Always (Family Justice Book 1) (64 page)

Then the family parade began. Meghan was usually the first to arrive—sometimes with Carmen and Ria in tow. They consulted with Tori about everything so she didn’t feel like everyone was taking over her life. Carmen did the grocery shopping and made arrangements to help Stephanie stay on top of the laundry if she decided she needed help. Ria kept the kitchen full stocked and worked closely with Carmen on the shopping.

Meghan fussed non-stop over the baby and prattled on endlessly about the wedding—keeping her matrons of honor up to date. Right before lunch, Lacey and Dylan would appear on the scene with her buggy loaded sky high with baby equipment.

Once Meghan and Lacey were on the scene, she and Draegyn usually took off to take care of other things. Sometimes he went to the woodshop or up to the main house to hang with Alex.

Most days, Stephanie met Calder for lunch then they’d take two horses out for a ride. There was no denying the obvious fact that they were lovers now and had been from the day of Daniel’s birth.

Most days the men came and went—Brody, Gus, Ben, and even Parker who dropped by once a week. Alex and Cam made a daily appearance that usually turned into a
Three Stooges
cartoon once Drae got in the mix.

Afternoons got quiet after everyone left. Stephanie encouraged Drae and Tori to take a late afternoon siesta every day. Daniel tended to keep a schedule better than Amtrak so for the most part it was fairly easy to plan out the days.

Tori took to motherhood like a duck to water and Draegyn turned out to be a postcard perfect husband and father. He tended to his wife’s needs and doted on his boy, even taking control in the early days of all the diaper changes while Tori was instructed to take it super easy.

Some nights they all ate together as a family with Calder joining in when he could. He was up to his eyeballs in end-of-year stuff for the agency, which meant it wasn’t unusual for him to still be working into the night. When he did show up for dinner, the conversation usually centered on he and Tori consulting about things that only she, as Alex’s trusty right hand, would know or be able to explain.

Other nights, Tori and Drae kept to themselves and Stephanie made sure to give the new parents plenty of space and privacy.

Nobody blinked an eye the first time Calder spent the night. She was sure that was Drae’s doing because Tori constantly looked like she was going to explode if she didn’t get to cross-examine her mother about this new and exciting change in her life.

After their explosive encounter the day of Daniel’s birth, Calder had proven to be an arduous and demanding lover. He treated Stephanie like the Duchess he’d nicknamed her. Every day she found more and more reasons to like the man and was constantly aware that he was looking out for her.

The week before the end-of-year holidays kicked in was a busy time. Dylan and Daniel celebrating their first Christmas’s became a big deal. Things were great. Life was good in the St. John household.

And then the first signs of stress in Stephanie’s world began to appear.

Her assistant, Filene, who she’d left in charge, was proving to be a handful. Because she had an independent consulting and coordinating business, Stephanie was able to be selective about the private clients and pageants she took on. Thing was, they wanted Stephanie’s reputation and expertise, not that of her unknown assistant.

Filene’s reaction was to overreact and bear a grudge. If she weren’t careful, the time she’d taken for an extended family leave could crush her client roster.

The mild but irritating kerfuffle with her business brought the bigger picture into focus. She was only in Arizona temporarily. Eventually, no matter how long she tried to linger, she’d have to return to the world and her real life.

Daniel was three weeks old and was the best baby on earth. Tori was doing so much better. On doctor’s orders, she walked every day. At first it was just around the downstairs but as her strength returned she started staying on her feet more and more.

Things felt like they were stabilizing. Life was normal again.

Today, Meghan and Lacey were over for a photo shoot with the babies. Last-minute gift idea for the new daddies.

Lacey was giggling as she kissed her beautiful son all over his chubby little body between applying a thick layer of bright red lipstick. The effect was adorable. Cute baby, covered in his mommy’s kisses. It was going to make a wonderful picture.

“Cannot wait for Christmas,” Dylan’s mommy proclaimed gleefully. She lowered her voice and chuckled, telling them “I got Cameron a Santa outfit—thought we’d start out right with some holiday traditions. When I told him he had to wear the suit every Christmas Eve when he put the presents under the tree, he started laughing so hard I seriously thought he was going to have a seizure!”

Tori added her two cents— for what it was worth. “Don’t suppose you also picked up the naughty elf costume, hmmm?”

“Says the woman who has a tacky harem outfit shoved in a bag somewhere.”

Meghan looked up from the camera she was fussing with and rolled her eyes. “What is it with you guys and the costumes?

Lacey grinned and rolled her shoulder as she pushed Dylan’s chubby little legs into a footie adorned with Christmas images. “She started it,” she said, pointing at Tori.

Stephanie had to laugh. The three Justice wives teased and needled each other non-stop. It was hard not to find the humor in how they interacted. Quiet and gentle Lacey, little but feisty Victoria and balls-to-the-wall Meghan.

“Where are the men,” she asked when it occurred to Stephanie that she hadn’t seen any of them for some time. Usually, one or all of them were in full hover mode when the ladies got together.

Meghan made an inelegant snort. “Boys Club meeting.”

Dylan was squidgy while his mommy and Meghan tried to get him propped up in the cute seasonal scene before he drooled or spit up and ruined his outfit. Each of the boys had a half dozen changes plus a matching set of tuxedo footies for a shot of the two cousins.

As the camera clicked away, it occurred to Stephanie that she wasn’t going to have much wall space from here on out since every available inch will end up covered with photographs of her precious grandson.
Oh, boo hoo!

Tori finished nursing Daniel and propped him on her shoulder. They were adorable together and she couldn’t be happier for her daughter. Big D, as he was being called, had his father’s steel blue eyes and mother’s sweet lips.

