The Fey (26 page)

“
Townhouses?” Alex
asked.

“
Right. The neighborhood
is a historic district so there’s no building there.”

“
Unless for some reason
the building comes down,” Max said. He passed the paper to Alex,
who glanced at the offer and set it down on the coffee table
down.

“
I have also heard from
two builders who would like to rebuild the houses. One is an expert
in historic homes and would rebuild them down to the
details.”

“
You mean the details that
were sold out of the houses in the 1940s?” Raz asked.

“
Exactly,” John said. “The
other builder is a ‘green’ builder and would like to re-build the
homes as a showcase for his work. He said, he is willing to donate
his time and do the work for cost and materials.”

“
And advertising,” Max
added.

“
Exactly. Our homes would
be showcased in the paper and magazines.”

“
How is that going to
work?” Alex asked. “Oh, Colorado Homes and Gardens, this is the
super secret secure, but green, office that belongs to my spy wife.
That? That’s where expert profiler Rasmussen keeps his computers.
Of course he won’t mind if you take pictures.”

Raz and Alex looked at each other and
laughed.

“
Right,” John said. “You
looked at houses at Lowry and Stapleton?”

The twins nodded their heads in unison.

“
And?” Raz
asked.

“
The realtor got mad at us
and won’t show us any more,” Alex said.

“
That happens every single
time,” John said.

“
What happens?” Raz
asked.

“
When we get around people
we don’t know, we tend to clam up. And realtors don’t like it,” Max
said.

John laughed again. “They talk to each other
silently and creep out the realtors.”

“
Ah,” Raz said. “Did you
see anything that would work?”

“
I don’t know,” Alex said.
“We can live in one large house with space for everyone but… I
don’t know. Everything is so…”

“…
modern,” Max
said.

“
We looked at the old base
housing at Lowry. But…”

“
That’s like the house we
lived in when we were kids,” Max finished. “Too weird.”

“
We looked at condos,”
Alex said. She and Max shrugged their shoulders in
unison.

“
We looked at townhouses,”
Max said. He and Alex shrugged their shoulders in
unison.

“
We looked at lofts,” Alex
said. She and Max shrugged their shoulders in unison. “Speaking of
lofts, Matthew would like to purchase Erin’s loft from the
corporation.”

“
Tell him to call me,”
John said. “We spent a small fortune fixing it up after the
rampage. I’d like to wait until the loft increases in value a
bit.”

“
Makes sense,” Raz
said.

“
So you didn’t find
anything,” Eoin said.

Alex and Max shook their heads.

“
Not that we liked. If
we’re desperate to get out of the hotel, we saw things that would
work, but…”

“
I’m not here full time,”
Raz said, “but I want to be comfortable when I’m here. I’d rather
wait until we find something that works.”

“
I agree,” John said.
“Cian? Eoin?”

“
Oh, we get a vote?” Cian
said. “Um, whatever you say Johnny.”

Eoin laughed. “We’ve always lived where
ever.”

“
Emily Lamberton’s father
called the General and offered us apartments in the
Beauvallon.”

“
Beauvallon?”

“
That luxury condo thing
up the street from the dance club these guys picked us up from,”
Alex said. “Raz, are you still dating Emily?”

“
No,” Raz said. “Vince
finally asked her out.”

“
It’s about time,” Alex
said. “Anyway, the General… uh ... Patrick, said that her father
said to say ‘hello’ to you.”

“
That’s a generous fourth
offer,” John said. “Do we have any decisions?” He looked from face
to face. “No decisions. Let the record show that we are tabling the
‘where shall we live’ question.”

“
Max and I will go look at
the Beauvallon. If it’s big enough for all of us, then we can move
out of the hotel until we decide. Patrick said Emily’s dad offered
one of the penthouse apartments, I guess, near where Emily and
Amelia live. You’ve been there Raz, what’s it like?”

“
It’s very plush,” Raz
said. “Pool on the roof.”

“
Won’t it be weird to live
there now that your girl is dating someone else?” Eoin
asked.

