Rapture (McKenzie Brothers)

by Lexi Buchanan

  Reaching up, I rub at my temples as I can feel a tension headache hovering, just waiting for a gap to push through and become a full-blown migraine.

  It’s frustrating as hell, not knowing what’s going on with Ramon and Carla and I’m seconds away from grabbing Carla by the hand and declaring she’s mine.

  Ramon can’t keep his eyes off Sylvia, who does actually look different. Her blonde hair is swept up from her face with some loose bits around her face, but it’s more her clothes. Apart from Lily and Michael’s wedding when she’d worn the sexy bridesmaid dress, which she’d nearly fallen out of, her clothes aren’t usually revealing. Well that isn’t the case today. Today she has on a fitted dress, which shows all her curves, the front dipping low between her breasts.

  “Sebastian, please stop ogling the guests,” mom comments slipping her arm around my waist.

  “I’m not–” I pause mid-denial when my mom raises an eyebrow. “Okay, so I was. She looks different.”

  “More desirable?”

  I decide it might be best to keep my mouth shut now that my mom’s in matchmaking mode. The only woman I want to be matched up to is Carla and she’s suppose to be with Ramon, who, after a quick glance in his direction, is still passing sly glances at Sylvia.

  Unable to help myself, I glance towards Carla, who’s already watching me with my mom. She meets my heated look before turning back to Janet who seems to be in deep conversation with her.

  “Perhaps you need to keep ogling Sylvia,” Mom comments dryly, making note of the direction of my gaze.

  “I hear you, but I’m not having this conversation with you.” Pulling my mom into my side, I kiss her on the top of her head before letting her go and greet the new arrivals.

  I wander over to Lucien who is standing to the side passing sly glances at Lily’s friend, Sabrina. What the fuck is up with my brothers today? “Not you as well,” I grumble coming to a stop beside Lucien with Ruben coming up and shoving beers in our hands.

  “Not me what?” Lucien asks, taking a long pull on his beer.

  “Sabrina, brother,” I say with glee, nodding in her direction as Lucien’s eyes darken.

  “She’s hot…and have you seen the size of her–” Ruben trails off seeing the look on Lucien’s face.

  “Do not finish that sentence,” Lucien growls. I stiffen and search his gaze. Lucien doesn’t usually get so defensive with Ruben’s teasing.

  I know Ruben’s only teasing Lucien, but it actually looks like our brother is interested in Lily’s friend. Oh this should be good!

  Turning to Ruben, I wink and say, “You know since she’s new in town, I think you should offer to show her around.”

  Mirth flashes in Ruben’s eyes as he struggles around the laughter to get an answer out when Lucien looks between the two of us. “Fuck you.” With that, he follows Sabrina out of the room to Ruben laughing and me whistling ‘love is in the air.’

  “That was fun,” Ruben chuckles, but stops when he catches sight of Carla walking passed. “Carla baby. Come and keep two bachelors company,” he says wrapping his arm around her.

  If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she looks uncomfortable, which Ruben seems to pick up on as he releases her.

  “Carla, you and Ramon have been dating for a while now, any sign of, well, you know?” Ruben asks and looks toward me for help, but I stay silent wanting to plant my fist in my brother’s mouth.

  Carla looks up into my face and clears her throat before she looks back to Ruben. “Ah, no. Sorry, nothing like that.”

  Thank god!

  Carla’s eyes dance from side to side as she looks everywhere but me. Anger slices through me and I fight the urge to grab her and shake her until she looks in my direction. Yes we’re attracted to one another, but there’s no need to ignore me. Fuck, who am I kidding, I’ve been ignoring her practically since we met at the wedding.

  “Damn, I wouldn’t mind having you for a sister-in-law…besides if he isn’t interested there’s two more handsome McKenzie men right here.” Ruben wraps his arm around my shoulders with a large flirtatious grin spreading across his face.

  My brother and his mouth sometimes don’t know when to stop. Wanting to shut him up for putting Carla on the spot, I push him away. “What about Rosie?”

  “What the hell are you talking about,” he scowls.

