“The Russian doctor…”
“They’ve been known to lie.” Gunner scrubbed his face with his hand. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, though.”
“Go ahead.”
“The first time…did I…did we…use a condom?”
She nodded. “Condoms. Plural.”
“I’m sorry I had to ask, Zary.”
“It’s okay.”
“So…take the test,” he said, opening the box and handing her a plastic stick.
She studied it. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Pee on it.”
“No!” she gasped, grabbing the box from Gunner to read the directions for herself. “I can’t believe it,” she said, setting the box down.
“It wasn’t just your mother who said bananas and cereal made her feel better. Ava said so too.”
She looked at the small box a second time. “I didn’t think…”
“Go do it, Zary,” he murmured.
She was slowly getting used to Gunner calling her by the name only her mother had called her both when she was little, and now too.
“What if…”
Gunner waited for her to finish her sentence, but she didn’t know whether to say what if she was pregnant, or what if she wasn’t.
“Let’s find out and deal with the ‘what ifs’ later.”
He moved and picked up the tray so she could get out of bed.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he said, walking out of the bedroom.
Zary studied the plastic stick again. She and the rest of the girls whom the KGB had taken from the orphanage when she was seventeen had been told they couldn’t have children. Sterilized was the word they’d used at the time.
There was only one of the original eight who had been recruited with her whose name Zary even remembered. Orina “Losha” Kuznetsov had been her protector and mentor in those early days, but now was in hiding even though the bounty United Russia had on her head had been lifted.
Even if she weren’t, Zary doubted Losha would welcome her reaching out simply to ask whether she knew if the KGB had really sterilized them.
Zary went into the lavatory, followed the instructions, and waited.
—:—
“How is she feeling?” Ava asked Gunner.
“Better with food in her stomach.”
Ava had something else on her mind, but Gunner didn’t want to ask what it was. If he did, she’d tell him, and what he really wanted to do was get back to Zary and see what the stick showed.
“Hey, man,” said his best friend, Razor, Ava’s husband, who came up and hugged his wife from behind. “What’s shakin’?”
For a guy with the level of intelligence Gunner knew Razor possessed, his friend’s flippant behavior grated on his nerves sometimes.
“Nothing,” he grumbled, walking back into the bedroom. He didn’t see Zary right away, so he peeked into the bathroom. She was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, staring at the pregnancy test.
“Well?” he asked, walking over to her.
Instead of answering, she handed him the stick that she’d wrapped in tissue.
“What does this mean?”
She moved the box closer to him.
“Zary?”
She turned and looked at him for the first time since he came into the room.
“They lied.”
He couldn’t tell whether the positive result made her happy or sad. If it was the latter, Gunner didn’t want to make it worse by telling her that, at that moment, he was the happiest man who’d ever lived.
She stood, walked past him, and sat on the edge of the bed. He watched as she pulled the t-shirt she wore to bed over her head and then stood to take off her panties before reaching her hand out to his.
“I’m sweaty,” he told her, pulling his shirt over his head like she had.
“I don’t care.”
Gunner slid off his shorts and got in bed next to her. “I wish you’d tell me what you’re thinking,” he whispered before nuzzling her neck with kisses.
“I don’t want to talk, Gunner.”
He was all for what she wanted to do instead, but something felt off. Gunner sat up and pulled her into his arms so her head rested on his chest.
“All these years that you didn’t think you could have children, and now you’re pregnant. It’s a lot to take in.”
Her arm tightened around his waist, but she didn’t respond.
“Zary, do you want to have a baby?”
“I don’t know.”
Chapter 3
Ava and Razor
“I know she’s pregnant,” Ava whispered when Gunner walked away. “But it’s early for her to talk about it. I mean, I’m not even comfortable talking about it yet.”
“Outta my element here, Avarie,” Razor told her. How would he know when she would be?
“You aren’t really supposed to say anything until after the first trimester is over. You know, just in case.”
“Just in case of what?”
“A miscarriage.”
“Right,” he said, remembering now that his sister had told him the same thing when she was pregnant with her first little girl.
Razor pulled Ava over to the sofa and then onto his lap. “When can we talk about it?” he asked, putting his hand on her belly.
“Christmas.”
Whether anyone else knew didn’t matter to him; all Razor cared about was that his wife was happy, healthy, and safe. “I may have told someone I shouldn’t have,” he confessed. “Actually, that would be plural.”
“I know, Tabon. I was at Doc and Merrigan’s too, remember?”
He loved it when she called him by the name he’d hated most of his life. From her lips, it sounded as sweet as honey.
“Who have you told?” he asked.
“The same number of people you have. Maybe a couple more.”
“So, I’m not in trouble?”
Ava smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. “Do you think they’ll get married?”
“Yeah, I do. I know Gunner wants to marry Zary.”
Ava sat back and looked into his eyes. “Did he tell you that?”
