Sanctuary (Family Justice Book 3) (33 page)

“A
RE YOU SURE
you want to do this? I mean …” Three pairs of eyes swung to a blueprint spread across the closed top of the grand piano. Shrugging, he continued, “It’s not like … overkill or anything. Right?”

A trill of laughter coming from the floor made him smile. “Good lord, boss … overkill is what we do best. What’s one more thing at this point?”

The small brown-haired woman sitting cross-legged on the tile floor of the huge open foyer of the Valleja-Marquez villa grinned up at him with an amusing smirk that nearly matched that of the drooling baby squirming on her lap.

Victoria St. John, his nerd doppelgänger and wife to the man studying the blueprints, shot him a sly wink. “Why, shugah,” she drawled in a spot-on imitation of her mother’s Southern belle drawl, “don’t you boys go getting yo’ boxers in a bunch. We have something special planned for y’all as well.”

Alex groaned at her words. So did her husband who straightened and crossed his arms in that ‘Oh yeah?’ posture that husbands imagined had any effect whatsoever.

One of his official BFFs, Draegyn St. John, glanced at Alex with a knowing look. Verbally sparring with their women was the new norm. A far cry from their time together in Afghanistan when Alex and his Justice Brothers barely survived a difficult and life-changing war.

“So wife …” Drae chortled. “What exactly do the men get out of this,
uh
… activity yard thing you’ve made up?”

Tori gathered the active little boy who was using her as a climber and held him up to Drae. “Take your son, Daddy, and help me up, you ill-mannered ass, if you want any kind of explanation.”

An arm snaked around Alex’s waist and squeezed gently. Warmth spread through his chest when a head covered with a mass of auburn curls lowered to his shoulder, and he felt her body rise and fall with a deep sigh.

Meghan.

Pulling her into his side, they watched arm-in-arm as the St. Johns took a moment to run through the little dance the two of them did so well.

“Stop yer bitchin’, woman, and haul your own ass up off the floor,” Drae mock-scowled after snatching a gurgling Daniel from her grasp.

“Aren’t you going to help me up?” Tori snapped from her knees with a bunch of the baby’s toys in one hand.

Drae looked at her for a long moment then soundly kissed his son’s forehead. “Now, there’s a sight, Big D.” He smirked and waggled his eyebrows. “Mommy looks especially fetching on her knees.”

“Draegyn!” Tori yelped as she bounded to her feet. Alex and Meghan’s chorus of eye-rolling groans were part of the St. John soundtrack. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Meghan turned her face into his shoulder and cleared her throat to cover a laugh rumbling from her chest. Squeezing her waist he whispered, “Shh.”

Watching the Drae and Tori show was one of the best spectator sports around. Sometimes, he and Cam sat around and shook their heads when these two unleashed their daily rumpus. It was endlessly amusing how the happily married odd couple did their dance of love.

Knowing Drae the way he did, Alex was certain that no other woman ever gave back half to the legendary ladies’ man of what he dished out. Until Tori Bennett came along and took him down with one dismissive look. Served the fucker right.

“Oh, so … what? Talking a little biology to my son is a no? When he’s quite literally glued to your boobs morning, noon, and night?”

The taunt was pretty funny until Tori looked at him and Meghan for backup. “He’s kidding, right?”

Meghan’s head popped up and she
tsked
a couple of times. “Now, sweetie, you know he’s right.”

This time, Alex coughed off a laugh. Stirring the pot was a shit-ton of fun.

Tori waved her arms. Exasperated, she bit out, “Irish! You’re supposed to be on my side. He just told my son that Mommy on her knees is a good thing.”

“Well, isn’t it?” Meghan snickered.

Drae barked a laugh and winked. “Owe ya one, Red.”

Alex swatted her ass and growled at his friend. “Don’t encourage her.”

Meghan answered his swat with one of her own—right in the center of his chest. “Major!”

He couldn’t help the happy grin that wouldn’t leave his face. This was absolutely the very best of times, and he couldn’t believe what a lucky bastard he was.

“Whoa! She hit ya, dude. Spousal injury. Better get the wife in line, buddy.”