  I quickly glance at Carla and notice a frown cross her features before I turn back to Ruben and watch as his face darkens with emotion before he turns and walks away, which has me watching his retreating back with a frown on my face. I had no idea that saying Rosie’s name would cause such a reaction.

  “Excuse him Carla,” I say as our eyes finally meet. “I’m not sure what’s going on with him.”

  Carla smiles, which brightens her whole face. “Don’t worry about it.” She turns and watches Lily. “Don’t they look good together?”

  “Who? Lucien and Sabrina?” I tease, having watched my brother walk back into the room with Sabrina not looking too happy.

  Chapter 5

  Carla

  Attending these family gatherings with Ramon always sends a sharp pain to my chest. A large part of me wants my brother to be here, with me. I guess in a way it makes me feel homesick for my own family. Ramon’s parents and siblings always make me feel welcome and treat me like one of them, but I find it hard to accept, while I still have no idea where Noah is or even if he’s all right and not lying somewhere injured or worse.

  As Ramon settles beside me on the black leather sofa, I offer him a sad smile. He knows me and knows I’m thinking about my brother as he’s caught me once or twice in the past. Ramon leans into me and brushes my hair back behind my ears in a friendly gesture, but my heart sinks when I catch the look on Sebastian’s face. He’s sitting on the sofa to the left of Ramon and me and his features visibly harden while he watches me with his brother.

  “Carla, he’ll be okay.” Ramon wipes a runaway tear from my cheek.

  “How do you know that?” I ask under my breath so no one catches our conversation. “You don’t know where he is…neither do I. He’s out there alone,” my voice catches, “he might need help.”

  Ramon takes my hands and brings them up to his lips where he kisses my knuckles. “He can take care of himself, you know that. He’ll be in touch with us when he can.”

  I interrupt, but Ramon covers my mouth with his hand.

  “Let me finish. I don’t like the fact that he just disappeared and, yes, it bothers me. The private investigator I hired is still digging and trying to find him.” He pulls me into a hug and kisses me on the forehead before sitting back on the sofa with me in his arms. “He’ll be fine, Carla,” he murmurs and I sigh into his comfort.

  When I meet Sebastian’s eyes, I can see they’re full of questions…and maybe jealousy. This is the most intimate Ramon and I have been in front of his family, so I’m surprised that no one else notices our exchange, but they haven’t apart from Sylvia who appears…upset I guess. I’ve noticed her eyes are always on Ramon when he’s around and I’m pretty sure Ramon’s aware of the fact. What a damn mess.

  I try and move slightly away from him, needing some breathing space as Sabrina, Janet and Sylvia take seats around the room with Pippa sitting beside Lily. Ruben and Lucien are propping up one wall while Elias stands in front of them in conversation, and Sebastian is still sitting on the sofa with George while throwing fire with his eyes in my direction. He looks pissed as well.

  We did have an intimate moment together in the pantry, which I would have been happy to continue if it wasn’t for Ramon and my promise to him.

  Ramon squeezes my hand bringing me back to the present, but not before I notice him look between me and his brother. When he turns back towards me, he has a frown on his face, which he tries to cover up by dropping a kiss to my lips before turning his attention to Lily and Michael.

  Not knowing why Ramon suddenly decides to slap a kiss on my lips, especially after glancing at his brother, I
choose to ignore them both for now and look towards Lily, who is opening a gift from Janet and George.

  When Lily finally opens the present, the first sign that it’s not exactly for the babies is Michael’s flushed cheeks. He really is hot under the collar.

  Lily’s whole face lights up as she takes the item by the hanger and holds the transparent negligee up for all to see.

  All is quiet for a split second before Michael’s brothers start to whistle, until a stern look from Pippa shuts them up.

  “Oh. My. God,” Janet says jumping up from her seat by the window and running over to Lily with another gift in her hands. “Lily, I am so sorry. I was supposed to give you that one when the men left the room. The gift cards fell off in the car so I had to guess and I obviously guessed wrong.”

  “I’d say,” Elias, Ramon’s dad mumbles looking at his wife.

