Chapter Twenty-Three
Tristan
“Where’s Ben?” I demanded, just as he turned the corner. “Ah never mind, he’s here. Where have you been?”
“There was a situation by the west pool,” he said darkly. I could tell by his expression that he was upset by it.
“What happened?”
“Mr. Beaumont,” Ben told me. “He’s one of the tycoons who arrived a few days ago with his wife. He was ordering cocktails all morning by the pool and got drunk.”
“How drunk?”
“Drunk enough to get a little fresh with Nakoma, the waitress who brought him his ninth cocktail.”
“I assume his wife was not around?”
“She was at the spa, getting a full body massage,” Ben replied. “She doesn’t know about the incident.”
“Is it handled?”
“Molly’s seeing to Nakoma now,” he said. “She’s a little shaken up. She’s young, and this is her first job.”
“And Mr. Beaumont?” I asked, with distaste.
“The cad’s too drunk to hold a conversation,” he replied. “I cut him off and escorted him back to his suite. Once he sleeps it off, I doubt he’ll remember much.”
I sighed. “I wish there were a manual on how to deal with unruly guests.”
“If only,” he sighed, then he looked around as we entered the massive lobby together. “Have they arrived yet?”
“I’m told the Japanese delegation has arrived,” I told Ben. “I’m going to need you to welcome them on my behalf. I need to see to Trent Davis and his group; they just arrived via helicopter.”
Ben nodded. “The Davis party has been jotted down for three rooms.”
“He’s bringing some friends,” I nodded. “Ah, there they are.”
Ben nodded to me and headed off to welcome in the Japanese delegation, while I made my way towards Trent. Trent had gone to college with Jason and me. Even though we weren’t very close, we had partied together enough times to qualify as friends. Since graduation, I had run into him only a few times, but we’d always supported each other’s business ventures, which was why I assumed he was here.
It had been over two years since we’d last met, and I realized that time had not been kind to him. He had a visible potbelly and was balding slightly. He was still an impressive-looking man, but I knew that in a few years he would look like the spitting image of his overweight and bald father.
“Trent,” I greeted, shaking his hand. “It’s good to see you.”
“And you,” he said excitedly. “Man, you haven’t changed a bit.”
“Can’t say that I can say the same about you,” I teased.
He patted his belly. “What can I say?” he laughed. “We can’t all look as svelte as you.”
“Trent,” a skinny blonde said, appearing next to him. “Introduce us to your friend.”
“Fuck, right,” he said. “Everyone, this is my friend and the owner of this fine establishment, Tristan Dubois. Tristan, these are my friends from work, Ella, Jimmy, Trey, Dominic, and Jennifer.”
As my eyes fell on Jennifer, I felt a little spasm of surprise combined with instant dread. She looked the same. She still had a great body, good tan, long blonde hair, and seductive eyes that she had highlighted with just the right amount of makeup. She was wearing high heels, paired with a bright slinky dress that had tropical vibes about it.
“You don’t have to introduce us, Trent,” Jennifer said, and her tone was slightly biting. “Tristan and I go way back.”
“Oh?” Trent said as his eyes went wide with interest as he looked between us.
I kept my face calm and composed as I gave Jennifer a smile. “That’s right; we’re old friends.”
“Friends?” she repeated. I could tell she was still bitter about our breakup. “Is that how you refer to all your ex-girlfriends?”
I saw amused smirks and raised eyebrows from her group of friends and Trent let out a guffaw of laughter. “Some things never change, huh, Tristan?” he said, punching me on the arm. “I had no idea you were one of his many, many girlfriends, Jen.”
“Apparently, I was,” Jennifer said, smiling forcibly at Trent before turning to me. “You’ve done well for yourself. No surprise, considering that work was always your first priority.”
“Do I sense some hostility behind your smile, Jen?” the dark-haired girl in their group asked jokingly.
“Hostility?” Jennifer repeated. “Why would I be hostile? Every girl loves being treated like a second-class citizen.”
Trent whistled, and there was a tittering of nervous laughter from the group. “Uh…why don’t we check you guys in,” I said smoothly, flagging down Steven. “Let me get you some drinks, too.”
“That’s a great idea,” Trent nodded. “I think Jennifer might need something iced to cool her down.
She shot Trent a glare as I pointed the group towards the check-in counters. Trent and his friends followed Steven to the reception counter, but Jennifer stayed behind. I could see that there were daggers beneath her smile.
“So, it’s been awhile since we last saw each other,” she said.
“Uh yes, it has.”
“Do you even remember how long?”
“Two years?”
“Four,” she said curtly.
“Wow,” I said. “That long, huh.”
“You did everything you set out to do,” she said, looking around at the resort.
“Does that piss you off?” I asked, without bothering to be subtle.
Jennifer smiled. “A little,” she nodded.
I laughed, appreciative of her honesty. “I’m sorry about how things ended with us, Jennifer.”
“Please,” she replied. “You were not sorry then, and you’re not sorry now. You’re just saying that because it’s the gentlemanly thing to do.”
“At least I have that going for me.”
She pursed up her lips. “You have a lot going for you,” she said. “That’s never been your problem.”
“I have a feeling that if I ask what my problems are, I’ll get a list that’ll be a little too detailed.”
She smiled. “Are you seeing anyone at the moment?”
I wondered why she was asking me the question. Was it simple curiosity or did she have some hidden agenda? I was on the precipice of mentioning Molly when I changed my mind at the last moment. After all, Jennifer was an old girlfriend who wasn’t exactly my greatest fan. I didn’t want her causing problems while she was here, and I certainly didn’t want her knowing too much about my personal life.
“No one important enough to mention,” I said, employing a callous tone.
“I see that you haven’t changed.”
“You were lucky to get away.”
Jennifer didn’t look particularly amused. She looked around the resort with a critical eye. “You helped design this building, didn’t you?”
“How did you know?”
“Because I took the time to get to know you while we were dating, Tristan,” she replied scathingly. “Not that you ever returned the favor.”
