The corner of Bethany Anne’s mouth crept up. “Keep that in mind when you speak to Nathan.”
Kai’s face creased in frustration and confusion. “I don’t get his issue with me. Christina told me about how she grew up knowing she wouldn’t accept anything less than the love her parents share. Why can’t Nathan see that’s what we have?”
Bethany Anne put her hand on Kai’s shoulder. “Nathan will come around. Fathers generally do when they see a man willing to prove his love.” She flashed him a wicked grin. “If that doesn’t work, the grandchildren will.”
Kai was quiet as Bethany Anne led him inside to show him the ballroom, where resort workers in close-fitting black uniforms were arranging everything from the shipping containers she’d had brought down from the Baba Yaga.
Teams of workers were setting up rows of round tables around three sides of the polished wood dancefloor, while others moved with calm precision to dress the room in crisp white, silver, and Christina’s favorite ice-blue.
Kai took in the grandeur of the ballroom in utter astonishment. “There have to be a hundred people in here. Who are all those chairs for?” His enhanced hearing picked up a familiar commanding voice coming from somewhere deeper inside the building. “My grandmother is here?”
Bethany Anne smiled. “Yes. Also your grandfather, and your parents, and the rest of your friends and family who weren’t on duty somewhere. What do you say? I know Christina will have her own thoughts on the matter, but I want to gift you both with a wedding to remember should she accept your proposal.”
Kai shook his head slowly, trying to find the words despite his world being turned upside-down. “This is… How do I ever thank you?” He lifted a hand, then dropped it again. “Or pay you back? It looks like you spent the equivalent of a small planet’s GDP just on the décor.”
Bethany Anne snickered softly. She supposed she had gone a bit overboard, not that she would admit that to Michael if he asked. “I’m paying for full use of the resort’s facilities and filling them with soldiers. Trust me, management was more than happy to assist when I asked them to provide a service they were more familiar with.”
Kai, who was still in his first century of life, was nevertheless experienced enough to know those bright memories were what sustained the soul through hard times. He thought back to his time alone on Earth and the hard-gained knowledge that together meant stronger, and his eyes started to sting as his gratitude for the home Bethany Anne provided everyone under her wing welled up. He blinked before tears had a chance to form and cleared his throat. “I can’t deny that I’m shaken. I’m grateful you would do all this for us.”
Bethany Anne chuckled. “I guess I’d be shaken too if a distant not-quite-aunt sprang a surprise wedding on me. You and Christina are family, Kailin, and if there’s any cause for celebration, then I’ll be damned if I let it go by when I can facilitate an occasion we will all remember for a lifetime.”
Kai slipped a hand into his pocket and retrieved the ring box he’d carried with him for so long he was sure he’d feel naked without it. He eased it open and showed Bethany Anne the ring, a white gold diamond-studded split-shank band with a princess-cut diamond as its crowning glory. “This ring belonged to my grandmother’s grandmother.”
Bethany Anne admired the ring for a moment before closing the box in Kai’s hand. “All you have to do is ask her.”
Kai swallowed the lump that suddenly appeared in his throat. “Well, yeah, I guess so. Bethany Anne? What if she says no?”
Bethany Anne raised an eyebrow. “Do you think she will?”
Kai put the ring box away. “No, I don’t. But I can’t propose without Nathan’s blessing.”
Bethany Anne waved a hand. “You can speak to him tomorrow. He and Ecaterina will be arriving late tonight.”
Kai hesitated, then gave Bethany Anne a brief and somewhat awkward hug. He stepped back, his face red with emotion. “I don’t know what we did to deserve a great not-quite-aunt like you.”
“You can thank me by being happy together,” Bethany Anne told him fondly. “Now scram. I have work to do, and you have a suit fitting in an hour.”
Kai’s eyes widened, and he looked behind him as if an ogre might show up before he turned back to ask, “I have a what, now?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Federation Space, Serenity, Southern Continent
Nathan walked arm in arm along the beach with Ecaterina, soaking up the sunshine and the two-piece swimsuit she was wearing under her gauzy sarong. He decided the last-minute vacation might not have been the worst idea after all.
