Consumed by Wrath: An FBI/Romance Thriller (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 8) (16 page)

At the door, he pulled it open.

The cold breeze whipped around his
shirtless body and gave him chills. In strolled his mother, and when she pulled off her cloak, Igor was sitting on her shoulder.

“Mother, you know
that he’s not allowed here,” Chris stated. Cyra had a wicked case of arachnophobia and couldn’t stand to be in the same room with the spider. “We’ve had this discussion over and over again.”

In fact, it was turning into a bone of contention.

“She’s gone to work, so it doesn’t matter. Besides, Igor misses you.”

He sighed and walked towards his kitchen. Once there, he sat on a stool and stared at the woman
who raised him. Before getting a babe of his own, he was a lot more magnanimous towards the woman. Now, she just bothered him with her demands and pressure.

Yeah and how she was always trying to terrorize his fiancée with the tarantula that was walking on his kitchen counter.
Putting out his hand, Igor skittered across to it. Well, at least some living thing wasn’t pissed at him.

Now, he needed to figure out what she was doing there.

With the wedding fast approaching, it wouldn’t surprise him in the least if she was here to bitch and moan. His only saving grace was Cyra was gone to work. Funny, all of the sudden, he wished he was too.

“What is it that you need, Belladonna?” he asked.

“Orion, I have a few things to discuss with you. I had the attorney draw up three different prenuptials.”

“What?” he said,
choking on his coffee and nearly spitting it on the spider crawling up his arm. 

“Yes, oh, and he sends his best. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. There are three different ones. There’s my personal favorite, the one where she gets absolutely nothing in case of divorce. That means if you dump her or she leaves you
, your trust fund is absolutely safe.”

Chris stared at
the woman who gave birth to him and so many profanities flittered across the tip of his tongue. “No.”

“Okay, have it your way. We
have option number two. In case of divorce, where you leave her, she is entitled to alimony. There won’t be a custody agreement. I had the attorney sneak that line into the fine print. She will automatically lose custody if she files or you file for divorce. Pretty tricky, no?”

He was pretty sure his blood pressure was through the roof. “NO!”

“Okay, then there’s the last one. She gets one million for every five years that she’s with you. I figured that was the one you would go with regardless, but still no custody. It’s not like the gold diggers ever stick around for more than a couple years. What’s a measly million to get rid of her for good?”

Chris actually stood and the stool fell over behind him. “You’re dangerously close to crossing a line that you
can’t return from, Belladonna.”

“Orion, you say you love her, but what if you get bored or tired of her and change your mind.”

He knew he needed to try a different route. She just wasn’t getting it. “Mother, how old was I when I decided to be an ME?”

She thought about it. “
I think you were about ten. That’s about when you started cutting things open to find out what made them die.”

“Have I ever told you that I changed my mind?”

She shook her head no.

“I’m one of those irritatingly stable people
who don’t flit through life like a butterfly from flower to flower. When I find something I like, I stick with it. I have every book I ever bought. I still even have my high school jacket in a closet, and luckily for you, I haven’t tried to purchase a new mother.”

She got his point. “You shouldn’t knock it until you try it, Orion. You may actually see it’s a less stressful way of life.”

He was close to snapping. “Mom, leave.”

“Okay
, but one more thing. I was told by the woman doing the flowers that you have a minister planned and a church wedding.”

Chris closed his eyes. THIS
is what he knew would be coming. “Yes, mother, we do.”

“Are you out of your mind?” she asked. “I shunned religion years ago and now you’re taking your vows in a church, where I will not go.”

Hey, maybe this day may be getting better and better after all. There was going to be a whole church service without anyone having to cover his mother’s mouth when the minister asks if anyone objected.

It looks like Elizabeth was losing one of her jobs.

“This is insanity, Orion. So, I took it upon myself to cancel the church, the organist
, and the minister. I know that she’s pressured you to do all that. So, I’ll take the heat and the blame.”

He stared at her like she was out of her mind. “Are you crazy? We worked hours to find a place that had a few openings for possible wedding days.”

She shrugged. “Well, you’ll find something better. I guarantee it.”

Pulling on her cloak, she carefully
lifted Igor from his neck and tucked him beneath her wrap to keep warm. “Have a safe day, Orion,” she stated, going to him and kissing him on the cheek.

As she was leaving, he was so grateful. The day had indeed gotten worse. When he told Cyra this, she was going to lose it and call it all off.
After all, could he blame her?

There was no doubt
that hell was about to erupt all over his life, and bad things were going to happen. That was saying a lot, considering what he waded through every day of his life.

“Oh, and I saw the flowers that Shana, Cheryl… whatever her name is picked
out.”

“Cyra,” he corrected
, his blood pressure shooting up even higher. It was official. He was going to die of a stroke.

“Yeah, whatever. Anyway, the colors are all wrong. I cancelled them an
d reordered the right ones. You don’t have to thank me. I picked my favorites.”

“Mother, she picked roses because they reminded her of her
mom. You had no right…”

She cut him off. “Dear, trust your mother. I know what’s best. Not Chantal.”

“Cyra!” he yelled, as his mother walked away.

Well, this was definitely the end of his relationship.
It was only a matter of time. It looked like this round was going to go to the witch.