“
No,” Raz said. “Vince is
the love of Emily’s life. They have a child together. I only hope
they can make it work..”

“
And you’re cool with
that?” Eoin pressed.

“
I can’t really do love
now, Eoin. It’s not in the cards,” Raz said.

“
Raz has ladies all over
the world,” Alex said.

“
Really??” Eoin asked.
“You’ll have to tell me how you do that.”

“
A man who wants a wife
doesn’t need that information.” Raz shook his head
slightly.

“
True,” Eoin said. His
face broke into a big smile. “Who would have thought it Cian? We’re
really doing this!”

Cian turned to Eoin and smiled.

“
If that’s it, I need to
get to the hospital,” John said. Turning to Alex, he asked, “What’s
on your agenda today?”

There was a knock at the door. Max stood to
open the door for Samantha. Alex crossed the room to answer John’s
question.

“
Sam is here to help us
get some clothes. Raz and I are going with her. I have a list of
what everyone needs.”

“
What about these guys?”
John asked. He pointed to Eoin and Cian who were wide eyed at the
beautiful Samantha. Max was attempting introductions but the men
could barely speak.

“
Vince Hutchins,” Alex
said. There was another knock on the door. She watched Raz open the
door. “Vince is a munitions expert. He drooled all over himself
that he might actually be able to speak with someone who knew
something about VBIEDs, uh, car bombs particularly
PIRA.”

She noted Vince shift away from Raz. He must
have know about Raz and Emily. Turning back to John, she smiled at
the grin on his face. Max held his hand out to John who placed the
fifteen dollar bet into it.

“
Max won the bet?” Alex
asked.

“
I knew you’d pay
attention.” Max laughed and let himself out of the
suite.

“
Oh no you don’t,” Sam
said as John and Alex moved to their bedroom. “I’m not sitting here
with your…” She looked Raz up and down and curled her lip in
disgust. “…friends while you slip off.”

“
I’m going to chat with
him while he changes into scrubs. He has surgery in less than an
hour,” Alex said. “Ten minutes won’t kill you, Sami. Just be
pleasant. You can do that.”

Samantha made a face at Alex and opened her
mouth to say something snide.

“
You can practice your
secret Navy hand shake with Vince.” Alex spoke first.. “You
remember him. He shared my room at Walter Reed?”

Sam squinted her eyes at Alex then spotted
Vince Hutchins. Vince flushed at the look the beautiful Samantha
gave him.

Laughing at Samantha, Alex closed the room
door then leaned against it. John had removed his T-shirt revealing
his muscular chest. He was unbuttoning his jeans. Alex watched as
one button at a time he revealed his cropped pubic hair.

“
You’re not wearing
underwear?”

“
I hoped you’d notice,” he
said.

She raised her eyebrows as his interest
became apparent. Her lips turned upward into a crooked smiled and
he pulled her to him. He plucked off her clothing. Taking her
mouth, conquering the territory with his own receptive mouth, he
mumbled, “Come up.”

She jumped into his arms. With her legs
wrapped around his hips, he pressed her into the wall away from the
suite sitting room. His lips moved down her neck returning to her
lavish mouth. He shifted his hips until he hit exactly the right
spot. Alex’s breath caught with the intensity of sensation. He
pushed forward until she broke off from his lips. Rising together
in fast, silent lovemaking, they let go in a breath.

Laughing, he pulled her into the shower.
They rushed through soap and shampoo then dressed together. They
shared one last pulling kiss before Alex left for the other
room.

“
See. Ten minutes,” Alex
said coming out of their bedroom.

“
Twelve,” Samantha
replied. “Did you shower?”

“
I had to change into my
Alyssa clothing,” Alex said. John came up behind her. He gave her a
chaste peck on the cheek then left for work.

“
Alyssa’s boring. You
don’t expect me to continue… this… do you?”

“
Let’s hope not,” Alex
said.

“
Is this creature coming
with us?” Sam flipped her hand toward Raz.

“
Yes. He lives with us”
Alex held her hand to Raz. “His clothing was blown up as
well.”

