by Rie Warren
I didn’t even feel like a pussy when I thought that.
****
The wedding invites went out.
Wedding bands decided upon.
Her gown was ordered.
My suit was coming, tailor made by some dude called Frankie who Walker had ties to up in Charleston, South Carolina. I’d heard a few tales about the gangster/tailor I kept to myself.
What I couldn’t keep to myself was my worry about how Tilly would take my decision to stay with T-Zone. Despite finding a certain peace in myself and loving Tilly more than anyone could’ve convinced me was possible, it was my job, another part of my life.
I loaded the dishwasher one night while she sat behind me at the kitchen table, reviewing a lecture she’d give the following day. With everything cleaned up, I snagged a couple beers from the fridge, popped the caps, and passed one to her, clinking it with mine.
It was hot, and she usually came straight home from SCAD, kicked off her heels at the door, littered her clothes on the floor all the way upstairs before hitting the shower.
I usually trailed behind with a wicked grin, picking up discarded stilettoes in all kinds of colors and styles, skirts and trousers, blouses, and my favorite, the little pieces of lingerie. I’d meet her in the shower where it wasn’t just the clear glass that steamed.
The air was muggy, and I wore cut-off jeans and an unbuttoned shirt I’d put on after we’d made love and before we’d had dinner. This was my time off and I puttered, worked out, explored the intricacies of a slow, southern town, and sat in on more than one of Tilly’s classes, hanging on her every word, lovesick and happy about it.
I was always—almost—on my best behavior when I showed up on campus to squire her home.
Sometimes we didn’t make it all the way home.
Turned out Savannah had quite a few quiet corners and secret gardens we now knew on an intimate basis.
I really liked Savannah.
Turning a chair back to front, I picked up Tilly’s glasses and dangled them from my fingers. “We should talk about something, Tilly girl.”
“Hmm?” She pressed a finger against her tablet and shut it down. “What’s that?”
Leaning over the table, I captured her chin between my fingers and kissed her mouth, cool from the beer. She sucked my bottom lip between hers and half-rose to meet me more greedily.
Trying to calm the tight heat immediately sizzling in my groin, I backed slowly away. “About my job.”
“Your job?” She bit down on her bottom lip. “I heard tell you were writing a book.”
I groaned. “It was shit. Already told you that.”
“Hmm. Am I in this tell-all of yours?”
I gazed into her sea-green eyes, dazzled. “Yesss.” Then my brain caught up with my mouth. “No! Of course not. Nobody’s ever gonna know anything about what goes on between you and me. And I burned it anyway, like I said.”
She laughed brightly. “Okay. So you’re not a writer. What about your job?”
“I don’t want to quit it. I know it’s dangerous, but I’m really fucking good at what I do. And I’m careful—well I was—except with you maybe, because you pretty much shook me to the soles of my feet the first time I saw you,” I rambled, took a quick drink, rambled some more. “And with the guys, well, we’re a team. I know Bane and Storm are assholes because of whatever happened between them, but I haven’t had a team since the Marines. I mean you and me, we’re a team. We’re the best team—”
She laid her hand over mine. “Justice?”
“Yeah?”
“Shut up because I have something to say to you.”
My eyes flipped wide and a smile started forming.
She stood from her chair and sauntered to me in the tiny little nightie she’d put on earlier just to torment me during dinner. It was heavenly yellow and it flipped around the tops of her thighs.
Unable to take my eyes off her, I pushed my chair out and repositioned myself.
I was a little distracted by the time she perched on my lap.
“Do you remember how we met?” she asked.
“How could I forget?” A laugh rolled out of my belly. “Good times.”
She nodded. “So you know I’ve seen you at your job. At your best. Sometimes at your worst.”
My head dropped down.
She lifted it back up. “I know how much the guys mean to you, and your job, and it doesn’t take anything away from me. It makes me even prouder I’m going to be your wife.”
“Really?” Hot emotions exploded inside me, lighting me up.
