by Bella Andre
When Gideon didn't respond--didn't give any hint of whether he'd take Matt up on his offer--the dam Ari had tried to build around her questions finally burst.
"Why? Tell me why you didn't come if you've known where I was for the past year?" Matt squeezed her hand, as she said, "I needed you, Gideon. You're my brother. The only family I have left."
He drew in a deep breath, looked toward the ceiling, then finally back to Ari. "I went into the military to help save you, but before I knew it, you were gone. I couldn't find either of you. Then I heard Mom was dead. When I still couldn't find you, I knew I'd failed you completely." Tentatively, he reached across the table. Ari immediately put her hand in his, swearing she felt the pain in his heart as he clasped it. "When I got your letter, I just couldn't face you. You deserve better than a brother like me."
A fist bunched around her heart, so tightly she felt tears rising to her eyes. She was holding on to both of them now, Matt and Gideon. Nothing else mattered.
"You didn't fail me. And you're here now. That's all that counts." The hope she'd held on to for so long had finally turned into reality. Still, she needed to know, "What changed?"
"The job I was working out in Colorado ended a couple of weeks ago. When I was packing up my bag, I found your letter tucked in a pocket." He shook his head. "I missed you so damned much, but I thought you'd be better off without me. So I called a lady I sometimes keep in touch with--someone I thought might understand. She told me you'd been there."
"Mrs. Sanchez," Ari guessed. "Karmen's mother."
"Yeah." He slipped inside himself for a moment, probably thinking about Karmen and remembering his guilt at losing someone else he'd cared for deeply. Feeling the pain all over again. "That was when I knew I needed to see you. Face to face, so that you could tell me to go if that's what you wanted."
It was exactly what Ari had said to herself about Matt. Face-to-face. Nothing else would do. She and her brother might have been born years apart, and lost to each other for far too long, but they were still so similar.
She squeezed his hand. "I'm so glad you came home. And I want you to stay." She turned to Matt. "You swore you'd find my brother. If you hadn't taken me down to see Mrs. Sanchez, he might never have decided it was the right time." She pressed her lips to his. "I love you."
"I love you too," he said without hesitation, even in front of Gideon.
At long last, she had everything she'd ever wanted: her brother back home...and the most wonderful man in the world to love and be loved by.
*
The look on Ari's face when she saw her brother compared only to the moment Matt had first laid eyes on his son. Her happiness was his happiness.
They'd picked up Noah at Sebastian's without the fanfare of introducing Gideon or telling the Mavericks about their engagement. In Matt's mind, it was only fair to tell Noah first, preparing him for the changes without an audience.
"Ari's coming back for good." Matt held his son on his lap as he gave him the good news.
"Yay!" Noah threw his arms around Ari. "You're still going to be my nanny!"
"She's going to be more than your nanny," Matt clarified. "She's going to marry me and be my wife and your stepmother."
Noah's eyes grew so big they nearly popped out of his head as he looked between Matt and Ari. "Can I call you Mommy?"
Tears streamed down her face as she nodded. "Yes, sweetie, I'd love for you to call me Mommy."
After Noah was finally in bed, Matt, Ari, and Gideon talked long into the evening. They heard about Gideon's travels; he'd been to just about every state in the US. But he didn't discuss the war or his tours in the Middle East. And he didn't talk about Karmen Sanchez or Esterhausen or his dead comrades either.
Matt gave Gideon a guest suite on the opposite end of the hall, and when his door closed at last, it was finally Matt's turn to be alone with Ari. He climbed the stairs to their bedroom, carrying two glasses of champagne.
Their bedroom. He loved the sound of that.
When he opened the door, the room was redolent with the scent of her lavender bath salts. How many times had he dreamed of this, watching her in the tub, all her satiny skin naked beneath the bubbling waters?
She'd left the en suite door open. Kicking off his shoes, he walked across the carpet to the bathroom, drawn to her the way a moth has to fly into the light.
Ari was his light.
