Page 97 of Pallas & Kawehi

When Axl turned to her, she knew it wasn't going to be good. "Does he know how much you hate him?"

"Dom? I don't-"

"Nick! Does he know how much you hate him?"

"He knows."

"You need to stay back."

She opened her mouth to tell Axl to shut up, but it killed her to realize that it made sense. "Fine. I'm not going to stay here, but I'll stay out of sight."

Dom looked at her and nodded. "Thank you."

Buck put his hand on her back. "Stay with me."

She moved with him as Dom, Axl, and Riptide moved quickly ahead of them, walking and talking quietly amongst themselves.

Maile looked up at Buck, taking comfort in his reassuring presence. He was a good guy, sweet and gentle even though she knew that he could kill someone as easily as the other guys. Buck was a little older than the others, but that only added to his appeal.

"Thank you," she murmured to him. "Mahalo, Buck. I'm glad you're here with me."

He smiled at her, and she felt even more comforted. "We'll take care of your cousin, Maile. Don't worry. We'll figure it out."

She smiled, a little of her anger peeking back through. "I hope you leave me part of him to kick, like his balls."

Buck winced at her words. "Yikes. You're dangerous."

She nodded, moving as quickly as she could. "She's my cousin, but she's also my best friend, Buck. I need her to be okay."

KAWEHI

He didn't let her sit down, which gave her hope for a moment, thinking that they'd be at least visible to other people if they looked in their direction. But then she realized that he was moving her closer and closer to the water.

"What's in the paper?"

"The paper?" He shook his head, a little confused. "Oh. The paper I needed you to sign?"

Needed.

She might not be a lawyer or a writer, but she knew from her eighth-grade English teacher's pointed comments that words make a difference. He said it in past tense. He didn't need her to sign it anymore.

Kawehi was trying to keep calm and not let him know that he might have tipped his hand. She just knew that she couldn't let herself think that they were going to go anywhere else.

She swore she could feel the water behind her, looming in her mind.

"I think if you told me what was on it, I could just sign it and you can get on a plane tonight and be back home in Florida by morning. Everything done and taken care of and be with your wife."

Kawehi heard her voice shaking. "That feels weird, you know. Talking about someone else as your wife."

He scoffed at her words. "Miss me?" He smiled at her.

Her instinct was to bite back at him with her words, but she was between a rock and a hard place. "I miss what we used to have, Nick. I've never felt that loved before."

"Well it has to go both ways, baby."

"I loved you!" She drew back, covering her mouth with one hand, hoping that he wouldn't see her other hand pushing into her pocket. "I loved you, Nick! What are you saying?"

"You were always at work. I wanted to go away for a weekend, and you'd say you had to work."

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