Unchained

by Suzanne Halliday

  “I never thought about it that way,” Lacey offered with wonder in her voice. “Did you feel like you were on display?”

  “Oh, totally,” she admitted with a series of head bobs. “Alex was really good about it. Everywhere we went, he’d do this whole ‘my wife’ speech. Anyway, the town has an annual festival to commemorate something about a church bell.” She held up her hands in surrender and laughed. “I know. So shoot me, okay? Never did have an ear for languages.”

  Everyone chuckled.

  “Well, we planned to spend the day in town. I was super excited and couldn’t wait to get moving. Kept hollering to the hubs to move it along. Ladies, let me tell you. When he finally appeared and was ready to go, I nearly vapor-locked.”

  “Please tell me he was dressed and not naked,” Lacey moaned.

  “Oh, god yes, he was dressed. In his kilt.”

  Gasps erupted around the table. Meghan grinned. They so understood the importance of the symbolic gesture.

  “It was all I could do not to cry. Off we went on a two-mile hike into the village along a stunningly picturesque country road, with him marching along in his sexy kilt, the dark gray one. Because he’s Alex, he wore black socks and a pair of half-unlaced shit-kicking Doc Martens. And his shirt? Wanna know what it said?”

  Stephanie looked like she was having a case of the lady-swoons. “Oh, yes! Please.”

  “My beast wore a black t-shirt. The one that says ‘Glenfiddich’ in big white letters.”

  “Hold up,” Angie barked with a snorting laugh. “I have to take some notes to rub in Parker’s face later. Are you saying that for a village festival, my brother donned a whiskey t-shirt, a kilt, and some combat boots?”

  “Yep.”

  “That is so fucking badass.” She chuckled.

  “As we paraded around town, you could see the villagers nodding with admiration. When a Valleja-Marquez wants to honor his wife, everyone pays attention. By the end of the day, I was Doña Meghan and treated like Spanish royalty. Ladies, that man is such a treasure—you don’t even know.”

  As if it was choreographed, all the women scribbled on their napkins and stood, facing the bar where Alex and the boys gathered. Holding up the napkins, each one showing a ten, they started clapping enthusiastically. Angie even hollered, “Way to go, bro!”

  Meghan knew she’d remember the moment as long as she lived. Not the ladies and their refreshingly silly delight. No. She was going to remember how sexy and off-the-charts manly her alpha beast was that day. Wearing the kilt to the festival sent a powerful message to the townspeople. She was his amada, his beloved, and he wanted to make that clear to everyone who saw them.

  When they calmed down and sat around the table once more, all eyes immediately turned to Victoria. She squirmed under the intense regard.

  “Now that Irish is home, and all is right in the world of Family Justice once again, it’s time to offer our unsolicited two cents to you, Mrs. St. John. I’m pregnant and need shiny, happy people around me. Same for your mom.”

  She reached out and grabbed both of Tori’s hands. “It hurts to see you guys going through something and not understand what’s happening. Let us help, sweetie.”

  Meghan kept quiet. This was Tori’s come to Jesus moment, and she didn’t want to spoil Drae’s plans.

  Pressing her hands to her cheeks when they flamed red, Tori gave them all a feeble smile. “I knew that man was going to be trouble the minute I laid eyes on him.”

  “He loves you, shugah,” her mom offered in a deeply serious voice.

  Tori’s head shook, and she threaded her hanging hair behind both ears. “Love isn’t the problem, Mom.”

  Heather leaned on her forearms and fussed with her wine glass. Having a bona fide therapist in their little group made for some interesting dynamics.

  “At the wedding, you guys weren’t exactly sympatico.”

  “Yeah, no shit,” Angie agreed.

  Something flashed on Tori’s face. Reminding her of a time when she couldn’t help how she behaved or explain what was happening in her marriage was difficult to hear.

  The psychologist inside Heather came back with a swift comment. “From an outsider’s point-of-view, it just struck me as odd. It was apparent how close you guys were, but there was something else.”

  “It was the PPD,” Meghan insisted. “But we have that under control now, right?”