He made all the appropriate noises in response to Ecaterina’s running commentary on the luxury they’d been surrounded with since their arrival the night before, his mind stuck on how fucking lucky he was that she loved him as much now as she had when they’d first gotten together.
“You have a very goofy grin on your face right now,” Ecaterina told him, booping his nose with her finger.
Nathan swept her up in his arms and spun around. “I’m a man with a lot to be happy about. I’m here in this beautiful location with the most beautiful woman in the world. What more could a man ask for?”
Ecaterina captured Nathan’s face in her hands and kissed him before turning his head to the couple walking down the beach toward them. “How about some company? I see people.”
Fuckity-fuck. Nathan groaned inwardly. “Do we have to socialize? This is supposed to be a romantic getaway.”
“It doesn’t hurt to be polite,” Ecaterina chastised. “They might be the only people we see the whole time we’re here.”
“That would be a fine thing,” Nathan grumbled.
The woman waved as they got closer, and Nathan thought he recognized the way the man moved. His feeling was confirmed when the wind carried a familiar scent to him. He took Ecaterina’s hand. “Honey, did you know they were going to be here?”
Ecaterina’s eyes shifted away from her husband. “Well, not that they were here on the beach this morning, but yes. Bethany Anne swore me to secrecy.”
Nathan liked where his day was heading less and less. “What does Bethany Anne have to do with TH and Char being here?”
A hand on his shoulder caused him to spin around. He came face to face with Bethany Anne and sighed. “This is your revenge for the Pepsi thing? You’re crashing my second honeymoon?”
Bethany Anne shook her head in amusement. “No. You’ll get to your honeymoon. Eventually. This is about your daughter.”
Nathan suddenly understood the reason the Waltons were here. “No. No, no, and a million times no. They are not getting married.”
Charumati was suddenly at his side, and although Nathan had always taken comfort in the knowledge that he was the biggest, baddest Were around, it was fully negated by the slender, impeccably-dressed woman with her sparkling purple eyes and aura that promised pain to any Were who displeased her. “I hope you’re not saying our grandson isn’t good enough for your daughter, Mr. Lowell.”
Terry Henry fixed Nathan with a stony look. “Well?”
Nathan looked from TH to Char, his mouth working furiously for a moment before he managed to speak. “What? No! I have nothing against Kai personally. He’s a good kid, but that’s the problem. He’s just a kid compared to Christina. She needs someone who can keep her safe. Not someone—”
“Christina needs to be kept safe?” Ecaterina cut in, waving her hands at Nathan. “Please! Can you hear yourself? Sometimes you are very thickheaded for a smart man. You need to let go.”
Bethany Anne lifted a shoulder in response to Nathan’s pleading look. “I get it. I just don’t agree with you.”
Nathan had a moment of feeling betrayed. He knew Ecaterina didn’t understand his reluctance because he had refused to speak to her about it. However, whether this was his doing or not, he couldn’t deal with the expectant stares of the women right now.
He turned and headed back to his cabin at a run.
Ecaterina must have bee
n livid with him because she did not return to the cabin that morning.
Nathan skimmed a book without reading it, watched a movie that could have been about anything, and ordered room service twice before he saw a soul who wasn’t a resort worker.
His mind wandered, refusing to settle on the plot of a second movie. He picked at his poultry wings without tasting them, and there wasn’t any alcohol on the planet strong enough for him to drown his sorrows in.
He’d checked. Twice.
Ecaterina returned in the afternoon, smelling of sunshine and radiating silent fury. “You have offended Char,” she informed Nathan, the ghost of her accent telling him how deep in the shit he was. “Worse, you are going to alienate our only child. Is that what you want?”
It was the last thing Nathan wanted. He didn’t want to fight with Ecaterina, either.
Ecaterina growled in exasperation at the lack of explanation forthcoming from her husband. “You are impossible, Nathan Lowell! Call me when you are ready to stop acting like a caveman. Until then, I will be with Bethany Anne, making arrangements for what will be the happiest day of our daughter’s life—unless her father ruins it.”
