“What’s the name? I want to look up their menu,” I reply as I bring up the browser on my phone.
He looks at me warily. “Sugarfish. But how about I order?”
I type in the name. “I like to order my own.”
He lies on the bed on his side, facing me. “Yes, you love to order your own. Which you usually hate and then you eat all of mine. So why don’t I just order all the things I know you like? Then we won’t end up with Shiokara again.”
I tap my finger on my chin as I try to remember. “What was that again? It sounds good.”
“It’s basically all of the unused fish parts ground together then fermented for a month.” I gag, and he laughs. “Yes, that’s the face you make when they bring it, yet you order it all the time. That, and some other disgusting choices.”
I hand him my phone. “Fine, you order. But make sure to get lots of that one thing I always say I don’t like then eat when you’re not looking.”
“Of course.” He kisses me gently then dials the front desk.
In typical Gavin style, he chats away with Cisco, the concierge, as though they’ve known each other for years, remembering the names and ages of all of his kids. The man has the memory of an elephant. He asks about honor roll and swim team, and the thing is, he genuinely cares. He laughs at something Cisco says, and warmth floods my heart. I’m so freaking lucky. The money and good looks are nice perks, but the clincher is that he’s such a good man. He’s the kind of man every mother dreams will one day take care of her daughter.
For the rest of the night, I feel like Cinderella, whisked away from my dark, miserable existence and swept into a fantasy where everything, including my prince, is sheer perfection. The whole night is filled with casual banter and side-splitting laughter. I eat too much sushi and still insist we order ice cream. This feels like the old us, the us from the days inside Meredith’s condo, before things got so damn messy. We have competitions to see who can flick the most playing cards into the trash can and whose hotel stationery paper airplane can fly the farthest. Then the paper airplanes become basketballs and we play three rounds of HORSE. His fiercely competitive nature doesn’t allow him to let me win at anything, and I love it. He’s treating me like me. It’s a perfect night, and I don’t want it to end.
Our six o’clock flight comes so early, and as wonderful as the night before was, I’m cursing myself for insisting on one more game of courtesy soap shuffleboard in the bathroom. I won, but the sweet taste of victory turned sour when the five o’clock wake-up call came in. I’m so tired that Gavin gives me a piggyback ride down to the car. Sure, I feel pathetic, but it’s five thirty—no one’s awake to see us. Then I’m fast asleep before the flight attendant closes the plane door.
When our plane touches down at Dulles, I expect to be relieved to be back in DC, but I’m not. During the whole drive to the Four Seasons in Georgetown, I try to figure out why, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. It isn’t until we drive down the GW Parkway, a road I used to take every day, that I realize what’s wrong. DC isn’t home anymore. When I think about my time here, it’s as though I’m thinking of a completely different person, a Lily who was married to Ash and taking care of Franklin. That was less than a year ago, yet I can’t recognize her any longer. My life is no longer here. This city holds nothing but bad memories. Yes, I met Gavin and Max here and having them in my life will always make my life with Ash worth it, but this town will always be the place where I lived with Ash. I’m ready to put him behind me once and for all.
Marcus meets us at the hotel’s front door with a wide smile. “Mr. Edwards, Ms. Clark, I can’t tell you how good it is to see you. It’s been far too long!”
Gavin shakes his hand. “It’s good to see you too, old man! How’s Julia?”
Marcus holds the door open for us. “Well, I’d tell you all about her, but you have a full suite waiting for you.” He pulls a key card from his pocket and hands it to Gavin. “Here you go, for your regular suite. I just brought up a few platters for dinner, but from what I observed, you have a feisty crew up there. Hopefully they left you something to eat. Please let me know if I can be of any service.”
Gavin slips him a tip while he shakes his hand. “You’re too good to us, Marcus.”
When the elevator doors close, I say, “You know, he’s the only reason we’re still together.”
He leans against the wall and looks at me. “How do you figure that?”