“Well,” I said, changing my tone and the topic, as well. “I really hope you enjoy your stay here.”
“Oh, I have no doubt you’ll be able to show me a good time,” Jennifer replied. “You were always good at that. It was the committing part of things that always tripped you up.”
I suppressed a sigh and steered her back towards her little group of friends. “Why don’t you help yourself to a drink from the refreshment cart?” I suggested, motioning for Steven to come forward with the cart.
I was trying to back away from her slowly when Trent approached me. “We’re all checked in,” he said.
“Excellent,” I nodded.
“So…” he said, glancing over towards Jennifer. “You and Jennifer, huh?”
“It was a long time ago.”
“Didn’t end well?”
“Did any of my relationships?”
He laughed. “Good point,” he nodded. “I would have thought you’d have settled down by now, though.”
“What made you think that?”
He shrugged. “Age, wisdom…the need for something real.”
“You’ve got philosophical since we last met,” I joked.
He laughed. “It passes the time,” he said. “And pisses people off. Which is just an added bonus. Anyway, thanks, man. Will we be seeing you around?”
I glanced at Jennifer. “I think for your sake, I’d better make myself scarce.”
Trent gave me a conspiratorial wink and waved goodbye as I walked away. I headed up to my office, thankful to be free from Jennifer’s accusing gaze. I made a mental note to avoid Trent and his party for the duration of their stay.
My office was empty when I walked in, so I took the opportunity to pour myself a strong cup of coffee. I sat down and swiveled around to face my fantastic view. My thoughts rewound back to four years ago when Jennifer and I had first begun dating.
She hadn’t been quite so blunt during that period. In fact, she had been extremely fun. We had great chemistry, and the sex was pretty good, too. But inevitably, my work had kept me so busy that I started to bail on her more and more often. I’d been forced to cancel dates, disappear right after sex, and cut short dinners because of some emergency or another.
Now that I thought about it, Jennifer and I hadn’t even been together that long, four, five months tops. And yet, she’d had certain expectations. I’d realized later that she had earmarked me as the man she was going to marry. She had just forgotten to factor in how demanding my work really was, and after a while, she started getting impatient about playing second fiddle to my career.
When she had confronted me about it, I had told her that if I had to choose between her or my work, I would choose my work any day. In hindsight, I probably should have softened my words a little, but I’d had a hard day and was frustrated and annoyed.
She had stormed out of my penthouse apartment, and we hadn’t spoken for several days. When Jennifer appeared on my doorstep about a week later, I realized that what I had thought was a breakup, she had assumed was simply a fight. So, I’d had to make it clear to her that I wasn’t interested in continuing a relationship with her. She had left in a storm of anger, but not before breaking a few of my things. I was extremely glad to be an un-sentimental person that day.
My thoughts wandered from Jennifer to Molly. There were days when I felt I was finally growing up and changing, and there were days that I felt like the same wayward college kid who could never commit to one woman. Things felt different with Molly, but I wasn’t sure how long that was going to last.
Molly had been in love with me since she was fourteen years old. A part of me was intensely flattered by that, but it also terrified the life out of me. What if I ended up hurting her like I had hurt every girl that had come before her? The pressure was building, and I wasn’t sure if it was coming from her or me.
I was ruminating on my current circumstances when my phone distracted me. The moment I saw the name Emma flashing on the screen, I groaned. Just what I needed, I thought, another conversation with a woman who very likely had a problem with me.
“Hi, Emma,” I said, picking up. “It’s been awhile.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Molly
“Where are we going?” I asked excitedly.
We had spent fifteen minutes in a car driving along Oahu’s lesser-traveled roads. All the while, Tristan had refused to tell me where we were heading. It was nice to sit in the front seat of his convertible, with his hand wrapped around my shoulders. We probably looked like a still out of an old movie, and the thought amused me.
“You’re not going to tell me?” I asked.
He laughed. “I had no idea you were so impatient.”
It was a glorious Sunday, but it was the first time in weeks that I’d gotten to enjoy a weekend. Tristan and I had been working around the clock, and when I did manage to carve out a little free time, he was always busy. So this morning when I had woken up, I had been surprised to see him sitting at the foot of the bed with a huge smile on his face.
He had told me to get dressed because he had a surprise for me. Twenty minutes later, we were driving away from the resort in Tristan’s vintage blue convertible. He had kept quiet about where we were going, and a part of me was intrigued and excited to be left in the dark.
“I can be sometimes,” I nodded.
“Well, you won’t have to wait long now,” he said as he pulled up on the outskirts of the beach.
We got down, and he walked around to me and took my hand. “Ready?”
“We’re going down to the beach?”
“I suppose we are,” he nodded, as he led the way.
“Are we swimming?” I wondered out loud.
“This particular side of the beach is not ideal for swimming,” he said as we stepped onto the soft, warm sand.
Thankfully, I had chosen to wear my flip-flops and a comfortable sundress. “I’m not sure I packed my swimsuit,” I said, biting my lip.
“You won’t need a swimsuit,” he assured me.
We walked down the sloping beach where the waves were lapping against the shore. There were a couple of locals wading in the clear blue water next to a bright yellow motorboat.
“Mr. Tristan!” one of the men called as we approached.
“Akoni,” Tristan waved. “Is everything ready?”
“Everything is ready Mr. Tristan,” he nodded. “Have a good time.”
“Will do,” Tristan nodded, leading me straight to the boat.
I smiled at the men as Tristan helped me into the boat and started up the engine. A few seconds later, we were zooming across the water, and the three men by the beach became little dots in the distance.
“Okay, seriously,” I said. “Where are we going?”
Tristan laughed. “You’ll find out in five seconds,” he said.
I looked out into the horizon, and after a moment, I saw a little island in the distance. It was a tiny mass of land surrounded by shaded trees. I could make out a small structure enclosed within all the green. It looked like something out of a fantasy novel.
