sister gave it to me, and she went through a lot to get it.”
“Still seems strange.”
“What seems strange?”
“Going through the trouble to tie you up,” Sione said.
“Maybe that’s his thing,” Spencer said. “Maybe he likes to tie women up before he snatches their purses. I don’t know. Like I said—”
There was a loud, abrupt slam.
“What the hell?” Sione jumped up from the table and headed toward the bedroom.
Moments later, in the master suite, he stared at the empty space on the floor in front of the bamboo-wood wardrobe, and he couldn’t help but remember something else his father had always told him.
Don’t ever assume a man is down for good. Make sure he won’t ever get up again.
“What is it?” Ms. Edwards asked.
“Damn it,” he mumbled, turning to her. “The son of a bitch is gone.”
chapter 14
San Ignacio, Belize
Belizean Banyan Resort – Manager’s Office
Sione pressed the phone to his ear, his heart slamming as the receptionist regretfully informed him that Walter Perales was not available at the moment. She was more than happy, however, to take a message and have Mr. Perales return his call. Hesitating, Sione took a deep breath. Walter Perales was his ex-fiancée’s attorney and the person who could possibly tell him whether or not his father had visited his ex in prison.
Sione had been reluctant to contact Perales, and he was more than relieved that he wouldn’t have to seek answers to questions he really didn’t know how to ask. If he left a message, the attorney would inform his client of the call, and the last thing he wanted was his ex thinking that he believed her wild, foolish bullshit.
“Sir?” the receptionist prompted.
Deciding against leaving his name and number, Sione said, “I’ll try him another time. Thanks.” Sione hung up the phone then sat back in his leather chair, rubbing his jaw.
He was glad he hadn’t left a message. Glad he wouldn’t have to worry about being tense and on edge, waiting for Perales to call him back. Sione didn’t really want to talk to the man but figured he would have to eventually—if he wanted to find out the truth.
Richard wants me dead.
Sione stood and walked to the window, thinking about all the shit that had happened today. His ex-fiancée’s claims about Richard threatening to kill her had been only slightly worse than the situation with Spencer Edwards. The most beautiful girl he’d seen in a long time turned out to be abrasive and ungrateful.
If that wasn’t bad enough, a guy with a tattoo of a green snake on his face had broken into her casita, exposing serious flaws in the resort security system and dangerous faults in his belief that his father’s instruction no longer had any power to influence him.
Ten years away from Richard Tuiali’i’s persuasion should have been proof enough that he’d changed. There hadn’t been any relapses in the past decade.
And yet, part of him, a huge, significant part, wondered if the changes he’d made had only been surface repairs, like a fresh coat of paint over a bloodstained floor. Over time, the paint would begin to chip and the truth would be revealed.
Staring out at the jungle beyond the windows, Sione worried he was only one bad situation away from turning back into the person he used to be, the person he wanted to forget and to pretend he’d never been.
One wrong circumstance could turn him into the man Richard had raised him to be, and all his uncle’s efforts to save him from that vicious, cold-hearted life would have been in vain, wasted.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” Sione called out, turning toward the door as it opened.
Marie poked her head into the office. “I’m getting ready to leave,” she said. “Need anything before I go?”
“No thanks, I’m okay.”
Pushing the door back, his secretary stepped into the office. “Sorry it was such a weird day for you today.”
“Well, even the worse days have to come
“Still seems strange.”
“What seems strange?”
“Going through the trouble to tie you up,” Sione said.
“Maybe that’s his thing,” Spencer said. “Maybe he likes to tie women up before he snatches their purses. I don’t know. Like I said—”
There was a loud, abrupt slam.
“What the hell?” Sione jumped up from the table and headed toward the bedroom.
Moments later, in the master suite, he stared at the empty space on the floor in front of the bamboo-wood wardrobe, and he couldn’t help but remember something else his father had always told him.
Don’t ever assume a man is down for good. Make sure he won’t ever get up again.
“What is it?” Ms. Edwards asked.
“Damn it,” he mumbled, turning to her. “The son of a bitch is gone.”
chapter 14
San Ignacio, Belize
Belizean Banyan Resort – Manager’s Office
Sione pressed the phone to his ear, his heart slamming as the receptionist regretfully informed him that Walter Perales was not available at the moment. She was more than happy, however, to take a message and have Mr. Perales return his call. Hesitating, Sione took a deep breath. Walter Perales was his ex-fiancée’s attorney and the person who could possibly tell him whether or not his father had visited his ex in prison.
Sione had been reluctant to contact Perales, and he was more than relieved that he wouldn’t have to seek answers to questions he really didn’t know how to ask. If he left a message, the attorney would inform his client of the call, and the last thing he wanted was his ex thinking that he believed her wild, foolish bullshit.
“Sir?” the receptionist prompted.
Deciding against leaving his name and number, Sione said, “I’ll try him another time. Thanks.” Sione hung up the phone then sat back in his leather chair, rubbing his jaw.
He was glad he hadn’t left a message. Glad he wouldn’t have to worry about being tense and on edge, waiting for Perales to call him back. Sione didn’t really want to talk to the man but figured he would have to eventually—if he wanted to find out the truth.
Richard wants me dead.
Sione stood and walked to the window, thinking about all the shit that had happened today. His ex-fiancée’s claims about Richard threatening to kill her had been only slightly worse than the situation with Spencer Edwards. The most beautiful girl he’d seen in a long time turned out to be abrasive and ungrateful.
If that wasn’t bad enough, a guy with a tattoo of a green snake on his face had broken into her casita, exposing serious flaws in the resort security system and dangerous faults in his belief that his father’s instruction no longer had any power to influence him.
Ten years away from Richard Tuiali’i’s persuasion should have been proof enough that he’d changed. There hadn’t been any relapses in the past decade.
And yet, part of him, a huge, significant part, wondered if the changes he’d made had only been surface repairs, like a fresh coat of paint over a bloodstained floor. Over time, the paint would begin to chip and the truth would be revealed.
Staring out at the jungle beyond the windows, Sione worried he was only one bad situation away from turning back into the person he used to be, the person he wanted to forget and to pretend he’d never been.
One wrong circumstance could turn him into the man Richard had raised him to be, and all his uncle’s efforts to save him from that vicious, cold-hearted life would have been in vain, wasted.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” Sione called out, turning toward the door as it opened.
Marie poked her head into the office. “I’m getting ready to leave,” she said. “Need anything before I go?”
“No thanks, I’m okay.”
Pushing the door back, his secretary stepped into the office. “Sorry it was such a weird day for you today.”
“Well, even the worse days have to come
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