The Last Call (MMG Book 5)

by Hilliard, R. B.

  “And?” Max’s harsh voice cut through my happy moment. I took a deep breath, which was something I’d been doing a lot of lately, and slowly let it out. Cas gave me a reassuring arm squeeze. I appreciated Max’s efforts, I really did, but I was almost to the end of my rope. My big brother and my husband-to-be had taken over my life. I didn’t want a big wedding. I wanted something small and intimate, where I got to mix, mingle, dance, and drink with close family and friends. Instead, I was being railroaded into a huge church wedding and an even bigger reception. This meant I was going to have to tolerate people I didn’t know or give a horse’s arse about. For example, Cas’s parents and their stuck up friends. Could I say any of this to Max? Nope. Was I being honest with my fiancé? Nope – and not because I was a world class chicken shit, which I totally was, but because this was my brother’s dream for me. Max wanted to give me the wedding of the century. How could I say no? I couldn’t, that’s how. If my big brother decided to throw me a wedding at the Royal Fucking Palace, I would grin and bear it. He’d given everything up for me, including, for a time, the love of his life. So for him I would do just about anything, including suffer through a wedding I didn’t want.

  With a smile on my face, I turned to my overbearing sibling, and replied, “Cas and I are due at her studio tomorrow.”

  Max stared down at his watch. “I’m not sure I can clear my schedule on such short notice. What time does she want to meet?”

  I fought back a growl of frustration, and calmly answered, “We can handle it, really.”

  His eyes snapped to mine. “What time?” he repeated. I glanced over at Ellie in hope that she would rescue me, and was surprised to find her staring off into space. Earth to Ellie! I shouted in my head. Normally, we were on the same page.

  “Uhhh, I think three. I’ll text tonight if it’s a different time, okay?” My eyes shifted back to Ellie. After what seemed like an eternity, she glanced my way. “You okay?” I asked.

  A look of surprise and something else flitted across her face. “Who me?” she asked.

  I bit down on a sarcastic remark, and answered, “Yeeeeees.”

  “I’m fine. Why? Don’t I look okay?” Her defensive tone let me know something was definitely up. My sister-in-law was a shitty liar. Anyone who knew her knew this, but most especially my brother. I waited for Max to pounce. When he relaxed back into his chair with a smirk on his face, I didn’t know what to think. Clearly I was missing something.

  “You…uh… look great. You just seem a little distracted,” I told her.

  “Do you think Ibby is having another girl? I hope Dillon isn’t disappointed if it’s a boy,” she blurted out of the blue. I jerked my eyes to Max, and was shocked to discover him casually thumbing through a magazine.

  “I think Dillon will have to accept what he gets,” I vaguely answered. Right as the words left my mouth the doors parted, and a smiling Dillon emerged.

  “A girl?” Dillon’s brother, Adam, called out.

  “I have a son,” Dillon replied. It was obvious from the huge smile on his face he was over the moon about this. Cheers erupted from all over the waiting room.

  Amelia startled in Cas’s arms and began to cry. The second she spotted Dillon, she cried out, “Daddy!” and held up her arms.

  “Hey, Sweet Pea,” Dillon said. “Are you ready to meet your baby brother?”

  “Yes!” she screamed. He swung her up into his arms, and she melted into a precious fit of giggles.

  “What’s his name?” several people inquired.

  “Leo Adam Whitaker,” Dillon replied. Bobby and Tut pounded Adam on the back in congratulations.

  “What kind of name is Leo?” Uncle Charlie grumbled.

  “One which my wife – your niece, picked – and unless you want to be banished from getting to hold him, I suggest you go with it,” Dillon warned. Uncle Charlie shook his head and chuckled. “I’m going back in. Leo will be in the nursery in ten or so minutes, in case you’d like to take an early look,” Dillon informed the crowd.

  “Who does he look like?” Max asked.

  “Who do you think?” Dillon cockily responded. I turned to roll my eyes at Ellie, but she was no longer there.

  “Where’d Ellie go?” I asked Cas.

