by Brynne Asher
When I look over, she leans into me as if she’s telling a secret, but in the same boisterous voice only the Cain sisters have managed to perfect, says, “Don’t mind him. Raine’s hubby, Alex, is the bomb. Grady knows it down deep, and even paid for their wedding, but he only did it because he loves Raine, and the whole time he grumbled about poor Alex. I mean, Alex is an accountant, and a good one. He does all our taxes. It’s convenient. Grady just refuses to believe any of us have sex.” She turns around and gives her older brother a glare when we reach the front door.
I don’t have a chance to turn to see Grady’s expression, because the next moment, Raine opens the front door and Christmas music is blaring from inside the house.
Grace doesn’t miss a beat. “Come on, Crew told us about the vineyard next door. We’re going to do a tasting and you’re coming with us.” She looks straight into my eyes and is as serious as serious can be when she demands, “And you’re going to tell us all what happened to your face.”
I let out a little puff of air and look over at the man whose ring I’m wearing, whose baby I could be pregnant with, and whose sisters just ran roughshod all over us. I widen my eyes and silently plea for help.
And damn him, what does he do?
He leans down and kisses me.
Then I hear catcalls through the Christmas music.
What. The. Hell?
*****
Weston MacLachlan –
Somewhere outside of Buffalo
I see him. He’s standing with Jeff and my dad. Trevor is off to the side with his arms crossed and looking intently at the scene in front of him.
I look back to Byron. He’s got an enormous knot on the side of his head where he’s holding ice. Besides that, I don’t see any other injuries, but I wouldn’t because I’m not looking for them, and I’m not looking because I don’t give a fuck.
They all watch me as I approach, but I don’t stop. When I get close enough, I put my hands to his chest and shove with all my might. “You went after my woman?”
Byron goes reeling, landing on his ass first before falling to his back.
I sense someone at my side and I hold my hand out to stop them before looking to my dad. “Do not fucking tell me you ordered that to happen. Do not tell me you ordered him to go after her.”
My dad’s face tightens and he looks to Byron, who’s slowly pulling himself up from the ground. “I did not.”
Byron looks worse for the wear, but even so, he looks straight at me and yells, “It needed to be done and you never talk to your Lieutenant that way! You’re a fucking mess and not held to the same rules because you’re a daddy’s boy.” He takes another couple steps toward me and puts a finger in my face. “You’re a soldier. Don’t ever question anything I do.”
I couldn’t give a shit who the fuck he is or if I’m supposed to answer to him. He made a move on Maya. I know I’ve gotta find a way to get her back and I’m in the process of making that happen. Nothing in my life has made me crazier than seeing her with him. That won’t last for long, though.
But Byron going after her on his own? No one fucking does that without answering to me. I don’t give a shit who he is.
“Did you hurt her?” I counter, hitting his hand out of my face and taking a step to get into his. I stay where I am, but turn to look at Trevor and demand, “Did you?”
Trevor’s eyes shoot to me and his face tightens. His chest is rising and falling, but I don’t give a fuck. I can tell by the look in his eyes something happened.
I pull my gun out of the back of my pants, point it at Trevor, and shout, “Fucking answer me. Did you hurt her?”
“Weston!” my dad bellows at the same time Jeff yells, “Stand down!”
But I don’t take my eyes off Trevor. His hands come out, palms up as he lowers his voice, even though it holds steady. “I took my order and did what I was told. I tried to be careful, but there was a scuffle. Other than some scrapes, she looked fine.”
“Put the gun down. That’s an order,” Jeff warns again.
I don’t give a shit if he was trying to be careful, I barely move my gun a centimeter and squeeze the trigger. Trevor falls to the ground, but not because I hit him.
“What the fuck?” he yells from the ground where he fell for cover, and scrambles back to his feet.
“Weston!” my dad growls.
“That’s a warning,” I seethe, glaring straight into Trevor’s eyes. “If Maya ever gets so much as a scratch on her again and you’re involved, you’re dead.”
Only because he’s a recruit and I know he was taking an order from my shithead Lieutenant, do I take a step back and swing my arm around to Byron.
“Weston!” I barely hear Jeff yell for the rage ringing in my ears.
“What’re you gonna do, pretty boy?” Byron eggs me on. “You’ll pay for this. You’re a soldier, nothing more. Don’t forget you report to me. You don’t take a stand against your superior. Ever. I don’t give a fuck what your last name is.”
I lower my voice and look at him through the sight of my 9mm. “You hurt what’s mine. No one goes after what’s mine. I’ll get her back, but in my own way.”
“She knows about us. It was necessary, she’s a liabili—”
Without moving my gun, I shout, “No one calls her a liability!”
“Put the fucking gun down,” Jeff demands.
“Weston,” my dad calls for me.
I ignore them both.
“I’ll get her back on my own and get rid of that other guy in the process,” I inform Byron. “Don’t ever think about her again. She’d better not even enter your fucking brain.”