I wanted to ask more questions, but I was so consumed with the view that all my questions dried on my tongue as I admired how beautiful it looked. As Tristan pulled up on the shore, I realized that the house was possibly the only man-made structure on the tiny private island. The house itself was shrouded from view, and I could only see a few white shutters and a large ornamental balcony from my vantage point.
Before Tristan had docked the motorboat, I jumped out and ran into the island. It was lovely, and as I walked further in, the trees shielded the whole island from the sun’s harsher rays. I realized there were steps leading up to the house, whose architecture was almost Victorian in its intricate little details.
“What do you think?” Tristan asked, coming up behind me.
“This place is amazing,” I said. “How did you even find it?”
“The previous owner was looking to sell,” he told me. “And, I was looking to buy.”
“You bought the house?” I asked incredulously.
“The whole island, actually. It’s pretty perfect, isn’t it?”
“Perfect is definitely one word for it,” I agreed. “I can’t believe you bought a whole island.”
Tristan looked at me and smiled. “A little extravagant, do you think?”
“Just a tad,” I teased.
He laughed. “Come on, let’s go exploring.”
He took my hand, and we climbed the steps together. The house was a sprawling manor that could have doubled as an estate. “How big is it?” I asked, in amazement.
“Five bedrooms and seven bathrooms big,” he replied.
“Looks like more.”
“The rooms inside are massive,” he explained. “The original owner wanted fewer rooms and bigger spaces. The kitchen and dining room are huge, and the living room takes up half the space on the ground floor.”
“I can’t believe you bought a house,” I said, shaking my head.
“It’s an investment,” he shrugged. “And perfect timing, too. I closed this deal shortly before you arrived in Hawaii. Now whenever we need some alone time, we can just come here.”
I gave him a look.
“What?”
“When will we have time to come here, at all?” I asked. “We’re both so busy.”
“It won’t be like that forever,” he said. “At least, I hope not. We just have to be hopeful.”
The house’s interior was as lovely as it was on the outside. Tristan had been right about how large all of the rooms were. The furniture was sparse, but it was just enough for a house that wasn’t in continual use. We went through every single room while he went through key points of architecture. He was passionate about it, and it made me wonder why he hadn’t decided to become an architect.
We circled back to the massive living room, and I settled down on the sofa. “Did you ever think about getting into architecture in college?”
Tristan sat down next to me. “I thought about it a lot, actually,” he admitted.
“But?”
“Dad was grooming me to take over his empire,” he said. “And…I guess I couldn’t turn him down.”
“Is that one of the reasons why your relationship with him was a little…prickly sometimes?”
Tristan looked at me and smiled. “I wasn’t aware that you were aware of my prickly father-son relationship.”
“You forget that I spent half my life watching you,” I said. “I noticed things—the way you spoke about your father was one.”
“He had a vision for my future, and I didn’t necessarily agree with that vision at first,” Tristan said. “But once I got into his line of work, I realized that I actually enjoyed it. And, I have gotten to dabble in architecture every now and again, it’s just not what I do.”
“It was lucky that you enjoyed running the empire.”
“I think about that every day,” Tristan nodded. “If I hadn’t, I’d probably still think about my father with resentment. But as it stands, I just miss him.”
“I can imagine,” I nodded, thinking about my own parents. “I don’t know what I would do if something happened to my dad.”
“Before he got sick, Dad was like a machine,” Tristan said, with his eyes far away. “He worked twenty-four-seven. Sometimes, it felt like he never slept. I swore to myself that I would never allow myself to work like he did; but now, here I am, working like he did.”
“He was probably lonely,” I suggested.
Tristan turned to me. “What do you mean?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know; I guess I just assume that people who work that much are naturally lonely. Why else would they give their lives over to work?”
He looked at me thoughtfully. “I had never considered that before,” he said softly. “And now that you mention it, he never really dated after Mom and he divorced. Maybe that was the reason he was so ambitious. Maybe it wasn’t just ambition. Maybe it was self-preservation.”
Tristan turned to me and sighed. “We only started seeing eye to eye when we knew we had run out of time,” he shared. “I never got around to asking all the questions that I was curious about.”
“Like?”
“Like… Did his career really satisfy him that much?” Tristan said. “Did ambition really fulfill his life? Was that the reason that he and Mom split up or did it come after? He got sick so fast, and afterward it was all about his illness. It didn’t feel right to bring up stuff that was ancient history.”
I leaned over and hugged Tristan. After a moment, I felt his lips on my head. I turned my face up to his, and we kissed slowly until it turned into a more passionate embrace. When we pulled apart, I could see the hot flame of desire reflected in his eyes.
“I like talking to you,” he whispered to me. “It’s easy—it feels natural. I’ve never had that before.”
“You’ve never been able to talk to any of your ex-girlfriends?”
“No, they were so…removed from my life,” Tristan admitted. “I just couldn’t open myself up to them.”
“But you can with me?”
“You’re different,” he said.
I smiled as he pulled me onto his lap, and his hands pushed up my skirt and started caressing my thighs. I could see his hard-on pressing up against the crotch of his pants, and I slipped my hands down and unzipped him. I lifted myself off his lap so that he could slip off my panties. Then we fucked on the sofa, christening Tristan’s new house.
After we were done, we embraced one another and lay on the couch, as he played with my hair. “This is nice,” he said, almost as an afterthought.
“This is all new to me,” I confessed. “I’ve never had a relationship like this one before.”
He looked at me questioningly.
“I mean, a relationship that is based on friendship and passion and love and sex. I underestimated how important sex can be in a relationship.”
He smiled. “That makes one of us.”
I smirked at him and got off the sofa.
“Hey,” he called. “Where are you going?”
“I want to go down to the beach.”
“That’s a great idea,” he nodded with a twinkle in his eye.
“Except I don’t have a swimsuit,” I pointed out.
“This is a private island,” he reminded me. “You don’t need one.”
He stripped down completely and stood before me—naked as the day he was born. I looked him up and down, feeling a little tingle between my legs.
“Your turn,” he said challengingly.