  “The bathroom,” Max nonchalantly answered. Before I could ask what was up with them, he changed the subject. “Have you given any more thought on songs for the band? We’re two weeks off. They needed it like yesterday.”

  Scrunching my hands into fists, I fought back the urge to scream. “Cas is in charge of picking the music,” I told him for the thousandth time.

  Max’s eyes drifted past me to Cas. “Get the lead out, bro,” he warned.

  “I’m on it,” Cas casually responded.

  “Ellie thinks we should only offer wine and beer but I’m leaning toward a full bar. What do you think?” Max asked. As my future husband and my brother discussed booze, I thought about how much fun it would be to have the wedding in the mountains. I adored fall in the mountains. I could just imagine how gorgeous the autumn tones of the bridesmaid’s dresses would look surrounded by the greens, oranges and reds of the changing trees….

  * * *

  Cas

  Visions of my fist connecting with soft tissue danced through my head as I stared at my future brother-in-law. When I went to Max and told him I wanted to marry his sister, his answer seemed simple enough. “You can marry her as long as I get to handle the wedding.” I thought he meant he wanted to pay for the wedding, not that he was going to grow a pussy and plan the whole damn thing. I was in hell, and I couldn’t do a thing about it. I loved his sister. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. Because she’d had such a shit childhood, Max wanted to do right by her. I respected that, however, would it have killed him to have discussed things with me first? Before Sarah and I got the chance to even talk about our wedding, Max had it planned. The only reason I hadn’t stuck my boot up his ass before now was because I loved his sister beyond words. Any chance I got to irritate him, I took. Like now, for instance.

  “I’ll have the list to you soon,” I told him. Max looked as if he wanted to come across the seat and kick my ass. Bring it on, I thought. Sarah smiled at us both. Only because I love you am I putting up with your ass clown of a brother. Max was a great businessman, but he was a dick of a wedding planner.

  “What did Dillon want earlier?” Sarah asked. Dillon had shown up while Isabella was getting her epidural and asked me to take a walk with him.

  “He wanted to know if we’d seen or talked to Sally,” I told her. Like Isabella, Sarah had been devastated by Sally’s last minute decision to leave town. It was plain and simple. I’d fucked up. I knew how much Sally wanted to work at LASH. I also knew how much she loved Sarah. When she put Sarah in danger, I completely lost my mind. I didn’t think about the consequences of taking the job at LASH away from her. Her stupidity almost lost me the love of my life. At the time, that was all that mattered. Two days ago, Isabella came to me and asked if I would find Sally. I told her I would think about it. Little did anyone know, but I’d been trying to find Sally for the past month, and had yet to discover where she was hiding. She was supposed to be a bridesmaid in our wedding in two weeks. Something told me that wasn’t likely to happen.

  Anger washed over Sarah’s face. “If she can’t bother to show up for the birth of her best friend’s baby, then she sure as hell isn’t going to show for our wedding, and you know what? I’m fine with that.” Before I could reply, she was out of her chair and heading for the exit.

  Well, shit.

  “What was that about?” Max asked. I shot him a dirty look, before going after her. The guy seriously needed to learn how to mind his own business.

  I found Sarah outside in the hospital garden. This was supposed to be the happiest time of her life. I was responsible for making it so and I was failing her. All I wanted was to spend the rest of my life with her. So what if her brother was an overbearing asshole. S
o what if I wanted a smaller wedding that didn’t include my parents or their friends. This is what Sarah wanted, and my job was to give it to her. As I pushed through the doors, her big blue eyes landed on me. Like every other time I laid eyes on my girl, I felt it to the depths of my soul…love. This woman was it for me.

  “We’ve been over this a million times. It’s not your fault, and it’s not my fault, so why does it feel as if it is?” she quietly asked. I pulled her into my chest and wrapped my arms around her. She snuggled in, and let out a heavy sounding sigh.

  “Sally left on her own accord, sweetheart. You can try and take the blame, but you and I both know the truth. I fucked up. I knew how much she wanted the job. I let my anger rule my better judgment. I can’t promise results, but I’m going to try and make this right.”

