Chapter 44

On the sixth day after our arrival ,I was woken in the way I had become accustomed to, with kisses running over my cheeks and face. Now normally Carlos would have continued down my neck to my breasts but to my disappointment not this morning.

"We have a meeting with my lawyer this morning to sort out some legal documents and then I'm taking you scuba diving"

I knew that I'd talked about my name change so assumed that maybe that was it so assumed that was what was being dealt with. I dressed in a sun dress with a bikini underneath, marveling at the choice of clothes that Ranger had arranged to be here and packed a canvas bag with some spare clothes, towels and sun cream. The resort that we were on didn't allow cars near to the cabanas, so we walked through the formal gardens and past the resort pool and bars through and out of the reception area. I was surprised when Carlos walked over to a soft topped Porsche and took the keys for it from a man standing next to it. After Carlos opened my door, we were soon driving from the parking lot along a long road before joining what must have been a main road. What had me concerned though was when a dark grey truck looked to be following us with two passengers inside.

Carlos must have seen me looking into the side mirrors because as he took my hand, he was giving me an explanation.

"Koa and Bane are there to keep an eye on our backs. They've been around the resort but away from us just in case"

Which was how Carlos was able to relax. I knew that he'd told me that his life might never be safe, that there might always be someone out there who would want to hurt him, and I suppose me as well now. Men like Scrogg and Orin were hard to forget for how they had materialized from nowhere. Though I was pretty sure that I could attract my own trouble all on my own. Maybe I was the one who needed the extra protection. Nah, I wasn't chasing any bad guys anymore and wasn't involved with anything that could bring me trouble.

I chose to ignore the vehicle following us and focus on the views of where we were going. For an island the magic of the sea, sand, mountains and trees was something to behold, and I was glad that we'd left the resort even if was for a meeting. Although signs on the road were telling me that we were heading toward the capital, Honolulu, we never actually drove far enough to reach it. Instead, Carlos turned off the main road onto a single track that started to slowly climb uphill. As he once again turned a beautiful house came into view with trees and mountains behind it. It was white and seemed to be built into the hillside with the front raised on stilts. There was a wrap around balcony from what I could see and a space to park the car underneath in the shade. The place had the feel of a private residence and I suddenly felt underdressed even though Ranger was wearing long shorts and a T-shirt.

"Carlos. Good to see you and the beautiful woman with you, I assume your new wife?"

Okay, the man approaching us seemed to know who I was so as I stayed by Carlos's side waited for an introduction to this older looking man.

"Steph this is Logan, Logan Stephanie"

I shook hands with the man in front of me instantly liking him if only for the wide smile on his face. His grip was firm which matched the tone that I caught of the muscles in his arms. Obviously a man who still kept himself fit.

"Let's go through to my office, I have everything there that you asked me for"

We followed Logan along the balcony and into an area that could be separated by long concertina glass doors where there was a table and chairs. Looking around I saw it laid out as an office with the usual desk and chair, computer and printer. It sure was a nice place to have an office as I turned to look beyond the balcony.

"I'd never get any work done here for staring out at the view"

Because the view of the ocean in front of me was spectacular.

"I know it sounds a bit blasé, but you get used to it"

Damn, I hadn't meant to say that out loud so quickly turned around to focus on why we were here. Logan pulled a chair out for me, and Carlos sat next to me at the table where there seemed to be a multitude of papers.

"To business Carlos and then you can get back to enjoying your stay here"

As Logan picked up the first set of papers, he was looking directly at me ,so I assumed that they had something to do with me.

"I understand that you require a change of name. These papers will have that happen so if you can sign at the required space, I can get them registered"

As I went through the papers I saw a copy of our marriage certificate, my birth certificate, my passport and social security card, all of which I assumed that Carlos had provided so signed at the relevant places.

"I'll arrange a new passport for you, but you'll need to apply for a new driving license and change things like your bank details when you get back home. Everything will be sent to the address in Trenton that Carlos gave to me"

After nodding my head to acknowledge what he'd told me I pushed the papers back toward him and then watched as he picked up a piece of paper next to him.

"Err, what did you decide about a prenup agreement?"

I looked at Carlos as I remembered exactly what I'd done with that particular paper just before we were married.

"That we didn't want or need one"

I noticed that Logan was about to say something but wisely didn't. To be honest it was our decision, and no one could say that I was marrying Carlos for his money when I had my own anyway.

"Carlos, I've made the changes that you asked for with regards to your pension entitlements making Mrs. Manoso your beneficiary"

Again, a signature was required but from Carlos and when I saw the title with US Army at the top, I understood what pension was being talked about. That done I awaited the next legal document wondering what else would be involved.

