On a boat in the Mediteranean

"I fucking needed this break." Zanya sighed, stretching luxuriantly. She'd found a good spot on the deck to lounge, in the shadow of the sail. "Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled as shit when Dad trusted me with the job but fucking damn! I have new respect for aunt Zarana."

Zanya had come to Europe on an "inspection tour" of the Greek chapter of the Dreadknocks. It was her first taste of responsibility and it was a mixed blessing.

Billy, at the helm laughed. "Look at you. All respectable-like."

"Ha! Yeah right, my day job is learning how to manage an international criminal organization. Respectable my ass."

"Your ass is very respectable." Billy smirked. "I've always thought so."

Their on-again/off-again relationship appeared to be on again.

"Face it Cap'n Bill, I'm never gonna be the girl you can bring home to mama. Of course the irony there is that the good-girls you've dated were never as loyal as me."

"Hey Ami was plenty loyal."

"Fine, but that's one out of three. That I know of. The other two, one was too weak to handle the reality of your life, and the other one cheated on ya."

"We gonna spend the whole trip talking about my old girlfriends? I was under the impression people didn't like doing that."

"Well I was trying to subtly provoke you into dropping anchor and coming over here to shut me up." She grinned at him. He'd always liked that grin. It was wide, slightly manic, and more than slightly dangerous. "But maybe you prefer the direct approach."