“Yes.” She kissed my mouth with a soft wet suck. “And I want you to keep doing it. I’m gonna miss you when you’re not here, but I know you’ll always come back to me.”
Her cheek lingered against mine, the soft to the hard. “You are an honorable man, Justice Chase.”
“And you are one woman in a million, Tilly Lawless almost mine.” I smoothed her hair down her back. “Are you worried about the danger at all?”
“I think I’m well adjusted to danger by now, don’t you? After all, I agreed to marry you.” She pulled back, her guileless green eyes not fooling me for a minute.
“Well, I guess so, Lawless.” Then, skimming a fingertip across her cheek, I asked, “What does your dad think?”
“You know you’ve earned his respect.”
Snort.
“He knows you’ll keep me safe.” She hesitated.
I squinted. “And what else did he say?”
A small smirk flickered on her mouth. “As long as trouble doesn’t follow you home.”
Fear clenched me. “What if it does?”
Tilly moved closer against me. “I think we’ve proved we’re pretty good together in a fight.”
I picked her up in my arms, joining my mouth with hers.
“Oh! Are we making it to the bed tonight? You gave me rug burn on one of my knees last night. But I guess I could have a matching pair, walking down the aisle.”
And I could not have loved her more.
****
Or so I thought, until the day before our wedding when everyone converged on the Jekyll Island Club in Georgia. The resort was like something out of a fairytale with the swanky grounds, the castle-like hotel, live oaks dripping with Spanish moss, and of course the exclusive beach.
Tilly’s dad and my parents arrived at the de-fucking-lux resort before any other guests, and I was shitting it just a little bit. I hadn’t done the honorable thing, asking Lawless for Tilly’s hand in marriage, because I didn’t want any more heated words to mar what I hoped one day he’d see as an unstoppable love.
We’d arranged for cocktails and an open spread on one of the intimate verandahs when they showed up. There were hugs and kisses, handshakes, first greetings, and second meetings. I worked at the tie around my throat, feeling like a hanged man after Lawless lasered me with moss green eyes and his most unpleased expression—the one I remembered very well.
Tilly, always on point, charmed my folks the moment they set eyes on her even though they’d never heard her name until exactly three weeks ago. She introduced them to the ambassador and before long the soon-to-be in-laws were enjoying the free drinks and the fucking canapés and laughing it up while I felt like an awkward outsider.
The only respite came when Tilly flashed a dazzling smile at me. She waltzed away from our parents to join me at the stone balustrade.
“You’re amazing, you know that?” I caught her in a kiss.
“So are you.” She winked. “And I like your parents.”
I wished I could say the same about her father. When she left to check on last minute wedding details I considered tagging along after her. Instead I decided to man-up and grow a pair of balls.
Approaching the group, I hung on the edges, nursing a whisky I barely sipped from. Tilly returned, engaging my mom and dad in effortless conversation. I however felt like my mouth was full of the white sand just outside.
I finally
bit the bullet, turning toward Lawless.
“May I have a word, Ambassador?” I asked, still stifling with the tie around my neck.
“Ah reckon.” He laid on the southern drawl.
I led the way, just a few steps toward the table full of fresh food kept chilled on ice.
“I know we’ve had some differences, and you would’ve rather seen Tilly with anyone else but me. And I should’ve asked you for her hand, sir.”
“Well, now.” He spread his hands over his hips. “That took some gumbo and getting to, didn’t it?”
“You’re a little intimidating.”
He lifted his head to the sky and his loud laugh called the attention of Tilly and my mom and dad. “Intimidating? Damn, son. Not sure how you can say that to me after the feat you masterminded in Sana’a.” He clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Boy, I thought for sure we were done for. But you came in like Captain America, and I can’t find fault with how you handled the situation. I admit, I got a hot temper, and I got a little hot under the collar when I figured you had intentions toward Tilly—”
Seeing me itching around my neck, he stopped and laughed again. “Looks like you’re hot under the collar too, huh?”