"Okay. Medical. Any health insurance documents have been corrected, both business and personal. I understand that you already hold proxy for Steph and that you want yours to be altered?"

A nod from Carlos had another set of papers being handed over, though I wasn't too sure what it meant when he spoke about medical proxy.

"What exactly is that, medical proxy?"

"It means that should Carlos be unable to give his agreement to medical treatment then you would be able to do that for him"

That was an "Oh" moment for me because the idea of that happening frightened me. I just didn't want to even think about him being so hurt that I'd have to take on that responsibility.

"Any changes to your will Carlos, well other than the change of Steph's name?"

I looked at Carlos frowning. What did he mean than by just a change of name? I felt Carlos take my hand and turn me, so I was looking at him seeing such a serious expression on his face.

"Babe, you've always been my main benefactor in my will. There are sections that refer to the business where the core team are given more ownership and sections for my family, but the bulk of my estate would always have gone to you"

I honestly didn't know what to say to that. I suppose we were back to what ifs so maybe there was no point on dwelling on them now.

"Stephanie, do you have a will. Carlos didn't provide me with one if you did"

"No. I never had anything to leave. Now though I know that everything will go to Carlos and maybe something for Lula my friend"

"Everything?"

The way that Logan said that implied that he thought that I still had nothing but there were the bonds now from grandma.

"Err yes. I inherited nearly $14 million in bonds from my grandma, but I need to decide what to do with them. Her lawyer suggested changing the name on them or cashing them in and investing the money, but I haven't even thought about that"

I'm sure that both of his eyebrows rose at that tit bit of information, but at least he now knew why a prenup wasn't really needed.

"You'll need the documents that show your original name, that corresponds to the will and the documents for your new name. Let me know if you want any help on that or with writing a will"

I had a feeling that it would be easier to stay with Mr Ryman for that, after all, he was local to Trenton and already knew me and the circumstances surrounding my grandma's wishes.

"I've received the release documents, Carlos, so I'll confirm acceptance for you and then have the copies sent to you"

I had no idea what that was about and wasn't going to ask. If it was important then Carlos would fill me in later. I was relieved to see that the pile of papers that Logan had started with in front of him had all gone so maybe we were at the end of this meeting. To be honest I had found it a bit stressful discussing my personal affairs with a complete stranger. Seeing as Carlos was getting up, I did the same and was relieved when we were eventually walking back to the car.

"Logan was originally a Jag officer, so I've relied on him for a long time. He tends to spend the winters down here"

Not that I needed an explanation, but it gave me some context as to why we were visiting him today, Jag was ex military as far as I knew, and Carlos had always been loyal to those type of men.

We weren't travelling for long before once again Carlos was pulling off the road, but this time in the direction of where I knew the sea was. Pulling up next to a beach gave me the view of a small pier with a boat moored up to it so I assumed that would be the boat that we would be going on. As we left the car, I noticed Koa and Bane pull up next to it so assumed that they would be keeping an eye on the car. We were the only passengers on the boat apart from the two crew which was probably a good job.

I sat with Carlos as the boat began to move away from the pier, admiring the view as I looked back at the coastline. The sea was calm, the sky was blue and all I had to worry about was voluntarily going under the water with a tank on my back. Yes, I was feeling very nervous about doing that bit wasn't going to let on to Carlos how I was feeling. Not when he was so enthusiastic about doing this with me.

Consequently I was very attentive to what I was shown to me with regard to the diving equipment. Carlos assured me that he would be right next to me the whole time so not to worry about any of the dials or controls. Yeah right. I could only watch as Carlos inspected the tanks, moving them around until he was obviously happy with the ones that he had chosen. He pulled two out, both of them slightly smaller than the others, which to be honest, suited me better than the idea of the shiny big ones.

We weren't that far from the shore which I found comforting so was sat on the side of the boat in front of the tanks as one of the crewmen strapped them to me. I had weights around my waist, flippers on my feet and a mask over my face and the diving regulator mouthpiece in my mouth. See, I was listening and was prepared for what I needed to do, to tip myself back into the water. It should have been a simple maneuver to drop backwards into the water, hand over the mask and drop backwards and to be honest I wasn't sure what I'd done wrong to cause me to literally shoot backwards and land on my back with a wallop. I had water in my mask and the breathing piece was floating somewhere around me, so I was starting to panic in case the weight of everything pulled me down into the water before I was ready.

When things started to splash next to me, I was looking up trying to work out what was causing that. I managed to use the flippers to keep me afloat and was looking in the direction of the boat. Shit, came to my lips at seeing that the boat seemed to have disappeared to be replaced by large chunks of wood and debris floating on the water.