a Beautiful Christmas

by Ember-Raine Winters

  “I figured that. I’m just wondering what happened to the girl who had to be sedated because she was so upset, thinking the man she loved was dying. He took a fuckin’ bullet for you, Barbie. Man up!”

  “What the hell, Buck? Get off my back. You have no idea what I’m going through.”

  He stormed over to the bed, glared down at me, and continued his rant. “No? I don’t huh? You have no idea what I’ve been through… the things I lost, so don’t fucking pretend to. If you ask me, you should be grateful to have him.” The look on his face was filled with disgust. “Don’t throw it all away.”

  I felt like an asshole. Buck was hardly ever serious like that. He was a big teasing flirt most of the time, so to see the pain in his eyes was a shock. I wondered not for the first time what had happened to him in the past. “I’m sorry.”

  He shook his head sadly. “Not me you need to be sorry to, Barbie. Just do me a favor and think about it. The longer you panic, the closer you become to losing him for good.”

  He turned to leave, but I stopped him. “Have you seen him? Is he okay.”

  He stared at me, standing by the edge of the door, hand on the door knob. “No Kenzie. He’s not. He called me late last night freaking out and asked me to track you down.” He opened the door. “My family is never coming back. Don’t lose your one chance at a family who loves you.”

  “Thanks Buck, I’ll remember that,” I whispered just before he shut the door.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  MARCY

  When Kaylee and Tara showed up at my door the next day I was confused. Until it hit me. “Shit, girls weekend.”

  “Don’t even try to get out of it. It has been way too long since I went out and had some fun. I will drag your sorry ass out of here kicking and screaming if I have to.” Kaylee looked at me with raised brows, daring me to test that theory. I decided to go with them quietly. There wasn’t a man in the building who didn’t know who she was and every one of them would back her up. Even if I was their therapist. Geez, I need new friends.

  I had my bags packed for the weekend days ago, so I grabbed it and headed for the door.

  “Aren’t you going to say bye to Mac?” Tara asked confused.

  “I would, but he’s not here. He got home really late last night and left super early this morning.”

  “Wait, who’s watching Johnny?” Kaylee asked.

  “Justin and Eric volunteered to pick him up from school and do ‘guy’ stuff all weekend.”

  “You mean the guy that almost got fired for that whole stunt Shelby pulled?” Tara asked quizzically. “You trust him with Johnny?”

  “Of course, he’s a good guy. He just let a pretty face manipulate him. He won’t do it again,” Kaylee defended Griffin’s employee. She was one of the main reasons Justin hadn’t gotten fired and thrown out on his ass. When Trey woke up and found out Justin was still working at GTT, he threw a fit, but Kaylee was the one who stood up to him. Justin had been Leanne’s personal bodyguard for a while after Kaylee’s crazy exes had gone after her and the kids. Ever since then, Kay has had a soft spot for the guy. Tara really should have known better than to bad mouth him in front of her.

  “Okay, we have one more stop to make and then we’re on our way to Vegas.” Tara whooped excitedly.

  This oughta be fun!

  MAC

  Down at the precinct, I waited for Keller. I knew he wasn’t going to like the favor I had to ask him, but I literally had nowhere else to turn.

  “Mac, what are you doing here?” Keller looked at me like he knew exactly why I was there.

  “Can we talk in your office?” I asked, not wanting to talk in front of all Tasha’s old coworkers.

  “Sure, right this way.” I hefted the duffle bag I was carrying on my shoulder and followed him through a maze of desks. “How’s Tasha? I heard that was quite a crazy birth last night.”

  “She and the baby are doing great. I spoke to Twitch this morning and they will be getting out of the hospital sometime tomorrow.” I smiled thinking of the three of them. So happy that my cousin got a miracle and a son at that. Johnny was gonna be a great cousin to that little boy. I was sure he would have him playing video games before he learned to walk.

  After shutting the door to the captain’s office, I laid the duffle on his desk and sighed. “Can you keep this safe for me?”

