Michael cocked his head to one side as he thought about this for a moment. Then he widened his eyes. “Oh, I get it. Darcy loves Sakura, too, right? And Sakura loves you both. Man, that’s hard. If Sakura marries you, then Darcy can’t. And if she marries Darcy, then you can’t.” He giggled. “Like Katherine says to Dad sometimes, you’re stuck in a pickle, aren’t you?”
Sebastian smiled.
Marriage, eh? He knew, for now, the arrangement was out of the question. He and Darcy would have to work it out at a later date, once they had everything settled. They needed to take one step at a time. After all, they didn’t want to scare Sakura away.
Nicolas was right in that the Princeton brothers were hard to deal with when it came to romantic relationships. Despite that, Sakura had known them since they were young. She hadn’t been that close to them until very recently and, in fact, had never seen any of them in a serious romantic relationship before. It’d be a big surprise for her how possessive they were with their girls.
And in the bedroom behind closed doors? Well, she’d find out soon enough that they were more than a little wild and passionate in that department.
Sebastian said, “We’ll work something out.”
Michael nodded. “Say, Sebastian? You know I like Sakura, right?”
Sebastian raised a brow. “Yes?”
The boy said, “When you and Sakura have a baby, I’m going to be best buddies with him.”
Sebastian chuckled. “You don’t mind the age difference? And what happens if Sakura happens to have a baby girl?”
Michael said, “I don’t mind. I’ll be like an older brother, right? And if the baby is a girl, I’ll still like her as a brother, too.”
Sebastian reached out his hand and tousled his hair. “I’m counting on you, then.”
Michael beamed with delight.
It was then Akira came strutting into the room. “What are you two talking about? Negotiating the future already? Aren’t you a cheeky one, Michael.”
“I’m not cheeky. I’ll be like a brother to your and Nicolas’s baby, too, when it’s born. Since I like you both.”
Akira had to blink at his words, obviously flabbergasted at the very thought of her and Nicolas becoming an item and, furthermore, having kids together. “I’m sorry. Come again? Nicolas and a baby?”
Sebastian snickered away as Michael proceeded to explain.
It was an hour later when they arrived at Honolulu, and the moment they disembarked the yacht, Sakura suggested to Sebastian that they should go see Darcy at the hospital right away. Knowing how eager she was, Sebastian made a call to Daddy James to ask if Darcy was allowed visitors, and James replied with a “Not yet.”
Sakura was, needless to say, disappointed. When Sebastian saw the disheartened expression on her face, he said, “Want to talk to Dad?”
Sakura smiled and nodded. With Sebastian’s cell near her ear, she said, “Hi, Daddy James.”
“Sakura,” James said from the other end of the line. “Are you feeling better after some sleep?”
She nodded as she said, “Yes. What about Darcy? Is he okay? You saw him, right?”
She heard him chuckling. “Yes, sweetheart. I’ve seen him. Though, he’s still unconscious. Anesthesia. He’s in recovery. Probably won’t be back in the ward until tomorrow morning.”
She sighed. “I see.”
“By the way,” James said. “Guess who’s here with me.”
Sakura frowned. “Hayden? I know. Sebastian told me you left with him.”
She heard her adoptive father laugh again. “Yes and no.”
Sakura frowned, confused. “What do you mean?”
James said, “It’s Ned. He just arrived. You want to talk to him?”
The moment Sakura heard the name, she brightened immediately. “Yes, please!”
“Okay.”
Sakura waited, and a moment later, Ned’s voice came through. “Sakura?”
“Yes, Ned, it’s me.”
She heard the man sigh. With relief? A moment later, he said, “James filled me in on what happened.”
“Oh,” Sakura said, her stomach knotting in dread. She could tell Ned was pissed. It wasn’t difficult to notice from the hard tone in his voice.
“I’m just glad you got out of it. If I was there, those people would not have gotten away without a scratch from me.”
Sakura understood where Ned was coming from. He had loved her since she’d been a little girl, after all, and had treated her like his own daughter. And what father figure wasn’t going to be so pissed when something like that happened? Kidnapping with an intent to murder.
“The police have them now, Ned. Justice is served. They’ll go to prison for what they’ve done.”
She heard him sigh in frustration. “Yes, I know that. But…” He paused, and Sakura could tell he was trying to keep his temper and frustration in check. Suddenly, he changed the subject. “Anyway, I’ll be staying at the Princeton Hotel. I’m coming to see you tonight.”
Sakura nodded. “Okay.”
“And I’ll be giving those damn, useless Princeton brothers an earful about how unsatisfied I am with their behavior. Honestly, they can’t even look after you properly. How the hell am I going to trust them to take care of you from now on?”
Sakura giggled. “They did a fine job, Ned. They risked their lives to save me.”
“Fine job my ass! If they were to have done a proper job at protecting you from the beginning, then things wouldn’t have gone that far and Darcy wouldn’t have been shot in the first place.”
Sakura said adamantly, “Well, they can’t be with me all the time. Besides, they didn’t need to protect me, but they chose to. You can’t fault them for that. They did the best they could.”
Ned chuckled at her hard tone. “I see you’re on their side, eh? What happened? Have you fallen under their spells? Tell me, which brother seduced you and turned you against me?” he demanded. “It must be that flirt Tristan for sure.”
Sakura knew he was teasing her, of course, with his sarcastic, dry sense of humor.
“Anyway, you sound tired. I’ll let you go now. Get some rest.”
Sakura nodded. “See you tonight, then?”
“Yes,” Ned replied. “Bye now.”
A moment later, she hung up and gave the phone back to Sebastian.
“Ned?” he asked.
Sakura nodded. “He’s coming over to see us tonight at the holiday house.”
Sebastian chuckled. “And to give us brothers an earful, no doubt.”
Sakura nodded, not surprised that Sebastian knew Ned’s temperament so well.