by Layla Reyne
She dropped the stuffed animal, ran as fast as her little legs could carry her, and tripped into Jamie’s waiting arms.
No sooner had he wrapped her up and turned away than Torres pulled a pistol from behind his back and leveled it at Westley.
“Gun!” Byrne vaulted over the rail, Aidan landing right behind him. “Everyone get down!”
Hunched-over pedestrians fled, and Jamie rushed Katie back toward the Marina Gate.
Westley swayed where he stood. “What are you doing?”
“Making a clean break.”
Byrne was right. Torres was cutting all ties, running with whatever fortune Renaud had left behind. One person was easier to hide than two, and Torres was ultimately, always, self-interested. Aidan couldn’t see Westley’s eyes from this angle but he imagined they were wide with surprise and betrayal.
Torres’s trigger finger curled, and Aidan took a shot.
A split second after Torres.
Hit, Westley fell, ass over feet, clutching his shoulder. Torres faltered, hit as well, but Aidan hadn’t shot to kill. He still needed them both to clear Jamie and Mel. Torres regained his balance and lifted his arm again.
A separate motion to the right slashed across Aidan’s periphery.
Someone else advancing faster than him and Byrne.
Torres’s next shot didn’t miss. It didn’t hit Westley either.
“Mel, no!” Danny’s shout rang out behind them.
Aidan’s boss, his best friend, went down in a heap, hit right beneath the edge of her vest, as Torres had been aiming down when she’d intercepted the bullet meant for Westley.
On the move, Byrne corralled Westley and Aidan rammed into Torres, taking the bastard to the ground. Injured as he was, bleeding from a shoulder wound, Torres released the gun on impact and Aidan swept it out of reach.
Then he swept his fist into Torres’s face, intent on finishing the job Jamie had started yesterday. The job Aidan should have let him finish. But in another role reversal, it was Jamie hitting pause and pulling him off. “Irish, enough! We’ve got bigger problems.”
“Where’s Katie?” he said, whipping around.
“Nic’s got her.” Jamie nodded to where Nic was seated on the stairs, Katie in his lap, his hands over her ears, her face in his chest, doing his best to shield her from the chaos.
Guilt crashed into Aidan, wave after wave, the tsunami cresting when Byrne’s “Officer down” reached his ears.
Aidan spun again, and nearly lost what little was left of his stomach.
“Melissa, no! No, no, no...” Danny was on his knees, cradling Mel’s head, while reaching over her to press a hand against her abdomen, the growing stain of blood stark against her white sweater.
Anger surging once more, Aidan curled his hand into another fist and lunged at Torres.
Jamie blocked his path. “Go to your brother, Aidan. I’ve got this.” He waited only a second before moving to secure Torres.
Another second later, Aidan was crouched next to Danny, adding his hand to the pressure over Mel’s wound. He could feel her breathing grow ragged, could see her eyelids fluttering, her skin losing the little color it had regained after the last close call.
“Ai,” Danny said, the single syllable pained and awful. “We’re losing her.”
Aidan lifted his clean hand to her face and tried to ignore how cold it already felt. “Come on, Mel. Stay with us.”
She opened her eyes, the dark brown beneath hazy. “Hermano?”
“Right here.” He grabbed her hand, praying it would ground her to life.
“Tell Danny I love him.” Her voice was hoarse, strangled, as blood leaked from the side of her mouth.
“I’m right here, chica.” Danny kissed her forehead. “I love you, Mel. Stay with me.”
Sirens grew louder, but Aidan feared they were too late. Sadness and loss settled in his gut. Dropped all the way to his feet when she whispered, “Gabe.”
“No, sweetheart, no. Please stay.” Tears streamed down Danny’s face. “Stay with us here, please.”
Jamie dropped to his knees beside Aidan, adding his hand to the compress over her stomach. “Come on, Mel, fight.”
