Redeeming Justice (47 page)

Immediately taking over his space like unwanted college roommates, Drae pointed to
the TV and snickered.

“What up Dad? You thinking about buying a set of hand-painted stemware?” he mocked.
“I like the ones with the birds.” Motioning to Cam he said, “Get over here bro and
take a look. What do you think? The birds or the flowers?”

“Whatever pussy boy wants is good by me,” Cam tossed out in a tone that sounded a
lot like ‘wah wah wah’.

Grabbing the remote control, Alex quickly turned the set off and tossed the clicker
aside. “Shut the fuck up and tell me what you two are doing here.”

“Wow,” Cam taunted. “You really are a mess. Shut the fuck up and a question all in
the same sentence? Which shall it be? The shut up part or the what the hell are we
doing here part?”

Drae snickered and flipped the finger. “You know exactly why we’re here. You might
have the highest IQ between the three of us dude, but you’re a fucking nightmare when
left to your own devices. Did you really think my wife was going to sit back and let
you handle what’s maybe the most important situation of your entire life without us?”

Holy God. Was his chest tightening like he was going to cry? Turning away quickly
before his brothers could catch the riot of emotions he couldn’t keep off his face,
Alex struggled to clear his throat. Keeping his back turned he choked out, “Your wife
is a smart-ass.”

“That she is,” Drae agreed. “And for some bizarre reason she thought you might need
our help, so here we are. Was she wrong?”

No, she wasn’t wrong at all but finding a way to say that and keeping his dignity
were two separate things.

Cam picked up an impressive looking presentation in a glossy folder that Alex had
been reviewing from another of the symposium’s participants.

“A.I. and the Police Force of Tomorrow? Please tell me you haven’t just spent a week
listening to a bunch of shit that could have come from a
Terminator
script.”

There was a snappy retort stuck on the tip of his tongue but discussing the pros and
cons of artificial intelligence was not why they were here.

Folding like a cheap tent in a wind storm, Alex slumped into a big wing chair and
groaned. “Honestly – haven’t heard but a sentence here or there all week long. This
whole thing,” he mumbled with a wave of his hand, “was nothing but a cover story for
why I was in D.C. There could be plans for building the perfect bomb in those materials
and I wouldn’t have noticed. Or cared for that matter.”

“Yep,” drawled Cam. “That’s what we figured. But have no fear Big Daddy,” he said
good-naturedly. “We’ve got you covered.”

What the hell did that mean
, Alex wondered. Next thing he knew, Cam pulled a stack of papers from who the fuck
knows where and started lining them up on the coffee table.

“Okay gentlemen. Enough fucking around. Time to get down to business. We’ve got pregnant
wives,” he reminded everyone, “and I for one want to get this shit resolved in a hurry
so I can get back to my lady and her bump.”

“So here’s the deal, man,” Drae directed at Alex. “We’ve been doing some brainstorming
and think we’ve come up with what your next move should be. If you’re still interested
in getting Meghan back, that is.”

Alex’s head snapped up at the mention of Meghan’s name. With his senses on high alert
he glanced back and forth between Cam and Drae, then at the papers on the table and
felt a frisson of relief race along his nerve endings. Oh thank fucking God for meddling
brothers he silently prayed.

“What’ve you got?” he asked.

Drae looked at him, smiling like a Cheshire Cat with a dozen fancy slight of hand
tricks up his sleeve and started talking a million miles an hour.

“Okay. Here it is. We’ve done some research and got a shit ton of information about
the parents and siblings. Getting them on your side is key to any hope of moving forward.
Since you were a tremendous dick and let this ridiculous situation linger on for weeks,
it’s given your lady love had plenty of time to sulk or do whatever it is that chicks
do when their men loose their shit. Chances are, they all hate your fucking guts about
now.”

“Word,” Cam muttered with a shake of his head.

“I’ve checked on the father’s work schedule and it looks like he’ll be at the station
house all day tomorrow. Same for her brothers. At work. All day. Meghan’s staying
at her parents’ house and as far as we can tell she doesn’t go out much. Pretty much
she’s been hanging with her mom and ignoring your ass.”