Byron takes a step and narrows his eyes. “I’ll do what I need to do for this family. Liabilities are eliminated, and she’s a fucking liabil—”
That’s when I pull the trigger.
All I hear is the gunshot ringing through the abandoned warehouse as he hits the floor. I don’t hear the commotion, the yelling, or the men running to Byron where he’s starting to bleed, lying on the cold concrete. That’s when his eyes roll back in his head.
I know he’s dead. That’s what he gets for going after Maya.
“Fuck!” Jeff yells and turns to my dad. “What are you going to do about this?”
“No one fucking touches her,” I warn and turn my gun on the rest of the group, including my father. I look to Trevor, who doesn’t take his eyes off me. “The only reason you aren’t dead, too, is because I know you were taking an order.” His chest heaves, even though he’s standing stock-still. I look back to the rest of them. “I’ll get her back and that asshole who took her from me will pay. But no one makes a move on Maya Augustine. Ever.”
I don’t give a shit about Byron, I’ve always hated him and now he’s out of the way. I walk backwards, not taking my eyes off them when my dad calls for me, “Weston, stop.”
As soon as my back clears the door, I turn and move. It’s time to bring Maya home and take care of that asshole who took her from me for good. I shoot two tires on every car but mine.
I have a task.
Fuck the consequences. All I can think about is her.
Chapter 23 – You’ve Sunk Me
Grady –
“I can’t believe you’re engaged.”
I look over and Crew raises his beer to his lips as he watches the huddle of women at the bar with their empty bottles of wine scattered about.
Wine “tasting” turned into everyone having a glass and then another. The next thing I knew, Addy closed the place down and brought out platters of food as Evan started popping corks. That’
s when the wine tasting turned into a party.
I take a sip of my water and make no comment. Maya and I still haven’t spoken the word engaged out loud, let alone anything else. At this point, I’m just happy she’s still wearing my ring. It’s a step in the right direction, but I’m not about to tell Crew.
“You beat me,” Crew goes on and turns to me. “I’m giving Addison some time—she needs it after what went down with O’Rourke. But we’re getting married in the spring as long as she’s good. She just doesn’t know it yet.”
“Happy for you, man,” I say, because I am. There are times I look back on what we did, when we were in the thick of it. Seems like forever ago, when really it hasn’t even been a year since we officially retired. It seems like another life—a hallucination compared to the last couple months.
“You gonna tell her?” Crew asks.
I sigh and look at my obsession, sitting in the middle of my sisters. Three of them are drunk and cackling up a storm with Addy and her friend Mary, but Raine and Maya haven’t had a drop. They’ve been deep in conversation for some time.
“I’m working on it,” I answer. “Just when I think I have a plan, new shit is thrown at us. The latest being my sisters.”
“I just found out two of them are staying with us at Addison’s since I only have one bed at my old house.” He looks over at me and raises a brow. “You’re welcome.”
“I have no idea how long they’re staying, but at least they all have jobs. They have to leave eventually,” I grumble. “Speaking of jobs, I know Maya’s ex and his family are still a threat, but once that’s under control, I think it’s time for me to come back. I’ve taken too much time as it is.”
“No problem. Whenever you’re ready.”
“I’m ready,” I say firmly. “This time around, I’m all in. I see what you did when you got us out—I’m not taking it for granted again. I’m committed.”
Crew looks to me and nods once before turning back to the women, saying, “It’s time. Time for us to sit back and reap the benefits of doing our duty.”
I lean back in my chair farther and think about the benefits. I’m so ready for the payoff, I can barely stand it.
But first, I know things need to happen and information needs to be shared. And that makes me antsy.
*****
Maya –
I tip my head to the side. “I don’t understand.”
I’ve latched onto Raine since she isn’t drinking and I don’t want to drink, just in case. I’m pretending to be the supportive, non-drinking friend since it’s annoying to be around drunk people.
She gives me a little frown and asks, “Has he started drinking?”
I think back on our time together. “He did a wine tasting here and he took me to a brewery. But now that I think about it, he never had a beer because he was driving. He never finished a drink at my parents’ house, either. I never realized it until you said something.”
“Oh, that’s normal,” she flips out her hand before popping another piece of cheese in her mouth. “He doesn’t have a problem with alcohol, he just doesn’t like it. Given the circumstances, who can blame him?”
I try not to look confused, but I am. “Circumstances?”
She levels her eyes on me. “Yes. Our father.” When she realizes I have no idea what she’s talking about, her eyes get big. “You mean he hasn’t told you about our father yet? How long have you two been together, like a week?”
I shake my head quickly and try to brush her off, even though she’s closer to the truth than she probably realizes. “Since Grady and I met, there’s been a lot going on. You know…” I point to my face and shrug as an explanation. I gave all the Cain sisters the abridged version of what happened this morning at the airport, telling them I have a little issue with an annoying ex-boyfriend.
