Wyatt (Lane Brothers #1) (10 page)

It’s strange that Wyatt thinks he’s out to get me, but then I don’t know Jerry and I trust Wyatt. If he says Jerry is dangerous, then I believe him.

“The safest place for you right now is in the bosom of our family where I and my brothers will protect you. My cousin Roman is a cop and he’s gathering evidence as we speak to make sure Jerry is put behind bars for a very long time.”

I agree, if only because it means that I get to meet Jude soon.

“Okay then. When do we leave?”

“Yeah? You’re okay with it all?” he asks incredulously.

“Sure.”

“Well damn, baby, if I knew you’d take this all so well, I would have told you this yesterday and spared myself the ulcer.”

“Liar. You wanted to reel me in with sex first and then drop the bomb. That’s such a male thing to do. I’m almost tempted to call Hanley and tell her, if I didn’t think she’d be tickled pink that she was right and I was wrong about my avoidance issues.”

Damn woman. I’m almost tempted to split and leave Wyatt just to prove her wrong and not admit defeat. Lucky for us all, I’ve never been the type to spite myself just for a win.

“You’re probably right,” he admits sheepishly, giving me a long deep kiss before pulling me up and hustling me out the door. “Let’s go home, baby.”

“Shouldn’t you pack?”

“I’ve got everything I need right beside me.”

Ellie

The journey to Wyatt’s family home takes just under two hours. According to Miah and Jared, Wyatt has only ever left New Orleans when absolutely necessary, and only if he couldn’t con one of them into standing in for him.

My guy seems to be attached to his family and unwilling to leave the nest for very long. I laugh while they rib him about being a mama’s boy and he shoots glares their way, retorting that if Jared or Jace breastfed any longer, they’d have missed their own proms.

This is a first for me, knowing that I’m probably the first and only woman in recorded history to be glad that her man is attached to his mama’s apron string and will forever be a daddy’s boy.

Apparently their home is a monstrosity that boasts enough wings that they all live pretty much independently when they want to, though Miah doesn’t seem the slightest bit sheepish at admitting that he still basically lives with his parents because who in their right mind would pass up Judith Lane’s cooking when she’s just down the hall.

“You okay, baby?” Wyatt whispers when we stop at a massive steel gate leading to a property so large it could probably fit ten or more football fields easily.

“Uh-huh.”

The house is in the distance, a tiny speck so far from the gate, it looks miniscule.

“How big is this place?” I mutter.

My folks weren’t poor by anybody’s standards and provided very well for us, but this level of riches is not something I’ve ever encountered. To be honest, it’s more than a little intimidating to see that the Lanes are rich enough to buy and sell a country or two.

“It’s huge, but I swear you will love the house. It’s quirky and has a whole bunch of interesting hidden shit all over. My great-great-great-granddaddy started adding to the original building when he realized he loved his wife too much to keep his hands off of her and that was when they only had ten kids.”

“Ten! Ten kids?” I squeak.

He seems so pleased with that, I’m starting to doubt the intelligence of actually wanting to be with him. No way will I survive more than three, at most. Ten would…I don’t think I’d get to four without being a dried-up shadow of myself.

“Yeah.”

Miah chokes when Wyatt sounds a little sheepish and attempts to backpedal and soon I’m laughing right along with his brothers. Wyatt scowls at them and pats my hand reassuringly.

“Dude, do not try to fool your girl. Tell her that the irascible Jeremiah Lane, great patriarch of the family, ended up with twelve rug rats and that’s why he turned this old house into a hotel. See, Ellie, the man was so annoyed to always have one of his million children underfoot, especially when he was trying to catch poor Granny for another round, that he built the place large enough that it’d take the children at least twenty minutes to come knocking.”

That poor woman. Twelve kids!

“Oh my God, please do not tell me you expect that, because if so, you can let me out right here and I’ll hitchhike back home.”

Even he laughs this time, and I get a noogie for my efforts and a growled promise not to make any promises.

Yikes.

“Well, here we are, baby. Welcome home.”

My breath literally stalls in my chest when I look away from him and see the house for the first time. Its huge, as big as the hotel in
The Shining
, and that’s just the beginning.

The place is a marvel of architecture, a patchwork of so many different styles and sizes that it looks like a puzzle of many different homes all stuck together to make one, huge totally breathtaking home.

