"And..." I said, rolling my eyes.
"He says he's here for dinner."
"Again... and?" I asked, knowing exactly who it was, but enjoying my son's discomfort. Like Fee, I would never get sick of that.
"It's Collings. Detective Collings."
"Last I checked, he was retired," I said, shrugging a shoulder. "So he is just Connor now."
"You actually invited him?"
"I actually did," I agreed, nodding.
Shane's confusion only deepened.
"He brought a date."
"The more, the merrier," I agreed, but felt my heart swelling at the idea that he had finally found someone worthy of him. "Why are you standing here when you should be getting them a drink?" I asked. "Did I raise you with no manners at all?"
"No, ma'am," he said, rushing off to do as instructed.
Peyton let out a dreamy sigh.
"One day, I hope my full-grown children piss themselves in fear of me," she said, smiling a little when I threw a potato skin at her.
It was an hour later when we finally all started to file into the dining room, the table already weighed down with the heaping piles of food. My boys never did seem to lose their appetites, and we had several boys growing up with hollow bones that needed constant stuffing. We hardly ever even had leftovers anymore.
"Happy Anniversary, baby," Charlie said, coming up behind me, placing his head on my shoulder, his arms twining tight around my waist.
My hands closed over his, squeezing.
We didn't say anything, just stood there, watching our boys file in, wrangling children into seats, then having to separate them when they objected loudly to being placed next to their siblings or too far away from their cousins, or whatever objection children could possibly have to where they sat at a table. Which was a lot of them.
We watched as Eli pressed a kiss into Autumn's temple as he moved past. As Hunt's hand grazed Fee's lower back as she leaned down to hear what Little Eli said to her. Scotti pressed her head into Mark's arm as he stole the dinner knife out of the place setting of one of the kids. Thinking no one was looking - or simply not caring - Shane's hand gave Lea's ass a squeeze before he helped her into her seat. Over near a corner, Ryan's hand was closing over Dusty's that was around her throat, gently easing it down, kissing the knuckles, then leaning close to whisper in her ear until she started breathing normally again.
Our boys.
Their wives.
So, so much freaking love.
My heart, already so full, seemed to swell more in my chest watching them interact.
My eyes drifted toward King and Savea, trying to wrangle their little hellhound of a dog back out of the room to the backyard before he could steal food off of anyone's plates. Atlas was showing Little Eli a video on his phone, both of them laughing. Nixon and Rush were each trying to ease their women into the chaos of the room.
Across from them, Peyton smacked Sugar's hand away from her belly, having a pet peeve about anyone touching it. But Sugar leaned over, nipped her ear, and put his hand there again, rubbing the swell where their love had overflowed to make another life.
Charlie's arms squeezed me as I spotted Collings, his hand on the knee of a woman at his side, a woman who was watching his profile like he had hung the moon while he reached to refill her drink.
"God," I said, trying to exhale, to ease the heaviness of my chest from a heart too big for the small space it resided in. "We created all of this," I said, wonder plain in my voice.
It hadn't been an easy road.
The speed bumps had been enough to knock out our chassis, stalled us on the side of the road for days, weeks, months, even years.
There was blood and pain and ugliness.
But more, way, way more, there was beauty.
In the way our love was too much to be contained, spilling over into five perfect boys who in turn found love deeply enough to ensure a legacy, to overflow themselves, to create future generations of Mallicks whose legacy would be that for the books.
"Knew it would come to this the first time I kissed you," Charlie told me, lips brushing my ear as he did so. "Tasted forever on your lips."
This man.
There weren't words for how much I loved him.
The depth of it was almost frightening when I thought about it at times. Bottomless. Never-ending.
"I love you," I told him, the words too simple for what I felt, but Charlie knew me enough to understand the depth in my tone.
"I love you too, baby," he told me, mouth opening to say something else, but he didn't get the chance.
Because his words were drowned out by a familiar sound, one I knew from several decades ago, when I had five hungry boys around my dinner table, waiting not-so-patiently for me to serve up the food.
Hands closed around forks.
Fists slamming against the wood of the table.
Making glassware wobble ominously.
As now two generations of Mallicks demanded to be fed.
Charlie gave me a squeeze.
And we took our place at the head of the table.
XX
RECIPE
Earl Grey Madeleines
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
1 egg
3 tablespoons flour
2.5 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon loose leaf earl grey tea
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
butter to grease madeleine pan
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350
Melt the butter. Add in the Earl Grey tea.
Grease the madeleines pan.
Whisk the egg until it has doubled or tripled in volume.
Slowly add in the sugar.
Fold in the flour.
Refrigerate the batter for 30mins.
Spoon the batter into the flutes, only filling to about 3/4.
Bake for 12-14 minutes, until only the edges are golden.
Remove from oven and take out of the mold immediately.
Enjoy!
DON'T FORGET!
Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking time out of your life to read this book. If you loved this book, I would really appreciate it if you could hop onto Goodreads or Amazon and tell me your favorite parts. You can also spread the word by recommending the book to friends or sending digital copies that can be received via kindle or kindle app on any device.
ALSO BY JESSICA GADZIALA
If you liked this book, check out these other series and titles in the NAVESINK BANK UNIVERSE:
The Henchmen MC
Reign
Cash
Wolf
Repo
Duke
Renny
Lazarus
Pagan
Cyrus
Edison
Reeve
Sugar
The Fall of V
The Savages
Monster
Killer
Savior
Mallick Brothers
For A Good Time, Call
Shane
Ryan
Mark
Eli
Investigators
367 Days
14 Weeks
Dark
Dark Mysteries
Dark Secrets
Dark Horse
Professionals
The Fixer
The Ghost
STANDALONES WITHIN NAVESINK BANK:
Vigilante
Grudge Match
OTHER SERIES AND STANDALONES:
Stars Landing
What The Heart Needs
What The Heart Wants
What The Heart Finds
What The Heart Knows
The Stars Landing Deviant
Surrogate
The Sex Surrogate
Dr. Chase Hudson
DEBT
Dissent
Into The Green
Stuffed: A Thanksgiving Romance
Unwrapped
; Peace, Love, & Macarons
A Navesink Bank Christmas
Don't Come
Fix It Up
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jessica Gadziala is a full-time writer, parrot enthusiast, and coffee drinker from New Jersey. She enjoys short rides to the book store, sad songs, and cold weather.
She is very active on Goodreads, Facebook, as well as her personal groups on those sites. Join in. She's friendly.
STALK HER!
Connect with Jessica:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JessicaGadziala/
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/314540025563403/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13800950.Jessica_Gadziala
Goodreads Group: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/177944-jessica-gadziala-books-and-bullsh
Twitter: @JessicaGadziala
JessicaGadziala.com
<3/ Jessica
Mallicks_Back to the Beginning Page 19
