Guess Who Challenge
Fic 7
Michelle stood alone on the beach, watching the sunrise. The air was cool for summer in the Mediterranean, but she relished the feel of goose bumps on her arms. She relished pretty much everything these days. Hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, she'd wanted nothing more than to go back to school and Jesse. Life is funny that way, she thought with a smile, giving her what she needed, instead of what she wanted.
Michelle had been in Majorca for three weeks, two with Danny. The first week had been awful. Danny had sent her away with Pilar and his grandmother to keep them safe. When he'd put her on the plane, he had promised to follow her within two days. After forty-eight hours, she'd nearly driven herself crazy with fear and anxiety. Grandma Santos had been the only one to remain calm.
"Don't worry so much," she'd told Michelle and Pilar. "Things are only taking a little longer to sort out than Danny thought they would. Have faith."
And she did have faith in her husband. Hadn't he been the one to figure out what Carmen had done to bring her children home? Oh God, Carmen! In her blind determination to get her children back, she'd made Danny believe a gang war had started. What had she thought would happen? That this war, once declared, would suddenly stop just because her children were back under her control? Well, it hadn't worked out that way.
Attack followed counter-attack, followed by another attack. Until Danny himself had had no choice but to go to the FBI. That's when he'd seen the timeline they had been building on the case and realized what he should have known all along - his mother had started the war that was destroying them.
The day Danny arrived in Majorca, Grandma had coaxed Michelle into entertaining his cousin's children on the beach, building sandcastles. The elder Mrs. Santos knew it wasn't much of a distraction. Still, she could no longer bear to see the haunted look in her granddaughter-in-law's eyes. When Danny had shown up at the villa that afternoon, his grandmother had given him a quick hug and sent him straight down to the beach.
Michelle had almost fainted when she saw him walking up the beach toward them, a lone figure in black, his arm in a sling. She laughed at the memory now. No two people had ever covered so much distance in so short a time.
"What are you laughing at, querida?" Danny slipped the coverlet around her and hugged her from behind, nuzzling her neck.
"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering - why is there never anybody on this beach? It's so beautiful here."
"That's because," he whispered, kissing her neck till he reached her ear, "it's all ours."
Michelle turned to him in surprise. "You mean - your family owns all of this - this beach?"
"Everything from that point of rocks to the Villa d'Angelica." Danny turned her around and began nibbling on her ear. "Do you want me to put sunscreen on you, Mrs. Santos? I'm very good with lotion."
Michelle pulled her head away just long enough to look him in the eyes. Those eyes held the secret to every dream she'd ever dreamed, eyes she had every intention of losing herself in.
"I'll just bet you are, Mr. Santos. Good, I mean."
Danny took the coverlet from her shoulders and laid it out on the sand. Then he took his wife in his arms and held her close enough so that he could feel her heart beat against his chest.
"Want me to show you how good I can be?"