  “Is that what I think it is?” He shook his head, already telling me what he thought of this new drama.

  “Yeah, I need to hide it for a little while.”

  “Jesus, you people are all insane.” His frustration at us was loud and clear.

  “It’s not all about payback,” I said indignantly before stopping a moment to take a breath, knowing full well how I’d look with what I was about to reveal. “The ring in that bag isn’t for Kenzie. It’s actually for Marcy, and I needed to hide it somewhere else before she found it.”

  He looked at me in horror, staring as though I’d lost my mind. Yeah, no one knew except Trey, and I felt guilty that he was going through this crap for a ring that didn’t even belong to him, but I couldn’t tell Kenzie that it really wasn’t for her. In order to keep going with the secret and not having Marcy find out, they all had to keep thinking it was for Kenzie until Christmas… and what I had planned.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  TWITCH

  “Sorry you can’t come with us, bro,” Trey said to me softly as he was holding James in his arms, rocking him back and forth. He came by the hospital with Griffin for a visit.

  “Bad timing,” I said smiling over at Tasha. She was exhausted but never looked more beautiful. It didn’t matter that they were taking off to Vegas. There wasn’t a single part of me that wanted to go with them; nothing in the world could take me from where I was, with a family I truly never believed I’d have.

  “If you get the opportunity, keep track of the investigation,” Griffin added.

  “Sure, did Keller get any leads off the ATM cameras?” I asked thinking of calling Keller and following up with him.

  “Shit, I forgot you don’t know,” Trey cursed.

  “Don’t know what?”

  “I was the one who took the toys out of the trunk,” Tasha said sitting up in the hospital bed.

  “What?” I shot her an exasperated look. “I knew something about this whole thing stunk.”

  “Shit… red head guy in a baseball cap and a big belly? I should have guessed it when Jared said it.” Griffin half laughed.

  “What? You knew?”

  “I found out last night after we left here. The problem is, it’s gone for real now. Someone broke into Bob’s house.”

  TASHA

  Kenzie!

  I relayed the phone call I got from Keller the day before and the guys nodded thoughtfully. “Kenzie called Kay yesterday and asked me if I saw what was in the bag. I told her no, that I didn’t look inside.”

  “Mac said she showed up at Bob’s yesterday, but the house sitter turned her away,” Trey said.

  “You don’t think she went back and took the bag?”

  “It would explain why she went MIA,” Twitch responded.

  “What do you mean?” The guys were talking in riddles but one thing kept sticking in my mind, Keller had said the value of the bag was ten thousand dollars.

  “You seriously don’t know?” Griffin lifted one eyebrow. It hit me like a ton of bricks and I groaned.

  “I fucking ruined everything.”

  Poor Kenzie.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  KAYLEE

  We walked down the hallway of one of the higher end hotels in Los Angeles and knocked on the door.

  “Go away,” Kenzie yelled through the door.

  “Nope, not happening,” I yelled back. “You’re going on this weekend trip with us. I’ll wait for you all night if I have to.”

  The door flew open and she glared at us. “I’m not going. My whole world is falling apa
rt and you want me to go off on a stupid trip.”

  “That wasn’t melodramatic at all.” Tara laughed. I nudged her with my elbow and she thankfully shut up.

  “Trey is going on his guys’ weekend,” I coaxed.

  “He is?” she asked sadly. “Where are they going?”

  “Vegas,” Marcy said brightly.

  “Of course they are.” I cracked up laughing.

  GRIFFIN

  I can’t believe I let Trey talk me into this.

  Trey, Bubba, Buck, Mac, and I were in a limo on our way to a tattoo parlor in Las Vegas. Trey had it all planned out. We were getting matching tattoos and then we were headed to a club. It was a complete surprise; the girls didn’t know we were doing it.

  “Where are the girls going?” Buck asked.

  “They’re here, or at least they should be,” Trey answered distractedly.

