Desert Angel (Family Justice Book 2) (9 page)

Watching her big brother grin like a lunatic at Red made Angie laugh.

“First and last time,” he chuckled with a straight face.

“Uh-huh,” she bit back.

“Actually,” he laughed, “it was a summer of many firsts.”

An interesting interplay of silent communication bounced back and forth between Alex and Parker—obviously a shared memory from that summer. Meghan also noted this unspoken interchange and raised an eyebrow at Angie.

God.
What she wouldn’t give to be the fly on the wall when
that
conversation fired up. Poor Alex. She didn’t envy him the cross-examination coming his way.

After that comical waltz down memory lane, they ate in companionable silence mixed with smatterings of polite, politically correct small talk while Alex and Meghan refereed and kept the conversation going. It actually wasn’t all that bad. Once she recovered from the shock of having to deal unexpectedly with Parker, she’d calmed down.

Of course, she also managed to check the man out from head to toe several times—she hoped without notice by anyone. Holy god, he was hot. When the hell had that happened? She was used to big men. Alex was the size of a football player and her dad wasn’t exactly small. But the man sitting between her and Meghan? He was huge. Or the room was overly small. One of the two.

After a bit, their dinner discussion turned to the wedding plans. Seemed like a safe topic until Meghan dropped a bombshell.

Angie was in the process of forking a large pile of food into her open mouth when she saw Meghan reach for Alex’s hand. Something was up.

The two smiled broadly in her direction, and from the periphery, she saw Parker put his fork down and wipe his mouth with his napkin before dropping it on the table. Anticipation hovered in the air around them.

“Angie, honey,” Alex began. “Meghan has something she wants to ask you.”

Glancing wide-eyed at Meghan, she quirked a fleeting half-grin and murmured, “Anything, Red. Ask me anything.”

Meghan smiled warmly and she saw her squeeze her brother’s hand before she spoke.

“Angie—I love your brother more than you can possibly imagine. His happiness, his well-being—they mean everything to me. Becoming his wife is something I take seriously.”

She smiled.
Awww, how sweet is this?
Tears of happiness gathered in her eyes. “You’re going to be an awesome Marquez, Red,” Angie squeaked, overcome with emotion.

Meghan choked back an emotional gasp and said, “You have no idea how much hearing that means to me.”

Oh, wow,
Angie thought.
Alex is so damn lucky.
His bride actually gave a shit about the prospect of becoming a member of their crazy family.

“To that end,” Meghan continued rather solemnly, “it would mean the world to me . . . I mean, to us,” she emphasized with a nod toward Alex, “if you would bless our marriage as my maid of honor.”

Maid of honor?
What?
Had she heard right? Oh, my god! This was really happening if the hopeful, nervous expression on Meghan’s face was any indication.

“You guys!” she yelped in shocked disbelief. “Oh, Red!” Angie choked out as she jumped from her seat and ran around the table just as Meghan rose.

Grabbing her in a fierce bear hug, Angie laughed joyfully. “This is fantastic! Thank you so much.”

She heard Alex snicker. “I take it that was a yes?”

Angie was exploding with happiness. Her parents would be so touched to hear this bit of news. They were already charmed and impressed by how magnificently Alex’s choice of a bride was handling herself. Having Meghan ask Angie to stand by their side as she wed Alex was an honor she did not take lightly.

Wiping away an emotional tear, Meghan hugged her one last time before running into Alex’s waiting arms. “You two have made us so happy,” she gushed.

You two?
Huh?
Angie felt confused.

Looking sideways at Parker, she immediately noted the way he’d paled and how his mouth seemed stuck in an open position.

When Meghan all but purred with satisfaction and burrowed into Alex’s chest with her arms around his waist and a contented grin, Angie felt the floor drop out from under her.

“Looks like we have our maid of honor and best man!” Alex drawled.

Angie’s jaw joined Parker’s in a freefall. She had
not
seen that coming.

C
OMPLETELY IN AWE OF WHAT
he was seeing, Alex excitedly proclaimed, “This is incredible, Drae,” when the whole thing came into focus. “What the hell was this room before?”

