He was fine with that.
No one wanted to be alone.
“You let her call her whatever she wants. Trust me. Clarissa will stop her if she crosses a line. I know my mother. She’s likely eating it up.”
Hart grinned. “You have a great family, Julian. You’re really lucky.”
“Newsflash, my friend. You’re part of it—whether you like it or not.”
“Then I guess I’m lucky too.”
Julian laughed. “You remember this conversation when the holidays roll around and my mother makes you crazy, or when she starts asking you when you’re getting married. No one is safe from Clarissa. No one.”
Hart snorted. “Yeah, well, that train ain’t ever pulling into this station. I’m never getting married. In fact, women and I don’t get along.”
Julian hoped he was wrong.
Hart was a good man.
He was honorable, dedicated, and loved with his whole heart. It was clearly there when he stared at his child. Julian got that. Already, Julian was madly in love with Veronica.
“Well, pull your caboose into the conference room. We have to go over everything on the schedule. We have a new case coming up. Some guy thinks his employees are stealing from him. We’re going to be sending you in undercover. The media has yet to get you on camera, so we don’t have to alter your appearance, or worry about you being made.”
He didn’t mind.
Hart liked this kind of thing.
“Sure thing, boss,” he said, grabbing his tablet before heading toward the door. “I love playing dress up.”
“Yeah, I hear that about you.”
Hart opened his mouth and then started laughing when he realized his boss was screwing with him.
“That’s so inappropriate, Julian. You’re hanging out with your wife way too much.”
Yeah, he was well aware.
He waited for Hart to head down the hall. That was two down, and the rest of the team to go.
Next up were going to be the first set of newlyweds. There was a lot of marriage going around their office. Not that he minded. Family was family.
At Roman and Mattie’s door, the only two people, other than Hart, who weren’t related by blood, he found them buried in books.
Yes, they had the internet, but the two of them were the resident researchers. They liked their information in paper form, and Julian figured it was because Roman had been a reporter and Mattie a librarian.
When he peeked in, they were sitting close to each other and that wasn’t shocking.
Newlyweds did that kind of thing.
Julian cleared his throat.
Both looked up at him. Immediately, a sunny smile crossed Mattie Remington’s face. She was always happy.
The woman just radiated happiness.
“Boss!”
“How are you two lovebirds? Are you settled into the new place yet?”
After their last case, the couple had eloped as soon as Mattie was out of the hospital. Their drive back to home base had been their honeymoon.
Roman pushed his glasses up his nose and grinned. “We’re still unpacking. Someone keeps distracting me, and it’s not with décor.”
Julian snorted. “I hear you. I was a newlywed once myself.”
Mattie elbowed her husband. “You’re going to get yourself hurt.”
He lecherously wiggled his eyebrows as if daring her.
Julian shook his head at how they teased each other. It was sweet, and very familiar.
He genuinely liked both of them. They were the aberration on his team. Most of the couples had one psychic between them. Only these two, Christina, and Kane didn’t. Still, they held their own. Roman was hell on details, and Mattie was organized.
Together, they were an excellent team.
“The meeting is in ten minutes. Can you two meet us in there?” he asked.
“Sure thing!”
They both got up at the same time, and immediately, her hand was in his. Where in a normal place of business, Julian would have to stop that kind of thing—his office was different. It wasn’t like they encourage PDA’s but when your partner loved you, they always had your back.
This saved your bacon more times than not.
Being married to your partner meant you had everything on the line.
“We’ll see you in there. Oh! Bring all your research on the business. We’re going to be sending Hart in undercover, and I want him to have everything he needs.”
“Absolutely,” Mattie said, as they grabbed all their papers and headed out of their office.
One more set of employees had been wrangled.
As he headed down the hall, he passed Claire and Beckett’s shared space. It was dark and the door was decorated with pictures of their wedding. Tori had left them there for when they came back from their honeymoon.
She wanted it to be the reminder of an amazing time they’d all had. There was drinking, dancing, and the coming together of two soul mates.
It was gorgeous.
It had been an amazing wedding, and they loved every second of celebrating the joining of their lives. Claire had been a gorgeous bride, and Beck?
He’d been a terrified groom.
Oh, he wanted to get married, but he was a nervous wreck. The whole thing nearly went to hell when they’d cut the cake. Apparently, the knife was passed down from generation to generation, and it sucked him back to that time.
His gift of reading objects was handy, but an awkward one to explain to guests.
Now they were somewhere on a beach in a condominium, enjoying the married life.
Julian was glad.
He liked his new brother-in-law. The man had integrity, and he genuinely loved his sister.
To him, that’s all that really mattered.
As he was about to pass the room, he heard something inside. That couldn’t be right.
No one should be in there.
Opening the door, Julian peered around in the darkness. All of a sudden, the radio came to life.
“Close. The. Door. Trying. To. Have. A. Moment.”
Julian was appalled.
The dead were having some illicit and creepy sexual interlude.
