Page 45 of Beginnings By the Sea

Miles stepped back from Cohen, and I quickly moved out from behind the table to stand with them. Their eyes were locked on each other, almost like they’d done this dance before. But how did they know each other?

“What's going on?” I demanded.

Miles’s jaw twitched, then he finally looked away and met my gaze. “Is this who you've been seeing?”

I glanced at Cohen and then back to him, giving an unsure nod. “Yes . . . why are you two acting as if you know each other?”

Cohen released an exasperated sigh. “It’s because we do, Nyla.”

Thick silence settled over us as I stared at both of them, anticipation pulsing through me for answers. Finally, Miles pinned Cohen with a sharp look and gave his response—one I was not expecting.

“He’s my cousin.”

The world seemed to spin all around me and I stumbled back. Cousins? How was that even possible?

Miles reached out to steady me and so did Cohen, their hands clutching me in their grasps. By now, we’d garnered the attention of others around us, and the last thing I wanted was to cause a scene.

I pulled my arms away from them and held up my hands. “You guys need to do this somewhere else. Come with me.”

My office was just two blocks away. I turned away from them and felt everything crashing all around me. Miles and Cohen were family.

Things just got way more complicated.

20

MILES

The searing heat of anger burned through every cell in my body as I followed Cohen and Nyla down the street toward her office. How the hell was it possible that Cohen was the other guy in Nyla’s life?

He was in love with her; it was clear as day.

Thinking of his hands on her brought out an unbridled rage within me. Cohen and I spent our entire childhood at odds with each other. Even though we were cousins, we looked nothing alike. His mother was my mom’s sister and the one who married into the wealthy Sumner family. The Sumners had dark hair and green eyes, whereas my side were blond and blue.

Our families had been divided long before we were born, and with that came rivalries that had passed down to us. Cohen came from the wealthy side of the family, whereas mine struggled but had the love and respect of my grandparents.

No words were said as our footsteps echoed in the cool afternoon air. As we arrived at the office, Nyla pulled out her keys and opened the door, which closed behind us with a heavy thud.

Her expression was guarded, so I had no clue what she was thinking. One thing was for sure, I was ready to talk to Cohen. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that he and Nyla just happened to run into each other. The guy was a sly bastard that would do anything to get what he wanted.

Nyla huffed and glanced back and forth between me and Cohen. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on here, but it’s obvious you two need to talk it out.” She pointed at the door. “I’m going to head back to the festival, and I don’t want you two there if you can’t be civil. I know this is a lot to take in.” Cohen opened his mouth to speak, but Nyla cut him off with a hand in the air. “I don’t think I’m ready to hear anything right now. I’m confused, and still trying to wrap my head around it.” After a few minutes, her expression softened. “I’ll talk to you both later, okay?” she said, glancing back and forth at us.

Instead of waiting for our replies, she bolted out the door. The second the door shut behind her, I faced off with Cohen.

“What are you doing in Oak Island?” I demanded.

Cohen sneered, a trait his side of the family had mastered over the years. “That’s none of your business, but if you must know, I bought out Freddy’s Surf Shop. They were going under and needed help.”

I snorted with disbelief, narrowing my eyes at him. “Since when do you give a damn about small businesses?”

He crossed his arms over his chest, still wearing that smirk I loathed. “And since when do you care what I do?”

His words hung in the air between us like a challenge. “I don’t. But when it comes to Nyla, I do. She’s my wife, Cohen, and she’s mine. I suggest you back off.”

His smirk grew wider, and I wanted to punch it off his face. Nyla would have undoubtedly let him down delicately, but I wasn’t about to. She didn’t know him the way I did.

Cohen chuckled and looked at Nyla’s picture on the wall beside Everleigh’s. “She may be your ex-wife, but she’s been mine for the past month.” He leaned against the wall and shot me a triumphant grin. “I can give her everything you can’t. She’s been happy with me.”

Nothing about him being in Oak Island made sense; he lived for the hustle and bustle of New York City, where women swooned over him everywhere he went. He loved the attention of the paparazzi; he always has.

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