Sanctuary (Family Justice Book 3) (42 page)

Angie sighed blissfully and winked. “I hope you and Alex have a girl first. You two are gonna make some pretty babies!”

“What about you and the hot lawyer?” Tori joked. “Babies on the brain yet?”

“First, that asshole has to put a goddamn ring on it. Words are nice, but I want some bling.”

Meghan looked sharply at Tori when she snorted in a less than friendly way. “Parker and Calder need to have their heads knocked together.”

“Still no ring?” she asked her friend.

“Nope.” Tori’s displeasure was obvious. “Bunch of bullshit about not wanting to hog Alex’s spotlight.”

“Your mom okay with that?”

“Oh, lord. Are you kidding? Calder could open a balloon animal business and my mom would be right there beside him grinning like an idiot. I swear,” she bit out. “The man has some sort of sexy mojo that makes her a giggler with half a swoon.”

Lacey burst out laughing. “You do have a way with words, Mrs. St. John.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Tori wasn’t having it, that much was clear. “That’s my sainted widowed mother we’re talking about. She deserves the whole shebang. He needs to make an honest woman out of her now that he’s claimed the left side of the bed.”

Angie was shoving raisins in her mouth from a container she found on the kitchen island. “I’m okay with my man waiting for the perfect moment. After everything we’ve put each other through …”

Carmen came bustling into their midst carrying two good-sized boxes. “Delivery for the bridal couple,” she quipped. “The poor FedEx delivery guy made grumpy sounds about having to drive out here every day.
El es un pendejo.
”

“Dumbass, indeed.” Lacey’s innocent expression made Carmen chuckle.

“Meezus Cameron,” she teasingly drawled in her distinctive accent. “Did you just call that guy an ass?”

With a look that said, ‘Yeah, so what?’ Lacey shrugged. “Ass has three letters. So it’s not an official four-letter word.”

Tori grabbed the raisin container away from Angie. “We’re making progress, ladies! Add ass to the approved vocabulary list.”

As quiet laughter rang out, Meghan attempted what she hoped came off as nonchalance and smiled at Carmen. The distinguished older woman might play the simple housekeeper, but she was really the Villa’s de facto Major Domo and something of a information dump when it came to the Marquez dynasty and its Justice offshoot. In short, she knew everything.

“Mmm, Carmen. Did you happen to see the Major earlier?”

“Si,” she said while efficiently scanning the shipping and delivery labels on the two boxes. Carmen’s favorite gadget in the entire universe was her iPad. Alex devoted hours to teaching her thousands of ways it could make her job easier. Much to everyone’s amused delight, she took to the technology like it was designed just for her. She could pull up the menu from the latest state dinner in two seconds, used it to track and list everyone’s likes and dislikes, and most recently, she’d taken full responsibility for keeping track of the wedding registry and gifts.

Having the good sense to know she was fully spoiled beyond all reason, Meghan made a mental note of another special thank-you she’d need to think about. Carmen was making Meghan’s pre-wedding responsibilities almost nil.

“He was …” The Spanish lady paused for obvious dramatic effect. It worked. Lacey, Tori, and Angie suddenly became very interested in what she was about to say. “Um, not the crooked man. From the poem. Get it?”

Meghan shook her head and rolled her eyes when the whole room erupted with laughter. Part of Carmen’s story and long history with the Valleja-Marquez family was that Alex’s parents helped teach her English by reciting nursery rhymes and children’s ditties. The woman could hold the stage for hours with one children’s poem after another.

Something stirred in Meghan’s chest. A tiny burst of future vision. She could see Carmen in a nursery, rocking a baby as she shared the beautiful rhymes with Alex’s children.

“So what you’re saying is that Papa Bear wasn’t walking the crooked mile?” Angie’s question, snarky and good-humored as it was, came loaded with real concern for the brother she adored. Alex’s pain affected everyone. A sobering thought that made Meghan wince. Another reminder of the sort of rippling effect actions could have on others.

“He snuck down the back way,” Carmen informed them with a rather smug expression as she nodded toward the rarely used service stairs. “The ladies were in the foyer.”