“When you were splattered all over the tabloids with O, he filled my condo with more flowers than the Botanical Gardens. He saved your ass. If those flowers hadn’t come, I’m not sure I would have ever spoken to you again.”
“The flowers were my idea,” he says, pointing at his chest. “I couldn’t get ahold of you, so I called Marcus and told him to buy every purple flower in the DC Metropolitan area. Let’s give credit where credit’s due!”
I push him against the wall of the car. “I suppose you get partial credit.” His arms drop down around my waist as I lean in for a kiss.
He squeezes my ass. “It seems wrong that of all the times we’ve been here, of all the debaucherous things we’ve done in this hotel, we’ve never christened the elevator.”
I run my finger along his jawline. “Sounds like a very unfortunate oversight, Mr. Edwards. You’d better work on rectifying that.”
The elevator doors open, and Gavin moves to push the close door button, but we hear a roar then a loud crash come from the suite.
“Hold that thought,” I say. “Mason wasn’t joking. The natives are getting restless.”
We rush to the door, and the shouting becomes louder as Gavin fumbles with the key. I can’t make out anything they’re shouting, but it sounds as if the whole lot of them are screaming at each other. When we finally get the door open, everyone’s hollering in a crowd around the television. I was slightly worried about the FBI guys and Nigel’s crew getting along—it’s a lot of alpha dogs playing in the same dog park—but I didn’t expect this. They’re all red in the face and out of breath as though they’ve been screaming at each other for a while. Empty beer bottles litter the living room. Fantastic. So they’re pissed and blitzed. A bellowing roar comes from the group, but I can’t decipher who it came from.
“Dear God, they’re going to kill each other.” I grab Gavin’s arm. “My money’s on Richard if this comes to blows. He scares the crap out of me.”
Gavin wolf whistles to get their attention. “What the hell is going on?”
Nigel points at the TV. “Pettis versus Dos Anjos.”
“What?” I shout over Richard and Sully’s incessant cheers.
Roger cups his hands around his mouth. “Pay-per-view. Big MMA fight. ”
“Smashing,” Gavin says with a smile.
I never pictured him being into MMA, but I guess all men like to watch other men beat the shit out of each other. He rushes over to join the rest of the boys.
“Where’s Roger?” Gavin asks as he scoots Peter over on the sofa and grabs a beer from the near-empty bucket.
“Mexico, working with the team there to get everything ready,” Nigel responds.
I look around to see if there’s anything other than beer, but I come up empty. What was a tray of sandwiches, now almost picked clean, sits next to the beer bucket. I pick up the lone remaining pickle when I notice a woman walk across the suite. I don’t recognize her, but I feel as if I’ve seen her before. She’s tall, Hispanic, and very muscular in a female boxer kind of way. Powerful and lean. She squeals when she sees Gavin then pulls him into a hug. Mid-hug, Gavin glares at Max over the woman’s shoulder.
I cross the room, and once she lets go of Gavin, I stick my hand in her face. “Hi, I’m Lily.”
“Wow,” she says as she looks me up and down. “You’re not what I expected.”
I glare at her. “And you are?”
She finally takes my hand. “Sabrina.”
“Oh!” I look at Max. “You didn’t tell me, or anyone, S
abrina would be here.” I look back at her. “This is such a surprise. I had no idea you and Max were… talking again.”
She sits in Max’s lap and plays with the hair at the base of his neck. “Yeah, for a while now. Since I’m coming along on this case, he thought I should meet everyone.” She elbows Sully. “I know these lugs already. And the new guys, after a bucket of beers or three, I feel like we’re old pals.”
“You’re coming with us?” I glower at Max, but his eyes are focused on his beer bottle as though it holds the keys to the universe.
She pops the top off another beer. “Yeah, Max said you guys could really use a hand.”
“Well, if Max says,” I say through gritted teeth with a fake smile.
She plants a big wet kiss on Max’s cheek then jumps up. She nods toward the terrace. “Come with me in the other room?”