His breath caught and his mouth dried up as he stepped inside. Steam rose with the fragrance of lavender. She'd wound her gorgeous blond hair into a knot and secured it with a clip on top of her head.
"Your tub is so big I feel like I might float away." Water frothed all around her, the jets rumbling, heat rising.
"Champagne," he said, handing her a glass.
Her smile was as luscious as the curves hidden beneath the water. She sipped the champagne and made one of her delicious noises that tightened everything in his body.
She eyed him, sultry and sensuous. "Why don't you do more than watch? Get in here with me."
He shook his head. "I've been dreaming about what you do in that tub since the first night you moved in. This time," he said with a devilish smile, "I need to watch."
She wriggled down into the water, her body just an outline as the jets shot everything into a swirl around her. She gazed up at him with a wealth of wickedness that set him on fire. "Tell me what you want me to do." She draped one slick, bare arm out of the water. "And I'll do it." She gave him a look full of heat and boundless love. "Anything you want, Matt."
Despite his wealth, there were so many things he'd still wanted. Love. More happy children. The chance to wake every morning and fall asleep every night with the woman he adored in his arms.
Ari gave all of those things to him--and he would do everything in his power to give her just as much. Whatever she wanted, whatever she needed, he would always be there for her.
"I love you," he told her, his words reverent. Full of all the awe he felt whenever he realized she was truly his.
"You gave me my brother. You're letting me love your son as if he's my own. And you risked your heart for me. I love you so much."
He couldn't resist kissing her, and she reached up to grab his shirt, leaving wet fingerprints, as their mouths came together passionately.
"Now..." Her voice was breathless with need. "Tell me what would please you most."
He told her. And as she did exactly what he wanted, what he'd dreamed of watching her do all those long nights, he gave silent thanks that they'd have so many long--and beautiful--nights and days to come.
They had forever.
Epilogue
Laughter and voices rose to the high ceiling of Matt's living room. A piano player was tinkling away on the baby grand while a bartender refreshed Evan's glass.
He could hear Paige in an animated discussion with Charlie, asking how Sebastian's fiancee came by her inspiration for the incredible metal sculptures she built. Evan wasn't surprised by Paige's enthusiasm--she always wanted to know why people did what they did.
She hadn't wanted to attend the family Thanksgiving, not after the fight she'd had with Whitney over the Halloween party. But with Whitney in the south of France--she claimed it was to take the warm air and waters, but Evan knew it was mostly to get away from him--he refused to leave his wife's sister alone in her condo on Thanksgiving Day. So here she was, lovely in a blue dress that made her eyes sparkle.
Daniel and Matt were arguing about the appetizers. "What do you mean, there's nothing to nibble on?" Daniel said, disgust layering his voice.
"After slaving all morning, Cookie said she didn't want a bunch of appetizers to spoil the meal." Matt wore a tailored suit that made his muscles look huge. He'd come a long way from the scrawny kid the Mavericks had to rescue. They'd had to rescue Evan too.
"I bet you just forgot to ask Cookie to make any," Daniel drawled. He wore his usual khakis and jacket, as if he'd just driven down from the mountains. Which he probably had.
They usually celebrated the holidays in Chicago at Susan and Bob's house. But this year Susan claimed the house was in an uproar preparing for the wedding, and she didn't think she could pull off a Thanksgiving dinner too. So here they were at Matt's.
Ari settled the good-natured battle between Evan's food-obsessed friends by sliding her arm through Matt's. She was beautiful in a purple and white dress. Evan was happy that Matt had come to his senses and made the right move.
"I told Cookie there was enough to feed a herd of dinosaurs," Ari said, "and we were all going to be overstuffed if she cooked any more." She leaned into Daniel. "She's gone home to be with her family, but if you want me to sneak into the kitchen and grab you a drumstick or a wing, no one would be the wiser."
Daniel laughed as he threw an arm around her shoulders. "I'll go fish around for myself, thanks."
As Matt pulled Ari closer and kissed her, something inside Evan's chest tightened at the look of love and adoration on the big dope's face. He truly had his family now.