So here’s what we think has to happen,” Cam interjected as he took over the conversation.
“You need to talk with her dad first. One Patrick O’Brien. He’s a Lieutenant Detective
in the Special Operations Unit. Squaring things with him is step one. You might want
to consider if there is anything in particular you want to ask him.”

Meeting Cam’s amused gaze with confusion, Alex felt like a tool when Drae cut in.

“Dude.
Jesus.
Do we have to chew your food for you? Is there anything you need to ask her father
is code for getting his permission to marry the girl.”

Alex sat back in the chair with a thud, his mouth hanging open. Marry? Marry Meghan?
He was still trying to get her to talk to him, for Christ’s sake. Marriage seemed
beyond his wildest dreams. Still…asking for her hand was absolutely the right way
to go about things.
Hmm
. Maybe his brothers were on to something.

“Alright then,” Drae mumbled to Cam. “He’s still breathing so I suppose that means
we’re on the right track.

“Then there are the brothers to deal with,” Drae reminded him. “Meghan was pretty
vocal about how close she is to her siblings. Chances are, you’re in for an ass kicking.
Don’t worry though, we won’t let them do any permanent damage.”

Fuck man, did they have to snicker like conspiratorial girlfriends? Even though they
were probably right, he had some pride left.

“And that brings us to Mom,” Cam added. “She’s key. We’ve talked about this,” he said,
nodding at Drae. “Nothing says I’m a dick but I love your daughter better than a piece
of jewelry. Your best bet is to go in prepared to show her an engagement ring, and
if that doesn’t get her on your side, we don’t know what will. Just remember to agree
to anything Mom wants – even a long engagement if it means at the end of the day,
Meghan is on a plane heading back home with you.”

Wow,
Alex thought. Proposing marriage, having an engagement ring, probably getting a serious
ass kicking. Twenty minutes ago he was contemplating every imaginable loser scenario
in the book and now look at him.

Searching his brothers’ faces as they eyed him with expectant expressions, it felt
like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He’d told Tori he was going
to go and get Meghan and bring her back but he hadn’t a clue how to make that happen.
Luckily for him, Drae and Cam had walked down this odd road ahead of him and were
prepared with some damn good ideas.

“Anything?” Cam asked.

Checking his watch as he ran his hand through his hair, Alex told them, “Let’s go
find a jewelry store.”

Drae and Cam suddenly high-fived each other and bellowed, “Fucking Eh!”

Drae handed him a piece of paper with four jewelry stores listed. Pointing at the
first one he said, “I’d start here. It’s old school with high name recognition. Women
love that shit.”

“Bitches like romance,” Alex muttered.

“What?” Cam barked.

Drae laughed and said, “That sounds like something my wife would say, am I right?”

Alex nodded and smiled. “Smart woman, that one. I hope you know what you’ve fucking
got there, Lieutenant,” he told Drae pointedly. “You too, Cameron.”

“Do you think we’d be here trying to get your moldy ass married off if we didn’t?”
Cam laughed. “Time to join the party Major. Now get your shit together and let’s go
spend a metric crap ton of your inheritance and get Meghan the flashiest bling available.”

“The second your symposium wraps up tomorrow we are wheels up and Boston bound. If
everything goes according to plan we should arrive at her Dad’s station by mid-afternoon.
Everyone on board with that plan?” Drae asked.

After a quick head shake, Alex hurried off to get cleaned up giving Drae the perfect
opportunity to pull his cellphone out and send a text to his wife.

Big Daddy Update: make the call.

Meghan was helping clear the dinner dishes when her phone chirped. Checking the screen
she saw it was Tori calling so she quickly dried her hands and scooted into the den
where she could take the call in peace.

“Hi Tori. What’s up?”

“Well, you are clearly,” came the answer. “And thank God. I was getting worried Irish
when you didn’t answer your phone.”

“Oh, that,” Meghan replied. “Sorry. I was under the weather for a few days and my
phone was on vibrate.”

“Everything okay?” her friend asked with concern lacing her words.

