Sanctuary (Family Justice Book 3) (35 page)

“Baby,” she murmured gently.

His response? To put his glasses on and shift the truck into gear. Then with all the finesse of a criminal on the run, he floored it and headed for home

T
HAT CERTAINLY HADN’T
gone well. Not at all. And now she was dealing with an angry Major. She’d never seen him this mad and being on the receiving end of his temper wasn’t fun. Talking to Ang and seeing if they could whittle a day or two off the pre-wedding itinerary became a priority. The good reason for changing when they left didn’t feel like such a swell idea at the moment.

They sat in silence as the truck bumped along. Hoping he’d settle down by the time they reached home, Meghan mutely tried to will some peace into the situation. The very last thing she wanted was to argue with the big, furious man who was handling the truck like this was Grand Theft Auto. Swerving to avoid a large rock in the dirt path, she clutched at the door handle so she wouldn’t end up thrown across the front seat.

She knew he wasn’t going to take the news of her early departure with a shrug. At his core, Alex was far more emotional than people realized. Until they’d broken each other down … ‘cause, after all, that’s exactly what happened … even she wasn’t fully aware of this side to the complicated man she’d lay down her life for. Meghan felt like a total fuck-up for making him angry.

And inside that anger? A regrettable shit-ton of hurt. He was right. He shouldn’t be the last to know. Ever. But deeper than the hurt was something else. Something only she knew about. Fear. Her leaving scared him.

Yep. That was right. Her big, bad, sexy dominant was a quivering blob of jelly if she wasn’t around. From the second they reunited after that horrible time apart, he rarely let her out of his sight for longer than a day at the absolute most. It was weird that she never felt tethered.

Alex wasn’t trying to control her. Not at all. His fear was far too broad to be labeled as mere control. Nope. When she’d met him, he was a wounded animal. Dogged by nightmares, his soul in tatters and in such piss-poor physical condition that she was shocked.

It was her who helped him heal. Finally. After too many years of struggle. It freaked him out when they were apart. She understood on a deeply visceral level how connected they were. Any impediment to that connection rattled him.

Shit, shit, shit. Was she insane? Oh, lord. She needed to fix this. After her little meltdown over their wedding when she spewed out a ton of fancy words about energy and their vows being sacred, hadn’t he moved a few mountains to make her happy?

Sure, what she and Angie were doing was all about Alex. But she couldn’t tell him that. If she did, what she planned wouldn’t have nearly the same effect as the surprise she intended for her new husband on their official wedding night.

Rock and a hard place, eh Meggie?
she imagined her dad teasing.

Meghan was still processing the situation when they pulled onto the main roadway to the Villa. Besides driving like a maniac, her man gave no other indication that he was in the present moment. She could feel everything spiraling out of control.

When they parked in the driveway, she barely managed to gather her stuff before he was out of the truck and stomping furiously toward the house. Holy shit. He stormed off without a glance in her direction—or opening her door. This was so not the Alex she knew. The sinking dread that she’d pushed him too far crept along her nerves.

Scampering after him, Meghan stumbled when he swept by an adoring Zeus as if she wasn’t even there and continued toward the front door. Hot on his heels, she murmured, “Sorry girl,” and offered a quick head scratch to the clearly confused Labrador before continuing to run after her angry alpha.

Dropping her stuff onto a table in the huge tiled foyer and not caring that half her crap missed the tabletop and fell to the floor, she followed the Major’s angry footsteps, noting that he was headed for his study.

The second she rounded the corner into the spacious great room with the designer kitchen anchoring one whole side of the enormous space, she silently cursed
. Fuck.
Witnesses. And not only that, a convenient judge and jury who will no doubt read her the riot act for what she’d set in motion.

Carmen, Alex’s longtime housekeeper, the gentle Latino woman who ran the Villa and kept an eye on the entire compound, looked up from her always present iPad, zeroing in on Meghan with questioning eyes. Gathered at the big island with Carmen were Drae and Tori.
Double shit.

Sparing the assemblage little more than a glance, she picked up speed and headed straight for the study. Halfway down the hallway, however, she came to a stunned halt. The sound of Alex slamming the study door echoed off every wall.

Uh-oh. That wasn’t good. If he acted any more out of character, she was going to go straight to hell for winding him up. Plus, the entire time she followed his angry march, the obvious limp and the way he struggled with every step were red flags that just made her feel worse.

Behind her, she heard Drae’s concerned voice. “Uh, Irish? Something you wanna tell us?”

Squeezing her eyes shut, Meghan’s fists clenched and her jaw tightened as she fought for control. When she turned and faced the Major’s longtime BFF and full-time consigliere, she didn’t miss his accusing glare. Even with the long hallway between them, she could feel the disapproval radiating off Draegyn.

“What did you do, woman?” he bit out. “He’s crooked!”

Yeah. No shit,
she thought with a grimace and a groan. Seeing Alex strain from the crippling effect of having lost his temper and done something physically stupid … like pick up a goddamn ATV as if it was a postage stamp … gutted Meghan.

Pushing her hair behind an ear, she bit down on her bottom lip and faced Draegyn St. John’s wrath. “I did a bad.”

He stayed where he was, leaning against the wall at his back, where he could see down the study hallway while keeping an eye on Victoria, Daniel, and Carmen. Strategic placement. A Justice standard.

Shaking his head, he frowned. His expression made her feel like a bad kid about to be handed her ass.