  “Here? I thought they were going on a spa weekend or something.”

  “You realize who we’re talking about here, right?” Mac laughed.

  “I should have known. Kay has been talking about hitting up the craps tables for months.” I shook my head, annoyed at myself for not putting it together.

  We got to the tattoo parlor a few minutes later. It right on the strip. There were big windows where people outside could watch as people got tattooed. A big bald guy with tattoos crawling up his neck and the back of his head, greeted us.

  “Trey. How you been buddy?” he said excitedly.

  “Great, Mad Dog. How you been, man?”

  Mad Dog? Of course his name is Mad Dog. I shook my head and looked over at Mac. He grinned.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  KENZIE

  I had no idea why my stupid ass let them talk me into coming on this trip. It’s not like I was going to be good company. The suite was huge, though, one of those apartment type rooms that famous people booked and then trashed. I wondered what Trey was doing. I had been wondering that for the last forty-eight hours. He had been on my mind constantly, but I couldn’t wash away the fear and go back to him.

  Yes, I was being a complete moron. Yes, I should go back to the man I loved more than life. No, I just couldn’t do it… yet. God, what bitch I was to leave him hanging like that.

  “Whatcha doin’, chica?” Tara said walking into my room. I didn’t know her as well as the other girls but she seemed cool. I heard she was a badass and had mad respect for any chick that could take down a biker.

  “Nothing.”

  “You know…” She sat down on my bed, “when Billy and I got together, I was scared. I had recently gotten out of a horribly abusive relationship and there were times when Billy was, well Billy acts a bit bi-polar sometimes.”

  She giggled slightly and then looked at me with an unreadable expression. I hadn’t heard a lot of her story, but what I had showed me just how strong this girl was. “When he asked me to marry him, I wasn’t sure I was ready, but in the end, I loved his crazy ass and knew that of course I was going to marry him. Kaylee had been in a couple abusive relationships too, so if anyone had a right to run out of fear, it would have been us, but in the end you just gotta decide what’s more important and stop letting fear rule your life.” She patted my leg, then grinned. “Now come on, let’s go get drunk and play some craps.” I couldn’t help but smile.

  “That sounds like a great plan.”

  TREY

  “God that hurts like a bitch,” Mac yelled through gritted teeth.

  “You’re the one who picked where we got these damn things,” I taunted.

  “It’s a four-inch tattoo, man up, you wimp.” Bubba laughed at me from across the room. We were all sitting on our chairs in the main area with various artists surrounding us and the sound of the machines going on a constant hum.

  “You’re all a bunch of assholes,” Mac grumbled.

  We all decided on the same tattoo, the word trust in an old English style script font. It was a word that meant a lot to all of us, and I felt like maybe after everything it would bond us together even more. I just wish Country and Twitch could be there with us.

  “How’s Country doing?” I asked the guys.

  “He’s okay, I guess. Hasn’t really gotten over losing his hand. He’s back in North Carolina at the ranch.” Buck said.

  “You mean moping like a little girl.” Bubba added. “I told him to man up but the shithead just told me to go fuck myself and hung up on me.”

  We all laughed, but it had been awful. He’d helped us tremendously getting our family back when we had gone to Somalia. Country’s hand was blown off in the crossfire. Once he got back stateside our group tried to get him to come out to LA and work with us, but he said his days of helping people were over. We figured once he got a prosthetic and was comfortable using it, he would change his mind. I wasn’t quite sure that was going to happen.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  MARCY

  These girls were crazy on their best days, but drunk in Vegas? They were certifiably insane. I was designated babysitter since I was pregnant, but I had a blast watching the three of them dance like lunatics in the middle of the dance floor. Kaylee was wearing a short veil. It was cute with the slinky little dress that easily said bride-to-be.

  I was sitting at our VIP table watching them when someone came up and put their hands over my eyes. I jumped and grabbed one of the hands and twisted it. Spinning around I heard a yelp and looked into Mac’s chest.