  Tori nodded. “Yeah. Lacey’s doctor is pure magic, and now that I have you to load me up with oils and supplements and ditched the unhealthy amount of caffeine and sugar I was living on, it’s like the cloud lifted. No more Red Bull for me.”

  Stephanie was listening quietly. “But why so much tension still, darlin’?”

  The toughest thing she’d had to do in a long time was remain expressionless while Tori decided how much to share.

  “Remember that part about what an arrogant, cocky shithead Draegyn St. John can be at times? Yeah. Well, while I was flirting with gimbal lock and threatening to vanish in space, he was burnishing his asshat credentials.”

  “Gimbal lock?” Angie leaned close to whisper.

  “Shh,” Meghan replied. “Nerd speak. I’ll explain later. She’s on a roll so just go with it.”

  The roll seemed ready to gain momentum when Victoria brought it to a screeching halt. “A better truth is that we both did some stupid shit and went too far.”

  Stephanie seemed especially upset to learn this. Meghan so wanted to tell her it was going to be okay, but this was the St. John’s crisis to solve, and everyone, her included, had to let things play out the way they were supposed to.

  “How far is too far?” Heather asked. “Too far like lawyer shopping or too far like ‘Here’s a pillow, you’re sleeping on the sofa.’”

  A hushed, expectant silence descended on the group. Tori took her grand old time answering.

  Her hand slipped inside her top and drew something out. “Check this out,” she murmured.

  Angie immediately snickered. “Were you carrying that in your bra?”

  “Hush,” Lacey said with a stern frown. “We all do it.”

  Heads all around the table nodded in unspoken agreement.

  Meghan knew what Tori carried next to her skin and close to her heart so she didn’t rush forward to see what was laid upon the table.

  Their eyes met over everyone else’s lowered head. Tori gave her an eyebrow inquiry, but Meghan simply smiled and remained passive.

  “Oh, my god,” Angie barked. “Is this for real?”

  “Yeah. He gave it to me earlier.”

  Heather laughed, picked up her wine glass, and sat back. Lacey appeared to be struggling with her emotions and Stephanie was smiling so broad, all Meghan could see of her face was teeth.

  Angie, who couldn’t help being exactly who she was, giggled. “Hey. I like this new logo. The three flames.”

  “The Justice phoenix,” Meghan muttered.

  Once again, everyone’s eyes drifted to the cluster of their men who though giving them space were balls-out standing guard nearby.

  “I’m thinking a tattoo,” Angie crowed gleefully. “Someplace really obvious that will drive Parker batshit.”

  “Oh, for god’s sake, Angie,” she bit out. “Give that poor man a break, would you?”

  A devilish glee shone in her sister-in-law’s eyes. “You mean like you gave Alexander a break by inking up your ass with his brand?”

  Heather nearly choked on her drink. “Whaaat?” Everyone else snickered quietly.

  “This is about Drae and Tori. Not a Marquez URL code.”

  The table shifted when Stephanie rocked back in her seat and belted out an enormous laugh. “Marquez URL code. Holy shit, that’s funny.”

  Sighing, she asked a question hoping it’d get the attention back on the St. Johns. Alex had just given her a heads-up with a discreet tap on his watch to let her know it was nearly time.

  “That’s quite an olive branch, honey. Is it enough?”
/>   Tori didn’t say anything at first. So she asked the same question only more directly.

  “Do you have enough love inside you to get beyond the stupid shit? You know, hon,” she said gently. “A wise man with a double-oh-seven complex once told me that loving Alex wasn’t a magical prescription. He wanted me to understand that even though we loved each other, the man still had some serious faults and that the future wasn’t always going to be rosy.”

  “He says I can trust him, and I want to. But there’s this”—she waved her hands and grimaced—“this THING standing in our way.”

  While Stephanie and Angie smiled with a nod, Heather, Lacey, and Meghan said, “We’ve all faced a THING.”

  Meghan put on her invisible Lady Mama hat and hoped she did her husband proud. “We all love you, Tori. Love Draegyn too. I think everyone here would tell you to run for the hills if any of us thought you guys would be better apart. Be strong, sweetie, and remember who you are.”