  “Janet, it’s fine. Please don’t worry…I can’t wait to fit in it…and show Michael.” Lily grins, taking hold of Michael’s hand.

  Once the chuckling dies down, Lily continues to open the gifts for the twins, which drags a lot of ‘oos’ and ‘ahs’ from Pippa who I can imagine being a hands on grandma. She really is in her element with all the presents for her first grandbabies. Elias has even teased once or twice that with Pippa around no one else will get a look in with the babies.

  If I was pregnant with twins, I think I would completely flip out. Gosh one baby would be enough to freak me out let alone two.

  It hasn’t taken Lily long to get through the gifts, but now all the wrapping has been cleared away and the gifts laid out on the table. Janet clears her throat and says, “Well, I think it’s time for the guys to leave.”

  I smile as Pippa asks, “Why do they have to leave? We still have all this food to enjoy?”

  Janet winks at her, but Sylvia answers, “Well, the other gifts that we have for Lily may make Michael a little embarrassed, not to mention the gift bearer and Lily.”

  As a soft blush fills Pippa’s cheeks, I think she finally realizes just how raunchy some of the gifts might be.

  “Back in a minute,” Ramon says before standing and following his father and brothers out of the room. Elias turns back to Michael and pinning him with his gaze, says, “You stay where you are.”

  Before I have time to contemplate what’s going on the men are back in the room, carrying between them what looks to be two baby bassinettes.

  They position them in front of Lily and Michael and then remove the covering. Everyone is stunned silent looking at the craftsmanship that has gone into making these, and if I have to guess, Elias is responsible for them.

  “Dad, did you–” Michael’s unable to finish when his father nods his head. He moves to give his father a hug before turning back to Lily and helping her up from the chair.

  Michael brings her into his side and tries to mop her tears up with the tissue Lucien passes him. Those two make me laugh sometimes with how they dote on Lily. If I didn’t know any different, I’d say Lily was in a relationship with them both.

  I’m not the only one watching the antics of the two men. Sabrina is sitting beside Sylvia with a frown on her face probably wondering what the heck is going on.

  Pulling away from Michael, Lily turns to Lucien, who wraps her up in his arms before letting her go to hug his father and the three remaining brothers before Michael helps her get to her knees for a closer look.

  I watch them and can’t help being in awe by the scene and the gift. The bassinets are beautiful and look to have hand carved pictures in the wood. With curiosity getting the better of me, I stand and move closer. Crouching down, I start to trace some of the carvings with my finger.

  As my finger slips over the image of a teddy bear, tears spring to my eyes as I read the inscription beside it, ‘To cuddle you close, Love Uncle Sebastian’. Oh my. I look up and meet Sebastian’s eyes as a tear escapes.

  Quickly swiping at my face with my fingers, I take a wobbly breath and look back at the bassinet, moving on to the next picture and inscription, a pair of boxing gloves. Really. Without looking at the inscription, I can guess they are thanks to Ruben, and reading the inscription, ‘To defend you, Love Uncle Ruben’, I was correct. I chuckle and move around to the opposite side where my finger traces over the set of ABC building blocks, with the words ‘To build your dreams, Love Uncle Ramon’.

  Emotions swell through me as I fight the lump of tears in my throat. I’m so emotional today and only hope I can hold it together until I’m alone, preferably back at the apartment or even inside Ramon’s car. He’s seen me cry often enough to be able to handle me in tears, especially when I’m going to be blaming his family for their thoughtfulness with this amazing gift they’ve created for Lily and Michael’s babies.

  My fingers trace their way onto two entwined hearts, which are tied together with ribbon and the inscription that reads, ‘You’ll always have my heart, Love your God Father, Uncle Lucien’.

  “Oh,” I whisper to no one in particular.

  “They’re amazing aren’t they,” Janet says to me as I stand back up and notice the tears on her face. She points towards a large inscription inside the bassinet, where I presume the baby’s head will rest. As I look, there is a guardian angel with a prayer of protection underneath followed by the words ‘Mommy & Daddy’.