  “You ass, you scared me.” I thumped him on the chest.

  “You nearly broke my damn hand, Pix,” he grumbled in response.

  “Well, don’t sneak up on me like that.”

  “Sorry.” He leaned down to give me a kiss. It was something I would never take for granted. Each day, I thanked God for allowing Mac to forgive me and give us another chance. I was so damn happy with my life.

  “What are you doing here, anyway? It’s supposed to be a girls’ weekend.”

  Placing his arm over my shoulder, he explained, “This is where Trey wanted to go. It’s his show. I’m just along for the ride.”

  “Where is Trey?” I looked around him, wondering if he would show. I had no idea how Kenzie would react to seeing him and the last thing any of us needed was more drama.

  “Hey Mac.” Tara came up behind me and grabbed her drink. “Whatcha doin here?”

  “Same thing as you.” He smiled lifting his beer bottle to his lips.

  I watched his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he drank. It was insanely sexy for some reason, and I realized how much I had missed him over the last twenty-four hours. I didn’t know if I would be able to last the entire weekend without him.

  “Shoo.” Tara waved her hands in Mac’s face. “This is girls only. Go back to your own party.”

  “I think it’s a bit late for that.” He chuckled, pointing over at Kaylee and Kenzie. I flinched as I saw Kenzie’s look of horror before she took off running.

  “Shit, I’ll go talk to her.” I sighed and took off after her.

  MAC

  I watched as Marcy took off after Kenzie. Poor Trey looked devastated. Walking over to the bar I ordered a bottle of scotch and took it back to our table and poured a glass for him.

  “She’s being a chickenshit. Don’t worry, she’ll get over it.”

  “Sure,” he sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know what to do to make her stop running.”

  “You wanna dance?” A scantily clad blonde girl walked up and tapped Trey on the shoulder.

  “Sorry sweetheart, I’m taken, but they aren’t.” He pointed to Bubba and Buck. She pouted for a beat and turned to Buck.

  “Wanna dance?”

  “Sure darlin’” He smiled and took her hand.

  “Cocky sonofabitch.” I heard Bubba grumble, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  KAYLEE

  I was about to lose my shit until Trey and Griffin showed up. One guy a
fter another tried to put their hands on my hips or grab my ass. Like really? I was wearing a fucking veil. If that wasn’t enough of a deterrent my sash said bride-to-be, on both sides. I guess drunks don’t pick up on social cues.

  “Hey, get your damn hands off me,” Kenzie yelled at a guy who was getting a little too close to her. She pushed him, hard and he tumbled to the ground.

  “You’ll regret that, bitch.” He raged and stumbled off the dance floor.

  “Doubtful.” She smirked and finger-waved to him.

  GRIFFIN

  The night hadn’t really gone as planned. I had no idea the girls would be at the same club when Trey said he had bottle service in the VIP section, yet I should have figured they would be here with the way our luck was always going.

  I watched Kaylee as she danced in her little veil and sash. Her wild red hair flying around her. It was sexy as fuck and I noticed more than one guy try to slide in behind her. She promptly removed any wandering hands and went back to dancing.

  It was time I made my claim.

  I sidled up behind her and put my hands on her hips swaying with her to the music. She froze and turned ready to let me have it when her eyes lit up. She stumbled a bit as she threw her arms around my neck and kissed me, hard. I could taste the alcohol on her breath.

  “Miss me?” I asked smiling from ear to ear.

  “Yes, desperately.”

  A commotion to my left got my attention and I noticed Kenzie take off through a side door. Kaylee sighed and went to follow her, but I grabbed her and held her tight to me, lowering my mouth to her ear so she could hear me over the music. “Let them deal with it, babe. They’re grown-ups.”

  “I know but there was this guy and I’m worried something will happen,” she replied looking conflicted.

  “Look, Marcy is going after her, she’ll be fine.”

  “Okay.” She kissed me again. “I’m so glad you’re here. Guys just can’t take a hint.”