“Fuck you, St. John, and ix-nay on the ife-way thing, please.”

Tori hooted with laughter and blew a raspberry onto her son’s chubby thigh. Looking on from his father’s arms, Daniel gripped a nubby teething ring in one hand and smiled. “Oh, for god’s sake, Alex. Give it a rest, would you? There are no secrets in Family Justice.”

Well, that was certainly true. He must have been out of his damn mind to imagine for half a second that he could keep his and Meghan’s private ceremony out in the desert any kind of a secret from Justice. Especially not once the unexpected presence of his uncle, Calder, and Tori’s mom, Stephanie, in the compound got out.

Meghan sighed and stepped up to Drae, prying the baby from the man’s arms. Alex watched her closely as she snooddled into Daniel’s neck and hugged the little boy. His secret wife wanted a baby, so he was in procreation mode twenty-four seven. If she wanted to drop and get busy right there in the damn foyer, he would gladly lose his pants in a hurry.

“As long as our parents don’t catch wind before the wedding …” Meghan mumbled on a half-finished thought.

Alex stopped caring how hurt their families would be by their impetuous vows in advance of the big-time formal wedding about five minutes after Calder pronounced them married.

They were legally Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Valleja-Marquez. The before God and family thing would happen as planned, but for them, something huge went down during their simple desert ceremony. Nothing else mattered but that intensely private moment.

“Even if they do find out, I wouldn’t worry,” Tori chimed in with glee. “Alex has two uncles. One’s a badass aging surfer ordained by the Internet while the other is a full-fledged, card-carrying member of the Vatican squad. No matter what goes on here in Arizona, Uncle Eduardo will have his moment at the altar with you guys and that’s precisely what the ‘rents want, after all.”

Tori’s unique way of putting things was absolutely right. Once the Boston celebration was in the bag and their union formally blessed by the church, it wouldn’t take long for everyone to get wise to what they’d done. Hell. At some point, sibling dynamic would get the better of Calder. No way would he be able to refrain from needling his sister, Ashleigh.

And Ashleigh? His mom? She’d find it endlessly amusing that her brother and her husband’s brother both essentially officiated at the marriage of her only son.

The wedding.
Boo.
Not for the first and definitely not the last time, Alex indulged in some less-than-enthusiastic thoughts about the fast approaching event. Not because he wasn’t interested but totally because he was having a damn difficult time dealing with Meghan’s early departure.

Even thinking about her leaving made him sick to his stomach. The original plan they agreed on was for her and his sister, Angie, to fly out on the agency jet about ten days before the wedding. Then, because his stupid little sister thought dropping a boatload of cash in New York City would be fun, the plans changed, and now, it was more like two weeks.
And fuck my life
, he thought,
but departure day was looming large.

He wondered if Drae somehow knew his mood was now essentially shot to hell when he rather adroitly changed the subject back to their original discussion.

“So what do the manly men get in exchange for your little playground?”

Tori wrapped herself around her husband as they watched Meghan dance around the big open space with a giggling Daniel.

“A ballfield. Joey, the guy on the construction crew with the bald head and earring? He’s a Little League coach or something like that, and he told us that it would be simple to lay out a grid on the other side of the playground. Artificial turf and all!”

Alex shook his head. A ballfield. God, he adored these women and what they brought to Justice.

From across the room, Meghan singsonged as she whirled the baby around in circles. “And Uncle Cam and Aunt Lacey are on board too! We’ve already got the first two players lined up, don’t we, D?”

The baby laughed and squirmed playfully adding his two cents to the discussion.

“Dylan and D.” Tori chuckled. “We need team t-shirts!”

The happy interlude stuttered to a surprised halt when all of a sudden the big wooden front door flung open and just as quickly slammed shut. They all turned expectantly for whatever happened next and then …

A furious looking Angelina, his little sister and present day piece of work, came charging into their midst. Instead of stopping to make nice, she stormed quite angrily right past them, only acknowledging his hastily muttered, “Oh hey, Ang,” at the last second.

Before storming up the grand staircase, she turned and spat, “Parker Sullivan is an asshat!”