“Sure?” My eyes catch Gavin’s, hoping he can telepathically tell me what’s going on, but his ESP must be on the fritz because he just shrugs and smiles.
I follow her onto the terrace. The moment I step outside, I wish I’d grabbed my jacket—it’s below freezing tonight. I’m about to run in and grab it when it occurs to me that if I don’t, I’ll have an excuse to rush out of this conversation.
Sabrina plops into one of the chairs. “I just wanted to thank you for going after Max last fall. I know you’re the reason he got out of Tucson alive. I called, you listened, and that means a lot.” She looks longingly at him. “If anything happened to him, I would have been devastated. He and I owe you everything. I know he doesn’t show it the way he should, but he’s grateful. You just have to know Max to pick up on it.”
You have to know Max? I can’t tell if she really thinks I don’t know him or if this is some sort of territory-claiming stunt. What is it with all the new women I meet feeling the need to stake their claim. She’s all but peeing on Max to show me she’s got dibs. “He’d do the same for me. That’s what friends are for.”
“Well, regardless, thanks. It’s so good to have him back. I actually think leaving the Bureau has been good for him. It’s certainly been good for us. No more undercover work, no more secrets. He’s been talking about opening his own firm. We’re finally going to get a house together. I told you before, he and I are meant to be together.”
It’s as if she’s talking about someone I’ve never met. Shocked doesn’t begin to cover how I feel.
“Well, gee, if this is what makes you two happy, then that’s fantastic.” I rub my hands over my arms. “Brrrr, it’s freezing out here.” I use a bit more emphasis than I probably need, but I want out of this conversation. “I’m going to go back in now, okay?”
She opens her arms for a hug, which I awkwardly accept. When I pull away, she looks at me with goo-goo eyes, and I can tell she’s completely smitten with Max. It’s creeping me out!
I pat her on the shoulder and say, “Good chat.”
Max’s walking toward the balcony as I walk in, and I pinch him, hard, on the soft spot under his arm.
He pulls his arm away, rubbing the spot. “Ouch! What the hell was that for?”
“I needed to see if you were real and not a cyborg clone of some sort. Or maybe you’re a zombie clone.” I put my finger in his face. “Where’s Max, and what have you done with him?”
He steps back. “It’s not what you think.”
I throw my hands in the air. “I don’t know what to think.”
“Max, come out here,” Sabrina calls from the terrace. “There’re shooting stars!”
I nod in her direction. “You’d better get out there.” Back in the living room, I sit between Sully and Greene on the sofa. I point at the balcony. “When did that happen?”
Ignoring me, Sully screams, “Finish him,” at the TV.
Knowing I’m not getting anything from him, I put my arm around Greene. “Well?”
“When he came here after we thought you were dead. He went off the rails,” he replies.
“He mentioned something about that. I just never dreamt that meant Sabrina.”
Greene puts his beer bottle on the table. “He was in a bad place. You mean the world to him, and he holds himself responsible for what happens to you. Your death was on his hands, and he couldn’t even go after the guys that did it. Not the right way anyway.” He looks around to see if anyone’s paying attention then leans in close. In a hushed tone, he says, “When your husband died, Meredith, myself, and a few others thought you should go in Witsec, but he was convinced it wasn’t necessary. He thought we were one step away from bringing them down. It was his case and ultimately his call, and he blames himself for everything that’s happened to you since.”
“I never knew that.” It makes sense. Max had so much confidence in his skills as an agent, I’m sure he thought he had it in the bag. That explains why he went undercover and why he’s taking all of this so hard. The only question is are we really friends, or is this relationship just a way to appease his guilt?
“You never heard it from me either.” He stands. “Go easy on him. He’s really jumbled up right now.” He walks to the beerless bucket of beer. “Should we order more?”
The guys watching the fight grunt in response.