Meghan was chewing her bottom lip. No use in pretending she wasn’t hanging on every word. She’d worked on him for almost two hours, appalled at how tight and uncomfortable he was. Knowing the pain must have been unbearable drove her to find every knot, each bump, and twisted angry tissue to smooth things out.

Once satisfied that she’d done all she could, she used hot stones to calm and relax her manly beast. He liked that part. Very much. Maybe a little too much. Remembering how she’d crawled on the table and used her breasts to stroke his back in a sensual massage that led to the happiest of endings, she bit off a moan of lingering pleasure. After his demands the previous night, this time he let her run the show. It was her pleasure to make thundering love to him while she did all the heavy lifting.

“Oh,” Meghan murmured. “Okay. And he seemed fine?”

“Well,” she replied quite pithily. “He was doing the Marquez swagger and was looking very pleased. Is that what you mean by seeming fine?”

Knowing a slow blush was creeping up her neck, Meghan was doubly relieved when Lacey rescued her with some wedding chatter.

“Oh, Carmen. I wanted to ask you. Cameron needs to know what the arrangements are for Brody. He certainly can’t stay with Gus, and everyone else is already paired up.”

Angie’s head picked up. “Brody? You mean the dog guy? He’s on the RSVP list.”

“Ah, that’s right,” Meghan murmured. “You haven’t met him yet. He was already back East when you arrived.”

Carmen gave Lacey an assuring nod. Not only did she have the gift thing under control, but she was also the one responsible for arranging the travel and hotel accommodations for Family Justice.

“Meester Drae.” She glanced at Tori. “He made the big deal about traveling with the baby. Meester Calder wanted to make his own arrangements. And Meester Brody has a guest so I took care of it.”

“Did you just say a guest?” Meghan couldn’t recall ever being so startled.

“You knew he responded with a plus one,” Angie reminded her.

Yeah, maybe she did know, but until this moment, it never occurred to her what the plus one really meant. Brody had a woman? Oh, my god. Did Alex know this? Why didn’t he say anything? Dammit. This was her wedding. Why was she the last to know these things?

Tori was chuckling. “Earth to Irish. Snap out of it,” she commanded as her fingers made a loud snapping sound.

She looked woefully at Angie. “Maybe I should have been more involved, huh? Paid more attention.”

“What? Fuck, no,” Angie answered with glee. “You have that overbearing geek beast to manage and no one knows better than a Marquez how hard that is. You just relax, Red. I’ve got this, and what I don’t have, Carmen or your mom is all over.”

“That’s right,” Lacey agreed. “All that’s left is for you to put on that magnificent dress and make the walk that ends at the altar. You just focus on that. Let everyone else handle the details.”

“Dude. Are you fucking kidding?” Drae laughed at the video camera. “That’s awesome, man. We can murder the fuck out of a white Chevy Suburban. Black bumpers and grill. Tinted windows. Even put some enormous penis tires on it. If you want.”

“What is it with you and the penis tires, St. John?” Brody Jensen was smirking at them through the video chat. “Why do you always bring them up, huh? Working on a deficiency issue?”

Alex enjoyed this. He, Calder, Cam, and Drae gathered in the back of his tech room. Lounging in a tight semi-circle, they faced the camera and a huge monitor that brought their missing partner into the meeting with a virtual presence.

While he and Calder looked at each other and rolled their eyes, Cam, Drae, and Brody were enthusiastically catching up and hurling insults. These were good times. A feeling of contentment washed over him. Everyone was weirdly happy. Even Brody. He wanted to remember this time always.

“Listen, Jensen,” Cam choked out on a coughed laugh before his voice turned serious. “That agent from the FBI? The one with the secret service stick up his ass. He’s being a fucknut with the constant messages. What do you want me to tell him? They’re willing to meet the terms we threw down, but I agree with Calder. Those guys can be assholes. If we do this, it’s all on you, man. Think you can deal with that, moving here, and all expansion stuff?”

