by KaLyn Cooper
Preston’s big eyes stared at her. “I have to wear pink, like a girl?”
“Yes, and we need to buy new shoes since I left your brown dress shoes at home.”
“I have brown flip flops,” Greyson said as if he had the answer. He stuffed a huge piece of fruit into his mouth, a drizzle sneaking out at the side as he tried to chew.
Lilly couldn’t hold back the snicker at the fit their father would throw at that suggestion. She ruffled the boy’s constantly disheveled hair and kissed his forehead.
“Mom.” It was a dragged out word of protest the way Greyson said it. “I’m eating.”
God, thank you for my boys. It was a silent prayer she’d said many times since she’d filed for divorce.
“But the good news is you get to hang out with Grandma Betsy for the day.” Lilly tried to sound upbeat about the prospect. Back in Chicago, they’d seen her more often lately than their truant father.
“That’ll be cool,” Preston commented and peeled a banana.
Jaw open, showing everyone at the table the remaining food in his mouth, Greyson mewled, “You’re not going with us?”
“No, son.” Lilly forced a smile.
Greyson’s young age showing, he asked, “Then who’s Dad going to marry?”
A fist grabbed her heart and squeezed it so tight she wasn’t sure she could talk. Her gaze swept the table in apology, but no one seemed to need her unspoken words as she mouthed, I’m sorry. “Greyson, we talked about this. Remember?” she choked out.
Preston looked around Lilly at his brother. “Now we’re just like all the other kids at school, with two moms and two dads. Well, someday we’ll get a new dad. And we’ll get—”
The boys finished in unison, “Twice as many presents at Christmas!” Their smiles told the story of their wishes and hopes.
Lilly wasn’t going to think about the two sets of parents. Her ex hadn’t allowed her to be a second mother to his two children with his first wife, although Lilly had been willing. He’d preferred to spend time alone with them, a few hours every other weekend, but never overnight at their house. They’d stay at his mother’s, and he’d visit them there.
That would be wonderful, in her opinion, if he’d continue that trend of visitation. She had no idea what kind of mother the very young ballerina her ex was marrying would make for her boys. In retrospect, he-who-had-stomped-on-her-heart hadn’t really spent much time with his other children over the years. She wondered if that was the fate of her own boys. She hoped not, especially for Preston who seemed to imitate his father in every way possible.
Greyson looked up at her. “Are each of us going to carry one ring, like in Uncle Jack’s wedding?”
Lilly tried to review the conversation they’d had last night and found herself looking across the table at Josh for help. All he did was shrug. She recalled her ex wanted all his children there. Something about pictures. Damn. She didn’t think he’d mentioned anything about the boys being in the wedding.
“I’m sorry, Greyson. I don’t know what plans your father has for the day,” Lilly admitted. “Maybe Grandma Betsy knows. She’ll be calling today to let us know about her flight and what time she, Kalista, and Dalton are arriving.”
“Who are they?” the boys asked at the same time.
Gut punched with the realization of what would most likely be their appalling future, she told them the truth about the two other children they’d never met, and probably should have. “They are your half-brother and half-sister.”
Why hadn’t she told her boys about their siblings before? She was a terrible mother. On the other hand, it had never come up before. And the boys were so young. She hadn’t been a mother of any kind to Kalista and Dalton. She’d only met his other children on two occasions, to drop off Christmas presents a few years ago at his mother’s house and...at their wedding. When Dalton was four and Kalista was seven years old. They had looked so small and young sitting next to his mother in the pew opposite the one her parents and family had filled. He’d insisted on a few pictures with the four of them, but he’d only asked for one of those to be printed, for his desk at the clinic.
Pictures of the two of them and the boys in various stages of life reigned over his study at home in Chicago. Another room that needed overhauling. She’d get to that one next week when they were back home.