  Tori looked at her mother with a watery smile as tears slid down her face.

  “Damn. I love that stupid man. Can’t live without him but shit, ladies. He is a handful.”

  “So are you, baby girl,” Stephanie softly reminded Tori.

  It was enough. She was well pleased. Now all she had to do was get Tori to the main stage and let destiny take over.

  Standing up suddenly, she smoothed down her dress and said, “Come on. Let’s move closer to the stage. I think the entertainment is about to start.”

  Startled but following along, the group grabbed their drinks and whatever else couldn’t be abandoned and moved to a small round table in the middle of the dance floor, not far from the stage.

  Pushing Tori forward, Meghan pulled out a chair for her to sit and plunked her half-empty soda on the table in front of her. “We’ll grab chairs. Be right back.”

  Motioning to the other ladies to “Shhh,” and follow, Meghan stepped back and then pointed at the stage.

  The house lights dimmed and a spotlight shined on a solitary mic stand. Tori looked around and glanced over her shoulder. Meghan blew her a kiss and twirled her finger so she’d turn back around.

  Then Draegyn St. John walked into the spotlight and took the microphone. People packed Pete’s to the rafters every night now that word had gotten out about the new menu. Finn was well on his way to being a foodie superstar, so when Drae started talking, the noise was louder than the sound system.

  In one of those pricelessly funny moments, Brody sauntered forward and shoved Drae aside.

  “All right, you fuckers,” he boomed into the microphone. Meghan glanced around at the crowd and gave a secret sigh of relief that it was late enough for the families with kids to have cleared out.

  “Shut it and listen up.” He slapped a hand onto Drae’s shoulder and shook him. “My man’s got some groveling to do and since every single one of the men out there has probably been in the same spot, let’s give the poor moron some support, okay?”

  All the guys laughed, cheered, stomped their feet, and acted like a bunch of twelve-year-old boys. It was cute as could be.

  Brody drifted into the darkness behind Drae as the man, with a sheepish smirk, tried again.

  “As my friend was saying, give me a show of hands, gentlemen, if anyone here has ever stepped in it big time.”

  The crowd erupted in raucous cheers.

  Meghan slid forward, touched Tori’s shoulder, and kissed her cheek. “Listen with your heart.”

  NUMB WITH SHOCK, Tori clasped her hands in the middle of her chest. Remembering to crank her gaping mouth shut, she tried to concentrate while her heart pounded furiously.

  “So …” Draegyn smirked with an embarrassed grin. “I did a bad and my wife dropped the hammer on me big time.”

  He did a bad? Was that how we explained being a dick?

  “Now, in my defense,” he drawled, “there was a communication misfire behind my assholery.”

  Every guy in the place high-fived and barked or hooted and all the women groaned and shook their heads.

  Communication misfire? She wondered how long it took him to come up with that one.

  “Let me tell you, fellas,” her stand-up comedian husband chortled, “being born a dude put me at a disadvantage when it was time to decipher this miscommunication ‘cause, honestly … any of you guys here think they understand what a woman thinks?”

  Not a single hand went up, and all the women laughed.

  He held up his hand for quiet and continued with his strange mea culpa.

  “But I’m man enough to know when I’ve screwed up. So Victoria, my smart-mouthed geek princess, I’m here to publically proclaim my undying love along with a plea to let me explain.”

  Tori was pretty sure she was going to slide off her chair and melt into a puddle of goo.

  The room got quiet, and then the first notes of a vaguely familiar old-school song started up. He took the microphone off the stand and came to the edge of the stage. She was just feet in front of him. Suddenly, a soft spotlight shined on her. The breath caught in her throat.

  With the Family Justice men adding a soulful harmony backup, Draegyn St. John brought a stunned hush to Whiskey Pete’s as he performed a spine-tingling rendition of the Righteous Brothers classic, “Unchained Melody.” By the end, he was down on one knee, singing his heart out as his sexy blue eyes held her in a tractor beam of love.