“Trey! I told you no shacking up in the office!”
There was laughter over the radio and the papers on the desk shuffled around. It was clear what the dead soldier and Tori’s spirit guide were doing.
“Christ. I’m running a spirit brothel.”
“Not. My. Fault. She’s. Hot.”
Julian had two choices. He could freak out, which Trey loved, or he could roll with it.
“Meeting in five minutes in the conference room, so make sure you wrap it up. We’re going out on a job, and you two are coming.”
“This. Is. Okay?” Trey asked over the radio.
“Yep. It doesn’t bother me. I hope you’re wearing a condom. You don’t need to knock her up.”
The radio went silent.
Yeah, that would teach the smart ass.
Then, he felt the ass grab. He let it go. Bethany liked to get him going too. Instead of outrage, he went with a calm response.
“Wow, Trey, your babe is feeling me up. You’re doing something wrong if she has time to ass grab another man while you’re jumping her.”
The dial on the radio went haywire as he closed the door. Julian left grinning. Yeah, there was only one way to deal with the resident spooks.
If you can’t beat them, join them.
In his case, he was going to ride ghost ass for as long as he needed. He wasn’t going down without a fight.
At the end of the hall, he found his brother’s office. Having a twin was an awesome thing, and Justin was one of the other loves of his life. They were identical now, since he’d begun growing out his hair. There was only one thing that made them stand apart.
The eyes.
Julian’s were flecked with gold, and Justin’s were pure brown. With sunglasses on, they were a matched set.
&
nbsp; Besides, they used it to their advantage.
There was so much fun to be had when he and Justin shuffled their clothes and switch identities. If they were wearing sunglasses, and had shirts covering the tattoos, no one could tell them apart.
In fact, that’s how they got out of the office without anyone noticing. He’d simply get into his brother’s truck, and the media didn’t follow. He’d pick Tori up behind the building, and they’d be on their way.
A guy had to use anything that was in his arsenal.
Anything.
“Hey, lovebirds,” he teased, “are you ready for the meeting?” he asked.
Vivian was looking better and better every day. She was bright eyed, she’d gained the weight back that she’d lost after they’d lost the baby, and she was smiling.
“Can you come in?” Justin asked.
His face was serious.
Oh crap.
This couldn’t be good.
Honestly, a million things went through his mind. At the top of the list, Julian prayed his brother and sister-in-law weren’t going to be quitting. They couldn’t lose anyone else with Claire, Beckett, Christina, and Kane out of the office.
They were running short on investigators. This next case was going to tie up three of them at the least.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Please sit.”
Oh, hell!
This was going to suck.
Julian took a seat.
“We wanted to do this with Tori, too, but I needed to tell you first.”
Julian was waiting for it.
“Okay. Shoot.”
“We’re pregnant again.”
His heart skipped in his chest as tears filled his eyes. This was what Justin needed. After Vivian had nearly been killed in that car accident, they’d lost their child and a piece of themselves.
This was a blessing.
Now they were being given a second chance.
“How far along are you?” he asked, crossing to the lavender-eyed woman to hug her.
“Not far. I guess Tori was right,” Vivian said, hugging her brother-in-law. “She told me there would be more babies, and there are.”
Julian knew his wife was seldom wrong about these things. Her spirit guide was good at this baby thing. That was Bethany’s gift. Maybe it was because in life, she lost her child.
“I’m so damn happy for both of you. This is the best news I’ve heard all day.”
He hugged his brother.
“I need to talk to you about something.”
That didn’t sound good.
“What?” Julian asked, staring into his twin’s eyes. Certainly, there wasn’t going to be a bad side to this.
Right?
“I need a huge favor, and I know I don’t have the right to ask this. Still, for my peace of mind, I have to go there. I hope you forgive me.”
Julian knew where this was heading.
He saw it coming in his own life. Hopefully, it worked better for Justin than it did for him.
“You want her in the office where she’s safe, don’t you?”
Justin relaxed. “Yes. I don’t think I can emotionally handle if anything happened to her, or our child, again.”
Julian got it.
He’d tried it once.
It didn’t end well for him. He rode the couch for three days before he’d crawled and begged.
“Well, I think in this case, that’s a good idea. We’re going to need someone to handle this place while Christina and Kane are out. Not long after they get back, Tori will be going out on maternity leave too. I’ll need a partner in the field.”
“You’re not taking paternity leave?” Justin asked.
“I can’t. We’re too strapped as it is. I’ll take shorter days, but I’ll be working. I’ll try to take cases closer to home, and that should help out.”
Vivian hugged him again. “Thank you, Jules. I love you. Thank you for supporting us, helping Justin, and being an awesome brother to both of us.”
He squeezed her tight.
The pleasure was all his.
“I’m just glad you two are better and your marriage survived. I’d hate to see either of you without the other half. You were meant to be.”
Justin agreed. “Thanks, bro. I love you.”
