The Full Velocity Series Box Set

by Tracie Delaney

  “I love your laugh, your smile, how much you adore your family. You’re the strongest person I know with the biggest heart. You fill my life with more happiness than I ever thought possible. Because of you, and only you, I’ve managed to put the past behind me and look to the future with a renewed sense of hope. You showed me how to love, and what it felt like to be loved, and I’ll never forget that.”

  He stole a glance at his parents. I followed his gaze. His mother was dabbing a tissue to her eyes, while his dad wore a genuine smile. Surprising considering the direct dig he’d aimed in their direction.

  “You and me, we’re a team, and no one will ever come between us. I love you with everything I am and everything I have. My heart beats for you, and only you. I’m yours for as long as you’ll have me.”

  I couldn’t hold back. Tears poured down my face. Val would have to fix me up after the ceremony.

  Tate kissed me again, licking the salty tears off my lips.

  I knew I wouldn’t recall in any great detail what happened after that. We exchanged rings and the registrar said more words. I must have responded in the right way because the next thing I remember was Tate walking me back down the makeshift aisle to the applause of our guests.

  “Tate.”

  We drew to a halt outside the room and turned to find his Mum and Dad standing there wearing beaming smiles.

  “Oh, hi,” he said, his manner similar to that with which you’d greet an acquaintance. Cool, distant, polite.

  His mother stepped forward and grabbed both of our hands. Tate—thank God—didn’t snatch his away.

  “I wanted to tell you what a beautiful couple you make, and how proud we are of you both. Your father and I wish you years of happiness, don’t we, Eric?”

  “We do,” Eric said, stepping forward. “And we also wanted to thank you for letting us be a small part of your special day.”

  Tate remained mute until I gave him a sharp dig in the ribs.

  “Oh, yeah, you’re welcome,” he said. “You’re sticking around for the photographs and the dinner, yes?”

  His mother clasped a hand to her throat. “We’d love to. If you’re okay with it, that is.”

  For the first time, I saw the ice around Tate’s heart melt a touch. He patted his mother’s shoulder. “More than okay,” he said softly.

  “Mads,” Tate whispered in my ear. “Let’s go.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Let me say bye to Mum and Dad first.”

  “No,” he said. “We’ve done our bit. If we start the rounds now, it’ll be another hour before we get out of here, and I have plans.”

  I slid my tongue underneath my top teeth and gave him the full-on eye sweep. “Oh, yeah. What plans?”

  “Move your peachy arse and you’ll find out. We have a plane to catch.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Majorca,” he said, his response bringing a smile to my face. Tate knew me so well. Other brides might have demanded a holiday in the sun, somewhere like Mauritius or the Seychelles, but I loved the little house built into the rockface overlooking the beautiful coastline of one of Spain’s gems. It’d be chilly there this time of year, but I’d happily keep warm by snuggling up to my new husband.

  “They’ll see us,” I said, glancing around at our guests, most of whom were strutting their stuff on the dancefloor.

  “Then run.” Tate clasped my hand and sprinted for the exit.

  I heard several voices call after us, but Tate had prepared for this eventuality. A limousine idled right outside the front entrance of the hotel, the rear door already open. He ushered me inside, followed quickly, and the car sped away. Both of us twisted to peer out the back windshield. I saw my dad wagging his finger and laughing, Mum beside him. Tate’s parents were there, too and right before they disappeared from view, I watched Dad slip his arm around Tate’s mum’s shoulders and lead her back inside the venue.

  “Mum’s gonna kill me,” I groaned.

  “She’ll get over it,” Tate said, ignoring all safety laws and tugging me across his lap. “How long did it take you to get into this dress?”

  “Not long,” I said. “Why?”

  “I’m wondering how long it’s going to take me to get you out of it.”

  As it turned out, not very long. The limo pulled up in front of Tate’s private jet and thirty seconds after the seatbelt signs were switched off, I found myself lying naked on the bed, Tate beside me.