Aidan glanced up, searching for any sign of hope, and caught sight of Katie’s Care Bear. The green one, Lucky. That’s what they needed right now, a little luck for Mel to pull through. Two Irishmen, an angel beside him, and an angel above. Surely it was in the cards for once. He made a wish, a desperate plea to Gabe—just let her live—and hoped like hell his husband could make God listen.
Chapter Eighteen
Three months later...
Stereo kicked up, the Friday night punk rock he preferred filling the house, Aidan bounced between floors unpacking boxes. After a week spent dodging them, he’d taken the afternoon off to get a head start on Project Irish Invasion, as Jamie called his official move-in.
Truth be told, Aidan had also left the office early because he couldn’t bear witness to Jamie moving out there. He’d held it together through the goodbye lunch with colleagues, chatted at the after-party with Nic, who was back from AUSA purgatory in DC local court, and forced champagne past the lump in his throat when Cam gave the farewell toast. After, Aidan had pulled Jamie aside to tell him he was headed home. Jamie hadn’t been sad or upset, just the opposite. He’d flashed that charming smile and kissed him, long and hard, in front of everyone...to raucous applause.
That had lifted Aidan’s spirits some.
Hours spent moving his belongings, his life, into Jamie’s home—their home now—lifted them more. Had him considering a trip to the corner store for another bottle of champagne for a private toast once Jamie arrived. A few more boxes, Aidan bargained with himself. Floor space finally visible, he wanted to keep the momentum going.
Three more boxes in, his phone vibrated on the countertop. Picking it up, he read the message from Cam and smiled.
Jamie gave me the keys to your place. I mean, my place. Thanks.
With surprisingly little arm twisting, Jamie had convinced Cam to transfer to the San Francisco office. His first official day was Monday. All things considered, it was a win for everyone. Cam got snow-free winters, Jamie got his best friend close by, and Aidan got a new partner he already trusted and a renter for his house down the Peninsula.
Sure thing. Let me know if any issues, Byrne.
Cam.
Byrne.
They’d been at this the past three months. Aidan had already begun to think of him as Cam, but kept calling him Byrne, mostly just to piss him off.
I’m renting your house and you’re fucking my best friend.
Fine, Cameron.
Fuck you.
Laughing, he was texting to ask if Jamie had left yet when the Chevelle’s growl, followed by the garage door cranking open, cut through the music. He set aside the phone and turned down the music, listening for Jamie’s entrance, waiting for the infuriating, amusing, comforting thuds of his bag, shoes and other workweek detritus hitting the foyer floor.
The mess was home now—his and Jamie’s—and as much as it annoyed him, Aidan wouldn’t change a thing about it.
Jamie appeared at the top of the stairs, coat and tie gone, unfastening the clover cufflinks at his wrists. “Hey, baby.” Smiling, he circled the living room and office nook on his way into the kitchen, not a single hitch in his step. “You’ve made a lot of progress.”
Aidan surveyed the open area, getting the bigger picture of his life intermingled with Jamie’s. “Getting there.”
Jamie dropped the cufflinks on the counter and wound an arm around his waist, hauling him closer. He captured Aidan’s lips and darted his tongue between the crease, prying them open. Aidan melted, drawing Jamie in and dragging his fingers over his scalp, eliciting a low, en
ticing groan. Jamie’s tongue retreated and Aidan took his turn, tasting desire, life and love, and the traces of cake frosting that made standing together in their home, a future ahead of them, possible.
He trailed his hands out of Jamie’s hair and down his neck, feeling the hammering pulse beneath his fingertips. “No regrets? About leaving the Bureau? About all this?”
“No regrets.”
Aidan rested their foreheads together. “Jamie...”
“You joined the FBI for a reason, to avenge your brother. I ran there as an escape, but I don’t have to run anymore. I’m back on the court where I belong, and I’ll still Cyber consult, if you and Cam need me. I get the best of both worlds.” He lifted his hands, framing Aidan’s face. “You’re in my home, in my bed. Hell, Irish, both our names are on the Chevelle’s registration.”
Aidan nuzzled one of the big, warm palms. “Partner, always.”
