Page 291 of Eight of Swords, Part One

‘Waterboarding.’

‘So you’d have a room for that?’

‘A Drowner, yes.’

‘That’s such an ugly word.’

‘Julian,’ calls his father, fresh clothes on shower damp skin. ‘Come here.’

Jules sighs, leaves his empty glass with Lachlan and goes where he’s called.

Roman gets out of the pool, ignores the towels and comes to join Lachlan now that he’s available.

‘Lock,’ he greets with a smile which Lachlan returns in small, genuine measure. ‘Long time no see.’

‘Ro.’ Lachlan’s gaze swings to Jules and his father, trying to lip-read whatever quiet conversation is going on between them but the sun obscures too much. ‘How’ve you been, kid?’

‘Kid?!’ he complains happily. ‘I’m older than your boy.’

Your boy.

Lachlan clears his throat subtly. ‘Keeping well?’

‘Awful,’ he sighs, pulling up a chair and flopping down into it. Roman has the emerging physique of a Greek God, only a few years shy of hitting the mark. ‘Fucking endless work, endless travel. I am tired of hotel rooms, so this is a welcome change of scene. How is my little brother?’

‘He says hello, and as far as I know, he’s very happy,’ Lachlan answers honestly, reading Jules’ body language, noting the gradual rounding of his shoulders. It’s like being near the old man drains the life right out of him. ‘Loves Mimi, sleeps well. He bakes all the time.’

‘Papa is glad. I am too.’

‘Good.’

‘It means a lot. You are excited for the big party?’

‘Nope.’

Roman laughs, has a nice one, reminds Lachlan of Danya.

‘Yeah, me neither. But at least we can relax, eh?’

Jules heads inside the mansion. Lachlan breaks his settle stance to follow, looks at Roman before he leaves. ‘Do me a favour and don’t relax too much. It’s wildly exposed here.’

‘They control the air and sea.’

‘No, they rule it. There’s a difference.’

‘What is the difference?’ Roman asks as Lachlan walks away, bound to follow wherever Jules goes.

‘Let’s hope we don’t find out,’ Lachlan tells him.

Along the way, he gives Savannah a small greeting smile in passing.

‘Hi, Mr Tanner,’ she says, smiling sweetly.

‘Hello, Savannah. Don’t forget about sunblock.’

She giggles and joins Roman in Lachlan’s abandoned shade. ‘I won’t.’

Jules is in the kitchen making himself a drink while two members of resort staff offer repeatedly to do it for him. ‘I promise it’s fine,’ Jules insists, friendly and polite, while using a blender to crush ice.