This was the goddamnedest conversation I never figured I’d have.
“If anyone should be shouldering the blame about Tilly’s situation—the fact she was even in Yemen—it’s me.” He slid his hands into his pockets. “I shouldn’t have let her visit me in the first place.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Doubt you could’ve stopped her.”
“You got that right. She’s headstrong, that one. Not many men would know what to do with her.”
“I do, sir. I know exactly how she should be treated. Like she’s the most precious woman in the world.”
“You don’t have to convince me, son.” In all seriousness, he mentioned, “You got my message from Blaize.”
“Yes, sir.”
“If I’m going to be your father-in-law, enough with the sir. Told you that once before. I meant everything I said in my report to Blaize. She’s got a crop of fine operatives and you’re one of the best. So despite the fact you didn’t ask for my blessing”—he winked—“I’m giving it.”
“Thank you, sir . . . James.” I held out my hand, and he pumped it twice between his.
“It’s not my say so, it’s Tilly’s. And she’s more in love and happier than I’ve ever seen her.” His voice dropped to a menacing note. “Now just don’t be stupid or hurt her, because I carry a gun too.”
Later that night Tilly and I whispered in the upstairs hall of the hotel. We’d rented a house farther down the beach for the honeymoon where we’d relocate after the wedding. The rest of our guests were due to arrive tomorrow morning in plenty of time for the afternoon nuptials, and this married-man thing was getting real.
Not as real as Lawless’s last threat, though.
“Your dad said he carries a gun and he’ll still shoot me.” I kissed Tilly’s shoulder, bared by her summery strapless dress.
Her fingers threaded through my hair. “Your parents think I’m utterly lovely and incredibly talented.”
“You are mean, Miss Tilly Lawless.” I prodded her against the wall, slanting my mouth over hers.
“I am not. I’m thoroughly in love.” She kissed my chin. “And soon to be Mrs. Justice Lawless-Chase as you seem so fond of informin’ everyone.”
With a kick of her heel, she opened her door—she’d insisted on separate rooms this final night before we were to be wed—and hurried inside.
“Goodnight, Justice,” she said behind the closed door.
“I know how to break in there, woman!”
Her head peeked out. “But you won’t. Because of tradition.”
****
Midafternoon, the middle of August. The tide was in on the sandy white beach. I’d shaved—twice—and dressed in the new threads. My suit was wheat-white and lightweight. My tie narrow and black and tied in a perfect knot. Everything fit like a glove from the trousers—straight front, half-cuffs hanging perfectly over long overly muscled legs—to the jacket with a dovetail and shoulders stretched beneath another healthy lashing of sinews.
I put on cologne, wondered if the spicy scent was too heavy. I placed the platinum cufflinks with the Marine Corps insignia Tilly had given me our last night at home. My throat clenched at the sight of them shining there, just awaiting a ring to make me hers.
Shoes polished, wearing briefs and socks and everything I was supposed to, I dried my palms on my pants. The sun shone inside my room—a single room I couldn’t wait to see the backside of because I had the marital bed in mind. Big, kingsized, with lots of room to do a lot of naughty things to Tilly.
It was Walker who knocked on the door and materialized before I opened it. His black braid hanging to his waist, wearing a good suit that complemented mine, and a loose grin on his face, he saluted me with two fingers off his brow.
“Look at you, pretty boy.”
“Fuck you.” I threw a punch at him before one-arming him into a hug.
“Ready for this?”
“Hell no and fuck yes. That make sense?”
“Tilly’s shining brighter than the sun,” he said.
“You saw her?” Man, I was jealous.
“Jade dragged me into her room.”
“Jade made it?”
“Wouldn’t miss it. Apparently she’s a big fan of weddings. And hats.” Walker slapped me on the chest and gestured to the open door. “Fucking weird, isn’t it? Us, landing women? And Jade. Fuck. I can’t wait to put a ring on her finger. Wasn’t sure that was what she wanted.”