I started to strip. When I was naked, Tristan reached out and cupped my breasts in his hand. Then he took my hand and led me out of the house and towards the ocean. I felt like the modern-day Adam and Eve as we waded into the cool water together.
Once lapping waves surrounded us, I felt a brilliant and inexplicable sense of freedom. It was just Tristan and me, completely naked, surrounded by the ocean under a clear blue sky. It was perfect.
I felt my desire for him expand once more. This time, I pulled him to me and started to kiss him with purpose. Having sex in the ocean was an altogether different experience. It was harder, clumsier, and unpredictable, but it was also carnal and natural and extremely exciting.
Tristan fucked me hard as the water pushed us from side to side, and when I came, I threw back my head and screamed without inhibition, without reservation, and without any sense of self-consciousness.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Tristan
I looked at the pictures lining my wall. They were all pictures of the resorts and hotels that my father had opened before I took over. The last couple of pictures depicted my own projects. They were smaller, modest hotels compared with my father’s, but I had opened them on my own, and for that, I was proud.
Still, opening a new hotel was never easy, and my first few attempts had not gone smoothly. Which was why I was sitting in my office, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Everything had been going so well lately that I felt as though something had to give soon. I wondered if I was simply projecting my fears about my relationship with Molly onto my career.
I thought about the last few weeks I’d spent with Molly. I had discovered so much more about her. I already knew she was passionate, kind, and intelligent. But I also discovered that she was decisive, emotional, and fiery. I realized that our opinions about film and art didn’t always match up, and when that happened, Molly would fight to the death to defend her point. She was so good at it that half the time, I found myself convinced. She was persuasive, but she could also be diffident. Just when I thought I had figured her out, she surprised me by revealing another layer of her character that I was ignorant of.
There were days when everything felt perfect. There were days when Molly was the only person I wanted to be with. She got me; she understood my job and its demands. She never got mad if I missed a dinner date, or disappeared right after sex, or could barely stand still long enough to ask her how her day was. She took everything in her stride. She seemed to enjoy working, and that, too, was attractive to me.
The flip side of the coin was my fear. The work had still not slowed down. I still had investors I needed to answer to, standards that needed to be maintained, and a chain of other enterprises that needed supervision. Just when I felt as though I were getting my head above water, something came up that pulled me under again. I had been meaning to take Molly back to our private island for a small sojourn, but I’d never managed to find the time after our first visit.
Some days, I was scared Molly was getting bored with our relationship. Other days, I was scared that I was getting bored with the relationship. Some days, I was simply too tired to be scared about anything. All I knew was that it felt nice to crawl into bed, knowing that Molly was in it, sleeping soundly.
On a whim, I picked up my phone and dialed in Jason’s number. He answered almost immediately, and the sound of his voice made me instantly regret calling him.
“Tristan!” Jason said breathlessly. “Long time, man.”
“You sound like you’re going someplace?”
“I’ve heading towards a meeting that’s on the other side of this damn building,” he replied. “So I can’t chat for long.”
“I can call back later?”
“No, no,” he said quickly. “I want to hear how things are going.”
“Uh…things are going great,” I said.
I knew I should have told him about Molly and me weeks ago, but I always managed to find an excuse at the last minute.
“Molly told me she’s loving the new job.”
“Oh, you’ve talked to Molly recently, have you?”
“A couple of days ago,” he confirmed.
“And what did she say?”
“Uh…she told me she’s loving the new job,” he repeated, sounding a little surprised by my question. “I’m sure you know that, given you’re her boss and everything.”
It was obvious that Molly hadn’t told her brother about us. “I don’t see myself as her boss,” I said quickly, avoiding bringing up the topic.
“Even though you are?”
“As far as I’m concerned, she’s working with me, not for me,” I said.
“Whatever you say,” Jason said distractedly. “Did you call to say something specific, bro, or was this just a check in?”
It was my opening, the perfect opportunity to come clean about my relationship with his sister and yet, I couldn’t do it. I was overcome with this inexplicable sense of fear.
Once I told Jason, it would be real. There would be no going back.
It was an irrational fear. Whether Jason knew or not didn’t make our relationship any less real. But sometimes it felt like we lived in a little bubble in Hawaii. It was easy to forget that the same rules applied everywhere else, too.
“I just called to check in,” I said lamely.
“Awesome, keep me posted, okay?” Jason said. “I want to know about the resort. It’s just—”
“You’re busy,” I said, finishing the sentence for him. “Say no more. We’ll talk later.”
Once we had hung up, I sighed in disappointment. It was silly of me to feel so nervous about Molly. It was just that I’d never been in a relationship like this before. It made me feel weaker and stronger at the same time, and sometimes I wasn’t sure if I liked that. I looked at the pictures on my wall and realized that there were no personal images there.
My office was cold and business-like, there was nothing personal or warm or intimate about it. Even my desk didn’t have any pictures that we remotely familial. I wondered if I was turning out just like my father. Before he had been diagnosed, he had practically lived in his office. The difference was that he had lost the woman he claimed to love, and I had just found the woman I believed I loved.
I was trying to sort out my own fragmented thoughts when Ben walked through the door. I could tell instantly from the expression on his face that he wasn’t bringing good news.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, steeling myself for the news. I knew it would only be a matter of time before the other shoe dropped.
“We have a situation,” he started.
I didn’t like the sound of that. “How bad is it?”
“It can be controlled,” he said. “But it has to be dealt with fast…”
“What happened?”
“One of our guests has come forward with a complaint.”
“A complaint?” I repeated. “Oh, well, we were bound to have a complaint sooner or later. That’s not so bad; I thought it was going to be terrible—”
“He’s accused one of the staff of theft,” Ben cut in.
Immediately I fell silent. Theft was a big accusation, and it wouldn’t bode well for the resort’s reputation if this got out there. The fact that we had just opened made us vulnerable, and bad publicity could very easily break us.
“Fuck,” I breathed.
“Yeah,” he replied.
I groaned and stood up. “What’s he claiming has been stolen?”
