Chapter 16

**A L E X**
I hear commotion on the yacht only five minutes after setting on the deck myself, the iPad in my hand loses my attention.

“They’re here.” Lizzy announces next to me, but I am looking at the two of them already. Apart from their sunglasses, there’s nothing they have in common. Sophia in the most Sophia outfit with black denims and a linen shirt, always hell-bent on hiding her riches and reality. Grace Millers in the most non-Grace Millers outfit, on the other hand–a fucking sundress. And it’s white, ending many inches above her knees. A sharp contrast to her usual choice of hoodies and plaid shirts that she’d wear at college over leggings or pants that’d usually reach her ankles almost all the time.

I swear she does this on purpose.

“Morning,” Sophie sings as she plants a kiss on my cheeks before disappearing into the cabin.

“Where are you going?” I call after her.

“To get the rest of my sleep for the night, I am still jet-lagged.” Her sentence is punctuated by the slam of a door.

“The night’s over,” I say for no particular reason, my mind’s already drifted from trying to stop Sophie to studying the dark circles under Grace Miller’s honey brown eyes. She hasn’t looked at me once since she has got on the yacht.

“The night isn’t over till I say it is over.” Sophie’s muffled voice comes from under the deck. Lizzy snorts in response. “Spoken like a true Moretti,” she taunts me. I almost smile at the tease when I notice Grace Millers smirk and I look up at her. My gaze catches her mid-way, and she looks my way instead. I take the opportunity to rake her down with a studying gaze once again. From the top of her messy bun to her sneakers that are definitely first copy. She doesn’t appreciate it, judging by the way she doesn’t spare me one more glance as she walks forward, past me, and takes the furthest away seat on the deck.

I scoff to myself before looking back down at the iPad screen to go through the plan for the day. First, the winery deal Lizzy’s been working on for months now, the one that will give me access to my biggest slab of land in one place so far. Enough to run the world’s biggest weed plantation and take over the industry. And then there is girls’ shopping.

“Where’s Carlisle?” I ask in a frustrated voice, looking at my watch, we are exactly three minutes late for setting sail.

Lizzy looks around before pulling her phone out to call him just when loud footsteps are heard on the wooden deck. “Did someone say Carl?” He announces his arrival like he is not three minutes and twenty-three seconds late. I give him a warning glare, and fortunately I don’t have to take my sunglasses off for him to know what it means.

I almost forgive him when he gives me an apologetic nod with a quiet ‘sorry boss’ but then instead of sitting next to me, he walks past me and finds a seat at the other side of the deck. I don’t have to turn to know how big Grace Millers smiles when she replies to his ‘Ciao’ but I hate it all the same.

I gesture Lizzy to get the boat started, and in seconds we are sailing to mainland Italy. Back to work after two long days of vacationing, thank fuck.


It takes us about an hour and Naples looms on the horizon, a mix of ancient charm and bustling modernity. The city’s skyline, with its mix of terracotta rooftops and the imposing outline of Mount Vesuvius in the background, comes into sharper focus as we approach the marina.

The salty breeze is a welcome reprieve from the lingering tension of the yacht, but it’s not enough to entirely dispel my irritation. From the same seat I’ve been in since we started sailing, I turn my head to look back. Sophie has come out of the cabin, now fresh and chirpy once again. She is sitting next to Carl on the couches attached to the other end of the deck, holding him for support. I never knew her to be scared of speed, but I guess things change. In front of them, Grace Millers is seated with her face turned to the sea that we are leavings behind, her hands both tightly holding onto the hem of her dress for dear life as the wind fights to steal it from her.

Just as we’re about to dock, Lizzy’s phone buzzes next to me. She glances at the screen and her expression tightens. “Update from our partners. They’ve had to postpone the meeting by an hour due to unforeseen circumstances.”

While that sounds pretty simple, one look at Lizzy’s dropping face or my clenched jaw would give you the idea of the seriousness of the situation. In business like ours where money doesn’t stand for much, time is the most important currency and if someone takes it away from us, they are given it to someone else.

Carl joins us at the top of the deck with the girls once the yacht gets stable, Lizzy takes him to the side to explain the situation.

I look at my watch. One hour. One hour of waiting for my time to come. Fuck, I hate this. I look up to find Grace Millers watching me intently, her eyebrows crumpled due to glitching in the sun even behind the sunglasses. I take my sunglasses off to meet her gaze, only to warn her off from trying to read me, when she looks away I clear my throat and announce. “Change of plans. We’ll start with shopping. Meeting’s been pushed back.”

Sophia’s eyes light up, while Grace Millers’s expression remains unreadable, hidden behind her oversized sunglasses and her trained poker face that doesn’t give much away. Carl spends a few minutes figuring things out with Lizzy, but once he is done shooting a few orders and getting thing sin place, he is back next to the women. His cool back in place, replacing the all-business look he only has on when he has to deal with shit. I would be annoyed to see him look so calm and nonchalant if I did not know that he is probably calculating the next success strategy in his head behind that face. He asks them something and Sophie starts answering as I head towards the dock, impatient to be away from their unnecessarily excited energy.