Both men kissed a cheek. “You don’t have to.”
She opened her eyes and they were lying next to her, smiling. “Can you stay with me a little while?”
Garth smiled. “All night. Zane needs to get up early to pick up Mark from Ashley’s house, but we can cuddle for as long as you wish.”
“That sounds divine.”
She really wanted to hug them for hours, but sleep took over way too fast.
* * * *
When Garth left after breakfast, Nikki’s first order of business was to straighten up her room. She made a promise that from now on she’d keep her clothes picked up. It was nice of Zane to say she could move in with them, but she wasn’t sure he was serious. Even dreaming about something so wonderful probably wasn’t a good idea. But what woman wouldn’t aspire to marry two men who seemed to care about the son she already had and even want kids of their own? The fact they were beyond amazing in bed was an added bonus.
Zane claimed he was willing to wait a hundred years for her to ask for a spanking. That thrilled her, but she’d already decided that since she loved the nipple clamps, she bet she’d like being spanked even more. Wait until she sprung that on him!
Yikes. She had to pick up Jackpot from Ashley’s house since Mark was now with Zane at the gaming convention in Denver. It was one thing to watch a good kid like Mark for the night, but Ashley didn’t need to deal with a dog.
Nikki dressed for the cold and scurried out the door. Ashley lived east of Danvers Elementary and west of town in a small suburb called Grand View, about five miles from her house.
The day was deliciously clear, and it was only minutes before she pulled into Ashley’s drive. All looked calm, thank goodness. Her friend answered as soon as she rang the bell, and Jackpot barked and rushed to her.
She bent down and rubbed behind the dog’s ear. “Hiya, buddy. You doing okay?” He looked up at her and panted.
“Come on in. You got a minute?” Nikki didn’t like the worry in Ashley’s voice.
“Sure.” Jackpot followed her over to the sofa and she sat. The dog dropped on his haunches. “What’s up?”
“First off, Mark is a wonderful young man.”
“I think so.”
“He could really use a permanent home.”
Nikki’s heart skipped a beat. Had Summer mentioned there was a family who wanted to adopt him. Her heart raced. “He has a good home.” With me.
Ashley leaned back and smiled. “You know that I love my brothers, but like the old saying, they can’t see the forest for the trees.”
“What do you mean?”
“Until they met you and Mark, they lived for fighting fires. All they talked about was the newest technique in firefighting or the safest way to bring an injured skier down the mountain.”
Zane and Garth had discussed their work on occasion, but they didn’t obsess over it. Hell, she was more focused on her job than they were on theirs. “What are you trying to say?”
“When Zane told you he loved you last night, he meant it. I’ve never seen him so happy and yet so scared at the same time.”
“Zane scared? Of what?”
“You not loving them back.” Ashley scooted closer and grabbed her hands. “They want you and they want Mark. I think the four of you would make a great family.”
Nikki repeated Ashley’s words in her head. “Zane really told you that?” Yikes. She hoped he left out the nipple clamp episode.
“Well, not everything. I just want to see everyone happy. That’s all.”
Her confirmation meant the world to her. “Thanks for letting me know.” Jackpot barked and trotted to the door. “That’s his signal he needs to go out.” She stood and hugged her friend. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“Being good to my brothers works for me.”
Nikki smiled. Things were really looking up.
* * * *
Zane called on Saturday night to say he and Mark were having a wonderful time at the convention. When Mark got on the phone, he went on and on about all the new games. She’d never heard him this excited in his life. Zane was a truly remarkable man and would make a great dad.
Garth had been called into work. Some trees had fallen and blocked one of the hiking paths. It almost seemed strange to be alone with only Jackpot as her companion. From the way he camped out by Mark’s door, he missed his friend, too.
Her cell rang, but she didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”
“Nikki, this is Harper Anderson.” He was whispering and slightly out of breath.
“What is it?”