“A diamond choker,” he replied. “Apparently, it’s close to a million dollars.”
“Are you fucking serious?” I demanded. “The guy’s brought a diamond choker on vacation with him?”
“He’s claiming to have bought it for his wife,” he said. “For their wedding anniversary.”
“Fuck,” I said again. “This is a nightmare.”
“I’ve convinced him not to call the police,” he said.
“Good.”
“But I don’t know how long he’ll keep to that,” Ben said quickly. “I spoke to him just before coming up here. He looks like he wants to make trouble.”
“If word of this gets out, we’re not going to fare too well,” I said. “We’re a fledgling resort; we can’t afford any bad press.”
“How are we supposed to calm the guy down?”
“Offer him free room and board for…a week?”
Ben looked at me incredulously. “He’s going to laugh at that offer.”
“What would you suggest I do?” I demanded.
“Prove him wrong.”
“Excuse me?”
“Prove that the necklace wasn’t stolen,” Ben said. “Prove that he or his wife simply…misplaced it.”
“Then it’ll be his word against mine,” I pointed out. “Which is only going to piss this guy off—if it becomes a he said, she said situation we’re definitely going to be looking at bad press. We’re going to have to handle this quietly.”
“But I doubt that’ll work for long,” Ben said. “This guy looks like a complete asshole. I think I’ve mentioned him to you once before actually.”
“Who?” I asked, trying to remember.
“Mr. Beaumont?”
I frowned. “The name sounds vaguely familiar,” I nodded. “Why did you mention him to me?”
“It was the day that the Japanese delegation came in,” Ben told me. “I got here late, remember? Mr. Beaumont was trying to grope one of the staff, a young waitress named Nakoma, and I was handling it?”
“Fuck, yes,” I nodded, remembering hearing about it from Ben. “This is the same guy?”
“The very same,” he nodded.
“And do you believe him?”
“I don’t know one way or the other,” he said, with a shrug. “Just because he’s a pervert and a cad doesn’t necessarily mean he’s also a liar.”
“Funny, I would argue that he is,” I said. “Especially considering he has a wife. You mentioned she was aware of the theft, didn’t you?”
“She’s the one who realized the choker was missing in the first place,” Ben said. “She’s demanding the immediate dismissal of the employee she’s accusing.”
“Wait, she suspects someone specific?” I asked.
“She does,” Ben nodded. “And, she looks like she’s out for blood. They both do. In fact…”
“In fact what?”
“Well, I spoke to both of them this morning,” Ben said. “It actually sounded like they would both be satisfied if the person they’re accusing was fired immediately.”
I frowned. “And what?” I asked. “They would just forget about this choker that’s allegedly worth close to a million dollars?”
“It would seem that way,” he said.
“I don’t buy that,” I said. “There’s something wrong with this picture. If you lost an expensive piece of jewelry, would you just walk away without doing your best to retrieve it?”
“So, they’re lying about the worth of the choker,” Ben said. “It wouldn’t be the first time a guest has overvalued an item that they’ve lost. They’re probably trying to get a compensation package from us and need to drive up the price a little bit more so that they can cash in later… Not that they would need the money or anything, but it’s better than nothing.”
“Is that what you think they’re doing?” I asked uncertainly.
“What else would they be doing?” he asked. “The Beaumonts are wealthy—why would they fake a theft? I’m guessing they really did lose a piece of jewelry. They probably don’t care about it very much, but they’re going to milk it for all it’s worth.”
I frowned. “Has Molly been made aware of the situation?”
“She has,” Ben nodded.
“Good,” I said. “She’s the best person to handle it.”
He nodded. “She’s good in a crisis.”
“By the way,” I said, realizing that I hadn’t asked the most important question yet. “Who are the Beaumonts accusing of stealing this choker?”
Ben’s face soured a little and he looked slightly uncomfortable. “Alani Kama. She’s one of the assistant managers.”
“Alani Kama?” I repeated. “As in…Molly’s friend?”
Ben sighed. “That’s the one.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Molly
I was sitting behind the desk of my newly minted office. It was a small and modest room compared to Tristan’s, but it was exactly the right fit for me. Plus, it had a great view of the ocean. This was only the third day in the new office, and I was still getting used to the feel of sitting behind a desk in my own personal space. I’d only ever had a cubicle, so this was a step up.
I had already lined my desk with pictures of my family, in large part due to the fact that I missed them terribly and was not sure when I would see them next. Tristan was absent from my little photo collection, however. Somehow, I felt as though adding his picture would put unnecessary pressure on our relationship. Over the last week or so I’d gotten the feeling that Tristan was growing a little…distant.
He was still affectionate, polite, and always gentlemanly, but I just sensed a certain nervousness beneath the surface. He did his best to hide it, but I was sensitive to his moods and knew he had certain reservations about us that were only just beginning to rise to the surface. I tried not to over-think, but unfortunately, it kept me up at night.
The one thing that did help was my work. I had made strides in the hiring process, the restaurants were now working smoothly, and the staff came to me if they had problems with anything. Most days I loved the work, and it was enough to keep my mind off Tristan.
But today was a different story altogether. Today, I hated my job because it meant handling a situation that I would have paid to avoid.
There was a knock on my door, and I stood up immediately and walked around my desk to answer it. Alani was standing on the other side, looking pale and close to tears. I didn’t say anything; I just stepped aside to let her pass.
The moment the door had closed behind her, Alani turned to me. She opened her mouth to say something but got choked up, and tears started pouring down her cheeks. I rushed to her immediately and hugged her.
“Hey, hey,” I said soothingly. “It’s alright… Come on, sit down and talk to me.”
I led Alani to a chair and sat her down. Then I pulled up the second chair and sat down right next to her. “Can I get you something to drink?” I asked. “Orange juice? Maybe some water?”
“Water, please,” she managed to croak out.
“Of course,” I nodded.
I poured her some ice water with a slice of lemon in it and passed her the box of tissues, too. She took both gratefully and managed to give me a teary smile. Once she had composed herself, I patted her gently on the arm.
