by Vaughn, Ann
The only thing that kept her days from being truly happy was that Colt and Baby Chris were still in the hospital. Colt was showing significant signs of improvement and they had begun slowly reducing the medication that kept him asleep, but he'd yet to wake up. She and Mike went to the hospital every day. Sarah had since been released, but she went up there every day, going back and forth between her two boys. Several times, Lainey had let her cry on her shoulder, but Sarah would only do that if they were away from the rooms. While she was with Colt or her baby, she kept her demeanor confident and bright. Everyday, she worked Colt's muscles the way Aubrey had showed her, moving his legs and his arms to prevent him from getting too stiff. Baby Chris was also improving greatly. Everyone was hopeful that he would be out of the hospital by the wedding. As for Colt, it would just depend on when he woke up.
"Cara mia," Mike said, bringing her thoughts back to the present, "we're here."
She blinked, seeing that they were pulling into his parents' circular driveway. He pulled up and allowed the valet to take his key as he got out. Lainey was still in awe of the fact that his parents had valets to park visitors' vehicles. She'd grown up with the Adtkissons and they'd never done that unless it was for a social event.
"Do I have to be nice to your brothers?" she asked as they walked to the front door, making Mike chuckle.
"You can be however you want to them, cara mia, I don't mind."
"So I can tell Andre off again if he calls you soldato?"
He kissed her brow. "Damn Irish," he chuckled, "I love you."
She was smiling up at him when the door opened, and once again they were greeted by Nick. This time, however, Lainey didn't detect any hostility from Nick as he let them inside. On the contrary, he seemed downright pleasant, which puzzled her.
"Mike, Lainey," he said, leading them inside.
Before he could say anything, Jeannette came into the foyer, Lainey's mother Lisa beside her, both ladies smiling.
"Oh, that can't be good," Mike said, his voice low, "remind them that we don't want all of Springfield at this wedding. They will turn it into a replay of the Founders Day Ball if you let them."
She patted his arm. "Let me handle them, you go play with the boys," she said, kissing his cheek.
Mike's eyes flashed at her and she could tell he knew she was trying to maneuver him. She just smiled and walked toward their mothers.
"Guess she just threw you under the bus, didn't she?" Nick said as they watched them walk away.
"Looks like," Mike agreed.
"I'm happy for you," Nick said, turning Mike's attention to him. "Lainey is...well, she's really something."
"Yes, she is," Mike agreed.
For a moment, the twins stood still, studying each other. Mike had never felt more like a stranger in his life than he did at that moment. Some things that Lainey had said over the past few weeks began pricking his consciousness, however. Nick had never really seemed to care or support his decision to join the Navy; never really asked questions about what he did. Neither, he had to admit, had he really cared or asked questions about anything Nick was involved in as well.
Nick cleared his throat. "Dad and Andre are in the lounge with Chief Riley. You want to grab a drink?"
"Sure," Mike said, but as Nick turned to walk away, he almost called him back. They needed to talk. Mike just wasn't sure how to begin.
From the shadows across the way, Lainey watched the twins walk off toward what Jeannette referred to as Lorenzo's Lounge. She almost hated seeing them together, just for the fact that seeing Mike and Nick side by side was a reminder of all that Mike had lost. There were no scars on Nick's face. His eyes were just as pale as Mike's, but the iciness that was so often in Mike's gaze wasn't present in Nick's. Nick had never been jolted from a fitful sleep with nightmares of all the unspeakable things he'd seen, done and had done to him.
She was just about to walk away to rejoin the others when four children came running through the foyer, following the brothers. Intrigued, she watched them approach the twins. Their ages looked to be between four and eight or nine. One girl and three boys. She was intrigued because the kids all had that excited edge to them, as if they were doing something exciting and scary all rolled into one.
"Uncle Mike," the oldest boy said, drawing Mike's attention.
"Yes, Nicos?"
"Is it true that you were captured?"
Lainey saw Nick's complexion pale and his eyes narrow.
"Who told you that?" he asked. She was assuming Nicos was his son.
"We heard all of you talking earlier."
"You had no business listening in on our conversation," Nick scolded him.
Nicos ignored him, shifting his gaze back to Mike. "You have scars on your face and your neck and your hands and arms. You were captured, weren't you?"
"Yes," Mike replied.
He was so formal with them. She thought of how he interacted with Cam and with little Petey. He was still a little reserved with them, but not like this. It was interesting, however, that the kids didn't seem bothered or intimidated by him.
"You were?" the little girl asked, eyes wide.
"I was, but I'm all right now."
What happened next had Lainey's heart both breaking and soaring. The little girl, who looked to be around five, stepped closer to Mike and raised her arms for him to pick her up, which he did without hesitation. Lainey pressed her fingertips to her lips to keep from making any noise when the girl put her little hands on Mike's cheeks and leaned in to place a kiss on the scar under Mike's eye.
"All better?" she asked him, her innocent sincerity taking Lainey's breath away.
"Assolutamente, bellisima," he answered her, making her smile and kiss his cheek and throw her arms around his neck.
Beside her, Gia stood with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes as well.
"Can't fool kids," Gia said, making Lainey nod.
