Desert Angel (Family Justice Book 2) (74 page)

“Counselor,” Draegyn smirked. “You fucking dog. Did you just admit what I think you did?”

Um . . . huh? What?
Hmmm.
Oh, shit. Yeah. Maybe he had.

“Fuck you, St. John. You’ve had it the easiest so maybe shut your damn mouth.”

“You’ve met my wife, right?” Drae chuckled. “If that’s what you call easiest . . . you’re insane, dude.”

Parker fake punched him in the gut. “I’m referring to you guys eloping. No months-long planning. None of that hearts and flowers shit. If you don’t see how easy that was, you’re the one who’s insane.”

Angie’s small hand slid up his arm and pulled lightly on his earlobe. “Don’t give Draegyn a hard time, sweetie. It’s not easy being Studly Do-Her-Right.”

Next, Victoria joined in the teasing fun. “Did you just refer to my husband with a sexual term?”

“That I did,” Angie assured her seriously. “We’ve all seen those gossip rag stories about him, you know.”

Drae growled hilariously, winking on an aside to Parker. “The only
her
this
stud
is doing right is standing right here.”

Angie smacked Parker in the center of his bare chest. “Why can’t you say romantic things like that?”

Eh . . . er . . . what?

“Oh, my god. Quick!” Drae chortled. “Someone get a shot of his face!”

Angie flung her arms about his waist and giggled into his shoulder.
This must be some traditional engagement rite of passage,
he figured. That was the only way to explain the constant ribbing he was getting.

Alex pounded him on the back. “Get used to it,” he grunted.

“Yeah, funny shit. I know. Have done my fair share of messing with you three but fuck, man—I don’t get it. The bullshit about our age.” Parker was sulking and he knew it. “No one gives Cam shit and Lacey’s the youngest one in this room except for the kids.”

Angie was still plastered against him, her arms holding him tightly around his waist. She “
Hmmph’d
” and look up at him, her chin resting on his chest. “Word,” she drawled.

Cam stepped in then and flat-out mocked him. “What you say is true. Except in our case, I hadn’t changed my wife’s diaper as a baby.”

Everyone gathered around laughing and elbowing each other. Hurling randy comments about butt creams and baby wipes that quickly devolved to a triple X-rated giggle fest.

Lacey, dear sweet Lacey, who had Dylan half asleep on her shoulder, threw him a lifeline. “What did you give Angie for her sweet sixteen?”

Angie’s sharp gasp and the speed with which she turned to look at her new friend set his awareness to high. Her sixteenth birthday? No way was that a random question. Lacey was trying to make a point.

Okay. He could do this. Her sweet sixteen.
Hmmm.
He would have been in D.C. by then while Alex had been doing his thing. What had he given her? Parker searched his memory, wishing the Guinness fog wasn’t so thick.

And then he remembered. Holy fuckballz. Of course! Angel’s sweet sixteen.

Uncle Cris and Aunt Ashleigh had thrown a fabulous party and his parents were right there in the thick of things. He couldn’t get away from work for a trip home so he’d sent a present to his mom and asked her to see that Angie got it.

That was the first and only time, aside from anything having to do with his mom, that he’d walked into a jewelry store and bought a gift. The salesman had dazzled him with all sorts of crazy stuff until he’d glimpsed a dainty pair of ruby and diamond earrings that he just had to give her. Ruby was her birthstone and the diamonds, well . . . he remembered thinking with her coloring, that she’d look outrageous in diamonds.

Lacey was smiling at him. To Angie she said, “Do you remember? What did he give you?”

Before she could answer, he hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head. He
totally
fucking had this and he
totally
fucking knew exactly what Lacey was doing.

“Ruby earrings. I gave her ruby and diamond earrings that I bought myself from a small jewelry shop in Georgetown.”

Angie was positively beaming at him. Did she think he wouldn’t remember? Maybe he hadn’t exactly forgotten but until Lacey brought it up, he hadn’t seen how important the moment had been for them.

“Even then, you knew.” No question. Lacey Cameron. One smart lady.

Parker gulped. Yeah. Even then.

“You guys have something none of us will ever have. A history that probably starts long before either of you were born. I think they call that destiny.”

He wanted to kiss her. How could one so damn young be so damn wise?

“I heard Ben needling you earlier about the lack of bling.”

Hmph.
He remembered. Pissed him off—everyone making it seem like he’d let her down by not coming prepared with a ring. For Christ’s sake! He’d just asked her. You’d think he could be cut a little slack. It was not like there was a jeweler out here in the middle of nowhere.

“Angie,” Lacey said. “Still have those earrings?”

“I do indeed.”

“Don’t suppose you have them with you?”

Angie rocked against him, her whole body saying,
yes.

Parker put his fingers beneath her chin and urged her to look at him. “Really?”

She nodded. They stared at each other. He didn’t know what to say. Even though he’d hurt her so badly that she couldn’t let him put so much as a toenail in her life, she held on to those tiny jewels.
And,
she brought them halfway around the planet when she knew, at some point, they’d have to confront their past.

Wow.

Like the waves that moved upon the shore that had no beginning and no end, Cam and Lacey, Drae and Tori, Alex and Meghan . . . they moved in and surrounded him and Angie with a force field of love that staggered him.

Theirs wasn’t a conventional romance and thank fucking god for that. With so much history between them, it was inevitable that sometimes they got ahead of themselves before either was ready for the consequences of their actions—but with just a few words from Lacey, Parker saw so clearly that, even though those starts and stops were painful, maybe what was actually happening was flashes of their future coming through. Just at the wrong time.