Son of a bitch. Her mind instantly went to the divorce agreement and how he hadn’t pressed for the usual fifty percent shared custody. He had visitation by agreement and every other major holiday. Looking back over their years together, she realized he’d spent every holiday with her and the boys. He would slip away to his mother’s for a few hours, but had been home when the boys opened Christmas presents first thing in the morning, hunted Easter eggs, and he’d never taken a vacation with just his other children, nor had they ever joined their family. So when did he see his older children?
Almost never.
Anger warred with the truth of her boys’ future.
No. She would not tolerate he-who-was-truly-a-fucking-bastard forgetting about their boys. Her sons. She would force him to see them regularly. Make him be the father they deserved. He had poked the sleeping tiger and had better watch out because she had claws.
“Are they going to live with us now?” Greyson asked.
“Certainly not,” her mother interjected. “After this wedding ordeal tomorrow, they’ll go back to wherever they’re from, and you boys will come back here and play in the pool, at the beach—”
“And we’ll go out in the boat,” Jack added with a big smile.
“You’re going to bring the jet boat here?” Preston sounded excited.
“You bet.” He looked at Lilly for permission.
She gave him a smile for all he did for her. “Thank you, Jack.”
“Speaking of boats,” Jack stood and kissed Addison on the head. “I have to captain today. Seems Rock Star isn’t feeling well.”
“Does that happen often?” Josh asked.
“A little too often lately.” Jack sighed. “He plays at some of the local clubs at night, and I’m afraid he suffers from brown bottle flu the next morning.”
Josh seemed to consider Jack’s opinion for a long minute. “Things are not always what they seem.”
“Yeah.” Regret filled Jack’s single word. “That’s what I’m afraid of. He’s been showing signs of PTSD lately. Seems over-aware, almost like he was back in theater. I don’t think he’s sleeping much.”
“Want me to talk to him?” Josh offered.
“That would be appreciated. Maybe you can get through to him.” Jack shook his head. “The man is keeping too many secrets.”
“I’ll give him a call and see if we can get a cup of coffee together sometime soon.”
“Thanks, Josh.” Jack moved next to Jillian and pulled her out of her chair for a long, sultry kiss. “I’ll see my girls later when I bring the boat back. Love you.” He gave her another quick kiss.
“Love you, too, Daddy.” Addison puckered her lips.
“I’ll never get tired of hearing that.” He bent and kissed her heart-shaped lips with a smack. “Gotta run. Josh, play nice with the locals.”
He jogged toward the garage and met Edgar Chel on his way in.
“No need to leave on my account, cuz. I’m not here to arrest you.” Ed and Jack did one of those complicated fist bump, one-armed manly back beating hugs.
“Sorry but I’m running late. On a boat today,” Jack said with a backward wave.
Josh stood, laid his cloth napkin on the table next to his plate, and moved to greet Ed. “Josh Madden, U.S. Homeland Security. Thanks for the ride to the meeting.”
Ed continued to move toward the table in a tough-guy swagger he earned every day taking down Mexico’s worst criminals. “Came early to see if I could talk Mother Girard into sharing some of Mateo’s fantastic cooking.” He kissed the matriarch on the cheek, and she patted his large bicep hidden under the long-sleeved black shirt. The s
tars of his high rank gleamed in the morning sun on the shoulder epaulettes.
“Come sit. Plenty of food left.” She gestured to the empty place setting. “You remember my daughter-in-law Jillian and granddaughter Addison.”
“Of course. I’m looking forward to the wedding on Saturday.” Ed smiled then nodded as he greeted everyone else by name. “Good morning.”
Mateo materialized with an omelet filled with peppers and sausage covered with salsa, then handed Ed a bottle of green heat.
“I knew you’d make my morning great, primo.” Ed dug into the thickest part of the omelet and shoveled the gooey mess into his mouth. With a moan, he chewed.
“You should save those sounds for your woman,” Mateo kidded the younger man.
“My woman doesn’t feed me like this.” With his second forkful halfway to his mouth, he lowered his voice, “I’m the one who makes my wife do all the moaning.”
