I wake to a hand in mine, a mouth full of cotton, and a head full of pain. I deserve the pain, even the cotton, but what I don’t deserve is her.

I pull her hand so she moves closer and take a deep breath, hoping her scent doesn’t only have magical powers when it comes to my mind, heart, and cock, but some healing and hydration would be great right now, too.

I inhale again, but she’s not smelling as sinfully delicious as she normally does. In fact, I think she changed her body wash. I’m not so sure I like it.

“Oh, my God, Mother!”

I jump up when I hear Paige’s mom and look beside me.

Babička is smiling her fool’s head off.

“You are a beautiful man.” She pulls my hand to her lips and kisses it. “But you’re not my Stephan, are you?”

I help her sit up and kiss her hand in return. “No, Babička. Sadly, I’m not.”

I hear a loud belly laugh as Evan walks in and holds his phone up. “This one’s for the books.”

“Evan, leave them be.” Paige’s mom tries and fails not to laugh.

My head is a wreck, I feel like hell, but right now seems like the most awkwardly fucking perfect time to ask the question.

“Evan, can you step in and shut the door?”

He looks at me like I’m nuts, but he does what I ask.

I look at Babička. “I’m Vincent, and I have known Paige—”

“My sweet pea?” She smiles big again.

I nod. “I’ve known her for a very long time. I know her moods and her mannerisms. I know what’s important to her, and it’s quickly becoming important to me. I know I want to make every one of her dreams come true, and I want to push her to never settle.” I run my hands through my hair that I know is all sorts of fucked up, but I don’t give a damn. “And I know damn well I’m going to have to challenge her daily to keep her on her toes. I respect her. I trust her with everything I am and everything I have. My loyalty knows no bounds, and she has it forever, whether she wants it or not.”

She holds her hands up to my mouth, stopping me. “You should marry her. She’ll make a good wife.”

I swallow back emotions and allow myself to smile. “You think so?”

“I know so.” She nods. “Now, help me up. If she catches us in bed, she’ll never go for it.”

As I help her up, I look at Evan. “I’d like your permission to ask your daughter to marry me. It’s not too soon, I promise you that, and I don’t want it to ever be too late.”

He narrows his eyes. “She already said yes?”

I shake my head. “Haven’t asked her.”

“If I tell you no?”

I simply stare at him.

“Do you love her, Vincent?” her mom asks.

“He bought half the damn town for her. Of course he loves her.” Evan shakes his head and looks at his wife. “He’s asking my permission, but he doesn’t give a damn what I say. He’ll do it anyway.”

“Like you would have if my father had said no.”

“Exactly.” Evan nods.

She looks at me and smiles, then back at him. “He’s doing it out of respect, Evan. Give him the same?”

“You can marry my daughter if she’ll have you.” He turns, opens the door, and walks out.

I look down. I have never been happier. I didn’t have a fucking hard-on with Paige on my mind.

“I’m going to sneak out of here, Babička. Going to go plan something special for Paige. What do you think would make tonight unforgettable for her?”

She curls her finger, so I bend down. Then she leans in and whispers in my ear, “Sex. Paige would like to have a man like you looking down—”

“Mom!”

Babička jumps and looks back at her, scowling.

“I am so sorry, Vincent.” She looks back at Babička. “What has gotten into you?”

“Well, not him.” She laughs as she leaves the room.

Paige’s mom’s mouth is gaping.

“Damn kids,” Babička mumbles as she walks out the door.

“I’m … I’m … I’m …”

“It’s fine, truly. I’ve done some reading on dementia. But it’s normally the men who revert to sixteen-year-old boys. Women are known to—”

“Carry around baby dolls.” She sighs. “I know, and trust me, I’ve tried.”

I step into my jeans and grab my shirt. “I’m going to head out.” I feel in my pocket for my phone, but it’s not there. “If she asks, let her know I’m going to Joe’s to see if I left my phone there. I’m pretty sure I did; however, the night’s a little foggy still.”

“Do you drink a lot, Vincent?”

“No, I don’t, which is part of the problem. My tolerance is clearly lacking.”

