Alex shook his head. “I know. She’s thirty-two, and you’re afraid of her going into the ring. I am too. I don’t want to see Nora hurt, but … she’s good. One of the toughest women I’ve ever seen. Hell, her fights barely last a few minutes —”
“Alex,” Sam cut him off. “Nora’s never going into the ring again now. She’s pregnant. We’re going to have a baby.”
Alex whipped his head to take in his brother. Tears actually sprung to Alex’s eyes. He hadn’t cried since his father died. “Wow!” He wrapped his arm around Sam. “Well, that’s one way to carry on Dad’s legacy. Congratulations, Sam.”
“Thanks, man. And don’t worry about the company. Everything will be all right. Hell, you could get a job as a pilot tomorrow if you wanted. Nora and I could start a tour guide business with Erik. Daire’s planning to be a firefighter. And Vince is happiest on the water anyway. We’d probably all be happier if we just went on to our own careers. There are other SAR teams.”
Alex stared at his brother. “Not like us, though. We’re the Midnight Sons, Sam. And Dad was the first. We can’t let that go. Yeah, there are other SAR teams, but no one has the rescue record that we do. We save people’s lives, Sam. People who might have died if our team didn’t exist.”
Sam heaved a sigh. “I’m not going to let it go easily. When we get back, Nora has a few marketing ideas that might bring in extra money. Even if she can’t fight, her name is worth something. At least we hope it is. After all the stuff the authorities dredged up about Sergio, she’s not sure.” Sam patted his knee again. “But right now, I have a honeymoon to attend. We’ll talk more when I get back from Argentina.”
Alex forced a smile. “Of course.” He wrapped his arms around Sam. “I love you, brother.”
They parted, and Sam made his way to Nora.
Alex had wanted to tell Sam that he was sorry for everything that had happened. Sorry that their father was dead because of him. He’d wanted to tell him that he planned to make it right. Not only for their father’s legacy, but now for the nephew or niece that he would never see. But he couldn’t give Sam any indication of what he planned to do. What he needed to do.
He walked to the window and stared out at the line of seaplanes. Tomorrow, he’d make everything right again.
The Midnight Sons would continue long after his death.
Thank you for reading Sam’s Folly. I hope you enjoyed Sam and Nora’s story and will want to jump right into Alex and Irene’s story in Alex’s Atonement.
Find links to continue the Midnight Sons series on www.CarmenDeSousBooks.com/MidnightSons.
Alex’s Atonement
Alex Belgarde has carried the guilt of his father’s death for more than ten years. Every year, as his family’s company falls deeper into debt, the guilt eats away more of his soul until there’s only one answer. Prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to save his father’s legacy, Alex takes off on a frigid winter day with no radio and very little fuel in his seaplane. He’s using up the last of his reserve tank, preparing to drop from the sky, when he sees plane wreckage below.
Irene Rose has spent her life running away and chasing her dream. But after a possible terminal diagnosis, she realizes how lonely her life has become and is ready to forgive her sister and beg for her family’s forgiveness. Instead of arriving on the island of her birth, Irene finds herself stranded on an uninhabited island in the Gulf of Alaska. Unbeknownst to her, the pilot of the plane she chartered was a drug runner, so he didn’t alert authorities as they crashed.
While Alex’s illogical idea to save his father’s company is thwarted because of his compulsion to help, he finds purpose in offering aid to the beautiful and intelligent Irene. The attraction is mutual until Irene persuades Alex to tell her the real reason he can’t merely fly them to safety or call for help. Now the two castaways will have to fight the harsh winter elements, as well as the drug smugglers who lost their cargo in the wreck, if they want to make it home alive. Not easy tasks when Irene refuses to trust Alex to get her home safely. She simply can’t get over the fact that as talented, tough, and tantalizing as he is, he was going to throw his life away. Especially when her life will probably be cut short.