“I heard that,” Mother Girard warned from two seats away. “Let’s hope the children at the table didn’t.”
“My apologies, abuelita.” She wasn’t Ed’s grandmother but it was very appropriate for him to call her little grandmother. In the Chel family, respect of one's elders was instilled from birth.
“Can we go swimming now?” Greyson blurted out.
“Swim. Now. Please.” Addi bounced in her chair begging her mother.
“Why don’t all you kids come with me and play in the pool house?” Jillian looked at Lilly for permission. “I have a little work to do, and they can play in Addi’s room for an hour, then I’ll let them swim. You can try to sneak in a morning nap.”
Lilly loved her sister-in-law more and more every day. Not only was she intelligent, she was intuitive. “Sounds wonderful. I think I’ll try to catch a short one under the palapa.” She couldn’t eat another bite if she had to.
“Come on, boys.” Jillian lifted Addison from the high chair.
Lilly sauntered toward the beach access next to the pool house. She started to match her breathing to the sound of the waves.
Before she was out of sight and earshot, Josh stood. “Excuse me. I think I’ll ask Lilly to pick something up for me while she’s shopping.” His long stride caught up to her quickly, but she was nearly to the path around the low dunes.
“Lilly.” Her name in his low tone shot straight through her and heated everything he’d touched the night before. Her nipples went hard and desire kindled.
She stopped and faced him. “Yes.” The word was husky.
“Did you sleep at all last night? And don’t lie. I’ll know.” Josh’s eyes were intense as he examined every inch of her face.
“No.” She drooped her shoulders.
“Was it your ex or my offer?”
“Both.”
The corners of Josh’s mouth twitched. Damn, what a mouth. Those full lips that had tasted so good last night made her want to pull him to her and sample them again. The soft kisses down her neck, then as he took her breasts into his mouth—God she wanted that again. And more. She could imagine his kisses all over her body. He’d run his tongue down her torso and not stop until he licked—
“I’ll give you that fantasy and more.” Josh’s words jolted her back to reality.
With an air of indignation she didn’t feel, Lilly asked, “What are you talking about?”
“Tonight, if you want.”
How could he have known what she’d been thinking? Flustered, she mumbled, “What? Did I—”
“No.” He smiled at her. “You didn’t have to.” His gaze dropped to her betraying nipples.
Well, damn her body for wanting a man so much. Needing what he could give her.
“Come see me tonight.” He looked at his watch then over his shoulder where her mother, Levi, and Ed where chatting. “And I’ll make you come so hard...you’ll sleep until noon tomorrow.”
Chapter 8
Josh wanted to kiss Lilly right then and there and haul her beautiful ass off to his room to follow through with his promise. He would exhaust her physically, mentally, and emotionally so she would sleep for twelve hours.
But he couldn’t. Ed was waiting for him, and he had a task force briefing in Cancun in ninety minutes.
Loud enough for the others to hear, he said, “Thanks, Lilly. I’d appreciate it if you’d bring it by my room later tonight.”
Her stunned expression was priceless as her eyes darted to the table and back to him. “What am I bringing?” she whispered.
He couldn’t help but tease her. Stepping closer to her, he whispered back, “Condoms. Extra large, please.” When her eyes got huge, he chuckled softly. “Got that covered, tiger Lilly. I was a SEAL for twenty years. We’re always prepared.”
He started to reach for her, then quickly stepped back. “You are the only thing I want tonight.”
“But what am I supposed to pick up for you?” The bewildered look on her face was cute.
“Whatever you want.” His mind raced through a long list of what he’d like to lick off her body. Champagne. Whipped cream. Ice cream. He wasn’t a fan of chocolate but knew most women were. He wouldn’t mind Lilly licking the sweet sauce off anything on his body she wanted. He could almost feel the way her soft hair would tickle his hips as she went down on him, her hot tongue licking up his shaft then across the swollen head.