  “Happy wedding day, Mrs. Flynn,” Tate said, kissing his way down my body.

  I sighed. “Happy wedding day, Mr. Flynn.”

  Tate

  The private elevator opened out onto the foyer of our penthouse apartment. Before she took a step, I swept Mads into my arms.

  “Tate!” she squealed. “What are you doing?”

  “Carrying my bride over the threshold,” I said, striding across the marble entranceway.

  “I’ve been living here for years. I don’t think it counts.”

  I gave her a mock-horror stare. “Woman, you wound me.”

  She giggled, a sound I’d never tire of. “Okay, Mr. Caveman. You’ve done your duty. Now put me down.”

  I set her on her feet then kissed her. “Welcome home, Mrs. Flynn.”

  She shook her head, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “That’s going to take some getting used to.”

  “Drink?” I asked, removing a bottle of champagne from the fridge. I’d put it in there before our wedding.

  “You spoil me,” she said, standing on tiptoes to lift two flutes from the glass cabinet.

  The bottle popped, the cork firing across the room. I poured two glasses. “To us,” I said, clinking mine against hers.

  She sighed contentedly. “I had a wonderful honeymoon. Thank you for choosing Majorca. I love your place there.”

  I planted a kiss on the end of her nose. “I know you,” I said. “And it’s our place now.”

  She twisted her lips to one side. “More stuff to get used to.”

  I snagged her around the waist, pulling her flush to my body. “Too late now, Mrs. Flynn. You’re mine forever.”

  She blinked up at me. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

  I bent my head, capturing her mouth, but our moment of bliss was interrupted when her phone rang.

  “It’s Mum,” she said.

  I glanced around. “Has she had cameras installed while we’ve been away?”

  Madison chuckled and answered the call. “Mum, hi, we just got back.”

  I left her to talk to her mum and went to fetch our suitcases. I’d left them in the elevator. One of the benefits of having the penthouse. That elevator was for our use only.

  Pulling the cases behind me, I left them just inside our bedroom. There was plenty of time to unpack later. The only clothes I felt like removing were Madison’s.

  I glanced down at my wedding ring, twisting it, the feeling still unfamiliar. I guessed it would take a few weeks before it became normal and I stopped noticing it was there.

  “Mum’s asked us over for dinner tomorrow night,” Madison said, slipping her arms around my waist. “I said we’d go. We missed Christmas and New Year after all. We can give them their presents.”

  I twisted around. “Sounds great. They’re bound to want to hear all about the honeymoon, too.”

  Madison gave me one of her special looks. I called it the “let’s fuck” look.

  “Maybe not all the details,” she said.

  My dick hardened. Given the amount of sex we’d had over the last three weeks, I was surprised I could still get it up. Damn thing should be worn out by now. And as for Madison’s pussy…

  “Let’s go to bed,” I said, my voice raw and husky.

  “You took the words out of my mouth.”

  My hands cupped her face and I angled her exactly as I preferred. As our lips met, my dick throbbed, and my heart exploded.

  And then the damn phone rang again. This time, it was mine.

&nbs
p; Cursing, I dug it from my pocket. A shudder ran through me as I caught sight of the screen. “It’s my father,” I said.

  I hadn’t heard from my parents since the wedding, and I hadn’t expected to. Despite the partial thawing of our relationship, we’d never have the kind of connection that Madison had with her mum and dad.

  “Answer it,” Madison urged.

  I pressed the green button. “Hello,” I said tentatively, almost as if I didn’t know who was on the other end.

  “Tate, it’s Dad,” he said, putting me immediately on edge. He never called himself Dad. Nor did I. It was always Father or, when I was younger, Sir.

  “We’re at the Royal. It’s your mother.” His breath hitched. “It’s time. Will you come?”

  I answered without hesitation. “We’re on our way.”