“Yeah. More or less. I sort of fell apart at the beginning of the week. You know how
it is. But I’m much better now.
Physically
.” She let the emphasis in her statement hang by itself in the air.

“Aw, sweetie. Wish I were there to give you a hug. I told you everything’s gonna be
okay. You have to trust me on that.”

“My dad thinks I should call Alex. What do you think?”

She heard Tori chuckling on the other end and wondered what the hell that was all
about.

“Irish – you scared the fucking shit out of the man and that’s saying a lot.”

“How?” Meghan moaned. “How could I scare someone who’s been ignoring me for weeks?”

Tori’s chuckle became a full-throated laugh. “Well, by not answering your phone of
course silly! He finally found the balls to call you and almost jumped off the ledge
when you didn’t pick up or respond to his message.”

“He didn’t call,” Meghan cried, alarmed. “I’d know if he called. Please don’t tease
Tori. I’m not all that together at the moment.”

“Sweetie, he did call. Tuesday night. Said you didn’t pick up and he was forced to
leave a rambling message. You mean you didn’t hear it?”

“No, I didn’t hear it,” she wailed as anxiety bounced off her nerves. “Fuck! Hold
on. Let me check my call history.”

Three taps on the phone later and she saw that he actually had called and left a voicemail.

“Oh my God, Tori,” she whimpered. “What the hell is wrong with me? I checked for email
once I was back in the land of the living but never thought to double-check for missed
calls. And I somehow missed that little squiggly that indicated a voice mail. Fuck,
fuck,
fuck
.”

“Settle down Irish. It’s okay. Believe me. Probably better this way, anyhow.”

“How do you mean?” Meghan was pretty sure her life was flashing before her eyes. Here
she’d been waiting for Alex to call yet days had gone by since he had. How could she
be so stupid?

“Look. When he couldn’t reach you the minute he climbed down off his high horse and
decided it was time to talk – kinda knocked him down a few pegs. Which, if you think
about it, is a good thing.” She heard Tori snort in amusement. “Only a man and a Justice
Brother would be so full of himself to imagine that he could go radio silent for weeks
then expect to make everything better on the first attempt. Served him right when
you didn’t answer. Seriously Meghan.”

“Was he mad?” Meghan sat cross-legged in an arm chair, hunched over and gripping the
phone like it was a life-line, waiting for Tori’s reply.

“Mad? Are you kidding? He was practically hysterical. As in almost on the verge of
tears. He thought you were purposely refusing contact. Sobered his ass up right quick,
let me tell you.”

“Oh my God,” Meghan groaned.

“Listen up, Irish. Time to get your head on straight. I sent the guys to D.C. and
just heard from the husband. I’d say you’ll be hearing from that man of yours soon.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yep. Indeed I am. C’mon. You know that Alex is a mess on his best day. Getting all
that noise in his head to quiet down is a big undertaking but the brothers are on
it, okay? Now don’t start overthinking – just go with it. My suggestion – when we
hang up, listen to his message. If I know him at all, and believe me I do, it’s probably
pretty comical.”

“My God Tori. What would I do without you?”

“You’d be spinning your wheels in frustration I suppose!” She laughed. “He’s coming
to you Irish, just like I said he would. Oh, and for the record, it was a quick, bent
over the edge of the bed spanking for having run my mouth. But oh baby, was it worth
it!”

Meghan barked out a laugh and said, “That’s no way to treat a pregnant woman. Even
one with a big mouth.”

“Are you kidding? There are times when I act like a brat just to make sure he’ll pink
my ass! Go and listen to the message and try not to laugh. And Meghan, I’ll see you
soon.”

Disconnecting the call, Meghan quickly went to her voicemail and listened to Alex’s
message. Oh my God, he was adorable. After replaying it five times, she smiled and
hugged the phone to her chest. Hearing him stammer and hesitate was priceless. If
he still wanted her, she had a ton of stuff to do starting with a trip to the salon
for a mani-pedi. First thing tomorrow morning she intended to take up her mother’s
suggestion and hit the fashion boutiques to find something that would set his hair
on fire when she finally saw him face to face.