Fuck. He was hard. And her family was waiting for him to turn around. Forcing his mind in a different direction, he needed to answer her question. Did he need something at the store? He catalogued the contents of his suitcase, in case he really did need something. He’d learned years ago, if he didn’t have it, he could do without it. If he truly needed it, he’d simply go buy it, no matter what it was.
No, he had everything.
Except a gift for Jack and Jillian. He’d planned on giving them his standard wedding gift because it was always the right color, usually the right size, something they could use and never got returned...a check. But after spending time with the couple, he wanted to give them something more personal as well.
“Pick out a wedding gift for me, would you please?” At her astonishment, he lied, “I guess I left it on my dresser at home.”
She seemed to accept that excuse. “I’ll look, but no guarantees.”
“Thanks. I’d appreciate that.” Josh checked his watch again then removed his suit jacket. “I need to go. See you tonight.”
“Maybe.” Lilly’s single word actually gave him hope as he strode across the quad, folding the dark jacket neatly over his arm and holding it in front of his erection.
Ten minutes later, in an armored SUV headed toward Cancun, Ed spoke in only slightly accented English. “So, you’re staying in the Girard compound?”
Josh explained about the sewer line break in his hotel. “Do you have any indication that was more than a misfortunate accident and coincidence that I was staying at that specific hotel?”
“That place was built cheap years ago.” Ed ran his large hand through thick brown hair that was a little long by military standards but shorter than most people wore. “We’ve noticed a lot of chatter lately but nothing with your name. There’s something big happening soon. Can’t seem to get any details though.”
Josh grunted in acknowledgement.
Ed gave him a hard glance. “We were hoping that was why you were here and called for this meeting.”
“We’ll cover my purpose for being in Mexico in the meeting, but I know several of your ops lately haven’t been as big as expected.” Josh was asking several questions in that statement. He waited for the federal agent’s response. Anybody could be a mole.
He glanced Josh’s way then back to the road. “You were Jack’s commanding officer?”
“Yes.” He kept his answer short. If the man wanted to know something he could ask the right questions.
“You were a Navy SEAL like Jack?” Interesting question, but Josh understood why. Not all commanders had in-theater experience. Josh had years of covert ops, in jungles, deserts,
mountains, highly-populated cities and bum-fuck nowhere.
“I started with a squad of eight men and retired after commanding over a thousand of the best trained warriors on this planet.” That information about Josh Madden was available to the public. “Anything beyond that is probably classified.”
Ed gave his answer a hard nod. “We have a leak somewhere in our organization that is reporting to the Los Zetas cartel. Probably more than one. What do you know about organized crime in Mexico?”
Josh had been briefed by the CIA and ATF for two days last week. “The Los Zetas cover the largest territory from Belize to half of the Southern Texas boarder all along the Gulf of Mexico. They are expected to reassert their dominance now that El Chapo escaped from your maximum-security prison. On the western side of your county, Cartel Pacifico Sur and Sinaloa Federation run the area from Central America to San Diego. The mountainous region is constantly disputed but key to moving product the shorter distance into the U.S.A.”
“Arrests of kingpins like Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known to the world as El Chapo, make splashy headlines and buy us favors from the States,” Ed admitted, “but new cartels pop up replacing the old ones, each more violent that the last. It’s the poor farmers and those just trying to put food on their tables who pay the real price.”
Josh found it interesting that his driver didn’t comment further on the famous criminal’s escape.
Ed sighed. “My country has gone through a lot lately and we are trying like hell to clean it up. President Enrique Peña Nieto recently proposed centralizing control of the local police. They are so easily bought off since they aren’t paid shit. Not that we’re paid well, either, but most of the men in my district have been affected in one way or another by the atrocities of the cartels. Taking them down is personal. You can’t buy that kind of commitment.”
Josh wondered what had happened to make Ed decide on a career with the national police force.