Alex listened, waiting curiously to hear his response. Brody Jensen was their odd man. The last and most intriguing piece of the Justice puzzle. The one with the jagged edges that seemed ever-changing. He knew more about the guy’s past than anyone except Brody himself, yet he still was in the dark and uncertain of anything except the undisputed facts.

Brody had been part of an elite sniper team. Branch of service?
Who fucking knows
. Accessing his government information required a clearance level that baffled Alex—but there it was. Beyond that, it was the same old story. Mission gone wrong. His spotter took an enemy kill shot straight through the temple. Brody also took a bullet but was the lucky one. Yeah, he’d technically been shot in the head, but besides ending his sniper career, the injury didn’t stopped him.

How the closed-off loner ended up working with military dogs was anyone’s guess, but the result was pretty fucking impressive. He was one of those guys who seemed able to communicate with animals. It was freaky and cool as shit at the same time.

When he first came to Justice, Jensen was angry, pissed off at the world, completely closed to people, and much more comfortable with the canines he managed than with human contact. It took years for the real man to emerge. Now, he was firmly entrenched in the Justice inner circle. The decision to bring Brody on board was a good one. From day one, the man showed genuine enthusiasm for their new partnership and offered a fuck-ton of impressive ideas for the agency.

Oh, yeah. And Meghan thought he was … something. He didn’t like to think about his wife’s friendship with the good-looking dog guru. Was this what having an Achilles’ heel meant? Yep. Where his woman and jealousy were concerned Alex was something of a certifiable mess.

Detecting the slightest hesitation in Jensen’s voice Alex perked up. He knew the guy was committed to bringing his best to the agency. Wonder what this was all about?

“Uh, yeah,” he murmured to the camera. “About that.”

Cam looked at Drae who looked at Alex who looked at Calder.

“Is there a problem?” Alex interrupted in an authoritative voice.

Brody’s face revealed that holy fuck expression reserved for officers on a warpath. “Oh, um. No, sir. No problem.”

Cam chuckled first and beat them all to the heart of the matter. “What’s her name?”

Brody’s expression changed to relief in an instant. “Aw, come on. Really?”

Drae snickered and put his hand on the side of his mouth like he was telling a secret. “Didn’t you know? He can track your thoughts, too.”

Without missing a beat, Brody gave up the information they all wanted. “Her name is Heather. She’s a social worker at the college.”

Cam and Drae murmured, “Ohhhhh,” in unison. Cam asked, “Is this the psychologist you told us about?”

“Yeah. She’s for real. I’m bringing her to Boston.”

Alex’s eyebrows nearly took a leap off his forehead. Jensen had a girlfriend, and he was bringing her to the wedding? Did Meghan know this?

“Well, what’s the problem then?” Calder queried.

Brody grunted.
Pfft
. “It’s complicated.”

Cam groused, “Why does everyone think complicated is any kind of an explanation? We’re Justice, for Christ’s sake. Every one of us took complicated and added our own meaning. Get the fuck in line, Jensen. Your complicated is nothing special.”

“Word, Cam. Thing is, though, Heather and me? We didn’t do a lot of detail sharing until recently.”

“You’re talking about the kid, huh?”

Brody nodded. “Yeah. That and some other things.”

Alex sensed something new in the air when Cam looked around at all of them. “Do the girls know you’re bringing a female to the wedding?”

Was there a name for that game show fail sound? You know. The one that went … boom-boom-boom-ba-doom. Whatever the fuck it was called, the tune just blared in his head. The girls. Meghan. Brody dropping a new woman into the mix. Was the dog guru crazy?

“It hasn’t exactly come up. I talked with Carmen about the hotel arrangements in Boston. She knows I’m traveling with a guest. But don’t tell them, okay? Heather already worries she’s the odd man out. I think she needs to feel their real reaction to meeting her. Not some canned meet and greet.” Alex felt Brody’s eyes on him. “Women. You know? She’s not sure about being an outsider at a family gathering. Bit of … unease about it.”

“Right, right,” Cam mumbled. “Can’t blame her. We’re a bit daunting all lumped together. But back to that FBI jerk. Your lady making you revisit our plans for the future of Justice?”