Page 355 of Reign

The beach house sits behind us, partially hidden by the dunes and sea grass. Farther down the sand, my guards remain beyond Elena’s attention. Near enough to reach us quickly. Far enough that she can pretend this stretch of beach belongs only to us.

I lower her onto the blanket.

She gives me a wounded look. “I was enjoying myself.”

“You were losing an argument with the ocean.”

“The sand moved.”

“Convenient.”

“It did.”

I sit beside her, then stretch out on my back beneath the sun, my white linen shirt hanging open against my chest. Elena abandons her outrage almost immediately and curls into my side, resting her head against me as though that was where she intended to be all along.

Her cover-up settles across my stomach. One of her bare legs slips between mine.

She releases a contented sigh.

“I love it here.”

My hand moves slowly along her back. “I know.”

“Did you come to the beach all the time when you were younger?”

“When I was very young.”

She tips her chin against my chest, looking up at me. “Really?”

“My parents brought me often. We’d spend entire days here.”

“Even your father?”

“Yes.”

I remember Ricardo standing knee-deep in the water with his trousers rolled to his calves while I attempted to climb his back. My mother beneath an umbrella, laughing at both of us. The memories belong to another version of our family. One that existed before blood and territory consumed every available space.

“What about when Adriana and Valentina were little?” Elena asks.

“By the time Adriana was born, we came less often. Only a few times each year.”

“Oh.” Her fingers trace one of the buttons on my open shirt. “Why?”

“Things became more intense with the cartel.”

She groans and drops her forehead against my chest.

“There you go again.”

“What did I do?”

“You almost told me something, then replaced all the interesting parts with things became more intense.”

“That’s what happened.”

“That could mean anything. Maybe your father started a war. Maybe the cartel developed a terrible cocaine shortage. Maybe someone tried to assassinate you.”

“Well, I survived.”