  I start to brush away the tears, I can’t seem to control any longer, they fall even harder when Janet points out the poem on the foot, ‘Hush, little baby–’ by ‘Love Grandma & Grandpa’.

  Ramon’s comforting hand comes out of nowhere and settles on my shoulder as he passes me some tissue while taking me into his arms for a hug. In his arms I stay while I keep my face hidden, until my tear ducts decide to have a dry spell.

  A few minutes later, I pull my face from Ramon’s chest and realize I’ve soaked his shirt through. “God, I’m sorry.”

  Chuckling, Ramon puts me away from him and yanks his shirt off over his head, screws it up in one hand before pulling me in close again to kiss me on the forehead. “Don’t worry about it. You’re not the only one to end up like a waterfall.”

  While I keep my arm around Ramon, I look around and notice there isn’t really a dry face in the room, and yeah, I’m also counting the guys.

  Everyone seems distracted enough with the gifts for the twins, except for Sylvia who keeps passing sly glances at Ramon and our arms, which are still wrapped around the other, and Sebastian who looks upset, and not because of the gifts.

  “Are you okay now? I think it’s the dirty presents now,” Ramon whispers into my ear.

  To anyone looking, we look like a couple in love. Little do they know.

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I flash him a grin, which he returns knowing what I’ve bought Lily.

  I might add that he only knows because he caught me wrapping it the other night. I tried to hide it, but hiding it in the middle of the fruit bowl with yellow bananas wasn’t the wisest choice I’ve ever made, especially when the gift is florescent pink.

  Chapter 6

  Sebastian

  Snagging a beer from the fridge on the way out back, I take a long pull on the ice cold drink before resting my arms on the porch railing. I look towards the snowcapped mountains in the distance without really seeing anything other than Carla wrapped around a topless Ramon.

  What is happening today? First she looks ready to come apart at the seams with just my touch in the pantry and next she’s all over my damn brother.

  Today is the first time I’ve seen anything more than a peck on the cheek exchanged between them and I don’t like it. In fact, I hate it. Way to go Seb. Falling for your brother’s woman.

  “What’s up your ass?” Ruben asks leaning on the porch beside me, but refusing to meet my eyes.

  Not in the mood for my brother’s wisecracks today, I reply, “I could ask you the same.”

  He frowns and finally turns to look at me, which, when I really get a good look at him in return, he doesn’t look good.

>   “What’s going on, brother? And don’t give me shit. I know you and there’s something happening.” I let my words settle before adding, “You’re not getting enough sleep, and it’s not because of a woman.”

  He stares at me while drinking from his beer before turning back to gazing at the mountains unseen.

  “Fuck. This is for your ears only. You got me?” he states with a quick glance back to me.

  What the hell, starting off the way he has makes my stomach spasm. Ruben never has problems at least he never has problems that he wants kept quiet.

  “You got it.” I put the longneck to my mouth and drain the bottle while I wait for him to tell me what the hell is going on.

  “It’s the club,” he sighs, “nothing financial. That’s secure. Keith walked up on a couple of guys trying to break into the club two nights ago. They ran when they spotted him running towards them, but last night some more windows were taken out.”

  “Fuck-in-hell, again? Why your club? What the hell are they after in there?”

  “Fuck if I know, but it’s pissing me off, and to top it all, one of the waitresses is giving me a hard time. She ignores what I ask her to do and does what the hell she ‘thinks’ I mean, spending most of the time bugging me. Why can’t they keep their mouths shut, smile wide and serve the customers, instead of bugging the shit outta me.”

  Thinking about what he just said causes me to roar with laughter. Yes, he’s pissed because of the vandalism and attempted break in, but steam practically came out of his ears when talking about his waitress. I’d bet my last dollar her name is Rosie.

  “What’s her name?” I keep the amusement out of my voice.

  He takes his time in answering. “Why? What difference does knowing her name make?”

  He looks everywhere, but me when he says it and I know I’m right even before the words come out. “Her name wouldn’t be Rosie, would it?” I chuckle at the look on his face. “You know what will get her out of your system?” Trying to keep my face straight while having this conversation is hell.