  “Do you remember me telling you she had a thing for Zane? Well, I think he hurt her.” Zane Mitchell owned a bar in town called Whisky’s. When Sally quit Dragonfly, she got a job bartending there. This pissed off both Dillon and Kurt.

  “Isn’t Zane getting married?” I asked. I could have sworn I saw a wedding invitation in our stack of mail the other day.

  “And there lies the rub,” she muttered into my chest. “She was hurting, so she ran. I don’t blame you, Cas, so you can’t blame you either.”

  I couldn’t help but smile at her illogical logic. “I’m sure there was sound reasoning somewhere in that statement. I’ll let you know when I find it,” I teased. Her laughter vibrated through me, and warmed my soul. God, I loved this woman. “Do you think Max is set on the band he selected for the wedding? What are they called, again, Trouncing Lillies?” Her outburst of giggles was music to my ears.

  “Try Ten Times the Laughter,” she snorted.

  “Who names their band that?” With a tilt of her head, she gave me her eyes. My heart hitched in my chest. How did I get so lucky? She was so close to being mine, and nothing – not her control-freak of a brother, her selfish friend, or my ridiculously insensitive parents – were going to spoil this for her. Not if I had anything to say about it.

  “Why? Did you have something else in mind?” she asked.

  “Let’s just say I might have had a conversation with Grant Hardy this morning.” Her eyes widened in surprise.

  “Meltdown?” she whispered. A few months ago, Dillon asked me to consult on a big profile case for a friend of his. That friend just so happened to be head of security for Meltdown, one of the most popular rock bands in the US. The band ended up hiring LASH, and we helped the lead singer of the band, Grant Hardy, clear his name after a bit of a scandal.

  “They aren’t due back on tour until the New Year, and Grant thinks they can squeeze us in. What do you think?”

  “Meltdown?” she whispered, again.

  “I see you like that idea,” I muttered.

  “I love you!” she squealed. “Wait! Do you think Max will be okay with it? I mean, I don’t want to hurt his feelings.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “You let me take care of Max.”

  Chapter Three

  Ellie and Max

  ‡

  Ellie

  Why now? With a groan of disgust, I rose from my semi-permanent squat in front of the repulsive hospital toilet, and winced at the sound of my knees cracking. For once, my life was perfect. Max and I were back on track, Mac was growing like a weed, Sarah was getting married, and all was right in the world. All except for one tiny little detail: I was pregnant. When my period failed to appear a little over three weeks ago, I didn’t think anything of it. I’d been late before. When the second week passed, I began to worry. By week three the panic had set in, and when the nausea hit two days ago, I knew.

  If I hadn’t been kidnapped, gone into premature labor, and almost lost our son during the delivery, I would be over the moon about this pregnancy. I wanted a houseful of children, and I wanted them with Max. There was just one hitch. Max didn’t. He was traumatized by what happened during my delivery with Mac. So much so that he was now seeing a therapist on a regular basis. I thought I would have time to warm him up to the idea of another child. Yes, he flat-out told me he wanted to wait to grow our family. He may have even insinuated it might be a very long wait. I told him I was okay with this. Of course, it was a lie, but in my mind we had time – time where I could convince him to try again. Well, it looked as if that time was officially up. What do I do now? Desperate to get away from the scene of the crime, I stepped from the bathroom stall, and froze. Standing in front of me with her hands on her hips and her head cocked to the side, was none other than my best friend, Piper.

  “Does Max know?” Her accusatory tone irritated me.

  As I made my way over to the sink, I asked, “Know what?” I could tell by her loud huff, my innocent act wasn’t working.

  “Come on, Ellie. You and I both know there’s a bun in there.” She nodded to my stomach. Piper was my very best friend in the whole wide world, but she had a big mouth, and that mouth could not keep a secret to save her life, especially not from her husband. If Piper told Gage, then Gage would tell Max, and Max would lose his mind. So there really was only one solution: Lie.

  “You may have baby on the brain syndrome, but I do not,” I scoffed.

  “Then why were you just riding the porcelain pony?” she challenged. I took the ten seconds of washing my hands to think of a believable excuse.