She smiles. “That’s not a bad thing.”

“I agree.” I pull on my sneakers and tap my head. “Gotta stay sharp.”

* * *

I feel like I have been on a wild fucking goose chase, trying to find my fucking phone. And worse, getting a new one doesn’t mean a damn thing because I don’t know one person’s number. I know because after Joe told me Pace had been in so he could see what opening the place was like, he took my phone back to the marina.

I pass by a phone store and decide to stop and grab one because I don’t want to go to the damn marina. I want to pull off the biggest night of my life. When they tell me that I need to backup my current phone in order to get my contacts to transfer, I walk out.

A waste of time. A total waste of fucking time.

I know damn well Pace is going to want to chat about business, and it’s not like I don’t like the guy—I fucking do—but I want Paige now.

Inside the marina, I call out for him. There is no answer.

I walk outside and see Evan and him on the dock next to my boat. He waves me down, and I know already I’m in for at least an hour of small talk and pleasantries. I’m fucked if I don’t play the damn game.

When I’m almost to them, they walk onto the boat. I follow them.

“Dad wants you to take us for a spin around the island.” Pace has a black eye. “He said you were going to ask Pea to marry you?”

I nod and force a smile. “Lots of things I need to do to make it perfect.”

“But I …” Pace begins.

“Do you know her favorite flower? Wine? Music?” Evan cuts him off.

“Do you?” Pace asks his father.

“If he’s going to ask my only daughter to marry him, he better know these things.” He glares at him then looks at me. “Quick trip around the island should gain you enough information to make it right.”

My tongue between her legs would make it right, I think as I reach in my pocket for the keys.

“Got them right here,” Evan says with a bit of a fuck you for wanting to fuck my daughter tone … if that’s even a thing.

Instead of being a dick, I take the keys and even manage a thank you. Then I look at Pace. “Got my phone?”

“Shit, yeah, it’s up at the marina.”

“I’ll get it.” I all but jump over the edge and run to the marina to grab my phone so I can talk to her, text her, fucking communicate with her before I lose my shit.

When I grab it off the charger, it’s fucking dead.

There’s a charger on the boat, I think as I run down the dock.

When I’m halfway to the boat, I here Evan yell, “Did you lock up?”

I stop dead in my tracks and turn around, running back to the fucking marina to make sure all the fucking doors are locked. Then I run back toward the boat.

Halfway there, Pace yells, “Dad needs his pills on the counter, just in case.”

You have got to be fucking kidding me, I think as I turn around and head back to the fucking marina.

Once inside, I grab his pills and a canvas bag with the Arnesen logo on it. I think of the girls and any trip in a vehicle over half an hour requiring drinks and snacks and something to entertain them so they wouldn’t give me the Spanish—or in their case, the Italian—Inquisition. Right now, I would swap Evan for the both of them. And if I could find a damn coloring book and some crayons, I would throw them in, too.

Try harder, Vincent pops into my mind, pissing me off because that was their way of trying to put me in my place for their own fucked-up reasons, always involving something self-serving and immoral.

As I walk to the boat, I feel like a dick because, in this case, it’s me telling myself that because I need—no, want—to get along with them for me, I feel a bit self-serving.

I like these people. I respect who they are, what they have done, and how important family seems to be to them. And although I want everything now, I suppose this isn’t a waste of time—this little jaunt around the island, getting to know them more, know Paige more. It becomes clear to me that it isn’t a waste of time or a means to an end. It’s an investment in a future that involves more than I ever dreamed.

When I’m halfway down the dock again, Pace yells, “He needs water.”

I pull a bottle out of the bag and keep walking.

Pace yells over his shoulder, “He’s got it.”

I hear Evan’s muffled voice, and then I see Pace throw his hands in the air.

“You have snacks on this thing?”

I nod then laugh at his frustration.

When I step onto the boat, Pace shakes his head. “Sorry, man.”

I clamp my hand on his shoulder and tell him, “It’s no big deal.”

I pull my phone out of my pocket and hand it to him. “Can you put this on the charger next to the bed? I’d really like to talk to Paige.”

“Use my phone,” he offers as Evan comes up the stairs.