"No, you can't. Whose is she?"
"Nick's. That's Bella. Nicos and Bella are his. Aidan and Landon are Andre's."
She watched Mike start to put Bella down, and saw Bella tighten her hold on his neck.
"Carry me, Uncle Mike," she said.
"Bella, leave Uncle Mike alone," Nick said, reaching to take her from his brother.
Mike shook his head, shifting Bella slightly.
"She's fine," he told Nick.
"Can we see your other scars, Uncle Mike?" Nicos said, drawing Mike's attention.
"Yeah, can we?" one of the other boys asked.
Mike chuckled. "We're about to eat, Nicos," he reminded his nephew.
"Oh, yeah. Later then?"
"Maybe," Mike answered.
"I'd kiss them all for you and make you feel better, Uncle Mike," Bella said, "so your eyes aren't so sad anymore." Lainey gasped. It was too much. She started to step forward to go to him but Bella's next words stopped her, "But you don't look so sad now. You look like Daddy."
Lainey saw Mike lift his head and meet his brother's gaze. From the mouths of babes, she thought. Little Bella had just helped her uncle take a step in the right direction.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
At the table, whatever hopes Lainey had about his family relationship were dashed some, as the conversation flowed pretty much the same as it had the last time they'd eaten dinner with them. Everyone talked, except Mike. Everyone asked each other questions, except to Mike. She supposed she couldn't expect them to change overnight, but she did expect Mike to change. He had changed. He was a totally different man now than he'd been the last time they'd sat here; she knew that. But it seemed to her that he was falling back into his same pattern.
At one point, Mike leaned over and nuzzled her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.
"Careful, Ms. Riley," he whispered, "your Irish is showing."
"So it is," she said when everyone got up to go into the sitting room for after dinner drinks. Mike stopped her in the foyer after everyone else had moved into the room, brushing a
lock of her hair away from her face.
"OK, let me have it," he said, bringing a small smile to her lips.
"If you recognize that I'm upset then you know what I would say."
"My family loves me, cara. We just have our differences."
"As do all families. But, you need to-"
"Uncle Mike! Please? We wanna see your scars!" Nicos called from the doorway. Mike and Lainey both turned to regard the boy, and Lainey noted that the whole room had fallen silent. They weren't dressed fancy for this dinner. Mike wore a black long-sleeve Henley with his khaki combat pants and boots. All he would have to do is raise his shirt or just pull it off.
"Nicos!" Carolina gasped, obviously the first she'd heard of the kids' request.
"I wanna hear about what you did in the war," Aidan said.
Mike's gaze returned to Lainey's for a moment, then they went into the room with everyone else. Lainey thought he was going to ignore the boys' request, until he settled her on a sofa next to her mother, then turned to address his nephews.
"I can't talk much about what I did. We rescued American citizens and diplomats who'd been captured and we went after a lot of bad guys."
"How were you captured?" Nicos asked.
Lainey saw Mike take a deep breath, then he sat on the edge of the sofa beside her. All eyes in the room were on him and she could see that his family was eager to hear what he had to say.
"We were ambushed. One of my men was killed by a sniper and another, Lainey's cousin and my friend, Riley, was seriously wounded. We were outnumbered and I saw that if we stayed and fought, we would have all been killed. So, I charged ahead and provided cover fire so the rest of my team could get Riley and the body of the one who'd been killed to safety. When I did that, I was surrounded and they got me."
"Why didn't they just kill you?" Aidan asked.
"They knew they'd captured an officer. So, they tortured me and sent video clips of it to the State Department."
Lainey felt her breath catch. She hadn't known that part.
Andre spoke up this time. "How did they torture you?"
"Used a whip on my back until it pretty much looked like raw hamburger meat. Broke a lot of bones. Knocked a lot of teeth out. Used a hot branding iron on me...among other things."
"How did you get away?" Nicos asked.
"My men came after me."
"How long were you held?" Nick asked.
"Twelve hours."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Nick pressed. "We didn't know anything had happened to you until you came home...and that was almost, what, six months after it happened. Why didn't you tell us so we could have been there for you?"
Lainey saw Mike's backbone stiffen slightly and reached up to place her hand on the small of his back, just letting him know she was there. She felt his muscles tense at her initial contact, then as she slowly rubbed her hand over his back, she felt him relax.
"We didn't exactly see eye-to-eye on my service. I asked my men to let the hospital know that I didn't want you notified unless I died."
"Why, Michael?" Jeannette asked. Lainey's heart hurt for her, at hearing what her son had gone through. She saw his eyes shift to his father briefly before looking back at his mother.
"I didn't want you to worry."
Lainey knew what he didn't say. He didn't think they would care.
"We worried about you all the time," his father spoke up.
"I led my team through nearly eight years of successful missions. I'm pretty good at what I do. Our luck ran out that day."
"Guess your luck ran out the day that guy broke into your loft, too, eh, soldato?" Andre chuckled.
Lainey stood up then, ignoring Mike's hand on her wrist.
"And now you see exactly why he didn't want to tell you. None of you ever supported his decision to go into the Navy. Why would he want any of you there to belittle him when he was fighting for his life?"