Evan had meant every word at the barbecue when he'd said that Matt was crazy to let her go. Matt had everything with Ari. And Evan was finally starting to accept that he had nothing at all with Whitney.
Just then, Lyssa walked into the room and wrapped him in a hug. "Why are you standing here all by yourself?"
Holding her away, he smiled. "You finally made it. Thank God they let you go for the holidays. We all thought that new job was going to be the death of you."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm toughing it out." Daniel's little sister had the same dark curly hair--though Lyssa's fell past her shoulders--and the same dark eyes the color of chocolate. She knuckled him. "The really nice thing is flying out on Daniel's jet. No waiting in long security lines or hanging around airports."
"There are advantages." He wrapped his arm around her waist. "How's my girl?"
She laughed, a pretty sound he'd loved since the first time he'd heard it all those years ago when Lyssa had been a happy, gurgling baby. "I'm not a girl anymore, Uncle Evan."
"Right. You're becoming a pain in the rear like all women," he quipped.
Lyssa gave him a look. He hadn't meant to sound bitter. It was supposed to be a joke. Yet something dark had entered his voice. The same darkness that was starting to leach into his heart.
"Well," she said brightly, trying to dispel the momentary blackness he'd dragged into the room. "Can you believe how much our group has grown in one year?" She waved a hand toward the assembly in the living room. Last year, there'd been only Mavericks, including Susan, Bob, and Lyssa.
"Now we've got Harper and Jeremy," Lyssa enthused.
Harper had dressed Jeremy in a tux, and he looked fantastic. And happy. Which was Jeremy's constant state as well as Will's these days. By the new year, Will would be married to the woman he utterly adored. The look on his face was both proprietary and humble, as if he knew how lucky he was and didn't take a moment for granted.
"Of course, there's Charlie and her mom too," Lyssa said, like a laundry list of the Mavericks Who's Who.
Francine Ballard, Charlie's mother, perched on the end of the couch. Charlie had given her a golden paper crown, calling her the queen for the day. Instead of tossing it away, Francine enjoyed every moment, popping it on her head and giving queenly waves every now and again. Evan felt a great admiration for her. Even with her gnarled fingers, she was always smiling, always with a sweet word to say, never mentioning her pain or the inability to do all the things she loved. She forced herself to walk a mile every day using her walker. How many people could say they tackled the hardest things in their lives--and beat them? Bob and Susan were tucked around her on a chair and the sofa, avidly detailing all the wedding preparations.
A loud squeal rose from the far end of the room where Noah was playing jets with Jorge and doing a damn good job of simulating the ear-piercing sound of engines. Evan thanked God that Whitney had flown the coop for this celebration. She'd definitely have made a scene.
"Ari's friends Rosie and Chi are a hoot, aren't they? It's so nice to have people my age to hang out with at these parties instead of all you old fogeys." All the Mavericks felt like they'd practically raised Lyssa, and she loved to tease them about the ten-year age difference. "Seriously," Lyssa said, "have you ever seen Matt so happy? Ari is so good for him. She told me she's teaching part time in the mornings at Noah's school now. Did you know she has a degree in child development?"
Ari truly was the best thing for Matt and Noah. And she would make a fantastic teacher. Gideon Jones, on the other hand...
"What do you think about her brother?" The man stood by himself, his gaze moving over the group, from one to the next, watching, always on alert.
"He's all broody and masculine," she said dreamily enough that Evan looked down at her in surprise. "I overheard him say to Ari that she'd tapped into the mother lode with Matt."
Evan's hackles rose, though he was shocked Ari would have agreed with something like that.
He must have tensed, because Lyssa whispered, "Down, boy. I might have been offended when Ari agreed. Except that she wasn't looking at the priceless paintings or the huge house. She was looking at Matt and Noah. And--" Lyssa sighed just like a woman dying to fall in love. "The look on her face was so adoring. She said she finally felt like she mattered to someone and that they meant absolutely everything to her. It kind of made me sad for what her life must have been like before."
"I never thought it was about the money for her."