She nods, thankfully accepting my non-answer as if she understands completely. I’m learning these women have a knack at communicating through a one-way conversation, and even sometimes, telepathy.
“I totally get you.” She dips a cracker in hummus and keeps talking with her mouth full. “I’ll tell you this. None of us would’ve survived our childhood had it not been for Grady. Our dad was a first-class asshole, in the worst way possible. Our mom died soon after Grace was born. I’m not sure why they had so many kids, I was only seven when we lost her. She had breast cancer and since she was either pregnant or nursing for almost a decade, her boobs were in a constant state of flux. She didn’t notice the lump until it was too late. I remember things were good before she died. Or at the very least, they were normal.”
Listening to how they lost their mom at such a young age is heartbreaking.
“That’s kind of when I started remembering things. The other girls barely recall her, they were too young. From then on, things progressively got worse with our dad. He started drinking. The drugs came later, when we were older.”
“That’s awful,” I utter, not knowing what else to say, but also feeling like a heel for not asking Grady more about his family.
“Yeah, we were basically raised by babysitters, and not great ones, either. I don’t remember at what point it eventually got so bad, but he’d come home late and drunk, and take all his aggravations of raising five kids out on us. We couldn’t do anything right. The beatings were bad and Grady usually took the brunt of it.”
“What?” I whisper.
“Yep,” she shrugs as if she’s told the story a million times, which who knows, maybe she has. “When we were little, we all got it. That is until Grady grew as big as him, then the old man couldn’t fuck with us while Grady was standing in the way.”
“Holy shit,” I mumble and look over to Grady sitting across the room with Crew, deep in conversation.
“Grady managed him the last couple of years, but the day he came home to find dad wailing on Grace—that was it. Grace was only nine and so little for her age. Who knows what she did to piss him off that day, but it got to the point where it didn’t matter. When Grady saw that Grace was almost unconscious, he lost his shit. Put dad in intensive care and he never woke up. I’m sure Grady saved Grace’s life that day and took care of our dad for good.”
“That’s how your dad died?”
“Mm-hmm. Best day ever. Grady joined the Army, the girls and I went to live with our aunt and uncle from our mom’s side. Happily ever after.” She pops an olive in her mouth. “You know, I’m gonna gain a gazillion pounds. I’m so hungry, I can’t stop eating.”
I try to keep our conversation going as I process everything she just told me, and try not to sound distant when I offer, “You need to listen to your body, you’re starting the second trimester. The baby is growing a lot.”
Raine smiles big. “I love you already. You just told me to eat whatever I want. You’re awesome.”
I give her a small smile, and almost jump out of my skin when I feel a hand wrap softly around my chin and lift. Grady is standing above me looking down. “Time to go. I need to check your eyes.”
I give him a small smile. His thumb brushes my cheek when he comes down to kiss my forehead.
He looks to Raine. “Can you get the drunks to bed?”
Raine stands from her barstool. “It’s not like I haven’t done it a hundred times before. Besides, we’re going into DC tomorrow to see the sights. You’re not the only person we came to annoy. Abraham Lincoln, here we come.”
“At least he’s sitting so you don’t knock him on his ass,” Grady mutters as he takes my hand and pulls me from my stool.
Raine looks to me and rolls her eyes. “He thinks he’s funny.”
After we say our goodbyes, Grady takes me home. Fiftee
n minutes ago, I would’ve done anything to go straight to bed, but after Raine told me what she did, I’m very much awake.
*****
Grady –
I hear the water turn off. The moment we hit her small house, she said it had been such a long day, she needed a shower. Before that, she was just plain quiet on the short trip home.
When I hear the bathroom door open, I look up from where I’m sitting on the edge of the bed waiting on her. Her hair is pinned up high and she’s wrapped in a short robe. But my eyes go directly to her hands where she’s sliding my ring back on her finger. All of that, with her eyes on me and coming my way, makes my cock twitch.
When she doesn’t stop, I open my legs and she comes right to me. Her hands come to my bare skin and her eyes follow her touch.
She finally looks into my eyes and her voice is soft. “You haven’t done your exercises in three days.”
I wrap my arms around her waist and run my hands up her back. “I’ve been busy.”
She doesn’t smile, just shakes her head and starts to massage my shoulder with one hand, but otherwise doesn’t move.
“You okay?” I finally ask. The number of things that could be clouding her head are countless.
Her ministrations continue, a touch so light but healing, she’ll never know its significance.
She finally looks into my eyes. “Raine told me about your dad.”
It’s everything I can do not to tense. I do my best to control it, but in an instant, I’m pissed at my sister and worried about what she knows.
I tip my head. “What did she tell you?”
Maya’s hands work their way up my shoulders, neck, and into my hair. She finally looks down into my eyes. “She said you saved Grace’s life.”
I exhale, still not relieved, so I offer, “It was a bad day.”
She leans forward and kisses my forehead, her voice like a feather on my face as she whispers, “Raine said it was the best day ever.”