“I can wait a little while longer.”

I take my time showing Evan the control system and how to start the boat. I even give him the passcode to override the keys if they get lost.

I back us into the water, and yes, I step aside and offer him the helm.

“You sure about that?”

I nod. “I am.”

“Where is Pea anyway?” Pace asks.

“At home,” I tell him at the same time Evan says, “New Jersey.”

My fucking blood boils as I look at him, and I don’t hide my anger either.

He shrugs. “She needed her girls. That, Vincent, is something she’ll never outgrow.”

“She could have fucking asked me,” I sputter.

“You mean told. She could have given you the common decency of telling you.” He gives me a challenging look.

I don’t want any fucking misunderstandings, so I give it to him straight.

“No, I meant asked. I abso-fucking-lutely meant asked.”

“You have one hell of a temper, don’t you, boy?” He turns, facing me. He’s just as pissed off as I am.

“We all have a temper.”

“Not all of us carry fucking scars like the ones you do, a clear indication you like a fight—”

“Like a fight? Like a fight!” I’m about ready to unleash hell upon the man whose daughter, although she’s pissing me off right now, will be my world. But I don’t owe him anything more than I have given him. “I stopped liking fights when I was sixteen years old.”

“So, you admit it. Well, maybe that’s why Pea left to go talk to her friends. Maybe she needed reassurance that you no longer like fights. But understand, Vincent, if you ever start again and one hair is harmed on my daughter’s head, I hope you like hell, because that’s where I’ll send you.”

“Jesus Christ, Dad, leave the poor guy alone.”

He looks at Pace. “The poor guy comes in here, buying up the place in the name of love, with no mention of family, and all I know about him is he’s connected to the men Laney and Melyssa married, who have never come back home. For God’s sake, Pace, Melyssa’s husband killed his own father, and this Valentina woman’s boyfriend killed one of her family members.”

“Sabato’s father was a piece of shit who made his life hell. He came after him and shot him. Sabato defended himself. Valentina’s step-uncle raped her and Franco’s sister, who killed herself. He simply rid the world of trash.”

“And where is your family, Vincent?”

“My father is dead,” I snap.

“Dad, ease the hell up,” Pace nearly begs.

“My mother is a whore, an addict, and these fucking scars”—I rip my shirt off and turn my back to him so he can get a good fucking look—“are from men who either wanted to fuck a young boy or beat him for fun, which she allowed.” I turn back around to see him now sitting in the captain’s chair.

“So, yes, I used to like to fight. I also liked to survive. And Franco pulled me out of a bar where I was probably going to die and gave me a job with the Segretti family, who trust me implicitly. And your daughter, she knows every bit of that information. She was the very first person I ever told. It’s in my past, but it was not by choice. But, fuck yes, I like to fight. Even more than liking it, I’m really fucking skilled at it.” I try to calm the fuck down, but I can’t.

I point at him. “And that look right there—that look of pity—infuriates me almost as much as trusting that you really wanted to help me know your daughter more, only to find out you just want to keep me away, and apparently, so does she.”

I walk to the stairs and head down in search of my phone, because I give a fuck less if her father knows the real me. He was never going to give me a fucking chance anyway.

I grab it, but the fucking thing is still not charging.

I look up when I hear a knock on the wall and see Evan walking down.

“I’m in no mood for anymore,” I tell him, unplugging and plugging back in the fucking charger.

“Well, I think I can fix that if you give me a minute.”

I turn and look at him as he walks to the breaker box.

He flips a few switches then turns and looks at me. “Try again.”

I want to tell him to go to hell, but more than that, I want to know what the hell is going on.

When I plug it back in, the red light brightens the screen.

I look back at him, now knowing damn well he did it and having no fucking idea how long I can hold off plowing him.

I walk back up the stairs without saying a fucking word.

“He apologize?” Pace asks from the captain’s chair.

“Not yet,” Evan says from behind me.

I look and we’re a fuck of a lot farther from the shore than I would like to be, because jumping ship right now, literally and figuratively, on this whole fucking place isn’t just crossing my mind. It’s consuming it.