I love it so much that I scramble out on my own and stand staring, gobsmacked, and in awe. Wyatt had better hope he never tires of me, because at this rate it’ll take a crowbar to pry me away from the place, and that’s without once considering the lush green grounds that stretch to the front and back as far as the eye can see.

It’s so big, I reckon you’d have to use a golf cart just to see the place from boundary to boundary.

“Oh wow.”

It’s all I can say before the door bursts open and a black-haired tornado flies my way and throws her arms around me.

“Oh, Ellie! You’re here. How was the drive? Please tell me they didn’t force you to abandon breakfast before coming home. Did Wyatt tell you that you have a whole wing to yourself? And I bought you a whole wardrobe to fill your closet. Oh, you should see some of the stuff Wyatt already bought you and—”

“Ma. You’re going to have to stop choking her if you want her to live to see it all.” Wyatt laughs, prying her away and dragging me into the side of his body.

Jude giggles, a truly wonderful sound that makes me feel warm and happy and covers her cheeks with her hands.

“Oh, honey, forgive me, I’m just so excited! George! Come and see, George!” she yells, never once taking her eyes off me.

A man in his early fifties ambles out and smiles indulgently at Jude before turning to me. He looks kind, and so like his sons that I don’t feel a scrap of fear when he comes forward and lifts me into a bear hug.

“Hey, Ellie dear, I’m glad this son of mine finally pulled his head out of his ass and brought you home. Don’t mind Judy too much if you can help it, the old bat is so happy to finally have you here she almost chewed my arm off to get to the door.”

“That’s true!” she gushes, linking our arms and pulling me into the house, leaving the men behind, staring in wonder.

“Ma!”

“Oh hush, Wyatt Lane. You’ve had her for days all to yourself. Don’t be greedy. Now, Ellie dear, have you decided what color scheme we’re going with for the nursery?”

***

Wyatt

She’s killing me with her laughter and those deer-in-headlights looks she keeps throwing my way every time Ma brings up the wedding and the plans to revamp one of the rooms in our wing to turn it into a nursery.

Ellie is probably just humoring Ma at this stage while she throws me pleading looks to rescue her from Ma’s clutches, and I decide not to tell her that Jude is more than serious about her future grandbabies.

What good would it do, anyway? Ma would just steamroll right over my baby and she’d end up trying to bolt in sheer terror and the need to survive.

My family is a little intense and overwhelming, it’s true, but they all have good intentions, Ma especially. Well, intentions as good as you can expect when dealing with a woman who’s been obsessed with getting grandbabies out of me for almost a decade now.

I won’t even mention to Ellie that Ma claimed her as her daughter the first time I showed her a photo before explaining to her that I loved her and would move heaven and earth to get her.

“So, have you heard anything from Roman yet?”

I break eye contact with Ellie and look over at Pop as he sits down beside me and smiles at Ma’s constant chatter and Ellie’s very apparent fear of the quicksand that is Jude Lane.

“Miah and Jared said he’s starting to tie things together but that we’ll need to think about entrapping Jerry if we want a rock-solid case.”

How though? I’ve been mulling it over since getting in the car while my brothers kept Ellie busy, and the only way I can think to get him to make a mistake is to use Ellie as bait.

I won’t do it, no matter how much easier it would make things. I’d rather let Miah and Jared loose on the man. Like I said, I don’t want him dead or maimed. I want him behind bars, suffering for years, just like his son made my baby suffer.

“I know exactly what you’re thinking, kid, and though I understand, I don’t think you’ll be able to keep her out of it, entirely. Have you told her everything yet?”

“No, just that Bolton was one of ours,” I admit, smiling at Ellie when she looks over.

I feel guilty about keeping so much from her, but I can’t risk it. She doesn’t love me yet, and I won’t take the chance that she’ll try to leave. I’m not a monster.

Yes, I kidnapped her and kept her against her will those first few days, but the truth is that I would never do anything to hurt Ellie. No matter how much I tell myself that I won’t let her go, in the long run I know that if that’s what she really wanted, I’d do it.

              I’d never marry or touch another after the paradise I’ve found with her, but if she wants out, I’ll give it to her. When the danger is over, that is.