“You won’t believe this. They’re here. I think the recording is working, but maybe you want to check it out. Conner is using his cell phone to take video.”
Her heart slammed into her chest. Neither Zane nor Garth was available, but she bet the good sheriff would be. He didn’t like Dani going on any dangerous job and might be willing to come along. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
She disconnected and called Dani, her brain pumping adrenaline through her body.
“What’s up?”
“We need to get to Black Hawk.” She detailed Harper’s call. “Can Brady or Lucas come with us?”
“Absolutely. It’ll be faster if you drive to our ranch and we go from there.”
That worked for her. “See you shortly.”
All of Nikki’s gear was either at the casino or at Marr’s house. She wished she had time to pick up the recordings from Marr’s house and analyze the information, but that could happen later. There was always the chance Marr had already found the bug and the mike. If that were the case, she’d have to order more.
Brady and Dani were in his cruiser when she pulled up to their house. She parked and jumped in the backseat. “Hey, Brady. Thanks for coming along.”
He twisted around to back up. “I appreciate you recognizing these men are dangerous. You got your weapon?”
“Always.”
“Good.”
They discussed what they planned to do once they arrived. The two scenarios included Marr’s men still being there, and the other where they’d already left. She couldn’t decide which she wanted.
“Brady, if you spot the men loading women into a truck, are you able to arrest them?”
“It’s out of my jurisdiction, but I already called the Black Hawk police. Don’t worry. These operations take minutes, not hours. If the local police don’t get them now, they will later.”
Nikki settled back for the half-hour ride. Sure enough, when they got there, the back alley was empty of any evidence of Marr’s men. Damn. She wanted to see the look of surprise when the cops caught them.
Needing to find Harper and Conner, they parked then entered the casino. Nikki called Conner and he came out of door on the far side of the bar.
Conner strode over to them, held out his hand to Brady, and introduced himself. He nodded to Nikki. “Thanks for getting here so fast. That was smart coming with backup, but I’m happy we didn’t need it. Come into our office.”
Harper was standing in the middle of the sparsely decorated room. Harper shook their hands and then faced her. “I removed all the equipment from behind the Dumpster, but I can’t make heads or tails of it.”
That didn’t surprise her. “I’ll take a look.”
Nikki’s only regret was that Zane and Garth couldn’t be here to see their friends vindicated. She hooked up the equipment and did her magic. She then played back the sound.
“Fast forward until the truck arrives,” Harper said with much enthusiasm.
She did and found the spot when the truck drove into the alley. Much of the conversation was the same as if they’d read from a memorized script. She shook her head. “I have to hand it to Marr for coming up with the plan, but he gets an F in execution.” She told them about the phrases being identical. She faced Brady. “What do we do with this now?”
Brady smiled. “I have just the plan.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Two weeks later
Nikki was lounging on Zane and Garth’s sofa with a glass of champagne in her hand surrounded not only by her men and their sister, but Harper, Conner, Dani and her two fiancés, Holly, Summer Ashford, and a few other employees of the High Mountain Casino, as well as Michael and Wendy Sussman.
Harper held up his glass. “I want to thank not only the wonderful ladies of Freedom Security Services, but my good friends Garth and Zane for believing we’d never do something as despicable as selling humans.”
Conner stepped forward. “And here’s to Jack Marr. May he rot in jail for the rest of his life.”
The group chuckled and clanked their glasses. Between Brady, the FBI, and her recordings from both the casino and Marr’s house, Jack Marr had been taken down with ease.
Sussman stepped forward. “I’d like to say something.” The room quieted. “First off, this whole incident taught me a valuable lesson. Not only have I come to rely on and appreciate the fine Freedom ladies, but I’ve taken an extra step of vetting my clients from now on. No more hardened criminals for me.”
The group sent out a “hear, hear” cheer.
Nikki stood. “I’d like to commend our wonderful Sheriff Brady for coming up with the plan of forcing Marr’s hand.”