“Damn straight.” Jamie lowered his hands, spreading them out over his shoulders, pressing gently down. “Now stop feeling guilty.”
Tension fading, Aidan closed the distance between them for another kiss that escalated from tender to bruising in a flash. And when mouths weren’t enough, they reached for more. Jamie undoing his fly and sliding hands inside jeans and boxers to grab his ass and jerk his hips forward. Aidan unfastening the first few buttons of his dress shirt, then grasping the open collar to rip it the rest of the way open.
And stopping at the last possible second when the doorbell rang.
Jamie tore his mouth away on a curse.
“You expecting company?” Aidan asked.
“No, you?”
He shook his head, the doorbell ringing again. Aidan adjusted and zipped up his jeans. “I’ll get it,” he said with a parting peck. “Finish downshifting and pull yourself together.”
Jamie growled at the wink he threw over his shoulder.
Aidan’s lingering smile died, though, when he opened the door to his frazzled-looking sister, and in Grace’s arms, his wailing goddaughter. “What’s going on?” He reached for Katie and she jumped from her mother to him, arms circling his neck in a stranglehold. He kicked Jamie’s mess out of the way and held the door open for Grace.
“She woke up from a nap screaming for Mel. I tried to explain but—”
“Aunt Mel’s gone,” Katie cried into his neck. “Like Uncle Gabe’s gone.”
“Oh, Munchkin.” Aidan held her tighter, patting her back and dropping a kiss in her mess of red curls, trying to calm her down. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”
As suddenly as she’d wanted him, she didn’t. “Want Uncle Jamie!” She wriggled to get free and Aidan knelt, one knee on the ground, before she threw herself from his arms.
“Is that my Katie-girl?”
Jamie stood at the top of the stairs, all his concern and attention focused on Katie. Aidan let her go and she climbed up the stairs and flew into Jamie’s arms. Since the rescue, Katie had practically attached herself to him. Aidan felt a niggle of jealousy that he was no longer the favorite, but the fleeting emotion was eclipsed by the fullness of his heart whenever he saw them together—the two most important people in his life.
Jamie ruffled Katie’s hair and hugged her tight. “What’s wrong, Princess?”
She cried harder and Jamie tucked her head beneath his chin, shushing her as he moved away from the stairs toward the living room.
“He’ll get her calmed down,” Aidan said, as he drew his sister into a hug. She looked like she needed one as much as Katie. “I’m sorry she’s going through this.”
Grace patted his chest next to where her head lay. “Not your fault, big bro. And the nightmares and outbursts are coming less often. This is the first one in weeks.”
No matter how many times Jamie, Grace or anyone told him it wasn’t his fault, he couldn’t dismiss the fact that Katie wouldn’t have been kidnapped by Torres at all if not for him. They’d all done their best to shield her from the worst that day, but she’d seen and heard enough to cause nightmares and outbursts, her developing brain still trying to process it.
Aidan ushered Grace upstairs, a steadying hand at her back. “The counselor is helping?” The child psychologist he’d arranged came highly recommended by the PTSD counselor Jamie had started seeing about his lingering nightmares from Cuba.
Grace nodded. “Thank you for setting us up with her.”
“Of course.”
Cresting the stairs, they found Jamie on the floor in the office nook, Katie nestled in his lap, while he pulled stuffed animals from a leather ottoman full of toys. She snatched her favorite purple pony out of his hand, but her round face was still miserable. “Aunt Mel’s gone.”
“No, Katie-girl.” Jamie petted the pony with her, his hand enormous compared hers. “She’s with your Uncle Danny.”
Katie’s eyes widened, welling with tears again. “Uncle Danny’s dead too?” She dropped the toy and launched back into Jamie’s arms, wailing.
“We need to call.” Aidan situated his sister in the office chair, grabbed Jamie’s tablet off the desk, and sat on the floor beside them. “I know we’re not supposed to unless it’s an emergency...”
“I consider this an emergency. Katie,” Jamie said, “I need you to go to Uncle Ai for a minute.”
