‘Good.I’m glad.We’re family.You are mine to protect from what I can.’
‘Thank you, sir.’
‘Tell me, what do you make of Mikhail?’
Lachlan looks at him.‘Beyond reproach, sir?’
Alistair smiles warmly.‘Always.’
‘I don’t like how he looks at Julian.’
‘My son reallyisthe architect of your orbit, isn’t he?’
‘I’m his bodyguard.That’s my job.’
‘Yes, it is.I apologise for not taking you more seriously yesterday.’
Lachlan frowns.‘Sir?’
‘Your concerns about the security.’
‘Oh.It’s fine.’
‘I have known this island forever.’Alistair’s gaze moves slowly across the shoreline.‘It was home once, in its earliest form.One forgets that even the land we mark as home may still be walked upon by strangers.Nostalgia breeds complacency and ego nurtures it.I value your clarity of mind, even when it clashes with mine.Your way of thinking does not occur naturally to me,’ he admits, sounds almost vulnerable, ‘but I am grateful to you for all your efforts.’
‘Sir, may I ask a question?’
‘Go ahead.’
‘Are these waters netted?’
‘In this quadrant, yes of course.’
‘The other quadrants?’
‘One cannot net an entire ocean,’ he says, smiling fondly at Lachlan the way Danya might, only he’snotDanya, he’s a fucking monster in human skin and Lachlan despises him.‘You worry too much.’
Lachlan thinks he worries the exact amount needed to operate amid such stupidity but keeps that to himself.‘Apologies, sir.’
‘Have a drink with me, Lachlan.’
That’s not a request so Lachlan forces a polite smile, takes one of the glasses and then holds it up so that Alistair may touch crystal to crystal.
‘To your health,’ the old man says.
Lachlan drains it, finding his first taste of champagne to be bitter but something he could drink more of if he had to.
Alistair wanders away while everyone else swims and splashes.
The kids stick mostly close to the shore, but the adults are far out.Even knowing there are nets, Lachlan watches for a fin, listens for a joyless scream.
Not long after, Jules, Roman and Savannah emerge from the ocean, dripping wet and laughing together.
Lachlan hands Savannah a towel before anyone else, respectfully looking the other way while all three dry off, Jules in his periphery like always.
Roman’s bad mood seems to have evaporated.He’s a little drunk, and excessively sweet.‘No swim for you?’he asks, breathlessly cheery.
‘Not by night,’ Lachlan says.
