And too late for Slany Breeze, too
.
156
Terms of Surrender
Last year had done nothing to prepare her for today.
Last year, she hadn't really met Nick's family, hadn't had time for introductions before he had angrily and unceremoniously led her through the house from the backyard.
Last year, they had been antagonists.
This year…certainly, they were lovers, but there was so much below the surface of their relationship, something smoldering and mysterious that left her confused enough to believe that they might still be enemies, just enemies who fucked.
She'd had enough of that action with Ron and didn't really believe that Nick fit into the same category, but she knew he wasn't giving her all of himself.
Was she giving him all of her?
After that scene at his apartment, she'd thought she'd given him all that she had to give, but realized that submitting had been the easiest thing that she'd ever done, because it was what she'd wanted in the first place, and that Nick was right. They wanted the same things.
"Slany! It's so nice to finally meet you…under the right circumstances."
Slany started and set her eyes on the woman making her way across the rich lawn of the Calminetti's backyard.
Nick released her hand, and Slany put it out, expecting a shake, but was immediately encompassed in a set of well-toned arms as the pungent-sweet scent of patchouli engulfed her nostrils. It reminded her of the tattoo and body piercing shop Peyton had dragged her to after she and Ron were finished.
"Slany, meet my oldest sister, Angela Calminetti, the hostess of today's shindig."
Angela pulled away, still grasping her shoulders, and looked at her like a long-lost relative with whom she was overjoyed to be reunited. "You're even more beautiful than I remember."
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Gracie C. McKeever
"Oh…" Slany gaped, didn't know what to say to such an effusive welcome, didn't know how to deal with the obvious, sincere flattery.
"You've rendered her speechless. I think that's a first."
Angela released her long enough to playfully punch her brother in a shoulder, and Slany smiled at the warm camaraderie they shared, thinking of the relationship she shared with her own brother and sister how different it had been. She was so much older than both Kieran and Megan, more a parent in their lives than a peer or sibling.
"As you probably know already, my brother is a smart aleck. Don't let it get to you."
"Oh, I won't."
"Good. I knew you'd be time enough for him." Angela smiled and hugged her again before catching her by a wrist and leading her towards the small group huddled around the grill several yards away.
On the way, Angela pointed out the several teens playing catch in the backyard as someone Slany assumed to be their father threw a football to them.
"That's my beloved, Federico, or Freddie, as he's affectionately called around here, and several fruit of our loins."
All Slany could think was how romantic "my beloved" and how cute and quaint “fruit of our loins” sounded before she was surrounded by the group at the grill.
The intimacy of the gathering so far made Slany glad she had insisted she and Nick arrive early. At least this way, she wouldn't be overwhelmed with faces and names she had no hope of remembering all at one time.
Manning the grill was Nick's father, Joseph, and beside him was his wife, Viviana, who each affectionately drew Slany into their circle as if she already belonged.
Nick's sister-in-law, Tabitha, a beautiful exotic-looking brunette with an infant cradled in the crook of one arm, was just as friendly, pulling Slany in a one-armed hug before pulling back to let Slany get a look at the baby.
The pink swaddling cloth let Slany know it was a girl, even if she hadn't remembered Nick mentioning the new niece he had made a crib for. "How old?"
"Just three months."
"Where's her big brother?" Nick asked.
"We put James down for a nap in Angela and Freddie's room. He'll be up soon, reenergized and ready to tear the place down, along with all the other youngins."
"May I?" Slany put her arms out, and Tabitha gave the baby over without hesitation.
"Consider yourself part of the family, Slany. Tabby doesn't give her up to just anybody,"
said the gorgeous man beside Tabitha, who Slany recognized from his book jacket picture as Nick's younger brother EJ.
"Then, I'm honored." Slany grinned and bowed her head. "What's her name?"
"Denise Viviana, after her grandmothers."
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Terms of Surrender
"This other smart aleck here is my younger brother, Eric James, but we all call him EJ,"
Nick introduced.
"You forgot my wife, who still insists on calling me nothing except Eric." EJ put out a hand for Slany to shake. "Glad you weren't scared away from us after that last cookout."
Slany felt her face heat with a blush as she put her hand in EJ's and had a flash of that last outing. She knew now that Angela, the matchmaker of the family, had set up that little outing, and Nick hadn't known anything about it until it was too late—she'd already arrived.
But knowing what she knew now, she couldn't muster anger at Angela for doing what she thought best for her family, when she knew she'd do nothing less for her brother, sister, and father.
"I loved
Reaching Out
. So did my father," Slany said.
"Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed…it…"
She watched as EJ frowned, staring at her intently and not showing any signs of letting go of her hand. Instead, he took it in both of his and held tight before closing his eyes. Her heart started to thud at the eeriness. "Is everything all right?"
Angela and Tabitha moved into action simultaneously, Tabitha gently took the baby from her arm, and Angela pried Slany's hand out of EJ's before leading her several steps away.
"Is he okay?" Slany asked, looking back as Tabitha cupped her husband's face, and the baby wriggled and quietly fussed in her arm. The scene would have seemed touching and normal, if it weren't for what had just happened.
"He's fine. He probably just got a vis—"
"Vicious headache. He gets them now and then. Nothing to worry about." Nick put her in a one-armed embrace and led her away from Angela and the group at the grill.
"Nick!"
He stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn.
"We need to talk later."
"Sure, Angie."
"Did I miss something?" Slany asked. She could have sworn Angela had been about to say her brother got a "vision." But that couldn't be right, could it?
God, what else was Nick hiding about himself, besides his feelings?