"We wouldn't have..." Jeannette began but Lainey cut her off.
"You wouldn't have. Nick may not have. Gia certainly wouldn't. But Andre and his father?"
"Now, just a minute," Lorenzo said, standing, which prompted Mike to stand, as well as Lainey's father, Gavin.
"Careful," Mike cautioned his father.
"Don't you warn me in my own home, boy."
"Lorenzo, please," Jeannette said, laying a hand on his arm.
"You didn't even give us a chance to be there for you," Lorenzo shot at Mike.
"Why would he?" Lainey snapped. "Think back to the last major conversation you had with him over his being in the Navy. You cut him down and railed at him because he decided not to go into the family law firm."
"Because he is brilliant and he was wasting his talents!!" Lorenzo exploded, towering over Lainey.
Mike stepped in front of Lainey then, getting into his father's face.
"You will not yell at my fiancee like that," Mike said, his voice deceptively soft and low.
"Michael, Lorenzo, enough," Jeannette said, stepping between them. "Lisa, Gavin, I apologize, we aren't normally-" she began, but Lainey interrupted her.
"Don't smooth this over, Jeannette. This confrontation is ten years overdue."
Lorenzo's gaze shifted from his son to Lainey, who had stepped from behind Mike to stand at his side.
"You are absolutely right, bellisima, this is something my son and I should have spoken of well before now. Forgive me, son," he said, surprising Lainey, "I know that I did not handle your decision to join the Navy very well back then. I was just so afraid of losing you. And you would have made an excellent attorney. I could see that. I could see what you were walking away from and that upset me. And we did think it was because of Nick and Carolina."
"Thank you," Mike said, softly, then shifted his gaze to his twin, "for the record...it never bothered me that Carolina fell for you. There was no real chemistry between us. I was more bothered just by the fact that yet again, it didn't seem to matter that I was an individual...that same twin thing we used to gripe about."
"I never looked at you and Nick as interchangeable," Carolina said, drawing his attention.
"I know that," Mike told her, "it was just what was going on between me and Nick at the time. How we were feeling."
"I was so jealous of your friendship with Riley," Nick confessed, "still am, in a way. And all that mess with, because you were born first, the extended family considered you Dad's heir. Stupid stuff. So, when I should have maybe looked the other way with her, I didn't. And, then once I got to know her, it had nothing to do with you and everything to do with her."
"I know," Mike said. "And I'm sorry I withdrew from all of you. When I got home...it was hard to re-connect. The kids were so happy and healthy and normal...not like the kids I'd been dealing with over there. It was just...safer, for me to stay behind my walls, as Lainey says."
Nicos stepped forward when a lull had fallen in the conversation, looking up at Mike.
"Sooo, are you going to show us your scars or what?" he asked, causing Mike to chuckle.
"You want to see my scars, kid?"
"Yeah."
Mike looked down at Lainey, who nodded. Then after a moment, pulled his shirt-tails from his pants and then pulled it over his head, handing it to Lainey.
Jeannette gasped, stepping forward raising trembling hands to his chest. Behind him, the boys were ooo-ing and ahhh-ing over his back, while his family came to grips with what they were seeing. Lainey gave his arm a squeeze then stepped back with her parents, letting his family close in around him, pausing only when Andre spoke.
"Damn, soldato," he said, drawing Lainey's temper once again.
"Andre, I swear, if you refer to him as a soldier one more time I will slug you," she said through clenched teeth, making everyone laugh.
"Sorry. Old habit," Andre said, but his eyes were still on his brother's torso.
"Break it. Now," she said, then stepped back to sit with her mother.
"I knew you said he had a lot of sc
ars, but...wow," Lisa said, taking Lainey's hand into hers.
Lainey nodded. "Those aren't even the worst of them," she said softly.
"The kids really seem to like him. That's good."
"It's really good," Lainey said, resting her head on her mother's shoulder. And it was really good. Moments later, Mike came back to her, taking his shirt from her to pull it back on. "Are you all right?" she asked him quietly.
"I'm fine, but you aren't. What's wrong?"
She shook her head. "I'm just tired."
"You want to go home?"
"If you're ready."
He held his hand out to help her up. Lainey stood...and then everything went black.
Mike's heart stopped when Lainey went down. He caught her before she hit the ground, swinging her up into his arms, alarmed when her head lolled back and her arm was limp. Her parents scrambled off the couch, giving him room to lay her down. He crouched down, checking her pulse, finding it strong. His heart was pounding. Was this a complication from the shooting?
"Lainey. Open your eyes, cara mia. Look at me, right now," he demanded, stroking his hand over her hair. "Now, Lainey. Look. At. Me."
"Don't yell, Commander, please," she murmured, sending relief shooting through him.
"What happened? Do we need to go to the hospital?"
"No, I'm fine."
"You just passed out, Lainey, I think we need to -"
"I'm fine. Let me up," she said, pushing against his shoulder. He sat back and helped her sit up, stroking his hand over her hair.
"You just dropped. That isn't normal, we need to..."
She stopped him, pressing a kiss to his lips, then cupped his face in her hands and looked deep into his eyes.
