Page 105 of No Saint

She had grown so much since I’d taken her all those weeks ago, her ideals had changed, her views and opinions and her courage.

She was a beautiful woman, one far too good for me.

I stop the car at the jewelers on the way back from the marina after checking a new shipment that’s come in.

I’d kept this one under lock and key, only Enzo and Devon knew it was due and it came in without a problem. I’ve had five shipments hit in the last week alone, losing millions in revenue because I haven’t figured out who the damn traitor is.

Whoever they were, they were damn smart and I would hand that to them.

Climbing out, I’m met with the pressing heat of late summer, the smell of the salty ocean thick in the air. Tourist season would be coming to a close soon, but the streets today remained busy.

The airconditioned building was clean, tidy, all glass and white light and behind the counter stands a young woman.

“Mr Saint,” she nods.

“I called in a favor.” I don’t mince words or pleasantries. I wanted home to my wife.

“Mr Saint,” Gio steps out of the back room, the rotund man joyful as always. He’s been a friend of the Saint’s for a long time, his father having come here with my grandfather all those years ago. He was far too old to still be working but if there was anything I knew about the man was that he never stopped. “I take it you’re here for the necklace?”

I nod.

“It wasn’t easy,” he laughs, “I had to have it imported.”

“Send me the import tax bill,” I shrug, “I’ll sort it.”

“The money you’re about to pay for this is quite enough, Mr Saint.”

I didn’t care the cost.

Gio places a box on the glass case, sliding it towards me where I then open it, viewing the necklace inside. It was stunning, the stone gleaming and rich.

“It’s perfect.”

A second box is placed next to it, much smaller than the first. The climbing earrings were a perfect match to the necklace and while nothing could match my Amelia in beauty or rarity, this would be a close fit.

“I’ll take both.” I confirm.

The twenty-two mil I pay for them is nothing to her worth. They are placed in a thick paper bag, tied with a ruby red ribbon.

When I arrive back at the house, I step from my car and instead of heading directly inside where I know Amelia will be getting ready for the night, I head to the clifftop, where the sea is a calm expanse and the sun is setting, painting the sky in pinks and oranges. Sea birds swoop low for their evening meals and a few boats sit peacefully on the water. I look down, seeing the sandy beaches where the water meets the land, the steep, sharp cliff edges protruding and deadly but the water almost erasing that fact. There were caves along these cliffs, deep caves that hid lagoons of water so clear you could see all the way to the bottom.

I’d explored them with the twins and my brother when we were children and things were simpler. When there was no war and no hate, and the adults managed everything so we wouldn’t see.

In one of these caves, we had carved our names into the rock, these pre-teen naïve children who believed all was right. We said we would come back as adults one day and write them once more as the men we had become.

But that wouldn’t happen now.

Not with my eldest brother dead and the twins, both of them, prime suspects on the traitor list.

I glance behind me, to the house and the wall of windows where Amelia was getting ready but take one last look at the sea before me. Then I turn to the house and head inside, going in search of my wife.

I find her in our bedroom, sat before a mirror in a champagne colored dress, her long, dark curls pulled up to sit on top of her head. She wore make up in a deep smoky eye effect and deep red lipstick. She was so stunning my feet froze on the threshold, staring at the reflection in the mirror that stared back at me.

“You look incredible,mondo mia,” I manage to rasp out.

Her cheeks pinken at the compliment.

I cross the room, coming to stand behind her, my hands landing on her bare shoulders. The dress was tight fitting and had a deep V plunge in the front and the back. Several chains hung from the material in the back, a gold color that set off the tan skin of her body. Her scars were on show, the white and pink marks easily visible in the gaps of the dress.

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