  Madison drove. Just as well. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I couldn’t figure out the reason for my reaction. I’d spent my entire adult life despising my parents yet the thought of my mother dying…

  I took a deep breath through my nose and swallowed my emotions, staring out of the window at the passing trees and brushwood as Madison nosed the car down the country lanes north of London. I wanted to tell her to go faster, go slower, go anywhere else other than toward the hospital.

  It wasn’t the dying part per se. I’d been surrounded by death since my teenage years. The hospice and research facility I funded had brought me face to face with the only certainty in life more times than I cared to imagine. No, it was how I felt that was the most disconcerting. I’d expected the call. I knew my mother was dying. What I hadn’t expected was the hollow, sick feeling in my stomach, or the surge of grief filling my chest cavity.

  I hadn’t expected to care.

  Madison parked the car and, with her hand tucked inside mine, we walked inside. ICU was on the fourth floor. We found my father hunched over my mother’s sick bed holding her thin, pale hand. She was completely out of it. Whether that was the drugs dripping into her vein through an IV line, or the cancer sapping her energy, I didn’t know.

  When he saw me, his face crumpled.

  “Thank you for coming,” he said.

  I nodded, pulling up a chair for Madison. I set it next to my father and stood behind her, my hands resting on her shoulders. I could sense her silent support. She didn’t need to say anything, but when she closed her hand over my father’s, joining the three of them together, I almost lost it.

  “Does anyone want coffee?” I ground out, my voice sounding like it had been transmitted through a cheese grater.

  “No, thank you, son,” Father replied.

  “What have the doctor’s said?” I asked, needing facts to ground me.

  “They’re fairly certain it’s the end, but they don’t know exactly when it’ll come.”

  “Is she in pain?” I asked, my tongue thick as if it was too big for my mouth.

  “No. They’ve given her a lot of morphine. That’s why she’s asleep.”

  I tugged at the collar of my shirt. The air felt too oppressive, the room too claustrophobic. I couldn’t breathe properly.

  “Tate, why don’t you take this seat?”

  I blinked at Madison. “I’m okay.”

  “I know,” she said, even though she knew I wasn’t. She knew everything about me. I couldn’t hide a thing from Madison. “Do it for me.”

  She rose from the chair and urged me to sit next to my father. I couldn’t be sure how much time passed, but I did remember the moment my mother opened her eyes. I hadn’t expected lucidity, but as her tired gaze settled on me, there wasn’t a hint of confusion.

  “Tate. You’re here.”

  I could barely hear her, so I stood and moved closer. “I’m here. Father is here, too, and Madison.”

  “Did I ruin your honeymoon?”

  I shook my head. “We arrived back today.”

  “You made such a handsome groom,” she said, her eyes closing as though she didn’t have the strength to keep them open any longer. “You married well, Tate. Take care of Madison.”

  “I will,” I said, my voice gravely and unfamiliar.

  “And your father. Will you take care of him for me? He’s a good man, Tate.”

  Father made an odd sound, but I didn’t take my eyes off my mother in case she slipped away when I wasn’t looking. “Don’t worry. It’ll be okay, Mum.”

  It was the first time in my life I’d ever called her that. Growing up, she’d insisted on formality and, for me, Mum signaled a much closer bond than Mother.

  She let out a long sigh. “That’s all I want. I can go now.”

  And just like that, she passed away.

  Dad laid on a hell of a wake for Mum, albeit the caterers and the house staff had done most of the heavy lifting. Still, he’d project managed he event to within an inch of his life, determined not a single thing would go wrong.

  Most of the local community had turned out to pay their respects. As I worked the room, talking to a few of them, I was surprised to learn how respected my mother had been. It appeared she had shown a very different side of herself to those outside the family unit. I can’t say I understood, but now wasn’t the time for recriminations.

  “She’s with Cameron now,” Dad said, sidling up beside me. Over the last couple of weeks since Mum passed, we’d hit the restart button on our relationship and as each day passed, we grew closer. It felt strange to have a father—a real father—in my thirties, but I wasn’t complaining.