“God help me.”

                        *     *     *

Thursday Morning

Well, there was one thing for certain. The three of them were not made for
this size bed. At home, their monster mattress was an ultra king, and it fit them perfectly, but this bed was causing issues.

Mostly to Elizabeth.

The men didn't like to hang off the side, so that meant they would move towards the center. Unfortunately for her, she was using that coveted space. Not only using it, but there were technically already two people in it.

Her and Baby Blackhawk.

When she could feel them start to stir, she remained perfectly still. At least now, she wasn’t caught up in anyone’s web of hair.

Callen was the first one awake. When he opened his eyes, he was staring right into Elizabeth’s. “How are you feeling today, Momma?” he asked.

As if timed, Ethan popped his head over her shoulder and ran his hand over her ass. “She feels perfect to me.”

It made her giggle.
“Yeah, yeah. You two are comedians. In fact, I’m laughing on the inside.”

Ethan stopped laughing. “I just want to thank you both for never giving up on me, and trying to hold me up and not look like you’re doing it. I love you both so much.”

Elizabeth struggled to roll to her back in the tight quarters. “I will always hold you up, Ethan.”

Callen figured this was as good a time as any. “Hey, I have something for you both and this whole conversation is leading there, so
I may as well give you an early Valentine’s Day present.”

Watching the man, they both sat up in bed to wait for him to return.
After pulling something from of his messenger bag, Callen sat beside them. Immediately, they were his focus.

“I hope you don’t
take this gesture the wrong way. It wasn’t meant to upset you or mean anything other than what I’m going to say.”

Now
, they were staring at him blankly.

“Okay, Callen,” Ethan said.

He took the small black ring box in his hand and stared at his brother. “When I was battered, bruised, and broken, you did something so incredibly healing, that it put me on this path with you. Granddad gave you the family rings, and you offered them to me so I can feel like I belong.”

They watched him slide it off his finger.

“Callen,” Ethan began.

“Wait, please. Hear me out. I want you to wear it. Granddad gave
the rings to me and told me to give it to the person I love, so I’m doing just that. I think it should be yours, Ethan. I know that Patrick Parrish took your ring and destroyed that memory, so I’m giving you something back that will wipe the bad away and keep you safe.”

In his fingers sat their family ring.

“Callen, are you sure?” Blackhawk said, staring down at the symbol of their family.

“I am, because I have this.” He opened the box in his hand and showed them. “It’s the new Whitefox family ring. It’s the exact opposite of yours. Where yours is
yellow gold, mine is white, but the stones are still the same. I want your son one day to have this ring. You have every right to pass it on to the ones who carry your name.”

Elizabeth wiped her eyes. This was the sweetest thing the man could do. They just spoke about the ring issue and Callen was intuitive enough to just know.

My, my, had their wounded bird grown.

“I know
that our kids are
our
kids, but they have different last names. At some point, they’ll understand that and I want them to have a lineage. Please don’t think I’m saying I don’t appreciate what you gave me. I do. It made me stronger. Now, I want it to do the same for you.”

Pulling the two rings out of the box, he handed
them to Elizabeth. “Will you wear my ring, as the mother of our children and the other half of my heart?” he asked.

How could she say no to any of this
?

“I will, Callen.
I’ll be more than proud to wear it too.” When she slipped it onto her finger, it looked exactly like the one she was wearing. “I love it.”

Ethan stared down at the ring in his hand
. Suddenly, the memories of his wedding ring being taken by Patrick Parrish were slipping away. Callen’s offer was cleansing the bad taste it left in his mouth.

There was peace
.

“Let me,” Elizabeth said, taking both rings from both men. When they held out their ring fingers, she slid them on at the same time. “
This is forever, my loves. I promise to love you both until the end of our days. I will stand by you, and commit my heart and soul to making you both the happiest men in the world.”

Callen continued, “I will protect you both and spend every day cherishing the time we have together. I won’t ever take for granted a single second of being part of our partnership. Because of you both, I found love, and I will protect it for as long as I live.”

Ethan was touched by their words and vows.

“I will
open my heart and let it lead the way. I won’t forget that I’ve found the most amazing people to spend the rest of my life with. I will love you both until my dying day, and I’ll keep alive the belief that we were always meant to be together. The day you beckoned me here, Lyzee, it began. The day we found Callen, it continued, and the day we all fell in love, it cemented us on the path.”

“Nothing will shake us,” she promised.

And nothing would.

Both men
were filled with so much emotion at the words that they each shared. It wasn’t a wedding, but to them it was enough to act as a reminder.

“You may now kiss your already
knocked up bride,” she teased, trying to add some levity to the situation. Whenever she was overwhelmed, that was her standby.

The laughter ensued, as the
y hugged and pressed her between them.

“Suddenly, I don’t mind the tight squeeze,” she said to them both.

Callen grinned lecherously. “I don’t mind it either.”

As the men leaned back, taking her with them, their hands began wandering.
It looked like they were going to be starting the day off right. Elizabeth had just begun to breathlessly moan when the doorbell began ringing.

No, that wasn’t an accurate word. Someone was pressing it repeatedly like they wanted to be murdered
.

“Oh my God,” she muttered. “Doesn’t he know we’re on vacation?”