“Alani—” I started.
“I didn’t do it,” she said, interrupting me before I could continue. “I swear, Molly, I didn’t do what they’re saying I did.”
“I know that,” I replied confidently.
“You do?” she asked, sounding incredulous. “You really believe I didn’t steal that choker?”
“I do,” I nodded.
“Why?”
“Firstly, because you’re my friend, and I think I know you well enough to know that you wouldn’t do steal,” I replied honestly. “And secondly because you get paid a decent salary, and I can’t see you risking your job by doing something like this.”
“Exactly,” Alani nodded. I could see the relief on her face. “Exactly. Why on earth would I risk such a good job for a choker? Even if it is worth so much.”
I pursed my lips. There was much being said about the value of the choker, and I knew that the Beaumonts would not let this go easily. I would need to find some way to appease them if this choker was not found. I wondered what Tristan would suggest; I would need to speak with him first before I made a decision about anything.
“Have you spoken to them?” Alani asked. “Mr. and Mrs. Beaumont?”
“I’ve spoken to both,” I nodded.
“And?” she asked, sounding nervous to even ask the question. “What are they saying?”
“They’re convinced that you’re the one that stole this necklace,” I told her honestly.
“Both of them?”
I frowned. “Yes.”
Alani looked down, and I noticed she was wringing her hands together as though she were guilty of something. I started to feel a little uneasy and wondered if perhaps she was not telling me the whole story.
“I didn’t do it,” she said again.
“Unfortunately, we need to offer the Beaumonts proof that you didn’t do it,” I said. “Which we can do—we have extensive camera footage. Tristan was diligent about making sure to cover all his bases. But first, I need to get your story.”
“My story?” she repeated.
“Mrs. Beaumont claimed that she found you in their suite numerous times,” I informed Alani. “She said you always looked too comfortable there, like you knew your way around.”
“I know my way around all the rooms in this resort,” Alani said. “It’s my job to be familiar with the spaces so that I can show the guests around.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you were in the Beaumonts’ room,” I said. “Unless she was just flat out lying?”
“She wasn’t lying,” Alani said, after a long moment. “But I wasn’t in there for no reason; I wasn’t snooping. I went because Mr. Beaumont requested items for the room, and he requested me to bring them up for him. I was just doing my job—being the manager and making the guest happy. It’s what we’ve been trained to do.”
I frowned. “What did Mr. Beaumont ask you to bring?” I asked. “All the rooms and suites come fully equipped, and the mini bars are restocked every other day.”
“He wanted some books brought up to his room from the library.”
“And, he couldn’t go himself?”
“I didn’t ask why he didn’t go himself,” she replied. “It wasn’t my place.”
I looked at Alani carefully, and my suspicions became certainty as I realized she was hiding something. I leaned in a little and put my hand on hers.
“Alani,” I said softly. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Yes,” she replied. “We are friends. But we’re not just friends anymore, are we? You’re my boss now, and I’m your subordinate.”
“Which means what, exactly?” I asked. “We’re not really friends anymore?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“It’s what you implied.”
I saw tears prick at the corner of her eyes, and she gave a desperate sigh that told me she felt trapped and vulnerable. “I’m sorry,” she said. “We are friends, it’s just—”
“Do you trust me, Alani?” I asked. “Because I trust you. I think I know the kind of person you are, and I believe in my heart that you would never steal—even if you needed to, even if you had the opportunity to. That’s just my gut feeling.”
“I appreciate you saying that,” she said gratefully. “And I do trust you.”
“Good, then tell me the whole truth,” I said. “There’s something you’re not telling me because for some reason you’re scared, but I promise that if you come clean with me, I will do my best to protect you.”
Alani looked nervous, but I could tell she was going to tell me the truth. I gave her the space she needed and waited till she was ready to talk. After a moment, she closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she looked resolute.
“I do have the choker,” she said.
My eyes went wide, despite my effort to keep my expression calm. “What?”
“It’s not what you think,” she said. “Mr. Beaumont gave me the choker…as a gift.”
I understood almost instantly. “He was hitting on you, wasn’t he?” I said, remembering the incident a few weeks ago with Mr. Beaumont and Nakoma.
“It started out as an innocent flirtation,” Alani said. “It was never when his wife was around, but that was to be expected. I flirted back a little, too, but I never meant for him to go so far.”
“How far did he go?”
“He kept calling me up for the slightest little thing at first,” Alani explained. “It was always when his wife had gone down to the beach or to the spa. I would do my best to whatever he required of me, he would flirt a little, I would flirt back, and then I would excuse myself and get back to my job. But then, one day…he grabbed me.”
“What?”
“We were alone in the suite; he had called me up for some stupid trivial reason. I was about to leave when he pulled me towards him and kissed me.”
“That bastard,” I exclaimed, horrified.
“I tried to stop it; I tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t stop. I was really starting to panic when we heard someone at the door. He pushed me away just before his wife walked into the suite. I was freaking out, but I was also so grateful for the interruption. I was so scared he was going to… He was going to...”
“Hey, it’s okay,” I said gently, stopping Alani from having to complete the sentence. “It didn’t happen.”
“After that, I ignored Mr. Beaumont any time he summoned me. I was polite, but I ignored him,” Alani explained. “He was persistent, though. He approached me one day at one of the indoor pools. We were alone, and he managed to corner me.”
“Did he try to hurt you…or come on to you again?”
“He said he was trying to apologize,” Alani replied. “That was when he gave me the choker.”
I sighed. “He was trying to bribe you into sleeping with him.”
“I think he thought that if he gave me jewelry, then I would turn to putty in his hands and he could have his way with me.”
“What did you do?”
“I refused to accept the choker,” she said. “I told him point blank that I wasn’t interested in him and I could lose my job if I was found to be having a relationship with a guest. I also pointed out that if I got involved with him, we would be committing adultery. Not that he cared very much about either point, though.”
“What did he say when you refused the choker?”