I shrug. “I think that was a yes. Order some more food while you’re at it. I’m starving.” When he opens the room service menu, I step closer. “You know, I’m really sorry about all the lies. I can’t help but feel if I had been honest about everything as it unfolded, maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
Greene puts his arm around my shoulder. “Secrets are the lifeblood of organized crime. They know your secrets, and they’re master manipulators at getting you to keep theirs. You were a scared kid who was in way over her head with people who are very good at getting you to play by their rules. And you weren’t playing with low-level nothings; you were meeting with the top bosses. Anyone in their right mind would be scared to talk about it. Don’t blame yourself.”
I lean my head on his shoulder. “I do though.”
He turns so he’s facing me. “You’re not letting them get away with it. You’re still fighting. Cut yourself some slack, okay?”
I know we won’t see eye-to-eye on this. He’s being sweet, but he can’t possibly understand what I’m going through. “I’ll try,” I say, hoping to end the conversation. I look at the menu. “Can you order me the mac and cheese?”
He winks. “The one with lobster and truffles or without?”
“Without. Just good old-fashioned mac and cheese. I’ll even take it from a box if they have it. I hate it when they use cheese I’ve never heard of or can’t pronounce.”
“Blue-collar mac and cheese coming up,” he says with a smile.
After a quick thanks, I join Gavin in the living room. They’re arguing about the officiating, which I can’t follow. Maybe I can’t follow it because I’m just not interested, but either way, my attention drifts. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of Max and Sabrina on the terrace. Her head is resting on his shoulder, and he’s rubbing circles on her back with his thumbs. Maybe they’re good together. If she’s who he wants, then I’m happy for him. I’m just hurt he hasn’t said anything. We’ve spent so much time together in the last week and I’ve shared so much with him, yet he never even hinted at it. But maybe Greene’s right. Maybe he’s jumbled and in need of some time and space to straighten himself out. I hear the suite door open and the clamor of the bellhop carting in luggage.
“I just spent my flight next to a screaming, drooling baby. I need something stronger than water,” I hear Em say.
Of course, if Max really needs time and space, perhaps he shouldn’t have invited his girlfriend here when he knew Em was coming. Oh, this will be interesting.
I get up to greet her. A bottle of water slips through her hands as her jaw drops. I follow her gaze to the terrace where Max and Sabrina are dry humping against the railing. She pushes her shoulders back and storms outside. She clears her throat, and Max and Sabrina se
parate. Em pulls her hand back and slaps Max so hard, I swear they must have heard it on M Street.
Em looks at him with disgust. “And you called me a whore!”
“Who the fuck are you?” Sabrina yells.
Max, face red with Em’s handprint, says nothing. With a look of shame, he drops his head, avoiding Em’s hateful stare.
Em comes inside and picks up her purse from the table. “I’ll be at the Mandarin. Call me in the morning.” She snaps at the bellhop, “Could you be a dear and grab those for me? If we hurry, we can probably catch my car before it leaves.”
The poor bellhop looks around, obviously uncomfortable, then picks up her luggage and escorts her out of the room. In a rapid mix of English and Spanish, Sabrina screams at Max on the patio. Those of us inside look at each other awkwardly.
Sully slams his beer on the table. “Don’t they know there’s no drama on fight night? You spend all week looking forward to it. You spend good money on it. You just want to watch a bunch of guys kick the ever-loving snot out of each other in peace! For the love of Christ, is that too much to ask?”
Nigel holds up his beer. “Cheers, mate.”
And just like that, they all go back to watching the fight as though nothing happened.
Men!
Chapter Thirty- Six
Lily
All fights were still going strong when I went to bed. Max and Sabrina were on the terrace, and MMA was on in the living room. When I wake up, I half expect to find them all passed out on the sofa, but they’ve gone off to their respective rooms. They even cleaned up. I’m guessing that was all Richard. He seems to be the neat freak of the brood.
Gavin didn’t come to bed until well after three, which should make for a long day for him. D’ante is supposed to call Rafa and set up the buy today. Nigel’s men in Mexico picked up word that Morelia has about two hundred kilos left in inventory, so D’ante’s order will be for two hundred kilos, putting Morelia all in with this buy.
When Fates Align Page 28