For the first time in his life, Alex will have to face his demons instead of running from them to win the girl and prove to himself that he’s a real hero …
Sneak Peek Chapter1
~Alex~
Alex watched his brother Sam stroll toward the elevator with his bride. The newly wedded couple giggled and snuggled as they tottered inside. Both had lifted their champagne flutes a few too many times in response to umpteen toasts. But they were in each other’s arms. No condemnation. No fears.
Sam and Nora had each other, and that was all that mattered. For the time being, Nora’s troubled past didn’t matter, and their family’s struggling business wasn’t a concern. And after a night of bliss in their newlywed suite, they’d take off for their two-week honeymoon in Argentina.
Alex hadn’t even felt the familiar waves of animosity from his brother that usually hovered over them like dense Denali cloud cover. He had been shocked that Sam had asked him to be his best man. Had Sam finally stopped blaming him for their father’s death? About the part Alex had played?
Didn’t matter. Even if Alex couldn’t admit it to anyone, he knew the truth. His soul suffered daily from his actions. If it hadn’t been for his immature actions, he wouldn’t have forgotten his critical gear, and his father wouldn’t have insisted that Alex take his ice ax. And his father, one of the greatest men who’d ever walked the earth, wouldn’t have died in the avalanche. No, Alex would have died instead.
Alex had cheated death. Because his father had been a better man than he was, Alex had lived.
He exhaled loudly, his breath steaming up the window of the hotel bar. Outside, across the frozen lake, sat a row of seaplanes. One of them was his. Tomorrow, he’d set things right. For Sam, for his family … for his father.
He’d had to wait two long years after he’d taken out the life insurance policy, after the company’s contestability period. Even though he was certain his death would look like an accident, he couldn’t take any chances that Sam wouldn’t receive the nearly two-million-dollar policy — 1,800,000, to be exact. The company had maxed out his policy at thirty times his annual salary.
Nora showing up in their lives had delayed his plans another eight months. But it was for the best, and a part of him felt better that she was in Sam’s life — and his mother’s life.
He’d taken care of every contingency. He’d written a will, leaving everything to Sam, so the proceeds wouldn’t end up tied up in probate. His life wasn’t worth much, but what he did have would assure that the Midnight Sons would continue saving lives long after his death. And wasn’t that what made a man a hero … the willingness to lay down his life for others? In a sense, his death would save others by saving the company that saved so many people every year.
“Beautiful in a weird kind of way, isn’t it?” The woman’s voice that came from behind him was low and raspy, almost secretive.
Had he spoken his plans aloud, initiating her odd question?
Alex turned to take in the woman, ready to defend his actions. Others wouldn’t understand his decision, he knew. Wouldn’t understand that every night when he tried to sleep he saw his father smothered to death by snow … and that he’d been responsible. He’d spent the last ten years drowning himself in carnal pleasures, anything to take away the nightmare he relived nightly. Nothing had worked.
To his surprise, the female voice belonged to the auburn-haired beauty who’d been sitting in the back row at his brother’s wedding service. They’d shared a moment together from across the room, but when he’d looked for her at the reception, he hadn’t been able to find her. He’d been tempted to look for a glass slipper, wondering why the mystery woman had disappeared. Now, here she stood.
He cocked his head, wondering why she was here now. Promptly at midnigh
t, right after the open bar closed, all the guests from the wedding reception had staggered to their rooms. Sam and Nora were the last to leave. Most of his family’s friends were first responders, so they had to make the drive back to Falcon Run early tomorrow.
“Excuse me?” he said, ready to tell her that what he did with his life was none of her business. Yeah, she looked good, but he’d already decided that he wouldn’t ruin Sam’s night by seducing one of the women at his wedding party.
The woman waved her hand at the glass windows. “The snow blankets even the ugliest trash and somehow makes it beautiful.”
“Oh, yeah … I agree,” he said, shaking off his unfounded irritation. “It is beautiful in a weird kind of way. A little cold for my taste, but that’s one of the downsides of living in Alaska. You have to deal with six months of dark and bitter cold to appreciate nearly round-the-clock sunshine during the remaining six months.”