"I'm sure it isn't for Gideon either," Lyssa went on. "Matt says he's been asking around about work. But seriously, Evan, how do you tell whether they want you for the money or for yourself? I mean, it was easy for you with Whitney because you didn't have any money back then. But now, it would be really hard to know for sure."
Eight years ago, he'd been twenty-six and Whitney barely twenty. His first million was still a couple of years off. His first billion further out still. But Whitney had wanted him even without the money.
At least, that's what he'd always wanted to believe.
But life with Whitney had become unbearable. They barely spoke--and when they did it was usually to argue about something. She did her own thing, and he did his. Even when they attended a party together, they were separate, she with her crowd, he with his.
He knew how badly the miscarriages had affected her. They'd affected him too, and those bad times had somehow become as huge between them as the Hoover Dam.
Whitney had never been what anyone would describe as sweet, but once upon a time she'd been fun and sexy. Until the aching loss of the children they hadn't yet been able to create turned her cruel and mean. Now she had her own bedroom, and they hadn't come together since that last miscarriage at the beginning of the year. He'd thought she needed time, but time had only made things worse.
The dam between them had burst the night of Will's Halloween party. When Paige arrived at the house, dressed in that sexy, mind-altering Cleopatra getup, Whitney had gone ballistic.
He could still hear her voice screeching in his memory. Why does she have to go everywhere with us? When is she going to get her own life instead of living off mine?
She'd stalked to her room and slammed the door. He'd planned to apologize to everyone at the party for her absence, but he was so damn sick of making excuses for her. He was terribly sorry for her pain--for the pain they both suffered over the babies they'd lost--but he was also tired of explaining away the horrible things she said and did in the name of her disappointment and grief.
Something had to give. Because Evan couldn't stand any more. At this point, he wasn't even sure he wanted to be married to her. Correct that--he was sure he didn't want to be married to the woman she'd become.
On Halloween night, he'd finally seen beneath Whitney's rage. And it was Paige herself who'd changed things, the sister who was always overshadowed, the sister who got the second look, never the first.
That night Paige had become a sult
ry seductress in her costume, bringing men to their knees.
And she'd made him look twice.
Not only because she'd been gorgeous, but because where Whitney had never fit in with the Mavericks, Paige made everyone laugh and listened when you needed to talk something through.
Paige.
Why couldn't he stop thinking about her?
Why couldn't he stop looking, even now that Halloween was long past?
As he glanced her way, the smile she gave him touched something deep inside. And he couldn't stop the unforgivable thought that he'd picked the wrong sister eight years ago.
*
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BREATHLESS IN LOVE (Will Franconi's story) and RECKLESS IN LOVE (Sebastian Montgomery's story) are out now! IRRESISTIBLE IN LOVE (Evan's story) will be released in early 2017!
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Enjoy an excerpt from BREATHLESS IN LOVE, Will's story...
Will Franconi has a dark past that he's kept a closely guarded secret--very few people have ever heard his real story and he plans to keep it that way. After surviving a hellish childhood, he's now living the dream life where everything he touches turns to gold. But something's missing. He doesn't quite know what, until a simple letter from a teenage boy brings Harper Newman into his life--a woman who just might fill up the empty places inside him...if only he could ever be worthy of her love.
When a man has more money than he could spend in five lifetimes, Harper has to ask herself what Will Franconi could possibly want from a woman like her. She's learned the hard way that rich men always get what they want no matter the cost. If it were only herself she had to worry about, Harper would manage, but she's guardian to her younger brother, who depends on her for everything. After he nearly lost his life in a car crash, she's vowed never to let anyone hurt him ever again.
Still, sometimes Harper can't help but long to change her story from that of the always cautious woman to an adventurous tale of a heroine who's wild and free...especially when Will's kisses and caresses make her utterly breathless. And as he begins to reveal his story to her, she discovers that he's so much more than just another wealthy, privileged man. He's kind and giving, and he fills up all the spaces inside her heart that have been empty for so long. Together, can they rewrite their stories into a happily ever after that neither of them would have believed possible?