Chapter Three

"Wait, so you're going to leave? For how long?" I closed my eyes and sighed. I'd known it was going to be hard to tell her, but as much as I didn't want to, I also had no real choice. Leaving Popuri without saying anything about it would just make things that much worse. "Where are you even going?"

"I don't really know where," I admitted. "I just know it's gonna be ten days, and the guys and I are responsible for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That's all I was told." Heck, I didn't even know what we were expected to cook or what was available for us to use. That was stressful enough without bothering to ask what the travel plans were. "I'll have my phone with me, but I don't even know if I'll be able to get a signal out there."

"How am I supposed to get a hold of you?" She already sounded desperate, like she had no idea what to do with herself at that very moment let alone in the days ahead. "What am I going to eat?"

"You could always go to a restaurant," I offered. "I mean, most of them aren't all that great, but we've got more than a few places down the street here." She didn't seem convinced. "Most of them speak English, too."

"That still means I end up eating alone." Popuri was suddenly quiet, not daring to so much as look me in the eye, but when I tried to hold her, she just pushed me away. "I never even get to see you any more!" I tried to say something to comfort her, but for the first in a very long time, I really couldn't think of anything. "Do you even want me here?"

"I don't know!"

We stood in silence, neither of us having expected for me to say it, but it wasn't long before she started to cry. I stood in a cold sweat as she ran into the bathroom, the only place she could hide, and slammed the door behind her. I didn't move. I didn't even think. I just stood and stared at the door. Not the one she was in, but the one that would take me away from there. My bags were packed, and my ride was going to be ready and waiting.

All that was left for me to do was walk out.

By the time I did, though, Popuri had stopped crying. She still stayed in the bathroom when I finally did leave, but I said goodbye to her anyway. It probably just added to her hurt feelings, but I felt better knowing that she wouldn't be looking for me later. However, as I made my way down the stairs, I still regretted having to leave her at all.

"Quale autobus al porto?" The man pointed down at the bus floor, and I smiled and stepped on. As soon as I settled down in my seat, however, I felt another heavy weight fall on my chest. Or rather, in my shirt pocket.

Pulling my phone out in front of me, I took a half-hearted look at my contact list. At the very bottom, there was a name. It was one I never thought I would have to call on, but some small part of me was beginning to admit defeat. I knew he would cuss me out for at least an hour before listening to what I had to say, and maybe I deserved it. After all, I did take the man's sister right out from under him.

I slipped the phone back in place as we reached my stop. The fact that I had even thought about calling him worried me, but I had to admit it had been a long time coming. I had other things that were more important, though. Like making sure this job went through like it was supposed to.

"Are we all here?" Dan just stretched and nodded while Denny yawned, neither one really coherent enough to answer me. "Sorry, guys," I apologized. "I wasn't expecting to have to come down here tonight."

"No kidding," Dan grumbled, spitting on the ground. "This is why I hate working with these damn people. They always think you just drop everything for them..."

"Well, we'd be working later today anyway," Denny reminded him. "Besides, I know you guys don't care, but we are going to be on the water for once. That's gotta count for something." The two of us just rolled our eyes and smiled. He really could be so simple at times, but I had to say it was one of the things I liked about him. "Is that Regison guy meeting us here?"

"That's how I understand it," I agreed. "Better get here soon, though, or we're camping out at your place for tonight..."

"So sorry to keep you waiting, gentlemen." We all turned to find our host standing beside a small white car. It was unlike any I had seen, having an almost classic build but with much more sensual curves and suicide doors, and behind it was yet another of the same make and model. "It's a custom design," he explained. "Much more convenient than a limousine... Now, bags will go in the second car and be put in your rooms, and we'll take this one together."

Just as I want to pick up my bag and take it to the other car myself, a gloved hand took it instead. I looked to see that, like everything else the man owned, the driver was dressed from head to toe in white from his hat down to his shoes. All save for the orange bow tie around his neck. "Ah... merci."

"No need to be so polite. Allon is only doing his job as you will be." I frowned to know that common courtesy was not likely to be part of our agreement, but he only laughed. "Do not worry, my help is always appreciated. I feel that no matter the task, one should do what one is assigned with a sense of dignity." Having explained himself in full, the man gestured for us to step into the car. "Now if you will excuse my rudeness, we must be going, or I am quite sure we will fall behind schedule."