The woman strolled past him, leaving a hint of vanilla in her wake. She approached the bank of windows that surrounded the closed bar & grill. Her slender fingers splayed against the glass, the heat of her hands causing an immediate reaction on the icy pane. “Winter or summer, I never used to appreciate the beauty. I couldn’t wait to escape.”
Alex scrubbed at his five o’clock shadow and closed his eyes. The look the woman had flashed him earlier at the wedding had been an invitation if he ever saw one. And he’d seen plenty. Not tonight, he reminded himself. Why not? insisted his less-noble self. She’s not Evie. You don’t even know her. Sam’s night is over. Why shouldn’t you have one final fling?
He shook his head at his crazy thoughts but found he wanted to listen to them. After all, what difference did it make? He had lived a high-octane life. If he was going to go down in flames, might as well enjoy his last night. Without his permission, his legs propelled him toward the glass wall, to the beautiful woman.
Her auburn hair was a little shorter than he preferred, but it suited her. Her body, while shapely, was a tad skinny. He’d always preferred athletic types. Still, she was a woman, and he loved women. He hoped whatever realm he ended up in tomorrow had women. He couldn’t imagine spending eternity without a soft body next to him.
He stepped next to the woman, but his eyes remained focused on the line of seaplanes again. Actually, as she’d indicated, all he really saw was the snow as it fell beneath the lights of the marina, and the outline of the seaplanes swathed in a blanket of white. “Ever been on a seaplane?”
“Mm-hm.”
Not many women had answered yes to that question. One of his best pickup lines was relating to a woman that he was a pilot. He wasn’t sure why, but most women cooed at the idea of him taking them up in one of his three aircrafts. Well, technically, the airplanes and helicopter weren’t his; they belonged to the family business.
He lowered his head to take in the woman up close. She was a good head shorter than his six-two. Petite and delicate. Even her skin looked so pale and soft that he feared she might shatter if he touched her. Her auburn hair was what initially caught his eye. The color reminded him of Alaska blueberry leaves, right before the season ended. When the fruit was the sweetest, the leaves turned to a dark reddish brown. The way her dark hair contrasted with her light skin made his hands ache to touch her. He imagined running his fingers through the loose waves.
Give it a rest, he ordered his libido again. Instead of fantasizing about how silky her skin would feel against his, he moistened his dry lips. “So, you’re from here?”
She pointed southwest. “Saint Paul Island.”
“You’re kidding!” The burst of laughter that escaped his throat snapped him out of his meandering fantasies. And based on her furrowed brows, if she’d been fantasizing about him, she’d stopped the moment he’d lost all sense of decorum by guffawing at her answer.
“Why is that funny?”
“I’m sorry. That was rude.” He pinched his temple. “I don’t know why I found that so funny. Maybe because, like … what … five hundred people live there? And most are native, right? Honestly, I thought only Aleuts and fur seals lived on Saint Paul Island.”
She twisted her mouth and shook her head. “Yes, fur seals definitely dominate the beaches. Not all the human population is Aleut, though, obviously. But as I said, I couldn’t wait to leave. I think the hottest it ever got in the summer was sixty. And the winters are brutal.”
Alex forced a smile, the one his mother had always claimed would get him anything he wanted. “Again, sorry. I’m a bit slaphappy. It’s been a long day. Also, one of the things I noticed about Alaska is that practically no one is from here — except my family, it seems — so I definitely didn’t expect you to say Saint Paul Island. Is that why you’re in Anchorage, are you running away from home?” He flashed another smile, hoping the crease between her brows would let up.
The woman’s lips quirked upward, but then she closed her eyes, shaking her head again. “No, I left for college seventeen years ago and never looked back. Oddly enough, I ended up in San Francisco. Fog City, as I call it. Imagine my surprise when I ended up in a city with year-round temps like the summers in Saint Paul. Whereas most can’t take the daily fog and damp weather of San Fran, it reminded me of home, only without the negative-zero winters.”
“I’ve never been.” He’d always wanted to go, but now he never would. He shrugged off his pathetic thoughts and focused on her. “So, you’re going home? Booked a ride on one of those seaplanes, I take it?”