“He insisted I take it,” she replied. “I refused again and walked away from him.”
I frowned. “Wait, if you refused to accept it then why did you tell me the choker was with you?”
Fresh tears slipped from Alani’s eyes. “After the accusation was made and Ben informed me of what the Beaumonts were saying I did, I went back to my room and… Oh, Molly, I found the choker in one of my drawers.”
“You mean—”
“I think he’s trying to frame me,” she sobbed. “He’s trying to get back at me for rejecting him.”
“Fuck,” I said, using the word I knew Tristan would have used in my place.
“You do believe me, don’t you?” Alani asked desperately. “I was so scared to tell anybody—especially one of my superiors. No one ever believes the staff. And, why would anyone believe me once the choker is found in my possession?”
“Is it still with you?”
“I wanted to get rid of it this morning—”
“Don’t,” I said. “I think I have a way to prove that you’re innocent.”
“How?” she cried. “The choker—”
“Was found in one of your drawers,” I said. “And if you didn’t put it there, that means someone did. And we’re going to find out who that is.”
“But—”
“Remember when I told you to trust me?” I said. “Now would be the time to start.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Tristan
I was in my office, discussing the situation with Ben when Molly walked in. Her expression was serious but calm, and I wondered how she felt about the whole thing.
“Tristan, Ben,” she said, addressing both of us. “I need to talk to you.”
“Where is Alani?” Ben asked.
“I asked her to sit outside for a moment,” she replied. “I wanted to talk to the two of you first.”
I came forward. “You spoke to Alani?”
“I did,” she nodded.
“And?” I asked. “What’s her story?”
“Her story is simple,” Molly replied. “She didn’t do it. And, I believe her.”
Her conviction made me believe, too, and I let out a little sigh of relief. However, Ben looked skeptical. “We need more than just your word,” he reminded both of us. “We need proof.”
“She’s been framed,” Molly said.
Ben and I exchanged a glance. “Framed?” I repeated.
“Someone planted the choker in her room.”
“Hold on,” Ben said, holding his hands up. “You mean, she’s admitting to you that she actually has the choker.”
“She has,” Molly nodded.
I felt my belief slip away in light of the new information, and I looked at Molly carefully. “Molly,” I said gently. “Do you think that maybe you’re letting your friendship with Alani cloud your judgment a little?”
“No, I’m not,” Molly insisted. “I know Alani. She wouldn’t do something like this. She wouldn’t risk her job for a chain.”
“It’s a valuable piece of jewelry,” Ben pointed out.
“So the Beaumonts say,” Molly said. “Personally, I don’t buy it.”
“What makes you so sure they’re trying to frame Alani?” Ben asked. “What’s their motive?”
“Mr. Beaumont certainly has a motive,” she said. “Revenge.”
“Revenge?” I repeated. “For what?”
“For the fact that Alani rejected him repeatedly,” Molly explained.
“He was hitting on her?” I asked.
“It was sexual abuse, plain and simple,” she said firmly. “He had her come up to his suite while his wife was out, then he grabbed her and kissed her. He might have done more had Mrs. Beaumont not walked in and interrupted him.”
“His wife saw all this?”
“Alani told me he backed off before the door opened,” Molly said. “The likelihood is that she didn’t see… If anything, she only suspects. She should know her husband is a sleazeball by now, though.”
I looked towards Ben. “What do you think?” I asked. “Does it sound plausible that Mr. Beaumont might be framing Alani?”
“He’s rich, and men like him don’t handle rejection well,” he said. “It’s possible.”
“Mr. Beaumont tried to woo Alani,” Molly continued. “He cornered her by the pool one day and offered her the choker as a gift. Alani saw it as the bribe it was and turned him down. That was two days ago.”
“And then she discovered the choker in her drawers?” I asked.
“Yes,” Molly nodded.
“It could still be a story,” Ben pointed out.
Molly turned to Ben with fire in her eyes. “You know Alani,” she said. “Do you really think she’s capable of theft?”
He avoided eye contact for a moment. “I don’t… She doesn’t seem like the type.”
“Because she’s not,” Molly said strongly. “You need to show the people who work under you that they’re valued, that they won’t just be dismissed because it’s easier than standing up to a guest. Alani didn’t come to you or Tristan—or me for that matter—because she was scared we would take their side over hers. Because she’s dispensable to us and they’re not.”
I watched Molly’s fire and felt a surge of pride and respect for the woman she was. “We need to check the cameras,” I said, jumping into action.
“Not the resort surveillance system,” Molly said, stepping towards my desk.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I’m talking about your own personal surveillance system,” Molly said. “The one that only the three of us know about. You have the feed.”
“Yes, but I don’t watch it,” Tristan said. “I added it on as an extra precaution, but I don’t have the time to filter through it every day.”
“Nor do you have to,” Molly said. “Until something like this happens. The whole resort will know about the surveillance system; most guests will assume there is one in place, too. Whoever planted the choker in Alani’s room will have been able to bypass the cameras if they were careful. But no one knows about your personal surveillance system.”
I nodded, as I turned on my computer and turned on the live feed. “This would have happened in the last two days?”
“Yes,” Molly nodded. “I’m going to let Alani in; hold on.”
A few moments later, Alani entered the room looking sad and extremely nervous. I gave her a reassuring smile. “Why don’t you sit down, Alani?”
She returned my smile tentatively and sat down opposite me. I kept filtering through the feed, rewinding and stopping as I went while Molly explained what we were trying to do.
“There’s another surveillance system in place?” Alani asked in surprise.
“It was put in place to check the staff,” Ben explained. “Oftentimes staff can bypass the cameras if they’re familiar enough with the positions. Tristan decided that it would come in handy one day.”
“And, I think it just did,” I said as I paused on a blurry image of a man right outside Alani’s door. “Alani, can you come here and ID this man for me, please?”
Alani walked around to stand behind my shoulder, and Molly did the same. As Alani’s eyes hit the screen, they went wide with shock.
“What is it?” Molly asked, noticing her reaction.