“Wyatt, son, take it from your dad. Lying to a woman is never a good idea,” he says, giving me his patented dad look.

I agree with him since the man raised me and I share a lot of his values and skewed logic, but on this one issue, I won’t allow my family to sway me.

Ellie needs more time to love me, and then and only then will I confess it all. Telling her that I am responsible for Bolton snapping and snatching her is one thing, but the other…

I can’t even think about it without breaking out in a cold sweat.

“Leave it alone, Pop. Please. She’s not there yet. If I tell her everything, I have no guarantee she won’t slap me silly and tell me she never wants to see me again.”

“Damn, bro, that’s some depressing fears you’ve got going on there.”

My face is stony as I turn to Jace where he’s flopped down on the sofa beside me, his eyes trained on Ma and Ellie as he smiles indulgently.

“Shut up, idiot, you’d feel the same way if you were in my shoes.”

“Not likely since I plan never to fall in love or settle down,” he quips, pulling a candy bar from his pocket.

The man is a player of the worst kind and always seems to be pulling something out of his pocket to shove in his mouth. It’s like a habit, almost, seeing as Jace hates sugary foods and has since he was knee high to a grasshopper.

His statement makes Pop laugh so hard, the man’s eyes start watering till he’s forced to run an arm over his face.

“You went and cooked your own goose now, Jason, my boy. If a man doesn’t want love and marriage, telling the universe it won’t happen is like sending out a direct challenge to the fates. You’re screwed, and I lay odds that this time next year you’ll be in love and chasing after a woman like a sad little puppy.”

“Not happening. Ever. Me, I’m a free agent. A lone wolf on the prowl for a quick and easy meal. I don’t do love, old man, and you know why,” he grates, losing that carefree attitude that he carries around everywhere, even when it’s appropriate.

For a carefree man, Jace just got surprisingly real, and I’m suddenly curious. There’s a story there, and once I have all my business squared away and Ellie safely married to me with a baby on the way, I’m going to find out what’s up with my brother.

“You may not think so, Jason, and a year ago I would have agreed with you, but just look at what love can do,” he says, looking over at Ma and Ellie with soft eyes that declare his heart firmly taken with the women in our lives.

“Change of subject. Miah and Nutso left to go and meet with Roman and that Case dude who’s helping with this issue. They want you on Ellie till they get home, and Jared said to tell you she needs to make biscuits.”

With that last shot, and after seeing Pop stiffen and grow weary, the idiot stands up and saunters out. Goddamned troublemaker.

“What’s that boy yapping about, Wyatt? You know how territorial your mama is about her kitchen.”

Uh, yeah. One of ma’s ex-friends came over one day a few years ago and tried to tell Ma how to make “a decent gravy.” Ma was fuming by then and things only got worse when the fool woman whipped out a pan and started pawin’ through the pantry.

That day ended with a woman running and screaming from the house and Ma standing in her kitchen with a chunk of brown hair in her fist and a grin the size of Texas.

No one tells Ma how to cook.

“Pop, my girl makes biscuits so good, you don’t have to chew. They melt on your tongue. And the gravy…”

“Boy, you make sure Ellie never lets on about that, or I will skin you alive. The last time I invited Lynn over and she cooked, your mama wouldn’t let me touch her for two days!” he hisses, giving Ma a toothy grin when his outburst grabs her attention.

“I’ll tell her, but one of these days she’ll have to get in on the action or I’ll have to move. The woman can cook and I’m not giving that up in this lifetime, not even to spare Ma or save you from a drought. Gross, by the way. Like I wanna hear about what you and Ma do,” I complain.

“Your mama’s right, boy, you’re not normal. Now, back to the subject at hand now that Jace is gone. You need to sit down and think about telling Ellie the truth about the end. She deserves to know, and like I said, a marriage doesn’t work without honesty.”

Honesty
. The word is so easy and simple to say, but practicing it isn’t easy in this case and we both know it.

Am I a cowardly fool who’d rather drag things out for as long as possible? Yes and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Very little has the power to scare me after the full and jaded decade I’ve spent chasing skirt and then chasing Ellie.

What does scare me to the point of terror is losing her now that I’ve had her and tasted pure bliss and contentment. I want that all the days of my life. Now I just have to ensure that I keep it.