Her lips twisted again. “Yeah … something like that. I doubt I’ll stay long, though.”
Seemed there was more to this woman’s story, but as much as he’d like to get to know her, he couldn’t. No strings. No attachments. He’d had to live by that motto ever since he decided his fate. Still, a name wouldn’t hurt. It’d be nice to talk to someone, since he knew there was no chance of falling asleep.
He extended his hand. “I’m Alex.”
The woman’s hazel eyes held his. The brownish-red color closest to the irises nearly matched her hair. She smiled but didn’t accept his hand. “I already knew your name, Alex. The maid of honor whispered it to me, along with a couple other tidbits.”
He’d forgotten that Evie had bent down and whispered something in her ear. Since the woman wasn’t going to take his hand, he dropped it. “What tidbits did she mention? Nothing bad, I hope.”
The woman shrugged. “Bad is relative. I don’t judge insider information as good or bad. I prefer to take the info and figure out the facts myself.”
He raised the hand she’d rejected. “Hmm … maybe I’m better off not knowing what Evie said. I would like to know your name, though.”
A smile tugged up those apricot-stained lips. “Irene.”
“Irene,” he heard himself whisper back. Damn, why was he letting this woman intrigue him?
Irene turned from the window, strolling toward the row of high-top tables that lined the seldom-used dance floor. Even in season, most people just drank, watched sports, and of course, watched the outside show. The bar overlooked Lake Hood, the world’s busiest seaplane base. Often, after a rescue, he’d end up at the bar … and then the hotel when he’d downed one too many drafts.
She kicked off her shoes and tossed a look over her shoulder. “Don’t they play music here? It’s only midnight, for Pete’s sake.”
“Not in January.” For no reason he could fathom, he found himself following her. “I think my brother’s wedding is the only reason the hotel’s nearly full.”
Irene toured the wood floor, stopping and spinning every few feet. “I want to dance.” She pulled out her phone, tapped on a few keys. An Abba song started. She set the phone on one of the high tops, then reached for his hand. “Dance with me, Alex.”
“Here?” He didn’t dance. Not anywhere. With his trim frame and long legs, he always felt like a daddy long legs springing across the floor. Sam was the dancer. Even in high school, Sam would cut loose on the back of his pickup. The girls loved
it.
She tugged on his arm. “Why not here? No one can see us.”
He spied the doors that led to the lobby. “I don’t know how to dance.”
“Everyone knows how to dance. It’s as natural as walking.” When he didn’t budge, she released his hand and planted her fists on her hips. “Life’s too short not to dance, Alex.” Instead of continuing to coax him, she twirled away as if she were the dancing queen looking for her king.
Her comment stabbed him deeply. Life was too short. His would be shorter than many. Why shouldn’t he dance? He tentatively stepped on the floor as Dancing Queen streamed from the woman’s phone. He’d never hear the end of it if his brothers or any of the first responders saw him dancing to Dancing Queen, of all things. Hell, after tomorrow morning, he’d never see them again, so what did it matter?
Nothing mattered anymore. Life was too short. Maybe spending his last night dancing would give this stranger something to smile about in the future. If she read about his death, she might say something like: He didn’t seem suicidal. He danced with me …
After all, he wasn’t suicidal. Not in the least. The last thing he wanted was to die. He was just setting right a wrong. Maybe if Irene told his mother and brothers he’d been dancing with her the night before his death, they’d know he’d been happy. Maybe they would assume he’d just crashed accidentally. And if they did suspect anything, hopefully, they’d know that what he’d done, he’d done for them.
~ Irene ~
A haptic tap from her iWatch woke Irene with a start. Her eyes snapped open.
The alarm. The chartered plane.
She hadn’t had to set the alarm in so long that the old familiar warning surprised her. She hadn’t been on a schedule for nearly a year. Not since her surgery.
She blinked, trying to make out her surroundings. A streak of light streaming through the hotel curtains slashed a bare back. Alex Belgarde. A pilot.
Sam's Folly (Midnight Sons Book 1) Page 24