  When the last notes faded away, he remained on his knee, and every eye in the place swung her way.

  Tori leaped from her seat and rushed the stage, flinging her arms around his neck and burying her face as he held her tight and spoke the words from the song in a soft whisper.

  “Oh, my love. My darling …”

  In the next instant, family completely surrounded them and shielded them from the eyes of others by a force field of unconditional love and support.

  “I didn’t do it,” he whispered. “Couldn’t. I love you too much. You and Daniel mean everything to me, Victoria. Everything. We’ll figure something out. Okay?”

  She could only nod and cry.

  Baby,” he groaned, “please tell me you forgive me.”

  Tori clung to him and sobbed happy tears. “Only if you forgive me too.”

  He kissed her. In front of everybody. And it wasn’t an ordinary kiss. It was a claiming, raw, brimming with emotion, and she gave herself up to the love she tasted on his lips.

  When he ended the kiss, they were still surrounded; she was literally hanging from him as he knelt at the edge of the stage. With a shaking hand, she pushed her fingers through his golden hair and whispered so only he could hear, “I think I might be pregnant.”

  She held her breath and then his entire face lit up without help from a spotlight. “I know what we’ll call her,” he said. She looked at him curiously. “Faith. We’ll call her Faith.”

  She buried her face in his neck. “I’ve always had faith in you, Draegyn. Even when I didn’t.”

  “Best meal I’ve ever had here,” Alex crowed happily. Shaking Finn’s hand, he smacked him on the shoulder. He hoped the friendly gesture would start to smooth the edges of their rough relationship. “Your sister can’t boil water without setting off the smoke alarm, so clearly, you got the cooking gene in the family.”

  Finn chuckled. An honest, amiable laugh. “Skipped right over her,” he told him with a genial smile. “Feel damn sorry for you, Zorro.”

  “Honey, come over here and tell Finn what you said about the potatoes.” He extended his hand for his wife to take, and he wasn’t disappointed when she took it and allowed Alex to draw her forward. Progress.

  To his utter astonishment, Meghan went a step further and leaned close to her brother for a peck on the cheek.

  “Congratulations, little brother.”

  Yeah, okay. He had to bite his tongue so he didn’t snicker. Alex understood her need to get in one good shot before they could move forward. Luckily, Finn grinned. The guy wasn’t stupid. He knew his mouth had taken
him pretty far off the reservation and that his sister had every right to get the last word where their previous confrontation was concerned.

  “Dinner was incredible,” she told him with genuine praise. “I told everyone you made better potatoes than our ma. Just don’t tell her that, okay?”

  “She already knows.” Finn laughed. “Who do you think makes all the sides for every holiday?” He raised his hand and made a funny face. “That would be me.”

  “No fucking way,” his wife chirped with genuine delight. “Well, damn! Now that I know she’s phoning it in, I’m putting the kibosh on the endless brisket teasing.”

  Just like that, as Alex stood by and watched, Meghan and Finn took the first steps to repairing their fractured relationship. He was glad. So much off-the-chain bullshit went down while they were on their honeymoon that it felt like a goddamn full-time job trying to set things right again.

  Now that it looked like the St. John situation was back on track and Cam was safe and sound, he wanted to focus on other things. Like the very real possibility that he and his Irish goddess were having a baby.

  When Finn and Meghan’s conversation ended after a promise from Alex that Desert Thunder would be back up and ready to play soon, the three of them hugged, shook hands, and parted with smiles and happy words.

  They walked hand-in-hand to where the rest of the Justice crew were saying good-byes and making plans. In short order, they accepted an invitation to a barbecue at Brody and Heather’s and promised Angie they’d come by soon and check out the last finishing touches on the house Parker built them.

  Out in the parking lot, Alex casually looked from one couple to another as they went to their vehicles. He said a silent prayer of thanks to the God he was trying to make nice with for bringing this extraordinary group of people together.

  They defined what family was about. What being a family stood for. Theirs was a fellowship of individuals who came together through uncommon bonds and created something special. Unique.

  He’d lay down his life for every single one of them and knew those feelings were returned.