“Did you tell Clarissa yet?”
“We aren’t telling anyone. We’re going to get the baby’s sex in the next few weeks and then tell everyone. I wanted you to know because…”
He didn’t have to say it.
Julian got it.
“Because we’re one?”
Justin nodded. That was the absolute truth. Julian had always had his back, and this mattered. He mattered and he always would too.
“Tell Tori, but not when she’s with anyone else. I want to keep this under wraps.”
“No problem. I’m sure she already knows. You know how Bethany is.”
“Ouch!” blurted Justin, looking around behind him. “Someone pinched me!”
“BETHANY!” Julian stated. “Knock it off!”
Vivian was amused. She didn’t get angry, simply because she knew this was how Bethany communicated. She could feel the cold kiss of lips to her cheek to offer her reassurance, and to congratulate her on the blessing they’d been given.
It was a miracle they survived all of it.
“Thank you, Bethany. I’m excited too.”
The men shook their heads.
“Don’t give her a reason to play grab ass, Viv. She’s incorrigible.”
She laughed. “Who doesn’t want to play grab ass with you boys?” she asked, winking at her husband.
And it was the truth.
Julian let it go.
“Head to the meeting. I have to get Beau and Nyx.”
Vivian touched his arm. “Is her gift coming back?” she asked. It had to be hard to lose the one thing that defined her. Vivian couldn’t imagine losing her dreams. They used them all the time to find clues to solve the cases.
“Nothing yet.”
They all had their fingers crossed.
“That’s too bad.”
He agreed.
“See you in the meeting.”
Julian headed down the hall to Beau Christensen’s office. He and Nyx were inside. He could hear them talking. It was easy and calm, and he was glad.
When Nyx first came back, she’d had a rough time adjusting to the lack of her gift. Hearing the dead had been part of her life since she was sixteen years old.
The first week was rough.
It only got worse when she had to close her shop because what good was a psychic who couldn’t read cards or channel?
It had devastated her.
Peeking his head in the door, he caught them off guard. “Hey, you two!”
“Geez! Wear a bell, Julian!” Beau stated.
He laughed. “Sorry. I’m wearing sneakers today. Tomorrow, I’ll wear my boots.”
Nyx was smiling at him.
“Uh, are you okay?” he asked.
“We were planning our wedding, and we had to ask you something.”
“You’re not quitting, right?”
They stared at him.
Then at each other in confusion.
“No!” answered Beau.
In fact, he’d never quit. He wanted to be near his sister. He’d missed years of being near Victoria, and he wasn’t saying goodbye ever again.
“Then what’s up?”
“Can we get married where Claire and Beckett did?” she asked. “It was gorgeous there, and I know you and Tori tied the knot up there too.”
Beau continued, “I know we’re not part of the tribe, but the lake was gorgeous, and we kind of thought it would be a tradition. It is special to the family, and because of that, we’d like to do it too.”
He was touched.
That two outsiders would want to be part of that was an amazing thing, and he knew it.
“First off, you are part of the tribe, Beau. Yo
u’re Tori’s brother, and she’s married into our family. You are our family. So, yes, I think you should get married there.”
Nyx hopped off the desk and hugged him.
“Thank you so much, Julian. You’re an amazing boss and friend.”
“And brother. Don’t forget that. You are marrying my brother-in-law. That makes you part of our family no matter what happens.”
That was the best part.
Nyx had lost her family as a teenager. This was the greatest gift to be given in her life. She wasn’t alone, and she now had the love of a really good man.
“Anything else?” he asked, hugging Beau.
“Nope.”
“Great. Let’s get to the meeting.”
They headed down the hall together. Once in the larger conference room, they all took a seat. As he looked around the table, he was proud of the people they’d accumulated.
They were family.
“Should we get started?” Julian asked.
“Yeah, let’s buzz Lena to have her send in the client. He should be here by now,” Tori offered. “It’s best not to leave him alone with her for too long. You know how she is.”
Julian laughed.
Yeah, he was well aware. Lena was like a piranha when it came to either men or women. She liked to get a rise out of them, but not always in a sexual way.
She liked to shock and awe.
Besides, they wanted to get the undercover aspect of this job underway. It was always dangerous, but they knew Hart could handle himself.
He was smart.
Plus, they’d have his back.
When she hit the intercom button, instead of Lena’s voice, they all heard a scuffle going on outside the office. They heard Lena telling someone they couldn’t go in, and the sounds of her trying to stop them.
It sounded like a brawl.
Then the door swung open and crashed against the door, revealing their mystery guest.
There stood a redhead with Lena in tow. Their receptionist was trying to stop her with any means possible.
“What the…?” Julian said, standing up. This wasn’t the norm in his office.
“I need your help,” the woman stated. “I’ve tried to get in to see you for two months, and it can’t wait!”
Julian opened his mouth but before he could tell her this wasn’t the way to handle it, she cut him off.
Forbidden Secrets Page 3