Razor leaned forward and kissed her. “I don’t want to talk about Gunner and Zary anymore. I want to talk about you and me.”
“I loved our wedding,” she murmured.
Weddings weren’t exactly what Razor wanted to talk about. He’d rather talk about their wedding night.
“It all went so fast…”
“Do you regret getting married the way we did?” he asked, sliding his hand under her shirt and toying with her nipple. He loved how sensitive they were because of the pregnancy, and the little gasps of pleasure he could coax from her just by gently nibbling on them.
Ava took a deep breath and melted further into him. Her cheeks flushed pink, and her pretty eyes hooded.
“I need you, baby,” he said, lifting her in his arms and carrying her out Gunner’s front door and into his own.
Loving Ava was the best part of his life. He’d never imagined that he could be as happy as he was, or that he’d feel so complete. And the baby? His heart swelled every time he thought about his child growing inside his beloved wife.
He kicked the front door closed behind him and carried Ava up the stairs to their bedroom. Every day, the whole house looked more like a home as she added her touch to each of the professionally decorated rooms. None more than their bedroom, though. Somehow she’d managed to make the Japanese-themed decor look both masculine and feminine.
Her eyes closed, and her face flushed the pretty pink he loved so much as he undressed her.
—:—
“Tabon,” she pleaded, reaching for him.
“I’ve got you, baby,” he said, using his knee to gently part her thighs so he could settle between them.
When Ava had first realized she was pregnant, Tabon was worried about making love to her, afraid doing so would somehow hurt the baby
. After they’d gone to her first doctor’s appointment and she’d reassured them that having sex was perfectly okay, and encouraged, Tabon diligently made up for lost time.
“God, you feel good,” he groaned as he slid inside her wetness.
“I love you so much,” she murmured.
Tabon pulled back and looked into her eyes. “I love you, Avarie.”
“What was that?” she asked when Tabon stilled.
“Doorbell. I’d tell you to ignore it, but my guess is that it’s your mother and sister, since no one else has the new gate code.”
Ava clung to him as he moved her arm from around his torso. “No,” she cried, knowing she had to let go but wishing she could tell her mother and sister to go away.
He tossed her clothes on the bed while he dressed.
“I’ll go let them in,” he said as he rushed out of their bedroom.
“Don’t let them come upstairs,” she hollered after him.
Sitting up, she grabbed her sweater and pulled it over her head, all the while mumbling curse words. She’d just pulled on her jeans and was about to get up when the bedroom door opened.
“Sorry, Sis,” Aine said, coming to sit next to her. “Bad timing?”
“I told him not to let you come up here,” she grumbled. “How’s Mom?”
“Pissed, but okay.”
Not only had their mother found out her first husband—and the twins’ father—wasn’t the man she’d thought she married all those years ago, her second husband had asked for a divorce once they found out who husband number one really was.
“It isn’t her fault,” said Ava.
“But who wants to be married to a guy who thinks it is?”
“Good point.”
“There’s something I want to talk to you about.”
“Sure,” said Ava, leaning closer to her twin.
“There’s someone I’d like to invite to Thanksgiving dinner.”
Ava clapped her hands. “Really? Who? This is so exciting? How long have you been seeing this mystery person? Oh my God, my sister is in love!”
“Slow down, cowgirl. It’s very new.”
“I don’t believe you. You wouldn’t invite someone you’d just started seeing to a family holiday.”
“I would if he knows everyone who will be here.”
Ava sat back, quickly zipping through the other K19 Security Solutions team members. “It isn’t Monk, is it?”
“No.” Aine scrunched her eyes “Why?”
“I think Tabon’s sister has a thing for him.”
“That would be awkward, but no, it isn’t Monk.”
“Don’t make me guess. Just tell me who it is.”
Aine bit her lip.
“Just tell me,” Ava said again.
“Okay…Griffin.”
Griffin? Who in the hell was Griffin? “Wait,” she gasped. “Do you mean Striker?”
Aine’s worried expression confirmed her guess.
“Of course,” she exclaimed, hoping her over-the-top happy response fooled her sister. She should’ve known better.
“Nobody likes him,” Aine pouted.
“That isn’t true. I like him.”
“What about Razor?”
Ava wasn’t sure. Tabon was fairly good-natured, but she had heard him complain about Striker a few times. The bigger issue would be with Gunner, who had made no secret of his feelings for the former CIA agent.
“Let me talk to him.”
“Who?”
“I’ll start with Tabon. Have you already invited him?”
“No, but…”
“What?”
“He doesn’t have anywhere else to go.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“Not exactly. He asked me to go away with him.”
“Come on,” Ava said, pulling her sister off the bed. “Let’s go make it official.”
“What does that mean?”
“We aren’t going to ask. We’re going to tell my husband and his best friend that you’ve invited your boyfriend to dinner.”
