Trista’s POVLucian passed us.He swam so beautifully, almost like a fish, that I would have applauded him if my child hadn't been waiting for rescue in the water.He was at Bella's side in a flash, then pushed her with one hand and quickly brought her back to us. Belle, my sweetheart. Her wet hair clung to her face, but she smiled as she clamored into the boat. I hugged her fiercely.“Thank you,” I said to Lucian. He was holding the side of the boat with one hand, and paddling the water with his other. He smiled up at us, his tan face showing off his gleaming white teeth.“No worries,” he said. “I love a good exercise swim.” Then he hefted himself up and over the side of the boat.I caught Hazel watching him as he climbed into the boat. I didn’t blame her. His muscles strained and flexed as he pulled himself up. He was only wearing swimming trunks, and his wet, tan chest glistened in the sunlight.I saw her blush and look away.“I knew you couldn’t swim,” he told us, as he sat hims
Trista’s POVBelle, Billy, and I strolled through the onboard botanical gardens, ice cream in hand.“Look, Mamma,” Belle said, “a flutterby!”“Butterfly,” I corrected her. They both giggled as it landed on a flower right in front of them.The garden was in an atrium, and it boasted a wide variety of butterflies. Strolling through the garden was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. Hazel was with Lucian. He’d offered to give us both swimming lessons, but I politely declined. Billy and Belle (Belle especially) had had enough water escapades for one day. They’d been bugging me to see the butterfly house, (as they called it), so I told Lucian and Hazel that I needed to be with the kids.Lucian had wasted no time in getting Hazel in the water. We walked by them on our way to the atrium. They were in the rooftop pool. He was holding her around her waist, quite tightly I might add, while she frantically kicked her feet.I think his offer of swimming lessons was really just an excuse to get
Trista’s POV The last two days of the cruise went by in a blur. We ate until we thought we would puke. We sunbathed until our skin was tanner than it’s ever been. We danced until our feet hurt. And we explored every inch of that ship with Belle and Billy in tow. We saw Lucian a few more times, but mostly just for dinner.Hazel discreetly disappeared from time to time. She made lame excuses, like she was going for a run, or she was getting a pedicure. But I knew where she was. Looks like she had taken me up on my advice after all.Good. I was glad she was sneaking off to see Lucian. By the time we disembarked, I was ready to be back on dry land, even though the cruise had been an experience I would never, EVER forget.“First time in Dubai?” our cab driver asked in a thick Arabian accent.“Yes,” we both said, as we drove away from the cruise ship.“Well, you’re in for a real treat then,” he said. “Dubai is one of a kind. There’s no other city like it in the world. Ah, there she
“Mamma, I’m hot,” Belle said, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.“Me too. I’m all wet.”“It is pretty hot,” Hazel admitted. We’d disembarked early in the morning, but now it was around noon. The temperature was climbing, and we weren’t used to the desert heat. I was worried the kids were going to get heat exhaustion. But just then, my phone buzzed. It was the hotel, our room was ready!We pulled into valet parking, excited to see our room. As we stepped out of the car, though, we were greeted by a pleasant-looking woman.“Hazel? Trista? My name is Aisha. I’m your private translator and tour guide. I missed you when you first pulled up. My apologies. And welcome to Dubai!”Private translator and tour guide? But…we didn’t….Johnson!He must have ordered this for us. Along with the Ferrari.“Well, this will make things a lot easier,” Hazel whispered into my ear as we followed Aisha into the lobby. She then informed us that we’d been upgraded to a top floor suite.“What?” Haze
Trista’s POVI stared at the phone.What was that?Johnson had been acting really strange. He’d been stuttering, which was NOT something Johnson ever did. I thought back to the days just before we left for the trip. The night after Hazel’s wedding, I’d woken up and he’d been gone. And he hadn’t come home. He hadn’t even called me until later that night to tell me he was tied up with business.Of course, at the time I had thought it was strange too. It wasn’t like him to disappear for a whole day. Plus, he had stayed in the city right up until the day I left. I really thought I’d see him before I went away. But nope. He’d been too busy with work.And now?I couldn’t shake the feeling that that was a strange phone call. He’d hung up really abruptly. Was it just me, or was he being a little mysterious lately? Was he really that busy at work? Or was he trying to hide something?I didn’t like thinking that way. I had no reason not to trust Johnson. So I tried to push the thought out of my
Trista’s POVClick.It was the hotel door. I glanced over at my clock. It was 6am. Hazel was sneaking back into her room. She’d been out all night!I closed my eyes and fell back asleep for a bit, but Billy and Belle woke me up a couple of hours later.I had Aisha order breakfast room service for us, with an extra cup of coffee for Hazel. I knew she’d need it. A little while later, she emerged from her bedroom with dark circles under her eyes.“Well if it isn’t sleeping beauty,” I teased her. “What did you get up to last night?”“Me?” she asked. “Nothing,” she said, reaching for the coffee. “I went to bed early. I think I had a touch of heat stroke. I’m not used to this desert heat.”“You went to bed early?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.No she didn’t! The little vixen was out all night. She even had a faint red mark on her neck.“I had a headache,” she lied to me. “The air conditioning wasn’t working well in my room. I hardly slept last night. I tossed and turned.”“Oh, I’m sorry to
Trista’s POVWe had a blast in Dubai, but after a few days we were happy to leave the desert heat and explore more of Europe. We went to Turkey and lounged around in the Turkish baths. Then went to Greece and marveled at the Ancient Greek ruins. We went to Germany and gorged ourselves on beer and sausages. Billy and Belle behaved so well everywhere we went. Hazel and I were in our glory exploring all the cities we’d dreamed about visiting when we were just children. We got around easily, since Johnson had arranged for a private interpreter and tour guide in each city. I tried calling him to thank him, but his phone always went to voicemail. I had shimmers of doubt about his secrecy, but he’d arranged to have flowers in every hotel room we stayed at. Gorgeous, decadent bouquets. So I decided not to dwell on it. I mean, we were in Europe! I wanted to take advantage of every minute. Besides, I was confident that Johnson was just busy with work, like he said. I finally got a hold of
Trista’s POV Our first stop in Italy was Rome.Hazel and I had argued a bit about this. She was eager to see Milan. But I wanted to see Rome. And I wanted the kids to see the Sistine Chapel. Hazel didn’t understand. “How many times have you been to Rome?” she asked. “I mean, come on, Trista, you used to live here.”“No, I lived in Milan,” I told her. “I actually never went to Rome.”I’d been so busy when I lived in Milan that I hadn’t had time to explore all the other cities in Italy, Rome included. And since this was a vacation, I insisted we go to Rome. We were, however, at the end of our trip and there wasn’t much time left.“Fine,” she relented. “But only for the day.”I secretly wondered if her urgency to get to Milan had anything to do with Lucian. But of course, I didn’t say anything. We were booked to take a train that night to Milan. So we did a whirlwind visit of the Vatican, The Sistine Chapel, and the Colosseum before hopping on the train. “And no, there is no tim