Chapter Forty-Eight : The Paradise
The private white-sand cay in the Bahamas had no name on the commercial maps. It was a secluded slice of emerald and turquoise that Alexander had purchased years ago, but this was the first time we had approached its shores not as a hiding place, but as a family.
For five days, the island belonged entirely to the three of us. The heavy black SUVs and the stiff-collared security details stayed on the main island miles away. Here, there were only the rustling of palm fronds, the crystal-clear water, and the sound of Chase’s laughter echoing across the surf.
Alexander spent the afternoons teaching Chase how to hunt for ghost crabs along the tide line, his skin turning a deep, rich bronze under the Caribbean sun. Watching them build sprawling sandcastles a