Alex had the last word . . . as it should be.

“Family is all about connections. Everyone here understands that in their own unique way. We made a family together in the middle of a war,” he said with a nod to Cam and Drae. “We call ourselves brothers but that word can’t do justice to our connection.”

They each fist bumped.

“And it can’t really explain our connection either, can it?” he asked Parker. “Brothers, but not. Totally weird, man.”

Angie blurted out, “I love you, Alexander.”

“Love you too, little sister.”

Alex looked around at all of them. You could see the emotion on his face.

“We’re making something fucking special out here in the desert. It’s not always about blood, is it?”

Every head in the room shook.

Alex extended his hand, palm down. “Family Justice,” was all he said.

Drae put his hand on top of Alex’s. Followed by Meghan, Tori, Cam, and Lacey.

Parker took Angie’s hand in his and kissed it softly. “Family Justice,” he murmured into eyes that looked upon him with amazing love. Still holding tight, he joined their hands to everyone else’s.

“To the future,” Alex said with a strength that resonated through the room.

“Family Justice!” they all boomed.

On cue, Daniel let out an impressive burp-fart to which Drae drawled, “That’s my boy!”

“And on that note,” Tori laughed, “I think it’s time to call it a night.”

Alex was on a high. When you have a lot of shit in your head from the past, it was good to have these palette cleansing times. Family Justice was solid. Things were back on track. Relieved, his thoughts instantly moved to his Meghan.

Today’s family get-together might have meant more to him than to her. Hell, he would never get enough of surprising her or planning things, big and small, that were expressions of how much he fucking adored her and the balls out, day-long celebration, a tip of the hat to her Irish heritage would definitely end up being an annual thing.

One by one everyone drifted away. Drae and Tori called for Raven, then with Daniel in the stroller, set out for home.

When Angie kissed him good night and reminded him that she was going home with Parker, he almost said,
over my dead body,
before remembering the two were now engaged.

He and Meghan, along with Cam, Lacey, and Dylan, waved them off at the front door as they too started off on the walk back to the hacienda where Parker’s SUV was parked.

“I think they’re gonna make it,” Cam told him. “I’ve never seen Parker so . . . undone.”

Happy to hear it, Alex put out his hand. “Thanks for all you did today. Meghan and I appreciate it.”

Cam leaned in and gave Meghan a kiss on the cheek. “My pleasure, Red. And just so you know, loved the movie. I’m adding it to my classics library.”

A few more minutes went by while they chatted but all Alex was aware of was the hand he held in his. Suddenly, he couldn’t get her out of there fast enough.

They were halfway home, walking silently side-by-side, their hands clasped, when he mumbled, “I don’t think we should sleep together tonight.”

Meghan stumbled and almost went down, but he caught her and helped her steady.

“
Whaaat?
Why?” she whined.

He’d been thinking about this all day but didn’t know the right way to say what was on his mind so he went with the obvious.

“Aren’t the bride and groom not supposed to see each other the night before they marry?”

Her disappointment when he stated his case was palpable. “Oh.”

They walked on a little further. “I had Carmen fix up the casita.”

This time she didn’t stumble. Instead, she came to a complete halt and yanked on his arm.

“Excuse me?” She sounded incredulous. A little like he felt. Alex couldn’t believe he was buying into this wedding folklore nonsense.

They’d just passed the turn to the St. John’s and were headed straight for the winding path that snaked behind the hacienda where the casita sat halfway between home and Drae’s house. He could see the soft lights coming from the little bungalow.

He didn’t respond to her question, just urged her to, “Come on,” and kept walking.

By the time they reached the casita door, Meghan was openly fretting.

“Alex, no. Don’t. Please.” She rushed him and tried to wind around his body. “I need you.”

That almost undid him.

He called Zeus to his side and scratched her head when she came dutifully and sat next to him.

“You take care of Mommy, okay?” he told the dog. “And don’t let her sulk too long.”

A side of his fiancée he’d never seen before made an appearance. Stomping her foot like a frustrated kid, she got angry and pushed him away.

“Fine. If that’s how you want to do this.” Her flash of Irish fire fueled by irritation and what he suspected was a bad case of the boo-hoos was something to behold.

Smacking her hand against her leg, she motioned for the dog to follow and turned on her heel to go. Alex shook his head. Like he was going to let her get the last word and stomp away!

Before she finished even one step away from him, he grabbed and spun her around, moving her quickly until her back was against the front door.

He could have spent the next twenty minutes trying to cajole her into a better mood, but Alex knew exactly what she needed.

Cupping her face in his hands he looked deep into her eyes.

“I love you. Tomorrow, I make you my wife. Mine,” he whispered just as his lips met hers.

Kissing her tenderly, he knew the second her upset crumbled to dust.

When he pulled back, he arched an eyebrow at her and waited. She nodded after a minute and swallowed heavily.

“Yours,” she murmured.

He smiled. “Go home. Crawl in our bed and dream about the next time we make love. As husband and wife.”

“Oh, baby,” she sighed.

“I’ll come for you at eleven. Be ready.”

And with that, he shooed her along, patting her bottom gently, gesturing to Zeus to follow along.

She went because she knew that was what he wanted, but her steps were heavy and slow. Right before she turned toward the big house, he called after her, “And no playing with yourself when I’m not there!” he yelled.

Now that got a laugh—something he heard carried on the nighttime air for long moments after she disappeared.

“Tomorrow, my love,” he said quietly out loud. “Tomorrow you become Meghan Valleja-Marquez.”

Above him, the sky twinkled as the stars shone their approval.

Their future began tomorrow.