Page 19 of True North

Toni shot Nico a sheepish grin, realizing her mistake. “Sorry,” she mouthed. Nico smiled at her and nodded, not paying attention to his father’s question.

“How about we head into town and find a place to stay?” he asked Toni. She nodded and groaned, holding her head.

“Right.” He helped her from her seat. “Mom, Dad,” he growled, “Toni and I appreciate your offer of letting us stay here, but we are going to get a hotel in town.”

“That’s not necessary,” his mother cried, standing to try to stop them. Nico felt a pang of guilt that his mother was once again stuck in the middle between him and his father. She always seemed to be a casualty of their explosive arguments.

“I promise to call you and let you know where we are, Mom. Maybe we can have lunch in a few days, and you can get to know Toni better. I want to get her checked out and she needs rest.” He shot his father another look. “If you can promise to keep your temper in check, you’re welcome to join us,” Nico barked at his father.

His father stood and slammed his hands on the table again, and Nico took that as his cue to get Toni out of there. She had had enough drama for one night. “I’m going to get Toni settled in the car and I’ll run back in for our bags,” he said, kissing his mom on her cheek. “We’ll see you soon, I promise.” His mother nodded and Nico didn’t bother looking back to where his father stood. He already knew the hatefulness he would see in his father’s eyes, and he didn’t need that right now.

“I’m sorry, Nico,” Toni whispered as he helped her out to his car.

“Not your fault, honey,” he said. He knew returning home was going to be a challenge. Nico had hoped his father would calm down with time, but it seemed it only made him angrier. Right now, his top priority was Toni. He’d worry about what to do about his father’s hostility, later.

Toni

Toni was ordered to remain on bed rest for five days, and by the last day of her confinement, she was ready to be up and about, but Nico wouldn’t hear of it. He was like a protective watchdog, always by her side, and honestly, she wasn’t sure what she would do without him. At night, he’d hold her close, as if he were afraid she would disappear if he let her go. During the day, he waited on her hand and foot until she demanded he let her rest and get some work done on his project. She knew what protecting her was costing him. He had a job to do and although Heather seemed quite capable of handling things back on the island, Nico needed to do his part. He tried to blow off her concerns, saying he had an excellent team behind him, but she could see he was worried about meeting his deadline. This report was too important not to be finished. The island’s future depended on him getting his data into the right hands. Sure, Toni knew that would mean that development companies like her father’s would suffer. But why build and develop an island, only to have it crumble into the sea because it wasn’t done properly?

Toni had placed a call to her father’s attorney two days earlier when Nico finally gave her back her cell phone privileges. She had left a message for Mr. Shields to get back to her, but she worried there would be nothing that could be done about her father’s estate and company going to Zac. The thought of that snake having any control of her father’s legacy made her sick. Sure, her father’s business practices weren’t always on the up and up, but she didn’t know that when she was working for him. If she had known about the island’s erosion problems, she would have insisted her father pay more attention to the warning signs and less to his bottom line. Her dad hadn’t always been concerned about the money, but she worried that had become his driving force after her mother died.

Nico was in the shower when her phone rang. He had put it on the dresser, out of reach, because her doctor said that too much screen time was bad for her head. Toni snuck out of bed and retrieved it.

“Hello,” she loudly whispered.

“Miss Bernston?” a man’s voice asked.

“Yes,” she said, returning to bed. Nico would be a little less upset with her if she tried to follow some of his rules.

“This is Mr. Shields, your father’s attorney,” he said. “Is now a good time to talk?” Toni could hear the shower still going and decided now was as good a time as any.

“Yes,” she said.

“I got your message about Mr. Bierman having control of your father’s assets and I have to tell you is only partially true. Your father put a clause in his will, that if any living blood relative was found alive, he or she would inherit his estate and company, in its entirety.” Toni gasped.

“Why would he put that clause in place? As far as he knew, I was dead, and there wouldn’t be anyone else.” Her questions were more rhetorical, but she hoped Mr. Shields had some answers.

“I don’t know why the clause was added. All I can tell you is that James had me put it in about six months ago. He also gave me a sealed envelope addressed to you, Miss Bernston. I thought he was out of his mind, leaving a letter for a dead woman, but maybe he knew something the rest of us didn’t.”

“Do you think he knew I was alive this whole time?” she asked. Toni was trying to piece together the puzzle, but things just weren’t making sense to her clouded mind. Why would her father leave a note for someone he believed to be dead?

“I wish I had more answers for you, Toni,” Mr. Shields soothed. “I’m so sorry for everything you have been through. I was not just your dad’s attorney, but his friend. He grieved your passing and I believe that is what led him to take his own life. I can’t believe he would kill himself had he known you were alive and well somewhere on the island. I also can’t believe he wouldn’t have tried to contact you, had he known.” Toni knew he was right. Her father would have tried to contact her if he had known she was alive and well, living just half an island away. Still, the mystery of the letter plagued her curiosity.

“I guess I’ll just have to wait until I get back home to see what the letter is about then,” she said.

“As to that, I’ll have everything sent via courier to your location,” he offered. Toni worried about giving her and Nico’s exact location to anyone. She knew he could easily pass it on to Zac, and that wasn’t something they could chance.

“I’ll get back to you with that information,” she said. Toni wanted to talk to Nico first and get his input. “In the meantime, what will I have to do to prove I am my father’s true living heir?” She was sure safety measures were in place to ensure someone couldn’t just walk off the street claiming to be a blood relative and take control of the company. She also worried about the lengths Zac would go to in order to keep control of the business.

“I’ll just need to have you submit to a DNA test, which can also be done remotely,” he offered. “Just let me know what you decide to do.” Mr. Shields ended the call, and she heard the shower turn off. Nico walked into their room, still wet from his shower with a towel wrapped around his waist. She looked him up and down, and almost dropped her cell phone at just how good he looked half-naked. His body was still so new to her and the sight of him in just a towel left her feeling achy and needy in all the right places.

“Um,” she squeaked. “I had to take a call.” She held her phone up to him and he took it from her, replacing it back to the chest of drawers.

“I thought we talked about you staying off of your phone until your head was better?” He cocked his eyebrow at her, and she wanted to crawl across the bed and help him out of his towel, but Toni knew Nico wouldn’t want to go against doctor’s orders. Besides holding her at night, he had kept his distance, and she was starting to feel his absence. Having him standing in front of her, half-naked and wet, wasn’t helping her with that little problem, either.

“We did, but it was my father’s lawyer, returning my call. You were in the shower, so I—”

“So, you thought you’d have a few minutes to sneak in a call without me stopping you?” She couldn’t help her smile. She loved the way he was so bossy. It seemed to be Nico’s true nature and she craved him that way, wanting more of his need to dominate her body, mind, and spirit. Was this what their last year had been like? Toni was starting to remember little glimpses into their past year together, mainly from her dreams, but even while awake now. She didn’t question that they were in love and that she wanted him. The way her body responded to him every time Nico was in the same room with her told her everything her mind couldn’t remember. She belonged to him.

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