My cousins and I found ourselves tightly packed together shoulder to shoulder with Denny stuffed in the middle. "Bit di squeeze stretto, eh?"

"Sienzio."

"So are you from Italy?" Will asked. We all blinked at once. "You all speak rather fluently, so I thought you might be from here. I also find it surprising that you are so familiar with other languages... Mr. Makani."

"Ah, well... Daniel here is the only one who is Italian." He scowled at me for using his full name, but I had to chuckle to see Denny trying not to laugh. That was until the other jabbed him in the ribs. "Denny and I are from America, however. We are all half-brothers, though."

"Demi-frères?" he repeated. "Forgive me, but I was told you were cousins."

"Yes, that's usually how we go about telling people who we are," I agreed, "and if you would be so kind, we would prefer it stay that way. I'm sure you understand." My brothers both cast a wary eye in my direction, but I only smiled. "Unless you would like to have your guests know that you had hired on worthless bastards."

"Nothing to worry about," Will insisted, sounding a bit stiff. I grinned to know how uncomfortable he was with the idea, but I let it rest there. After all, there was no point in ruffling any more feathers than necessary. "Ah, here we are."

"And this is for a private cruise?" I breathed.

I was sure I heard Will laugh quietly to himself, but I had no choice than to ignore him. The ship, on the other hand, was impossible to look past as its white hull rose high out of the water. She was truly magnificent, and yet I felt more than a little intimidated by her. How was I supposed to go about feeding every person onboard when I was faced with filling an ocean liner's worth of guests?

"Do not worry, Mr. Makani," our employer insisted. "I assure you there will only be but twenty or so of my closest companions in attendance with us." I certainly hoped so... because it was hard enough to please one rich snob let alone a whole cruise ship's worth. "Do you wish to refuse?"

"No," I said firmly. "We accepted this job, and we plan to see it through with only the best results." It was always our promise, and we never once backed down. However, I did have to admit I was a bit worried about whether my brothers would agree with me this time- especially when it came to Dan. Despite my fears, though, they both stayed quiet, and I could sigh with relief. "You can count on us, Mr. Regison," I assured him. "We will satisfy your needs."

I could only hope that we would not be worse for wear because of it.

To be fair, the accommodations provided were excellent. Not only were we each given our own room, but they were spacious as well. What made me laugh, however, was how- just like my apartment- every last thing was a blinding white. The walls, the furniture, and even the linens were all the same egg shell white, and yet I found them to be comfortable enough. Not that I was surprised when my brothers didn't quite agree.

"Well, boys, I guess it finally happened," Dan said. "They finally decided to throw us into the folle house." Then he pulled Denny and me closer and glanced back and forth between us before he started to grin ear to ear. "Now what should we do before those white coats bring us their straight jackets?"

"Sleep," I muttered. The two snapped their heads around to stare back at me, and while I didn't want to acknowledge the irony, I still felt my face warm. Then I could only sigh and shake my head"It's been a long week."

"No kidding."

"Popuri not doing so well?" Denny asked. I broke away from them and strode into my room, but neither one moved. I had done all I could to keep my life at home out of the workplace, but with my family being my coworkers, it was next to impossible to keep my private life private. "Hey, come on. We're just as worried about her as you are," the younger of the two continued. "You haven't said much about-"

"We have a lot of work to do tomorrow," I said quietly, not even turning to face them. "Let's just try to get some shut eye."

They lingered in the doorway for a while longer, but after earning a glare from Dan and Denny giving him a gentle nudge towards the hall, they want to their respective rooms. It was only when I heard their doors close that I could breathe again. A feeling that was short lived when I fell onto the bed only to have my phone slip out of my pocket. Again, I sighed. I could wait, or I could make the call. Either way, something would have to happen when it came to Popuri.

"Hello, you have reached number xxx-xxx-4280," the mechanical voice droned. "The person you are trying to reach is not available. Please leave a message-" I snapped the phone shut. I hadn't expected an answer, really, but it was still frustrating.

Not that Rick could be much else.