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phone rang for the first time since they’d met and he stepped out on their balcony and spoke quietly for a moment, then came back inside and told her that he was going to have to leave.
    â€œFor the day?” she said.
    He shook his head.
    â€œAnd do what? Go where?”
    â€œI can’t talk about it.”
    â€œOh, you can’t talk about it. I see.”
    Anne rose from the bed and went to the closet and yanked her clothes off the hangers. Large structures were collapsing in her chest. Her vision muddy.
    â€œNot right now.” Daniel waved at her, then motioned her to the far wall.
    Naked, she hesitated at the closet door, then stalked across the room. Daniel tipped the table lamp to the side and tilted its golden shade. He pointed at the white plastic disk mounted there. Hardly larger than a bottle cap, with a tiny aerial sprouting from its edge.Anne stared at it and was about to speak, but Daniel pressed a finger to her lips.
    He pointed to his ear, then pointed to the lamp.
    â€œOh,” she said. “Oh.”
    â€œBreakfast?” he said in a normal voice, settling the lamp back into place.
    Now, outside on the patio of the Cheeca Lodge, their waitress brought the coffeepot and topped up their cups.
    When she was gone, Anne said, “Is anyone eavesdropping out here?”
    â€œNot likely,” he said.
    â€œSo you’re dirty?”
    â€œDirty?”
    â€œCrime,” she said. “A bad dude.”
    Daniel smiled.
    â€œYou are, aren’t you?”
    He looked out at the yacht. One of the men was standing by a piling watching the others heave boxes aboard.
    â€œFor years I worked for my father,” he said. “Vincent Salbone. Have you heard that name?”
    It took her a moment to place it, then another moment to absorb the fact.
    â€œOn TV,” she said. “Always surrounded by lawyers, always gets off.”
    â€œYes,” Daniel said. “He always has.”
    â€œSo you grew up in the Mafia. A little prince.”
    His smile faded.
    â€œHardly a prince,” he said. “I’ve always been a disappointment to my father. Especially these last few years.”
    Daniel scanned the patio. A family chattering two tables away, another young couple with a noisy toddler. The other tables were empty.
    He reached out and took her hand and cradled it in both of his. His voice was quiet and resolved. But his words came haltingly, with awkward edges, as if he’d never pronounced these exact phrases before.
    â€œThe family business, I struggled to make it work for a few years,but I was restless, impatient. Doing things the same way they’ve always been done, I felt trapped. Not a good match. Drugs, gambling. I was confused. I felt tainted and unnatural. So I cast around for a while until I found something different, more stimulating. Cleaner. An old-fashioned form of commerce that died out a while back but is making a return. Something that suits me better. More adventurous.”
    Anne fixed her eyes on him.
    â€œWhat’re you saying, Daniel?”
    â€œMy father was from the streets. Philly, a city guy. But I was born here. I’m South Florida through and through. Boats, water. I’m more at home when I’m out of sight of land.”
    â€œYou don’t look like a fisherman to me.”
    â€œI think you know what I am. I think you’ve known since the first time we spoke. Tyrone Power, Maureen O’Hara. All that.”
    The toddler screamed and threw a handful of silverware onto the patio.
    Anne leaned forward and drew her hand out of Daniel’s grasp.
    â€œYou’re telling me you’re a pirate?”
    â€œI’ve always preferred the sound of buccaneer, ” he said.
    She leaned back in her chair. The air was pinched in her throat. She brushed a hand through her hair, felt her face warming.
    â€œWell, this is just perfect. My mother would’ve fainted away.”
    â€œThose are my men