“Boys Club? Hm
mmm
. Wonder what that’s all about,” she murmured, distracted by a tiny burp and baby grunt. “Hope they’re not re-inventing the wheel or anything.”

“Is that normal?” Stephanie asked. “The formal meeting, I mean.”

Lacey shook a soft baby toy for Dylan and peered awkwardly under her arm at them. Keeping the lively three-month-old him distracted while Meghan did her photographer thing wasn’t all that easy. “I’ve been here longest and this is the first time in a year they’ve schedule a team meeting.”

Really?” Meghan drawled. “I suppose because they talk all the time it does seem kind of weird that they actually scheduled something.”

Stephanie had spent too many years running her own business not to immediately recognize the significance of a group sit down. My goodness. Something was definitely up.

“Hold on,” Meghan blurted out suddenly. She looked at Stephanie and asked, “Isn’t Calder up at the house with all of them?”

Indeed he is
, she thought. Nodding at the girls she told them, “Now that I think about it he
did
say he’d be tied up most of the afternoon.”

All three of them had a similar reaction to this news as hands slapped laps, snorts could be heard, and Lacey mumbled, Oh Lord, what are they up to?”

ALEX SWAGGERED INTO THE STUDY thinking he was all that and then some only to find when he shut the door behind him that absolutely nobody gave a shit that he was there.

Why in the hell was it that when he wanted them to pay attention, they’d be off in their own little worlds. Like today. And when he wanted them to mind their own, they were generally all up in his grill.

Draegyn and Cameron were side by side on the sofa, engaged in some bang bang shoot ‘em up on the TV which was blaring the sounds for Call of Duty at ear splitting decibels. Typical.

Over at the wet bar, Calder and Brody looked like they were browsing a catalog spread out in front of them. Motorcycles. They were talking motorcycles—Alex could tell by a couple of the gestures they were making.

Everyone was oblivious to his presence.

Some fucking CEO he was, goddammit.
I mean, what the fuck?
My own people don’t stand at attention when I walk in the room? The outrage!
He had to chuckle at how ridiculous it all was. Team Justice.
Pfft.

Making his way to the enormous carved desk that dominated the room, Alex made sure to walk right in front of their videogame. When they barked at him to move his ass, he simply picked the remote control up off the table and switched the TV off.

Their loud howls of outrage bounced off the walls and got Calder and Brody’s instant attention.

Dropping a stack of folders onto the wood desk with a thud, he ignored the caterwauling like it wasn’t happening. A good commanding officer always let his closest men have an opportunity to be irreverent and belligerent before it was hammer time. Some things never change.

“Alright ladies,” Alex jeered, crossing his arms across his broad chest and glowering at the four of them with a crooked grin. “In case you girls didn’t hear it—the bell rang and class is about to start.”

Drae sneered at him then pretended to drag a ball and chain around his ankle over to the chairs set up on the other side of the desk. The sound effects were kind of over-the-top but for an overall score—Alex was giving it a seven.

Cam, on the other hand, showed some motherfucking respect by snapping to attention and offering a ramrod straight and absolutely exact salute. Then he marched with military precision, mockingly stomping his feet the entire way, to his seat—making sure he stopped and pivoted in true unit drill style.

Brody was trying not to laugh and Calder simply snickered and shrugged.

When they were all seated, Alex picked up a control pad and hit a few buttons, then dropped it dramatically, fixing them all with a stern look.

“Okay kids—the room is now live. Everything we say is being recorded . The transcript of this meeting will be entered in the files. So—no talk of sedition or treason. Let’s try to remember who we are. Everyone understand?”

He looked around at the nodding heads and pulled the first file off the stack toward him. There was so much to say and so much protocol to follow that he’d made notes. Seemed appropriate for the occasion.

“Let the record show that in attendance are: Alexander Marquez, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operations Officers, Cameron Justice and Draegyn St. John. Also in attendance are Calder Dane and Brody Jensen.”

Okay. Formalities taken care of. Alex pulled out his big desk chair and sat down, scooting into place and scraped his hand back and forth through his hair.

“Alright, so…” he began. “Before we go any further—I’m going to ask Calder and Brody to step out of the room for a few minutes so we can have an executive conference.” He looked at the men and told them, “Give us a few minutes, okay? I’ll holler when you can come back.”

He carefully weighed the expressions on Cam and Drae’s faces as this game of musical chairs began. Alex felt a thud in the pit of his stomach and hoped he was doing the right thing. After tonight, everything was going to change.

Drae, who never missed a chance to make a comment, looked at him with one raised eyebrow and a slight smirk. “Is this the part where we slice open our thumbs and become blood brothers?”

Cam folded his hands over his stomach, reclined in his chair with his feet stretched out casually in front and his crossed his ankles. “That was a bit cloak and daggerish, Boss. What’s going on?”

He could hear Meghan in his head telling him to turn down the noise and go from the heart. She said it was his best quality.

“I want to bring Brody in. Make him an Operations Manager. Give him junior standing in the agency.”

Cam and Drae both sat up straight. He’d caught them off guard with something that was literally coming out of the blue. They were quiet for a minute then Drae spoke.

“We’re at a crossroads. Time to make some changes. Figure out where this is all going.”

“Exactly,” Alex agreed.

“You have a plan, don’t you, Alex?” Cam asked sounding not all that surprised.

“Look guys, after the fuckery that just went down with you two, I realized this shit wasn’t going to work anymore. Bottom line—we’ve worked our asses off to make the agency a success. This is one sweet deal we have going on here.”

Alex was glad to see them agree with quick nods.

“But I think we need to start executing the second part of our original plan.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Cam asked, shocked.

“Yeah. More than you know.”

Drae’s brain kicked in. “Expand the compound? Offer world-class facilities to anyone willing to pay out the ass? You know I always liked that plan.”