“
Fine. You’re lucky that I
do charity work.”

FFFF

Sitting in the back seat of Sam’s silver
Mercedes Benz convertible, Alex watched Raz win over Samantha. For
the first hour or so, he subtly watched Sam in silence. When he
spoke, he asked Sam thoughtful questions. His eyes never left her
face when she spoke. He even went out of his way to ignore the
women who bumped into him, winked at him and otherwise threw
themselves in his direction. He gave the impression that for this
afternoon, he belonged solely to Samantha.

And he was the perfect gentleman. He held
the door for them, helped Sam out of the car and carried all of
their bags. He encouraged Sam to try on a pair of super sexy
Christian Louboutin heels, then insisted on paying for them. He
waited for her when she fell behind and included her in every
conversation. While he never went out of his way to touch Sam, his
hand accidentally brushed her hip in one store and stroked her hand
when he reached for the radio.

In return Sam warmed in a way that Alex had
never seen. Sam’s defensive snapping style slipped away. She
chatted about whatever came up in the conversation. Like watching a
flower blossom, Sam unfolded with gentle radiance that made her
natural beauty glow. She laughed at jokes, asked questions and, to
Alex’s surprise, shared a little of herself. She even paid for
lunch.

Late in the day, when Raz was trying on a
pair of jeans and a stack of shirts, she asked Alex about Raz.

“
So what’s your
relationship with Art?”

“
He’s been my partner for
five or six years. We consider him family.”

“
Are you sleeping with
him?”

“
I’ve slept in the same
bed with him more than once. He doesn’t snore and I don’t think he
ever stole the covers. Is that what you are asking?”

Sam made a face at Alex.

“
No Samantha, I’m married?
Remember? Raz and I are close friends.” Alex shrugged. “What about
the Senator?”

Sam shrugged. Sadness crept across
Samantha’s face. Samantha had been having an affair with a married
Senator for the last three years. Working as his lawyer by day, she
was his bed partner by night. Sam defended her relationship with
the Senator saying that she was a modern woman who didn’t want to
be held down by a man. But over the last year the family, Colin
especially, saw the relationship begin to tear Sam apart.

At that moment, Raz came out of the dressing
room. Alex hugged Sam, whispering in her ear, “He’s a wonderful
person–funny, interesting, very loyal. I’ve heard that he’s amazing
in bed. You should go for it. Have a good time.”

Sam’s cheeks were pink when she hugged Alex
close.

“
This has been fun,” Sam
said. “It’s nice to spend some time with you. I’ve missed
you.”

“
For me too,” Alex said.
“Oh God, please don’t tell Mom that I like shopping.
Please.”

Sam laughed.

An hour later, Raz and Alex were sitting
across from each other in a booth waiting for the waitress to bring
their beer. Sam was in the Ladies Room “freshening up” and checking
her messages.

“
Would you mind if I took
your sister out?”

“
Erin’s probably going to
marry Matthew. You’d have to talk to him.”

“
This sister,” Raz said.
The waitress deposited their beer. “Thank you.”

“
You bet,” the waitress
said batting her dark eyes at Raz. He winked at her.

“
Sam is very soft
hearted.”

“
More than
you?”

“
Yes,” Alex said. “She’s
mean and ornery because she’s so soft at heart. I’ve never known
her to get close to anyone. Will you promise to be extra kind?
Extra clear?”

Raz smiled over his Heineken. Raising an
eyebrow to Alex, he turned to watch Sam walk across the floor. Sam,
absorbed in her own thoughts, was looking down at the Mexican tile
floor. She blushed bright red when she realized Raz was watching
her. Holding his eyes, she sat next to him in the booth.

They drank beer and discussed what was left
on their shopping list. Alex groaned. She was tired and sore.
Whimper, blah, ache, blah, moan, Alex went on and on. Finally, she
turned sideways in the booth, tucked her legs into her chest and
closed her eyes. She knew that Raz wasn’t fooled by her act, but
she didn’t care. How else could she listen in?