“I… It’s… That’s Simon,” Alani said.
“Simon?” Ben said, walking around to look at the screen.
“One of the waiters?” I asked.
“Yes,” Molly nodded. “He works between the Lagoon and Mosaic.”
“He planted the necklace in my room?” Alani said. “But…”
“He was obviously bribed,” Ben said. “Someone paid him to do it.”
“And, we all know exactly who that someone is,” I said, standing up. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?” Ben asked.
“To the Beaumonts’ suite,” I said. “Ben, have someone bring Simon up to their suite, as well. We’re going to handle this head on.”
Molly seemed to know exactly what I was thinking and gave me an encouraging smile. I noticed Alani, still staring at the screen.
“Alani,” I said.
“Yes, Mr. Dubois?”
“You’re a loyal employee,” I said. “And, you’ve been doing great work at the resort. I want you to know that as long as I’m in charge, I will always protect my employees.”
She looked at me with obvious relief. “Thank you, sir.”
“Please,” I said. “Call me Tristan.”
I walked out with Molly, and I could see the admiration and pride on her face. She was looking at me as though I were her hero, and for some reason that made me oddly uncomfortable. When we got to the Beaumonts’ suite, I knocked hard, and a moment later the door swung open.
Mrs. Beaumont was a skinny woman with white blonde hair and a forehead that didn’t move. She was wearing an all-white ensemble, and her lips were painted a shocking red. Her eyes widened when she saw me.
“Mr. Dubois,” she said. “I didn’t expect to find you at my door.”
“Is your husband here, Mrs. Beaumont?” I asked.
“He is,” she nodded. “Have you come about the matter with the maid who stole my choker?”
“Uh…she’s not a maid,” I corrected. “She’s a manager at the resort. And yes, I have come to discuss that matter. This is Molly; she’s head of human resources here.”
Mrs. Beaumont gave Molly a curt nod and held the door open for both of us to pass through. Mr. Beaumont was lying on the couch, stuffing his face with a bag of chips from the mini bar. I tried to control my expression of disgust as I faced him.
“Mr. Beaumont,” I said as he straightened up. “I’ve come about the matter with the choker.”
“Have you found it?” he asked.
“We have,” I nodded.
“It was in the little Hawaiian tart’s room, wasn’t it?” Mrs. Beaumont asked.
I was surprised at the venom in her tone, and immediately, alarm bells went off. “It was in her room,” I nodded. “Yes.”
Mrs. Beaumont looked a little too pleased for my liking. “If you fire her immediately, I will refrain from going to the police.”
I smiled pleasantly at her. “I was going to make a different suggestion. If you leave my resort immediately, I will refrain from going to the police.”
“Excuse me?” Mrs. Beaumont’s face changed instantly.
“The choker was found in Ms. Kama’s room,” Molly interjected. “But we know that someone planted it there.”
“That’s nonsense,” Mrs. Beaumont said immediately.
“You’ll find that it’s not,” I said, just as we heard another knock on the door.
Molly went to answer it, and a few seconds later, Ben walked in with Simon in tow. Simon was looking exceptionally guilty, and the truth was plastered across his face. When I glanced at Mrs. Beaumont, I saw that despite her calm exterior, she had turned pale.
“Simon,” I said, stepping forward. “We have footage of you sneaking into Alani’s room yesterday. You planted a diamond choker in her drawer in order to frame her.”
“I… No… Sir…”
“I will have to inform the police about this,” I told him. “But this will all go a lot easier for you if you confess the truth. Now.”
“I didn’t—”
“We have you on camera, Simon,” Molly said, stepping forward. “We have all the proof we need. What we don’t have is a motive. Why would you take the whole blame for someone else? Please, tell me what happened.”
Simon looked at her for a second and then his panic won out. “My mother is sick,” he said desperately. “She needs an operation, and I needed the money… Mrs. Beaumont offered me a thousand dollars if I did what she asked.”
“Mrs. Beaumont,” I said, turning to the pale-faced woman.
“You fucking idiot,” Mrs. Beaumont looked livid. “Shut your damn mouth.”
Simon was sobbing quietly, and Mr. Beaumont was looking at his wife as though she had just grown a second head. “I had nothing to do with this.”
“Don’t even bother,” I said bitingly, and then I turned back to Mrs. Beaumont. “I don’t understand; why did you want to frame Alani?”
“The whore was fucking my husband—”
“She was doing no such thing,” Molly said, cutting in. “She was trying desperately to avoid your husband’s inappropriate advances. She should press charges and have him convicted of sexual assault.”
“What proof does she have?” Mr. Beaumont demanded.
“We have footage of you offering Alani that choker,” Molly informed him. “The same choker that your wife planted in her room to frame her.”
“I should go to the police,” I said. “Both of you deserve to go to jail. But I suppose it’s enough to know that you deserve each other. I want you out of my resort in the next hour.”
“I want my choker back,” Mrs. Beaumont called out.
Ben produced the choker from his jacket pocket. “You can have it back,” he said, handing it over. “It’s not even worth a thousand dollars, let alone a million.”
“Ben,” I said. “You can supervise their departure. Simon, follow me.”
He followed Molly and me out the door. We went back to my office, and just as we were about to enter, Molly stopped me.
“Tristan,” she said, whispering so that Simon wouldn’t be able to hear. “What are you going to do with him?”
“I’m going to check his story first,” I said. “I’m going to make sure his sick mother is real… If she’s just a fabrication to justify his part in all this, then I’m going to fire him immediately.”
“And if it turns out to be true?”
“Then I’m going to suspend him for a few weeks without pay,” I said. “And…pay for his mother’s operation.”
I saw it again—that awed, proud look in Molly’s eyes. It was like I was really her hero. And while a part of me was thrilled to have earned her love and respect, another part of me was worried. What if things didn’t work out between us? Would she still want to work with me? Would she still look at me like I was her hero?
Or would she start seeing me differently, would she start seeing me, as I really was: a mortal man who was nobody’s hero?