Sussman smiled. “It was sweet satisfaction indeed. When I handed over a copy of the tape and photos to Marr’s flunky, Marr spent no time rushing the information to our forewarned savvy FBI agent, Jonathan Ridgemont.”
That was the proof the FBI needed to arrest Marr.
Ashley was sitting next to her and leaned over to her. “How did the tape prove Marr was guilty?”
“Actually, the FBI arrested Marr’s man. He said he was just a go-between and gave up Marr for a lighter sentence.”
“Very cool.”
“My recordings were able to pick up a few telephone conversations between Marr and this guy, so it became quite clear that someone was going down for this.”
“I’m impressed. You guys do good work.”
Nikki smiled. “We wouldn’t have been able to do it without Dani and especially Holly. She’s a genius when it comes to cleaning up background noise.”
Zane stood and raised his glass. “Because the women were actresses and not being sold, Marr’s sentence won’t be too long. But at least he’s out of our hair for now.” He waved his glass. “To good friends.”
Nikki thought the toasts were done until Garth stood. “I have one more announcement.”
The room quieted. Zane disappeared down the hallway. Nikki glanced his way then returned her gaze to the wonderful Garth.
“As you all know, a while back Zane and I met Nikki.” He held out his hand and motioned she stand next to him. “To be honest, given our job and the adrenaline rush we get from it, we never thought we’d meet someone we both would fall in love with.”
Everyone turned toward her. Dani, Holly, Ashley, and Summer had huge grins on their faces, and Nikki’s cheeks burned. When Zane returned with Mark in tow, she was doubly confused. From the way he was looking around, Mark appeared to be a little perplexed, too.
Zane stood on her other side with Mark in front of him. “What my brother is trying to say is that Garth and I would like Nikki and Mark to be part of our family. Permanently.”
Goose bumps raced all over her as the room broke into applause. Garth gathered her in his arms and kissed his long, hard, and erotically. When he leaned back, his brows rose. “I know we’re putting you on the spot, but how about it?”
Her heart beat so fast, she didn’t have the spit to answer. She ran her tongue around her mouth to wet it. “Can you be more specific?” She didn’t want to jump to conclusions.
Zane grabbed her hand. “We’re asking you to marry us and let us adopt Mark.”
What happened after that was pure chaos. Not only was Mark grinning ear-to-ear, but Zane was kissing her while Garth was trying to cop a feel. She started laughing so hard that the men had to break their hold.
“Oh, shit,” Garth said. He stuck his hand in his pocket. “I forgot to give you this.” Now his face turned red.
He lifted the lid on the small box and held out the most beautiful diamond ring that was comprised of four stones. In the middle sat two identically sized amethysts on either side of the diamond, and above it was a small ruby. The three colorful stones showed off the diamond in all its glory.
“I don’t know what to say. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Both men grinned. “Try it on,” Mark said with much excitement.
She slipped it on her finger. “It’s perfect.”
Zane touched the two blue stones. “Those represent Garth and me.”
Mark lifted her hand and studied the ring. He then looked up at Zane. “Is the red stone me?”
Zane ruffled his hair. “It sure is.”
“Can I go tell Jackpot?”
The crowd laughed. Life was going to be one adventure after another, and Nikki couldn’t wait to get started.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Unlike most other authors, I started writing late in life. Writing stories in high school and college was not for me. Only after I graduated did I fall in love with romance novels. For the next twenty years, I read voraciously. It got to a point where my book-buying habits cost as much as my groceries. At that point, my husband suggested I write a book. Hey, it looked easy, right? All the stories started in the same spot (hero and heroine at odds) and ended the same way (happily ever after). Only it was anything but easy. Eleven years and fifteen completed romantic suspenses later, I finally published. I never would have gotten that far had it not been for two local chapters whose generous members shared their amazing wealth of knowledge.
For all titles by Melody Snow Monroe, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/melody-snow-monroe
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Freedom to Trust [Freedom, Colorado 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 20