Nick stopped walking towards the house, caught her by the shoulders, and leaned in to kiss her deep before pulling back to stare at her, his look as intent as his brother's had been several moments earlier.
Did any woman stand a chance against the Vega death glare? she thought, deciding to sit down with Tabitha as soon as she could and get some pointers about how to deal with it.
"Do you trust me, Slany?"
How could he ask after what they'd shared, after what she'd let him do to her?
159
Gracie C. McKeever
Or had he gotten wind of what had happened between her and Knowles on the plane?
Slany discounted this latter immediately, couldn't see Knowles mentioning it, and he and she were the only ones who knew anything about it. She certainly wasn't talking.
She guiltily returned Nick's look, knowing she was keeping that from him, that it was the only thing she was keeping from him, and tried not to give herself away. "Of course I trust you."
He looked at her like he knew she was leaving something out, keeping something from him that had nothing to do with what they were talking about, with what had just happened. Like he was trying to break her.
She couldn't do it, wouldn't tell him what had happened, no matter what he said about being her protector. She wouldn't be the one responsible for him losing his job. "I think the real question is, do you trust me?" Slany asked, trying to get the focus off her the best way she could.
"You never did tell me what that call was about."
Nick's shoulders sagged, as if she'd caught him in a trap, but only infinitesimally and for an instant. Before she knew it, he was standing rigid in front of her, with an implacable expression on his face.
"We'll talk about all this later."
Just like that, he shut her out, and Slany knew then though they'd come a long way since they'd started this little personal D/s venture, they had a long way to go before they started trusting each other implicitly.
* * * *
Nick had spent most of the time introducing Slany to his family and making sure she got her fill of all the great food, while stuffing his own face and avoiding Angela.
He had forgotten about avoiding EJ, too, before his brother accosted him at the back porch of the house where Nick was standing and watching Tabitha and Emilia lasso Slany into a game of volleyball.
"Looks like Angela's made another love match. She fits right in." EJ shoved him in a shoulder with his own and smiled as Nick glanced at him and accepted the bottle of beer his brother offered.
"Don't tell me you believe in all that soul-mate-fate shit, too," Nick asked, before remembering who he was talking to.
"After what Angela did for Tabitha and me, how can I not?"
Nick shrugged, took a gulp of his beer, and gazed out over the lawn to watch Slany serve the ball to Angie's kids and their friends on the other side of the net.
Like last year's theme, it was the old timers against the whippersnappers, and Nick smiled as he watched Slany make a great serve to the other team before he said, "If you believe in fate, you have to believe you two would have eventually met without Angela's interference."
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Terms of Surrender
EJ just benevolently smiled. "Sometimes, fate needs help."
He sounded so serene, like a Buddhist who'd reached Nirvana, and Nick couldn't help but think his younger brother had come a long way from his post-Sinclair, grief-stricken days, to his footloose and fancy free bachelorhood, to his finally-settled-down days now. Marriage and family life had done his brother good.
Would it do him just as well, he wondered, before quickly squelching the thought.
"She's in danger, Nick."
He almost snapped his neck turning to stare at his brother. "Is that what you and Angie had your heads together earlier discussing?"
"I'm serious. I saw—"
"I already know, EJ, so unless you can tell me
exactly
what it is she and I are facing, and not some vague, indecipherable images, then please don't mention it."
"You know?"
Nick slowly nodded, didn't miss that his brother was totally unoffended by Nick knocking his abilities, and wondered how much he should tell his brother, how much EJ needed to know before he backed off and let Nick handle things his way. "It's complicated."
"Complicated enough for you not to have told Slany?"
"EJ…"
"She doesn't know, does she?"
"She knows something's going on." Nick peered at his brother for a long silent moment, curiosity prying his mouth open. "What did you see, EJ?"
EJ blushed. "You're right. It was just vague images. Nothing clear, not yet, but I know she's in danger. I felt it when we shook hands. Someone's after her, wants to hurt her."
Nick cursed, turned back to the volleyball game. The idea of some faceless stalker threatening Slany was unimaginable, especially in this setting, surrounded by the love and warmth of his family who were falling in love with her as surely as he was.
EJ sidled next to him, squeezed his shoulder. "If there's anything I can do to help…"
"Don't tell her, okay."
"But you're going to, right?"
"Tell her that my brother has visions, and he saw her in danger? I don't think so."
"You know damn well that's not what I mean. Tell her what
you
personally know about the danger."
"I…I will. I just haven't figured out how to yet."
"The sooner, the better. She has a right to know.”
Nick turned to stare at him again.
161
Gracie C. McKeever
No matter how skeptical he was, no matter how much he pretended to knock his brother and sister's abilities, he knew that they were sincere, and most of the time, their predictions turned out to be correct, once they did get a clear picture. "EJ, tell me."
"Whatever it is that's going on with you two, it's coming to a head fast. Forces from your past are at work here, and they aren't going to take into account your lies of omission."
Nick would have laughed at how much EJ sounded like some all-knowing omnipotent wizard from some high fantasy novel or movie, but he couldn't discount his brother's serious tone and look, no matter how much he wanted to. Slany's life depended on how much he did pay attention and listen to his brother, and to his own heart.
* * * *
"You've got a dog."
"How do you know?"
"I saw the dish in the kitchen. What breed?"
"Chocolate lab."
"Sizable dog. That's good." Nick nodded. "Sex?"
"Male."
He nodded again, hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels as he surveyed her living room. "I like your house. It's cozy."
"Thanks. I think so."
"Where is Coco?"
She almost asked how he knew her dog's name, but then remembered his comment about the dish and said, "He's spending the weekend with my friend, Peyton. You know, the one who filled in for Kate?"