I stepped into the hall. “You gonna do it?”
“Have to see how bad you flame out first.” He laughed raucously.
“Asshole.” I punched him on the shoulder.
Every bit of amusement fled when we stepped outside. We walked across the grounds to the beachside, and my heart whumped in my chest. I tried to pick out Tilly among those gathered in loose formation for the ceremony, but of course she’d come out last.
I could not fucking wait.
The pristine white sand mirrored the foaming breakers of the Atlantic Ocean, and at the shoreline an officiant stood. Between him and me? Friends and family here to celebrate the beginning of Tilly’s and my life together.
Blaize had come. She nodded at me with a smile. She seemed to be some sort of extension to the Lawless family, but how they all fit together I didn’t yet know. Storm watched Blaize unblinkingly from a diagonal stance behind her, and a smile crept up my face. If Walker wasn’t next, maybe Storm would be. Bane stood beside . . . Baby Spy? Wearing black on white—black leather pants that had to be suffocating in the muggy heat, and a cuffed white shirt open at the throat—Bane looked none too happy to be chaperoning our favorite person to hate.
Baby Spy scowled all around, her eyes outlined by thick black makeup that made her blues irises lightning bright.
Christ. What was she doing here? She was on our shit list if not our potential hit list, considering the possibility she may have played a hand in leaking Walker and Jade’s location on several occasions during their crazy Majedah Chehab mission.
And blessed be the day.
Riiiiight.
Walker and I made it past our posse to the edge of the water.
My mom was elegant as always, nodding her head and capturing my hand. My dad whispered last minute marital advice I didn’t hear above the rush of blood to my head. A group of Tilly’s friends—from her college days and SCAD—gave wide-eyed approval, and Jade sneaked a kiss to Walker’s lips in passing.
She wore an extravagant netted hat over her long magenta-black hair, and possibly a knife beneath her form-fitting dress.
As long as no blood was shed today we’d be good.
I hadn’t seen Tilly since the night before, and my heart banged away in my chest. If she did a runner, I’d go straight after her and force her to marry me. I stood beside the minis
ter, every breath jarring in and out of my chest until a flutter of white caught my eye at the top of the dunes that rolled down to the beach.
Then the world simply stopped. My breath got lost somewhere between my lungs and my throat. My eyes glazed from staring so hard.
Tilly Lawless was going to be my wife.
Walker pounded me on the back when I forgot to breathe too long.
Chapter Thirty-One
Not Quite Shotgun Wedding
THE GUESTS TURNED WITH an echoing “Oooooh” as soon as light music started playing. Tilly appeared fully, standing at the beginning of the shell-lined aisle.
She was a statuesque vision, Venus in the flesh. She started sweeping toward me, her eyes capturing and holding my gaze. She brushed a fingertip beneath her eyes, but her smile remained absolutely radiant.
And that dress.
The gown was as deep and rich as a magnolia petal, the same flower decorating her gently upswept hair. The same blossoms held in one hand. Simple, almost Grecian, the dress had little ruffles for straps, and it clung to her curves in all the right ways. Cinched at the waist, the fabric floated down to the ground with a widening ruffle. Simple and fresh and feminine, and sexy as hell. Not to mention the surprising amount of cleavage bared as the neckline dipped between her breasts.
Lawless walked her to me as the waves crashed offshore.
As Tilly came closer, my eyes swept her from the top of her hair, to her face where red-gold tendrils clung, to her eyes, shining and shimmering green today. Her body, her legs . . . her feet.
She was barefoot!
A huge smile erupted on my face.
Lawless placed her hand in mine with a tender kiss on her cheek, leaving his only daughter in my care.
I changed my smile to a scowl and leaned back to take in her bare toes with the toenails painted a light rosy pink.
Her smile trembled briefly as I righted myself.
My eyebrows drew together and I looked down at her, whispering, “You’re barefoot.”
“You’re not.” She giggled.