“Fuck if I know. One day all the girls descended out of nowhere and dragged me here . . . said, will this work?” Looking around at the space, his friend shrugged. “I said yep, and next thing anyone knew, a project had been born!”

Alex laughed at the apt description of what dealing with the women of Family Justice was like. Meghan was the battering ram. She simply ripped down walls to get what she wanted. And Tori? Shit. She might be little, but she was the scariest one of the bunch. That woman could talk circles around anyone. Fuck, man. Sometimes she won because her ridiculous grasp of arcane facts pretty much beat every argument into the ground.

And then, of course, there was Lacey. She was sweet, young, bright-eyed, and completely authentic in every way. The first of the Justice wives, she couldn’t fathom the glass half empty notion because, after all, to her, the glass was half full. Period. Her simple belief in all that was good, right, and true was what changed everything. For all of them.

“Crazy women! They caused all kinds of hell in the construction office the other day. Something about solar lights.” Alex shook his head remembering the dust-up their interference had instigated.

Draegyn snorted a laugh, which got Alex laughing along. They went back a long way, he and Drae. Theirs was a unique friendship, born before the firestorm of an ugly war and made closer through long years spent building a business together. They were more than friends. Draegyn St. John was hardwired into Alex’s conscience—his own personal Jiminy Cricket. The wise partner along on the adventure.

“Well, bro, the good news is that it doesn’t take much to soundproof a room so here ya go, Thunder Foot. One music studio as requested. Plenty of room for a stadium-size drum kit, a grand piano—whatever you need.”

Alex was suitably stunned. A studio. And shit but it was impressive. The walls and ceiling were covered by unusual carved foam that created different hued waves making the room look like it was alive. Huge framed landscapes were hung here and there—all photographs of the surrounding countryside. There was a comfy seating area and even a small wet bar. And it was soundproof, huh? Suddenly, he could think of some additional uses for the room. Lately he’d gotten insatiably greedy for the screams that he got out of Meghan when their playtimes were especially intense. He wondered if the door locked.

“Dammit, man,” Drae groaned, his hands on his hips and head bowed. “I fucking hate you for putting that picture in my head.”

What the hell was he bitching about?

Drae’s hand came out with a key dangling from his forefinger. “Of course, the goddamn door locks, you old pervert.”

Alex took the key and snickered. “Was I that obvious?”

“Yes,” Drae mocked. “Yes, you were. And since I live in constant fear of finding unlocked doors when you’re around . . .” He shuddered dramatically. “I made sure this one has a double lock.”

The memory of Drae returning to the Villa unexpectedly to find Meghan trussed up like a virgin sacrifice in the stable’s tack room swirled in the air around them. Ever since that day when Drae had freaked out and Alex and Meghan fell over laughing, the incident had been a constant source of amusement.

“Oh, and by the way,” Drae snickered as he drawled, “I found a box of carabiners. Tactical issue stuff. Installed a bunch of ’em carefully hidden in the walls and ceiling. Pretty clever of me, I think,” he jeered. “It’s up to you to find them.”

Carabiners? What the hell did something like that have to do with . . . oh!
Duh.
He got it. Not bursting out with a hearty laugh wasn’t an option.

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?” Alex chuckled.

Drae grinned broadly. “Nah. That shit’s comedy gold.”

“Oh, you mean like giving Meghan a hank of bondage rope for Christmas?”

“Dude,” Drae sneered. “The look on your face was fucking priceless. I know you tried to act all big daddy-like, but I saw what you were thinking. You were sizing that poor girl up and wondering if you had enough rope.”

“Watch it,” Alex muttered.

Drae laughed and motioned him over to check out a control panel by the door. “Relax, Major. No disrespect intended. And, for the record, once my other half got wind of that damned rope . . . well, let’s just say it comes in many colors.”

The lighthearted moment faded as Drae went into specific detail about all the technology he had installed. This was Alex’s passion. Bring electronics of any sort into the discussion and he was sporting half a chub.