She threw up her hands and sashayed angrily out of the cabin, leaving Nathan to stew in his regret and the string of Romanian curses she left hanging in the air.
Nathan sighed and headed out to the egg-shaped chair on the deck, finding the cabin’s interior claustrophobic despite the light and space. He eased himself into the wicker cocoon cross-legged and watched the waves break on the shore a few hundred feet away.
Was he holding on too tightly? Undoubtedly, his conscience replied. Great, his own brain was on everyone else’s side. Wasn’t it his prerogative as a father to protect his daughter, no matter how old she was? Another question his conscience refused to answer in his favor.
The truth was, he hadn’t examined his attitude to his daughter’s relationship beyond the snap decision he’d made to dislike Kai upon meeting him.
Now, as well as his fear of driving Christina away, he had the not-so-distant concern of being relegated to making his bed on the couch for the foreseeable future to contend with as well.
That was if Ecaterina didn’t just pack her bags and go stay with Bethany Anne for a while to teach him a lesson. Added to that was his stubborn-ass nature putting him at risk of offending TH and Char.
Offending Char would hurt physically, of that he had no doubt, and he valued TH far beyond his role as the head of the organization he could rely on to get the job done, no matter the complications.
His life would be a poorer place for the absence of their friendship. Even removing his emotions from the equation, he couldn’t see why Christina had chosen Kai. He was kindhearted, well-mannered, and even-tempered. Nathan had seen how Kai worshipped her with his smallest actions, never drawing attention to his devotion, which would piss Christina off in one second flat.
Nathan got why Ecaterina found it so difficult to understand his reluctance to accept that Christina had chosen the man she wanted to build her future with. They already shared their lives and their work, and there was his problem.
That Kai would protect her with his life wasn’t in question. The consequences of that situation coming to pass were his issue. Nathan knew they faced life-or-death decisions every time he sent the Bad Company out, and would Christina choose herself if Kai was at risk? No, she would try and save him, and if for some reason Kai couldn’t be revived—like poor Cory’s husband—Christina’s heart would be irrevocably broken.
He didn’t want any possible future for her that involved losing her vivacious appetite for living.
Not your choice to make, his conscience offered like the traitor it was. Besides, you’re too late, it continued. Nathan scowled. Traitor conscience or not, he had to find a way to be okay with the fact that his daughter had chosen a partner who would need protecting.
However the fuck he was supposed to do that.
The knock when it came was firm and no-nonsense.
TH, then. Nathan sighed and got up to answer the door. He was surprised to find Kai standing on the porch.
“Not now, kid,” Nathan told him.
“Mr. Lowell, please hear me out,” Kai asked when Nathan made to shut the door. “I won’t take a minute of your time.”
Nathan growled and opened the door all the way to admit Kai, hating that he appreciated the young man’s humble sincerity. “You’ve got one minute.”
Kai glanced past Nathan, keeping his expression neutral as his gaze swept the mess on the coffee table. “Here is fine.” He dropped his hand to his pocket to touch the ring box when Nathan folded his arms and pinned him with a cold stare. “I’ve done my best to be respectful of your feelings, but I have to put mine and Christina’s future together first. I’m going to ask Christina to marry me. I’d prefer to do so knowing we have your blessing, but if I have to spend a few decades proving you wrong first, so be it. I love her, and I’m going to love her for the rest of my days. That’s what I came here to tell you. I won’t take up any more of your evening. Thank you.”
He nodded brusquely and turned to leave.
Nathan saw the hidden steel under Kai’s pleasant exterior, and it finally dawned on him what Christina saw in him. He stopped Kai with a hand on his arm. “Come inside.” He sighed. “It’s about time we talked.”
Kai was taken aback but did as Nathan asked. He took a seat on the couch Nathan indicated and accepted the beer he handed him without opening it. “All respect, I can’t see that we have much to talk about. You don’t approve of me, and honestly, I can’t see what I can say to change your mind.”