  “Yeah,” I said, refusing to allow sadness to consume me. “They’re both free of pain now, Dad.”

  He smiled, taking years off him. “How right you are.” His eyes scanned the room, falling on Madison. “You found a diamond there, son.”

  “I know.”

  “I’d have loved a daughter.”

  “And now you have one.”

  His eyes filled with tears. “I’m humbled by your capacity for forgiveness.”

  I barked a laugh. “Now that’s something you definitely have to thank Madison for. Honestly, Dad, if it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have given you or Mum the time of day. She showed me the way. It takes a lot of energy to hate, but very little to forgive.”

  We fell into silence as the forecast snow began to fall. Soon, the vast gardens outside my family home were covered in a blanket of white. I sensed Madison before I felt her hand at the small of my back.

  “What are you two reprobates cooking up?” she asked with a grin.

  “Great timing,” I said, kissing her temple. “I was about to ask Dad if he fancied a trip to the Australian Grand Prix in March.”

  Dad’s eyes widened. “Are you joking?”

  I slipped one arm around his shoulder and with the other, I pulled Madison close to me.

  “I never joke about racing.”

  THE END

  Flip the page to catch up with Reilley and Devon.

  REILLEY & DEVON

  Reilley

  A ping above my head alerted me that the captain had switched off the fasten seat belts sign. I unclipped mine and snuggled closer to Devon.

  “It was a lovely ceremony,” I said, referring to Madison and Tate’s wedding.

  We’d stayed on in England especially so we could attend, and we were now on our way to Australia to spend Christmas and New Year with Devon’s family. After that, we were heading to New Zealand for a much-needed vacation, then flying back to England. Devon was expected back at work in mid-January to prepare for the Australian Grand Prix. It was a lot of back and forth, but we were used to spending enormous amounts of time on a plane.

  “Madison looked so beautiful.”

  “It was, and she did,” he said, resting his head against mine. “Not as beautiful as you did, though.”

  I grinned. “Two years married and you’re still giving me compliments. I must be doing something right.”

  Devon refrained from answering until the steward had set down our post takeoff drinks and moved on to the next passenger.r />
  “On our wedding day I promised I’d never stop telling you how amazing, funny, smart, beautiful, and kind you are. I plan to keep that promise.”

  “Aww, Gray.” My smile grew. “You sure know how to get into a girl’s panties.”

  He laughed. “By the time we arrive in Australia, the only thing you’ll be interested in getting into is bed. To sleep.”

  “I can’t deny it,” I grumbled. “I’m a lightweight. It’s the whole losing a day thing that I can’t cope with.”

  “Which is why I told Mum we’d acclimatize first, then head on over to their place. You know as well as I do that the second we arrive, neither of us will get any peace.”

  “I can’t wait to see everyone.”

  I adored Devon’s family. Their house was always full of warmth and laughter, and the sound of kids arguing over something and nothing. My childhood had been very different. Just Mom and me. I adored my mother, but the best word to describe her was “flaky”. Mom would say she was free spirited. She flitted in and out of our lives as it suited her. Right now, she was somewhere in Brazil, deep in the Amazon. She’d turn up when I least expected it, stay for a few days, before the itch in her feet would kick in and she’d disappear off again.

  My mother gave me my independent spirit.

  Devon gave me a family.

  I sipped my juice and rested my hand on my abdomen. “When should we tell them?”

  “I thought Christmas Day. Then we don’t need to buy them anything.”

  I gave him a dig in the ribs. “Devon! You tight ass.”

  He placed a warm hand over mine. “This is the best gift we could give them anyway. You know how much Mum adores Di’s kids. Get used to the sound of clacking knitting needles.”

  “Haven’t changed your mind then?”

  He arched a brow. “Ask me a real question and I’ll answer it.”