Everyone chatted around the table in the dining room. I could see they were like a part of a large family. It was evident they had all known each other for quite some time.

All the guys had gone back down to the club. I walk across the sand, and my feet kick up the sea as it breaks on the beach.

“What is your situation with Alex?” Shona asks.

“To be honest, I saw him when they arrived, and since then, we seem to have been pushed together. Even if I try and fight it,” I reply.

“That is Alex for you,” she says.

“I have tried everything I know to stop myself just melting into his arms, even chomping on ice cubes in the club was not really good enough,” I explain.

“I’ve seen it all before. I have never seen him so serious,” Shona says.

“You mean he is attracted to me?”

“I’ve seen him go crazy over women before, but with you he seems different.”

“I was thinking I was just going to be another notch on his bedpost, if you know what I mean.” I feel slightly embarrassed.

Shona kicks her feet into the damp sand and looks at me. “If you can handle the ride, I think it will all be worth it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I will tell you a story of three brothers,” Shona starts to say.

“This sounds interesting,” I say with a grin.

Shona giggles as she sits on a large piece of driftwood. Her gaze turns to me from the sea. She takes off her sunglasses as she begins talking.

“Beau was the first. I got a job in a club, and it was not long before Beau joined. I’d met him once before and from that moment on, I knew he had to be mine,” Shona explains.

“How did that go with you working?” I ask.

“He booked me exclusively, so I was his. And we had some real ups and downs until we got things sorted.”

“It sounds like a fairytale,” I say, excitedly.

“Very fucking far from it,” Shona replies. She gives a laugh.

“You mentioned three brothers?”

“A good friend of mine had a really bad experience with the second brother, but, I have to point out, he had been drugged,” Shona says.

“Don’t tell me, they got together?”

“They did, eventually, and this was when things got interesting,” Shona says.

“How interesting?” I can’t wait to hear more.

“I didn’t mention it, but the three brothers are triplets, and there was a situation that involved three of them.”

“You mean bad men were involved?” I ask.

“Very bad men. This was when Stacey, another close friend, got together with brother number three,” she explains.

“It must be easy to lose track of who is who,” I say.

At around that time, the old club (where the three of us worked) started to close. Our old boss Tina bumped into me by chance,” Shona says.

“What happened with her?”

Shona laughs wildly. “Another tricky situation cropped up, and her boyfriend got dragged into it, just like you,” Shona says.

“It sounds like there was a boat load of fate being dished around,” I say. “Goodness!”

“Something like that, but we put it down to the clubs; for some reason, whoever is linked to one of our clubs ends up in a major relationship,” Shona says.

“And now you are opening a club here, and I just happen to be in the area when Alex comes around,” I say, shocked. “Coincidence?”

“Maybe, maybe not. To me, it’s obvious from past experience that something is going to happen, but if you can get through it, it will all be okay.”

“I wasn’t planning for anything like this, and it sounds like I have no choice,” I say, thinking about it all.

“You have a choice, you can run off back home, but your paths will cross. Mark my words,” Shona says.

“If my future is all mapped out for me, I might as well accept it,” I say.

“No, don’t do that, you will lose who you are. Just be yourself, and see what happens.” Shona smiles.

“I am here for a while, so there is plenty of time,” I reply.

“Alex never mentioned your background?”

“Correct, I haven’t ever told him.”

“Any reason for not mentioning it?”

I stand up from the log and pull my sunglasses back over my face. “No reason at all, and my background shouldn’t influence anything.”

“You have a good point, keep it to yourself, it makes you more mysterious,” Shona says.

“And that is a good thing, to be mysterious?”

“It is where Alex is concerned, it will drive him bananas,” Shona says as she stands. We both laugh.

“This club and complex, when it’s all finished, who will be running it?”

“All along we had planned on it being Alex, but as I told you, anything can happen,” Shona says. She ends her sentence with a grin.

“You know, I thought you were a real bitch at first, but Alex was right. You are more than okay,” I say.

“If you want a couple of bitches, you should meet Cally and Stacey. Fuck they can be mean, but in a protective way,” Shona says.

“They like their men then?”

Shona giggles and gives me a wry smile. “Hell yeah, they would kill for them.”

We walk back along the beach to the wooden steps that lead us back to the hotel. I feel the sun burning down on me as we start to climb up them. We reach the top of the steps and I can see Alex has returned from the club.

Shona leans closer to me and puts her hand on my shoulder. “Don’t mention what we have talked about,” she says. “Especially about him running the club.”

“I will keep quiet, and I will keep an eye on him for you,” I say.

“You have no choice, Beau has put you in charge of the money,” Shona says laughing.

“What am I going to do with a hundred thousand?”

Shona laughs again. “It won’t be a hundred thousand for long, it will be half a million.”

“What?” I yell.

“That first amount of cash was just for the club, we have the rest of the complex to work on,” Shona explains.

“I am not sure my nerves will take it,” I say.

“Beau trusts you. Brooke, that is one thing I have not seen in you, you show no signs of being nervous,” she says.

“Don’t you believe it. I am the one crunching ice cubes and jumping in the pool every time Alex walks past,” I say with a grin.

“You have to admit though, he is one sexy guy.”

“He sure is.”

We walk around the pool. Alex stands by the entrance to the reception.

“What have you two been talking about?” he asks.

“Not much, we were just taking in the view,” Shona says.

“I thought you might have been talking about me and my irresistible charm,” Alex says, giving his sexiest smile.

Shona puts her hand on Alex’s shoulder and pats him. “Alex, whoever told you that you had charm?”

“You did, you have always said I could charm the panties of a nun,” he says laughing.

“You men are all the freakin’ same, that is a different sort of charm,” Shona says. “Isn’t that right Sister Brooke?”

I look sharply at Shona. “I am no nun.”

“Did you really mean to say that, or were you just thinking out loud?” Alex asks.

“I don’t know, I am all confused. I am going for a shower and a lie down for a while,” I say.

“Make sure it’s a cold shower,” Shona says.

I look over my shoulder and screw my face up at Shona. “You really know how to put a person on the spot,” I call.

“Get used to it,” she calls back.

I quickly walk into the reception and walk along the hallway to my room. I get inside and throw myself onto the bed, still embarrassed. After a moment, I swing my legs off and walk into the bathroom unable to relax. I remove my clothes and look at myself in the full-length mirror.

I reach into the shower. I hear a knock at the door. I wrap myself in a bathrobe and walk to open it.

Alex stands there smiling at me. “Yes, what do you want?” I ask, feeling flushed.

“I think you need this,” he says.

“What is that?”

He smiles and hands the bag to me. “That is the hundred thousand and the bank card.”

“Oh, my commission!” I laugh and he laughs with me.

“For services soon to be rendered,” he adds, beaming a sly smile. I slam the door in his face. I love doing that. He will think more carefully about his words next time.

“Many a true word is said in jest, what a joke that is.”