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“About a year ago, I was in a boating accident, and I was knocked unconscious. When I came to, I was found by these three men, and they have allowed me to recover from my injuries. I had no memory of who I was and had to rely on the kindness of strangers to take care of me. A couple of days ago, I regained some of my memories and was able to piece together my past. I’m saddened to hear of my father’s passing and I hope you will allow me time and space to grieve for him and say goodbye.” Her voice cracked and Nico pulled her toward the house. He wanted to get her as far away from the crowd as possible.
“Did you kill your father, Miss Bernston?” a man shouted from the back of the group. His question seemed to ignite a slew of horrible accusations and questions about Toni and Nico knew it was time to get her back into their home. He wouldn’t let her stand there and listen to them.
“Let’s go, baby,” he whispered in her ear. Toni let him whisk her back into the house where Heather was waiting.
“You were great, girl,” Heather gushed. She pulled Toni in for a quick hug and released her when they heard the police sirens coming up the road.
“I told you two to stay in the house,” Nico barked at Heather and Toni.
Heather smiled. “I did stay in here,” she sassed. “So, don’t get all growly and grouchy with me.”
“And I’m not your employee,” Toni said. “I don’t have to follow your orders, or anyone else’s for that matter.” Nico shot her a look. He was about to explain to Toni that she was his, but the knock at the door stopped him. He looked out the window to find two uniformed police officers. Nico opened his front door to let them in.
“Thank you for coming out today,” he said. “As you can see, we have quite an issue here and no real way of handling the problem.”
“Well, they are allowed to be on public property, and we have officers roping off your front yard, setting a clear boundary. If you choose to leave the confines of your home, we won’t be able to stop them from following you and asking questions,” he said. Toni’s breath hitched and Nico knew she was finally getting the whole picture.
“Shit,” she swore.
“I’m sorry, Miss Bernston. Is there anything we can do for you?” the officer asked.
“No, I’ll have to figure something out,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry to put you through all this.” She looked at each of them, her eyes stopping to rest on Nico.
“We’ll figure this out together, baby,” he promised. He just hoped like hell he could keep it.
“Is there any place you can go while this all settles down?” Jace asked. Toni shook her head and Nico knew neither of them were going to like his plan, but he had no other option.
“What about a trip up north, to visit my parents?” he asked. The last thing he wanted to do was expose Toni to his parents. He had gone almost a year without seeing them. He made excuses every time his mother asked when he would be coming up for a visit. Hell, he never even told his parents about Toni and that was going to come back and bite him in the ass now.
“Have I ever met your parents?” she questioned. Nico shook his head, not wanting to get into this conversation with an audience present. “Don’t you think it’s too soon? I mean we only just, well, you know,” Toni whispered the last part, as if everyone standing there couldn’t hear her. Jace and Oliver both laughed, and Heather shot them a glare that could freeze ice.
“Can we talk about this when we’re alone, honey?” Nico pleaded. Toni turned a cute shade of pink and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Fine,” she said. “Thank you for your assistance, officers.” Toni shook both of their hands and showed them out. “I’ll be back in the bedroom,” she said. “I’m suddenly very tired.” Toni stormed off and slammed the door once she got back to their bedroom. Nico groaned, knowing she was going to be mad at him for shutting her down, but their sex life wasn’t something he wanted to discuss in front of everyone.
“Thanks for coming by, guys,” he said. “I appreciate the backup.” Nico patted Jace on the shoulder.
“So, you’re going to head up to Boston?” Oliver asked. Nico wasn’t sure what the plan was. He didn’t want to go home and explain the existence of a girlfriend to his parents. Hell, she was so much more than his girlfriend and if he had his way, she’d be his wife. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on what-ifs. He needed to get his head out of his ass and remember that keeping Toni safe was his priority. He had to get her off the island and as far away from Zac Bierman as possible. He had a sinking feeling that Boston might not be far enough away from the trouble that was chasing her down.
Zac
Zac watched the news unfolding live as he ran on his treadmill, taking great pleasure at the strain and discomfort on Nico Andrews’s face as Toni gave her statement to the press. He couldn’t have orchestrated it any better; it turned out to be quite the media circus, and from the look of panic on Toni’s face, it was just what the doctor ordered.
He had called in specialists to tell him just what he needed to do to make sure Toni didn’t regain her memory. If she did, he’d be fucked, and he’d worked too long and too hard for her to swoop in now and take the company away from him.
James was a sly old fox and just before he died, he changed his will to state that if any living relative came forward and could prove he or she was related by blood to him, they would gain complete control of his company and all his holdings. It was almost as if dear old James knew his precious daughter was alive this whole time and was making preparations for her triumphant return.
Zac knew James was keeping something from him, he just had no clue the secret was this big or could destroy everything he had worked so hard to put into place. A part of him always wondered if James knew what really happened to his daughter. If he had known Zac was responsible for Toni’s death, he never let on. Not until the very end, when Zac shared that little bit of information with him, just before he pushed James off the pier, killing him. Zac was fortunate enough that the local authorities believed his death was a suicide. The few cops who came snooping around, asking him questions, were easily paid off to take whatever story he wanted to give them. He had escaped all speculation, but now that Toni was back from the dead, she held the key to his downfall in that forgetful little brain of hers. He couldn’t sit back and hope that she never regained her memory, that was too risky even for him. Zac needed some reassurance and the only way to get it would be to finish what he started over a year ago when he knocked her unconscious and shoved her lifeless body overboard. This time, he wouldn’t fuck up. This time, he’d make sure the job was done right because he’d worked too hard to get to where he was.
Toni
Toni sat in their bedroom, knowing that sooner or later she was going to have to go down to Nico’s office and face him. He let her hide in their room all afternoon after the commotion outside died down. She assumed he was busy finalizing the report that he and Heather were so tirelessly working on. He mentioned something about his team being under a great deal of pressure to get the research finished and their report turned in before the building commission held their vote to build more condominiums on the island’s south side. Nico told her that if they moved forward in building the massive buildings on the already deteriorating land, they would jeopardize hundreds, possibly thousands of people’s lives; not to mention the damage they would be doing to the ecosystem and marine wildlife.
Nico was so passionate about his work, and she wondered if she would ever find something she loved doing as much as he loved his job. Before her accident a year ago, she worked for her father’s development company. She was like the rest of the businessmen that Nico was currently fighting to stop building on the South side of the island. She didn’t have the nerve to tell him she used to work for her dad’s company or that she was damn good at her job. Really, he didn’t ask, so those topics were best avoided. Besides, it didn’t matter now that Zac had control of her father’s company. Her job was long gone, leaving her to wonder what her future looked like.
Toni hoped it involved Nico, although for her they were virtual strangers. She knew Nico wanted her, and that was evident after their night together. But she wondered if he meant it when he said he was in love with her. She just wished she could remember the way they were together before her second accident. Judging from the way her body and heart seemed to melt every time he walked into the same room as her, she might have felt the same way about him. It was too soon for sweeping romantic statements from either of them. She needed to figure a few things out first—the most pressing being what happened to her the night she fell off of Zac’s boat and why her father would take his own life. Without those answers, she wouldn’t be able to have a future with anyone, not even Nico.
The soft knock at the door startled her and she jumped. “Who is it?” she yelped.