—:—
Razor smiled as Ava and her sister came downstairs. She and her twin were up to something; he could tell by the glint in her eyes.
“Hi, Mom,” she said, walking over to her mother.
“I was just telling Razor that we’ve booked rooms at the bed and breakfast on Moonstone Beach.”
“Which one? You know there are at least twenty.”
“I don’t know. Moonstone something or other.”
Ava laughed. “That doesn’t narrow it down, Mom.”
“Cambria Shores,” murmured Aine, who was looking at her phone.
Razor noticed that she was biting her lower lip. Ava did that when she was worried about something too.
“What’s up?” he asked, putting his arm around his wife’s twin.
“Nothing,” she answered, locking the screen, and shoving her phone into her back pocket.
Razor looked at Ava, who was also absentmindedly chewing her lip.
“Okay, you two. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Aine wants to invite Griffin to Thanksgiving dinner,” blurted their mother.
Razor looked back and forth between the sisters. “Striker?”
Ava nodded.
“Uh…sure…uh…”
“Never mind. It isn’t a big—”
“Wait,” said Ava. “It is a big deal.” Her eyes met his, and she put her hand on her hip. “If she can’t invite him, she won’t be spending Thanksgiving with us.”
Razor held up his hands. “I didn’t say she couldn’t.”
“You were going to,” she pouted.
He walked over and put his arm around her shoulders. “No. I wasn’t. He’s more than welcome to join us.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw Aine’s tentative smile.
“Don’t you need to ask Gunner?”
“Nope,” he answered, hoping Ava didn’t pick up on his fib.
“Razor,” she threatened, letting him know she had. She only called him Razor when she was pissed at him about something, and lying was at the top of what made her mad.
“I’m not going to ask,” he told her. “I’m going to tell him as a courtesy.”
The three women standing with him in the kitchen all laughed.
“Yeah. Okay. I get it. I’ll be right back.”
Razor rapped on Gunner’s front door, hoping his friend wouldn’t pitch a fit when he told him about Aine wanting to invite Striker to dinner.
“What?” he barked when he opened the door.
“Hey,” he answered, pushing past him.
“We were just leaving,” Gunner told him.
Razor saw Zary and her mother standing near the door to the garage.
“I came over to tell you to add one more for dinner.”
Gunner raised his eyebrows and scowled. “Who?”
“Striker.”
“No—”
“Aine invited him.”
Razor waited while Gunner processed through what he’d just said.
“Why?”
“Evidently they’re…uh…seeing each other.”
“Tell her to stop! Jesus. Striker? What’s wrong with her, is she blind?”
Razor smiled when Zary came up and put one hand on Gunner’s chest and her other arm around his waist.
“He isn’t that bad,” she murmured.
“Yeah, he is.”
Zary stood on her toes and whispered something Razor couldn’t hear.
Gunner looked at her for a few seconds and then turned to Razor, gritting his teeth. “The more the merrier.”
“That’s what I told her you’d say.” He chuckled and slapped Gunner’s back.
Razor could still hear him muttering something he didn’t try hard to understand as he walked back out the front door.
—:—
“What did he say?” Ava asked when Tabon walked back into the kitchen.
“More the merrier.”
He smiled. “Somethin’ like that.”
“We should go check in,” Aine said to her mother.
Peggy looked at her watch. “It’s early.”
“Let’s go for a walk on the beach, then.”
“Honey, I’d rather—”
Aine’s face tightened, and she motioned toward Ava and Tabon. “I think they want to be alone,” she seethed.
“It’s okay,” Ava said, but Aine shook her head.
“We need to go check in.”
Ava shrugged. “Suit yourself,” she said, kissing her sister’s cheek first and then her mother’s. “Should we plan to get together for dinner later?”
“I’ll let you know,” Aine answered while their mother looked at her with a stunned expression.
“What was that all about?” Tabon asked when her mother and sister were gone.
“I’m not sure. Maybe Striker is trying to reach her.”
Tabon nodded. “Wanna pick up where we left off, or is the moment over?”
Ava smiled. “The moment is never over with you, my hotter-than-all-get-out husband.”
“I like the way you think.”
Tabon picked her up and carried her upstairs, like he had earlier.
“I can walk, you know.”
“I know, but why would I let you when having you in my arms feels so damn good?”
“What do you think about this thing between Aine and Striker?” she asked when they got upstairs.
“Haven’t given it a thought, and I don’t plan to. I have other, more important, things on my mind,” he said as he undressed her for the second time.
“I just—”
Tabon put two fingers on her lips. “Shh. Can’t you hear the music?” He started to hum. “You don’t want to turn the music off. Do you, baby?”
Ava smiled. “Never.”
“That’s what I thought. Now remind me where I was before we were so rudely interrupted.”
Ava spread her legs when Tabon rested his hands on her knees.
“That’s right. You remember.”
Chapter 4
Mistletoe (K19 Security Solutions Book 3) Page 2