Stuffing a hand into his pocket, he studied her a second before she noticed he was holding a shiny red apple in his other hand. The splash of color in an otherwise muted tableau struck a nerve. Lifting the apple to his mouth before taking a bite, he lanced her with a harsh look and muttered, “Didn’t we talk about this?”

Oh. Snap. Five words and she was ready to fall on her knees and beg for forgiveness. Remembering with crystal clarity the serious conversation she’d shared with Draegyn about Alex and what loving him would mean, she couldn’t help but cringe.

Oh, my god. He’d spelled it out for her back then. Happily ever after comes at a price with a man like Alex. It all boiled down to who he was in his core. His ever-present need to take care of her was the reminder she should have paid more attention to. Her leaving, being so far away from his protection, was making him feel powerless and that feeling was a catalyst. A match held too close to emotional kindling.

Ugh.
“I know,” she lamented with a condemning wail. “What have I done, Drae?” Wringing her hands frantically, Meghan froze halfway between the closed study door and the man eating the bright red fruit.

The other shoe dropped when Alex flung open the study door, sending it crashing against the wall with an ominous thud. When he stepped into the hallway, Meghan gasped at the fury she read on his face right before Drae’s presence drew his attention.

With an angry snarl, he pointed directly at the other man and bellowed, “Stay the fuck out of this, St. John.”

Meghan gaped at Drae with wide eyes. She heard Tori groan quietly across the room when Drae simply stared the Major down. Saying nothing, he stood there idly eating the apple and gave nothing away by his expression.

Stomping toward her with an obviously pained lurch, she shrank back as the big black cloud approached. Swallowing, she desperately searched for her voice, but nothing came. And then he replayed a scene from their past that was like putting her wet finger in an electric socket. Waving a red flag in front of an already fucked-up situation was such a dumb move on his part.

Stopping ten feet from where she cowered, he straightened best he could and crossed his arms.
Eeeep.
She knew this posture. It was his ‘I’m the man’ act. Just great.

“You go nowhere without my permission. Is that clear?” he barked.

Some part of her wanted to laugh. God, he was cute but who the hell was he kidding with this Master of the Universe crap? What the fuck happened to being reasonable? Sure, she’d stirred the pot, but this was a bit much.

Giving her a fiery glare, he added a dollop of cream to an already iced cake. “And you do not have authority to ask Sawyer to take the plane out.”

Maybe it was a bad case of PMS or maybe it was hearing the verbal put-down. She’d never know for sure, but the reminder of him pulling this shit before, throwing his goddamn weight around and embarrassing her in front of everybody, made her react like the ball-busting Boston bitch she was proud to be.

“Oh yeah?” she drawled. “How ‘bout you say that to my attorney. See what he has to say.”

“Your attorney?” Alex shrieked. His arms dropped to his sides with fists clenched. “Are you actually going use my oldest friend against me?”

Drae chose that moment to snicker which earned him an explosive look of fury that he simply blew off with a smirk. Like the true scene-stealer he’d always been, the man held up his apple, said “McIntosh,” and took a hefty bite.

Sighing at Drae’s performance, she reached for Alex’s arm only to have him avoid her touch. Then he let loose with an ominous growl.

“You know what? Fuck this shit. Your attorney and my sister. That’s who’s messing everything up. I’m gonna go smack the shit out of both of them.”

Muttering angrily, he walked right past her and only stopped when Drae blocked his way.

“Dude. You sure you wanna do that?”

She saw Alex’s body language instantly turn hostile. Drae, who was experienced at handling the Major when he was having a moment, wisely added, “Tell you what, you go wait by my car and I’ll drive. Would love a chance to see Sully get his ass kicked.”

She wasn’t all that surprised when her wounded beast simply kept on walking; apparently, taking Drae up on his offer. The minute he cleared the space, Drae called out, “Victoria, you stay with Irish.”

Shocked at how quickly everything escalated, she anxiously asked, “Should I call Angie and warn her?”

Drae laughed. “Fuck no. Best to let this play out but you can tell me one thing before I close myself inside a metal pod racing down the highway with a fucked-up crazy man. What the hell, Meghan? Is whatever got him all bent out of shape worth it?”

Tori joined them having left Daniel in Carmen’s capable arms. “He’s awfully pissed at Angie. What’s she got to do with this?”

Well, she might as well try to explain. “Okay. Here it is. There are some, uh … wedding things that have come up and … well, Angie and I changed our plans.”

“Meaning?” Drae griped.

Tori elbowed him playfully and muttered, “Be nice.”

“Yeah, well … meaning we were going to leave the day after tomorrow.”

“What?” Drae barked. “Are you insane? That’s like, what?” He looked at Tori for support. “Weeks before Alex and the rest of us arrive?” Shaking his head with clear censure in his eyes, he ended with, “Irish. Come on …”

“I know, I know,” she cried. “It’s just that this is important and, well … oh, fuck. I don’t know.”

Tori came and put an arm around her waist. With a gentle squeeze, she smiled. “It’ll be okay. The guys will take care of it. Right?” she asked with a knowing look in her husband’s direction.

“Right,” Drae mumbled as he fished his phone from a pocket and began texting. After a few seconds, he stopped and looked up. “Cam and I have this. He’s going to be here in five. I suppose Lacey will be along in a little bit.” Nodding at Tori, he said, “Babe?” and waved her ahead of him. As they walked off, Meghan stood there and frowned.