She turned to him and forced a smile.
“Sure, honey. Don’t be long,” she said as she kissed him on the cheek.
Ethan pushed through the crowd and made a loop around the pool. It was difficult to move unencumbered as he continued to spot guests who were eager to speak with him. He was careful not to make eye contact as he scanned the lowly lit space for a sign of Sydney.
“Ethan.” He heard a familiar voice and stopped. “Great party.”
Startled, he turned around and faced the short, wide silhouette of a man wearing a white linen suit and matching fedora. His deeply set hazel eyes and black facial hair gave him an unmistakable look. If there was a style standard for a South American gangster, Vincente Estavez was a trendsetter. The woman standing next to him was his right hand, Ester, whom Ethan had met on his visit to Costa Rica. She was dressed to kill in a plunging silver gown, her long hair snaking over her shoulder. She looked like a South American version of a young Cher, equally as beautiful.
“Vince? What are you doing here?”
“Well, my business partner is getting married tomorrow and I didn’t want to miss the big party,” he said with a heavy accent.
Ethan felt Estavez sizing him up. He was more than surprised he was at the rehearsal dinner—shocked would have been an appropriate word.
Estavez was notorious across the world in online gambling, but he rarely left Costa Rica. His history was a patchwork of violations, probations, and rumored crimes he snaked his way out of. Monetary success, however, had afforded him the ability to pay off seemingly every cop, government agent, and politician in his home country. He had total safety and security there as long as the money kept rolling in. But outside of Costa Rica, he had little control. So to see him here, in Jamaica, was highly unusual.
Ethan felt his anxiety kick into high gear, sending stabs of adrenaline throughout his body. He gave one last glance in Sydney’s direction and then gave his full attention to Estavez.
“You remember my second in command, Ester.” She smiled at Ethan as she offered him a long, delicate hand.
“Wonderful to see you again, Ester,” said Ethan, recovering from his shock. He stepped back and gestured to both of them with a slight smile. “I’m so glad you are here. I wasn’t sure if you would be able to make it on such short notice.” He had had Alice send Estavez an invitation just a few days ago, hoping that he wouldn’t have time to make arrangements. But he was careful not exclude him from the event, thinking Estavez would find a snub suspicious.
“Would you like to meet the bride?” Ethan said, gesturing in Marissa’s direction.
“I would love to,” said Estavez, nodding.
“Right this way.” He led Estavez and Ester through the crowd toward Marissa, and his heart pounded a little faster in his chest. Ethan knew if he had any future, and wanted to stay alive, he needed to play this situation right. Marissa was just ahead of them, chatting with a couple where he’d left her.
He tapped her delicately on the shoulder.
“Speak of the devil,” she said as she turned and gave a wicked smile.
“Who me?” Ethan pointed at himself with an innocent smile. “Marissa, there is someone I would like you to meet. This is Vincente Estavez and his partner, Ester.”
Without hesitating, Marissa extended a slender, tan arm out toward her guests.
“Mr. Estavez, Ester: it’s so nice to meet you. Thank you so much for coming.”
“Señorita, the pleasure is all mine. You are even more beautiful than Ethan has described. Thank you for allowing me to attend your wonderful party.”
“It’s a pleasure to have you here,” she said, keeping a slight smile on her face. Ester stood next to Estavez, perfectly still as they spoke.
Estavez reached down into his pocket. For a brief moment, Ethan panicked, thinking he was going to pull a gun. He took a deep breath to calm himself. Instead, he produced a long white box with a satin bow.
“A gift for the bride and groom.”
“Oh, thank you,” Marissa said as he handed her the box.
“Please, open it.”
“Of course.” She handed Ethan her champagne glass, and with one pull the ribbon fell aside. She pulled the top off the box and they peered inside. A long silver knife sat in the box with what looked like an ivory handle. Engraved on the blade was a phrase written in Spanish. Ethan and Marissa looked at Estavez expectantly.
“El amor es ciego pero el matrimonio abre los ojos,” he said, smiling slightly. “It’s a Costa Rican expression that means ‘love is blind, but marriage opens the eyes.’”
For a moment, Ethan thought Marissa was going to drop the box on the floor, knife and all. She quickly recovered.
“Mr. Estavez, this is beautiful. Thank you.” Marissa closed the box and put it on the table next to her. “I’ll make sure our butler gets it back to our room.”
“You’re welcome. Now, if you’ll excuse me, señorita, I have some business to attend to.” He turned to Ethan. “We can talk later.”
Ethan watched as Estavez melted back into the crowd, Ester following closely at his elbow.
“He doesn’t seem so bad,” Marissa said as she playfully nudged him.
Ethan nodded. The message Estavez had just sent was not lost on Ethan. While the knife was expensive and beautiful, it was also deadly.
Twenty-Six
Sydney
“Come on, let’s grab our seats,” Sydney said just as dinner was announced by the Jamaican bandleader. Alex extended his arm, and they made their way to their designated table.
She and Alex found their handwritten name cards at a table near the front of the stage and took their seats. Each round table was elegantly covered with a white tablecloth and a pale blue satin table runner. Fresh white lilies, carnations, and roses were artfully arranged down the center of the table in small glass vases wrapped in twine. Bleached sea shells were scattered throughout the space. The rehearsal dinner was more decadent than most of the weddings she had been to, Sydney thought. Marissa and Ethan were just across the pool area at their own private table.
As they dined on striped sea bass, whipped cauliflower, and green beans, Sydney thought about the note. She wondered who it was from. There was only one way to find out. Sneak away from Alex long enough to escape to the beach.
It was an odd feeling to have no one she could really confide in. Although she was beginning to trust Alex, there was still so much at stake. The less he knew about this, the better.
She had barely spoken to Marissa since she arrived, which was for the best because Marissa knew her well enough to know she was hiding something big. She knew she couldn’t call her parents—there was no way they would understand and she had enough on her plate right now just trying to sort things out for herself.
Speaking of her plate, she had been picking at her food. She hadn’t had an appetite since breakfast, especially with everything that seemed to be happening in high speed. She kept tracking the time on her phone, feeling distracted and anxious.
“Everything okay?” Alex said as he leaned over to her.
“Yes, I’m fine.” She sighed, fumbling with the name card on her place setting. “It’s just a lot to take in.”