“You want my blessing, don’t you?” Nathan asked, taking the chair opposite. “This is what it’s going to take to get it. Either give up active duty or do something with all those nanocytes you have swimming around inside you.”
Kai frowned. “I just had a minor upgrade in the Pod-doc, but that’s not what you mean, is it? I’m willing to listen to your reasoning before I refuse.”
Nathan put his own unopened beer on the coffee table between them. “I’m talking about you figuring out how not to make a widow of my daughter. Then you’ll have my blessing. I know better than anyone but TH what Bad Company does. I don’t want Christina to be put in the situation of having to choose between your life and hers.”
Kai rubbed his face with a hand. “I understand where you’re coming from. But honestly? I can’t make this decision right now, and I definitely can’t make it without discussing the consequences with Christina.” He broke into a grin. “You realize Christina is going to lose her shit when she finds out about this?”
Nathan nodded. “I do. But I stand by my reasons for it. I apologize for the way I’ve treated you, but one day you might find yourself having a similar conversation, and you’ll understand that there’s nothing more terrifying to a man than the man who wants to take his daughter away.”
Kai leaned over the table and offered Nathan his hand. “We both want Christina to be happy. That we can agree on. How about we start over?”
Nathan leaned forward and shook Kai’s hand, then opened his beer, indicating that Kai should do the same. “That’s a start, as far as I can see. Tell me about yourself. The background check I did on you was a little loose on details.”
Much later, there was another knock on the door.
Nathan opened the door and stepped back when Terry Henry let himself and the case of beer he was carrying in. TH closed the door behind him with an elbow and headed straight out the French doors leading to the deck on the ocean side of the cabin without a word.
Nathan rolled his head back and sighed, wishing he wasn’t going to feel obligated to talk. “Come on in then, I guess,” he muttered to TH’s back.
“Get your whiny ass out here,” TH called, hearing him perfectly. “You can help me drink this beer my grandson thought to pick up for me while he was on that operation of yours while you talk about the reason you’re against th
is wedding.”
“You’re too late,” Nathan told him, helping himself to one of the hand-labeled bottles. He cracked the top and took a sip, inclining his head in appreciation before taking a seat on the end of the lounger next to TH’s. “Kai came to see me earlier. We came to an understanding.”
Terry Henry took a long slug of his beer. “An arrangement, huh? I take it you threatened him soundly should he break Christina’s heart. Not that you need to worry about that.”
“I had considered having him quietly disappear,” Nathan admitted, a sly smile creeping over his face. “But it would have been awkward when you turned up to help me dispose of the body, so I decided to just give the kids my blessing.”
Terry Henry didn’t credit the joke with his attention. “As long as we’re all on the same page. The wedding is scheduled for two days from now, our women are giving no quarter, and my cries of ‘man down’ have been completely ignored.”
Nathan winced. “That bad?”
“Between keeping Christina in the dark and the fittings,” Terry Henry confided, “yes. I can only say that Char packing my dress uniform was a small mercy.”
Nathan sighed, wishing he hadn’t angered Ecaterina earlier. “Where is Michael in all of this?” he asked, chuckling inwardly at the mental image of Bethany Anne playing Queenzilla until he realized he was going to be subject to her whims as soon as he emerged from the cabin. “Did Kai even get a bachelor party?”
TH shook his head. “He didn’t want one.”
Nathan got to his feet. “Well, he’s getting one.” He went inside and called Gabriel’s HUD from his desk, tapping his foot while he waited for him to pick up. “Hey, are you with Kai?”
“Yeah,” Gabriel replied. “We’re trying to avoid getting roped into hanging ribbons or whatever. It’s been a long day.”
Nathan chuckled. “I bet. Listen, can you get the guys together without attracting any attention?”
“That depends,” Gabriel asked with skepticism. “Are you going to put us on pedestals and stick us full of tailor’s pins?”
Return Of The Queen: The Kurtherian Endgame™ Book Eight Page 26