She shook her head, but Aidan loosened her arms and shifted her into his lap. Hands freed, Jamie opened a secure window on the tablet and launched the private chat server he’d installed on all their devices. After the third ring, the other end answered and Danny appeared on screen, sleep-rumpled but alert.
“J, what’s going on?”
“We have someone here who needed to see you.” He braced the tablet upright on Aidan’s knee.
Aidan patted Katie on the back. “Look, Munchkin. Your Uncle Danny’s right there.”
Sniffling, she peeked out of his neck. “You’re not gone?”
“Just a little trip on the boat, sweetie. You remember the boat.” Danny moved his tablet around, displaying the interior of the cabin.
“I thought you were gone with Aunt Mel.”
“I am.”
Her nose and forehead wrinkled in confusion, until Mel appeared over Danny’s shoulder. “Hey, Katie.”
She gasped, turning all the way around. “You’re not gone like Uncle Gabe?”
“No, sweetie. I took a trip with your Uncle Danny.”
Katie went from miserable to elated in a heartbeat. “When are you coming home?”
“Before you know it,” Danny said.
She clapped and scurried out of Aidan’s lap, satisfied that all was right with the world again, leaving him and Jamie with the tablet.
“I know there’s a no-contact rule when you’re on a job,” he said to Mel, “but...”
“Emergency. You made the right call,” Mel said. “Everything else okay there?”
“We’re good.” Aidan shot Jamie a smile. “How long is ‘before you know it’?”
“Next week,” Danny said. “Her job’s done here, so back to TE for both of us.”
“You two are going to be trouble at the same company.”
“The best kind.” Danny tilted back his head, and Mel gave him a carefree, smiling kiss.
Once recovered, she’d demanded the chief of security position at Talley Enterprises. She was also fielding a number of contract offers on the side. No shortage of work for someone with her skill set, and now she was her own boss “without the administrative bullshit.”
The TE-gig and the side-gig were good for her. Her color was back, her eyes were bright, and she moved easily, not like a bullet had nearly killed her. And the way she interacted with his brother was easy and casual. Aidan was delighted for them, was beyond grateful they’d all come out of the past year and a half in love, happy, and moving forwar
d with their lives.
Katie crawled back between them, showing off her purple pony to Mel and Danny. “Look what Uncle Jamie got me.”
“He’s pretty,” Danny said, followed by Mel’s, “Uncle Jamie still, huh?”
Jamie smiled down at Katie, face full of love and affection, and Aidan nearly choked on the wave of emotions that swamped him. For this man who’d brought him back to life, who’d saved him in more ways than one, who loved and protected him and his family. Aidan never thought he could be this happy, this lucky, again.
You like that life; it looks good on you, Jamie had once told him about the image he and Gabe had projected. Happy and settled. Aidan suspected that just as Danny and Mel appeared so on-screen, he and Jamie painted a similar picture.
Happy and settled looked good on Jamie too.
And Aidan wanted it forever.
He hadn’t been able to get the thought out of his head since Katie brought it up. He’d promised her she’d be the first to know.
There was only one step forward.
Only one question to ask.
Aidan reached over Katie and laid his hand atop Jamie’s tattoo, over the heart that beat with his own. “How about it?” he said. “Want to make it official? Partners, always?”
“Atta boy,” Danny hooted.
Jamie’s baby blues widened. “What are you asking, Irish?”
“Marry me, Whiskey.”
A gorgeous smile split Jamie’s handsome face in two. He leaned over Katie, brought their mouths together, and Aidan tasted the answer, the happiness, on his partner’s lips. But he still wanted to hear the words.
“Is that a yes?”
Jamie covered Katie’s ears with his hands, then gave Aidan the answer he longed for. “Fuck, yes.”
Katie giggled between them. “You said a bad word, Uncle Jamie.”
Everyone laughed, on-screen and in their home, and Aidan leaned in for another kiss. From his fiancé. “You should know by now that earmuffs never work.”
“Yeah, but we do.” Jamie captured his hand, wound their fingers together and brought their knuckles to his lips, sealing their vow.
