as you are. I’m hoping to stay in your good graces enough that I can buy out your shares when the time comes.”
“I just need to trust you’ll keep this city safe and thriving, Bastian. My grandma–”
“She didn’t trust me.”
“Well, right.”
“My father wasn’t as good to her as he should have been.” I admitted, knowing that my only reason for being here should have been to make sure I cleaned up that business now.
“Okay.” She dragged out that same word, a tell that she was uncomfortable and didn’t know how to proceed.
As the wind picked up and she shivered, I couldn’t help be irritated with her lack of clothing. I unzipped my hoodie and handed it to her. She frowned and took a step back. “I’m fine.”
“You’re shivering.” I pointed out.
She shook her head as if my hoodie was extremely offensive.
I held up the hoodie again. “Seriously?”
“Then you’ll be cold. Plus, I’m in shock that you’re not wearing a suit. A hoodie was one thing, now a t-shirt?”
The way she said it with a straight face, in utter disbelief had me looking down to make sure I actually looked alright. Then, a laugh burst out of me. “Are you kidding me?”
“No!” She snatched my hoodie as I continued to laugh at her and stuffed her arms in the sleeves. “It’s unnerving that someone wears a suit so much but seeing you out of it feels unnatural.”
“Well, I was sleeping when I got a call about your break in.”
“Did you run here to save me?” She blinked with wide eyes and a smarmy smirk.
“You’d think you’d be thankful,” I grumbled and turned back to the food truck.
“I’m a little perturbed is what I am. I won’t be able to open the food truck and they didn’t even do a good job of finding me. I mean, was this a kidnapping?” She stomped after me. “They didn’t have to wreck my equipment.”
Making light of the fact they probably would have tortured her had my mood shifting but I kept up my quick pace to the truck.
“I would have appreciated a note or maybe a call with some polite questioning instead. Who knows, maybe we all want the same thing?” She sounded so nonchalant.
She was young. She hadn’t lived my life, I reminded myself just the way Dante had a few days prior.
“I don’t get why we all can’t just work something out. Instead, we have to act like a bunch of crazy people with all these ridiculous stipulations and have people break into our property.”
She was on a tangent, grumbling to herself now, but it struck a nerve. “Your food truck was ransacked, Morina,” I growled at her, turning.
She stopped abruptly and my hoodie hung from her shoulders, so big it was half way down her legs, the zipper flapping open in the wind because she hadn’t bothered to zip it up.
She looked a rumpled mess, the same way she’d looked on my jet, and the idea had me bordering on furious.
I tried to keep my sanity with her but I was failing.
They’d have taken her just like this and they’d have been tempted.