Even Daniel gaped at her as she pounded her way to the family quarters on the second floor.

Well, shit. That didn’t look good.

They stood there in silence, staring at air for a few moments until the furious slamming of a door signaled which battleground Angie chose.

Eep.
Fan-fucking-tastic.

Drae raised an eyebrow and asked in his usual coolly, assessing way, “Wonder what the fuck that was all about.”

Tori made an exaggerated sniff and drawled, “Wait for it …”

Sure as shit, maybe a minute later the front door swung open again only with a tremendous thud as it hit the wall with force.

Jesus, it was just a door
, Alex thought. No need to kick the fucking shit out of it.

And then Parker was there, also stomping furiously and looking like the wrath of the gods gripped him by the balls.

Right behind him, a stunned Cameron stood stock-still with a
What the fuck?
expression as though he’d been about to open the door but been pushed aside.

As Parker sped by, Drae chortled and murmured, “Sully’s in over his head with that one.”

Never try to get one past a legal machine like Parker Sullivan. Not only did he hear what Drae said, he added a few choice words of his own.

“Yeah, damn straight I’m over my head, St. John, you douche! And you would be too if your woman was a brat.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Alex cut in. “That’s still my sister, man.”

“Yeah,” Parker growled as he started taking the stairs two at a time. “Well, your sister needs a good spanking.”

He said more but all anyone heard was muttering as he dashed down the same long hallway where Angie disappeared.

Cam shut the door and sauntered over to the group. “Just another day at the Villa, hmm?”

They all laughed. What he said was so true.

Bang, bang, bang!
“Open this damn door, Angelina, or I’ll kick it in,” Parker shouted.

Looking at one another with barely concealed amusement, they waited and listened. Angie must have responded in that especially snarky way she saved just for her fiancé ‘cause next thing anybody knew, he was yelling furiously.

“Well, fuck that!” he boomed. “There will be no doors between us, Angel!” and then all hell broke loose.

Alex shuddered at the sound of splintering wood as his oldest friend got through the locked door, probably by kicking it in.

Angie’s pithy scream of, “Fuck you, old man!” made Tori cover her mouth as laughter took over.

Aw, god, sis,
Alex thought.
Really?
Fuck. Taunting Parker with the old man comment was not going to end well. For her. Or maybe it would. Who was he to judge; she was his sister, after all, and he really didn’t want to know.

The unmistakable sounds of a couple scuffling could be heard. Angie kept up a nonstop tirade of cursing that Alex admitted was impressive. And then a moment of silence followed by several sharp yowls and then more silence.

“Let the spanking commence,” Meghan muttered. “What do you say we take this into the kitchen? I, for one, don’t need to hear whatever happens next.”

Alex shuddered. Neither did he.

Cam chuckled. “Perfect timing on my part, huh? And I just stopped by to see who wants to watch a movie tonight. Lacey’s made enough chocolate chip cookies for an entire squad, and we need you guys to come eat them.”

“Ah, shit,” Drae answered. “No can do, man. Got the mother-in-law and her boyfriend coming to dinner.”

Tori fixed Alex with a piercing look. “Your uncle gonna put a ring on it anytime this century?”

He just smiled. Calder was working on a plan and though he wasn’t privy to the details, Alex was absolutely certain it would be knock-the-socks-off worthy of Tori’s fabulous mom. His uncle simply wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Unlike some people,” Alex drawled sardonically with a nod of his head to whatever was going on upstairs, “Stephanie and Calder don’t want to hog the spotlight. This is about Meghan and me, so grade the guy on a curve and just wait.”

Before they made their way into the kitchen, Parker came stomping along the upstairs hallway and down the broad staircase. When his feet landed on the tile floor and Alex saw the smug, satisfied half grin on the man’s face, he laughed out loud ‘cause there, flung over the guy’s shoulder, was his sister’s wiggling body.

His best and oldest friend reached up and smacked Angie’s butt hard. “Be still.”

With a nod to each of them, Parker walked for the door as Angie dangled down his back with her hands on his waist.

“See ya.” She giggled when the two left through the big front door as they all cracked up laughing.

Just another day for Family Justice.