Happily pushing buttons and relentlessly swiping his fingers on the panel’s screen, he found himself chatting away. He tested every feature available and immediately began thinking of ways to improve and expand all the bells and whistles.

“Hey, did I tell you about the email I got from Brody? I’ll tell you what,” Alex exclaimed, “plugging him in and making it official was a smart move. I like his vision. What he wants to do with the animal program and the veteran’s outreach is way beyond anything our old asses would have thought of.”

“And speaking of old ass,” Drae drawled mockingly. “I’m pretty impressed with a couple of the recruits Cam singled out. Sent me a bunch of resumes to look at. He really had his shit together on this. Everything seems to be coming together nicely, don’t you agree? And Brody being on the ball, too?” Drae air-played a home run complete with sound effects and a final jump onto home base. “Winning, man! Now if only Calder would get his shit together.”

“Have you heard from him?”

Drae snorted and shook his head. “Heard from him? No! Why? He’s
your
uncle, and if that was just some coy way of asking about Stephanie . . . just cut to the chase, okay?”

Leave it to Drae! Grinning, Alex shrugged. “Man, all the lines are so fucking blurred lately. It’s weird, isn’t it? My old friend becomes your mother-in-law and now my uncle, who’s also our business associate, is moping over Tori’s mom. What a tangled web.”

“I’ll give you that it’s all fucking weird,” Drae drawled. “Oh, and my wife has wisely chosen not to tell Stephanie that Calder has retreated to the mountains.”

Alex considered this bit of news. They were all tiptoeing in one way or another around an unexpected romance that surprised everyone but Alex the matchmaker. Calder and Stephanie’s attraction was passionate and intense. They were also both pigheaded as all hell and painfully set in their ways. It was hard to watch and not interfere.

“Well,” Alex calmly volunteered, “Tori’s being smart and just between us? Aspen was only where he went when he left here. It isn’t where he’s going to end up though.”

“
Hmmph,
” Drae grunted. “Are you saying you think he’s going to take his head out of his butt and go to Atlanta?”

“You don’t?” Alex countered smoothly.

Drae snickered. “I’ve known your uncle a good long time. It’s a bit disconcerting to have a guy who you’ve hung out with, sometimes naked, often howling at the moon, and usually drunk as shit, be
shtooping
your wife’s hot widowed mother.”

Alex roared.
Shtooping!
Classic St. John.

“I mean, shit, Alex. I don’t know whether to high five the guy or pull him aside for a stern chat!”

They both nearly collapsed in laughter. Wiping away snot and tears, Draegyn choked on his last couple of laughs.

“And yeah, man. I think he’ll go after her, and while we’re sharing, here’s more food for thought. Victoria mentioned that her mother started making noises about selling the Atlanta condo, so if Uncle Calder is going to make a move, he needs to do it soon.”

“Understood.”

Punching the light timer, they exited Alex’s newest playroom and made their way back to the main portion of the old hacienda.

“Have you checked in with Lacey today?”

Alex couldn’t help the smile that lit up his face. Of course, he’d checked in with her. It was their custom that whenever Cam went out of town they’d video chat over coffee in the morning. And now with a baby on the scene? Alex was a hundred times more big daddy where Cam, Lacey, and Dylan were concerned.

“She’s good.” He chuckled. “Played Peek-a-Boo with Dylan on her iPad. That boy has gotten so big and ornery! Can’t believe he’s sitting up and already starting to get in trouble.”

Also a proud father, Drae was quick to reply. “Daniel lights up when Dylan’s on the scene. I predict many years of fuckery ahead from those two. There’s nothing quite like having a partner,” he reminded him.

Alex thought about Drae’s comment hours later when he was taking a work break and Cam drifted into his thoughts. He missed his brooding, intense brother. Because the wedding and compound expansion was taking up all of his time, and with Drae still in the initial rush of first-time parenthood, Cam had really stepped up and kept the agency running. Doing the work of three had him constantly on the go, and for the last several days, he’d been in Texas meeting with prospective associates and some important south of the border clients.