  “I don’t know. Mac was sick earlier this week. I’m probably coming down with it.” I knew it was lame, but it was the only thing I could come up with. Before she could call me out on my lie, I said, “I don’t want to get Isabella sick. Will you tell her I said congratulations, and I’ll stop by the house later this week once she’s out of the hospital?” I’d been so excited to get my hands on that baby. Now, because of Piper and her big mouth, I was going to have to wait. Without another word, I exited the bathroom. Once I hit the waiting room, I made a beeline straight to Max, and said, “Let’s go.”

  He lifted his eyes from the magazine he was reading and gave me a what-the-hell look. “I thought you wanted to see the baby?”

  I glanced over at Piper, who was staring us down from across the room with a knowing smirk on her face. “Well, now I want to go home,” I quietly stated. My husband knew me better than anyone. For the most part, this was a good thing. Today, however, it was not.

  He searched my face before asking, “Why?” I wanted to scream. Why did he have to be so damn perceptive? Why couldn’t he simply just agree for once? My mind raced with what to tell him. Somehow, I didn’t think telling him I was pregnant and got busted lying to Piper about it would go over well.

  In a hushed voice, I blurted the first thing that came to mind. “I started my period and don’t have any provisions. Now, can we go, please?”

  “You just had your period,” he responded in a very matter-of-fact tone.

  My head snapped up and our eyes connected. “What?” I barely managed to ask. I could feel the sweat beginning to pool at the base of my spine.

  “Babe, you think I don’t know what the giant circled P on the calendar means? You think it was a coincidence I took Gage up on that three day trip to Florida to check out those bikes at the exact same time Aunt Flow came to visit?”

  “Really, Max, Aunt Flow?” I scrunched my face in disgust.

  “You forget, I practically raised Sarah. Love you, babe, but I do not love the P,” he teased. I thought back to three weeks ago when I was due to start my period, and he was right. He was in Florida that week. Crap!

  “Well, uh, I don’t know. I guess I’m early.” I threw my hands up in exasperation…and fear. Before another lie slipped from my lips, I turned on my heel, and walked out of the room.

  “Hope Mac feels better!” Piper called after me.

  When we reached the elevator, Max asked, “What’s wrong with Mac?”

  “I have no idea what she’s talking about.” I told him. I could tell he didn’t believe me. I was going to have to tell Max I was
pregnant soon. I just didn’t know how.

  The minute we hit the house, I headed straight for the bathroom, where I vigorously brushed the bitter taste of vomit from my mouth. I quickly changed into a pair of pajama pants and one of Max’s t-shirts. As I emerged from the bedroom, he was coming down the stairs with Mac in his arms.

  “Hey baby boy. Did you have fun with Lucy?” I asked. He held out his arms, and I took him from Max. Did Lucy leave already?” Lucy was the fifteen year old girl who lived across the street from us. She babysat for us on the weekends and Mac adored her.

  “She was in a rush to get to a movie with her friends,” Max responded. “She said Mac refused to take a nap this afternoon.

  “That doesn’t surprise me. He’s teething right now, and his body is completely whacked.”

  “Wack!” Mac shouted as he face-planted into my chest.

  “After dinner, I’ll give him some pain reliever, and he’ll go down like a champ. Isn’t that right, big boy?”

  “Wack!” he shouted again.

  I handed Mac over to Max and made us all grilled cheese sandwiches, which was the only thing I could manage to keep down. I had nausea with Mac, but it was nothing like this. While I put the sandwiches together, I made a mental plan. First thing tomorrow morning, I was going to the pharmacy and buying a home pregnancy test. After I confirmed the pregnancy, I would call my doctor. Only after the doctor confirmed it, would I tell Max.

  Shortly after dinner, Cas called. I assumed it was to discuss wedding plans with Max. Max desperately wanted to give Sarah the wedding she deserved. I was all for it, but only if it was what Sarah wanted. I was beginning to think it wasn’t. My husband had the biggest heart ever. He was overbearing and obstinate, but when he loved, he loved big. While Max was busy talking to Cas, I headed upstairs to put Mac to bed. As I’d predicted, Mac went down without a fight. By the time I got back downstairs, the lights were off, and Max was nowhere in sight.