True to his word once the medical parade was over (which by the way) took hours to get through, he located a wheel chair and took me to see Sophie. She was being kept in a medical induced coma to allow her body the opportunity to heal. It was horrible to see a machine breathing for her. Apparently, she’d suffered terribly at the hands of the Chechens who were not happy that their torturing and murdering of tiny girls was being put to a stop by Aleks and the rest of the Bratva . They decided this was their chance to mobilize and go up against Aleks. The problem was they didn’t get any support from their own brotherhood, who thought they were despicable too. No one wanted the wars that ensued six years previously when they’d gone after Roman. Aleks had been, and still was, ruthless in how he maintained control and many of the survivors wanted no part of another war with him.
I wasn’t allowed to see the child that had been victimized. She was being moved by the Marshals and they thought it best she not have any reminder of that night.
I was a reminder. It hurt hearing this, but I was so thankful she was alive and getting the help she needed. That would have to be my comfort, knowing she was alive and receiving help.
Last, he wheeled me to Sebastian’s room where he was recovering from his gunshot wounds.
He was awake and when I was wheeled in his eyes sparkled and he whispered, “Little Warrior.”
I didn’t understand what he was saying, but I recognized it from the many other times he had said the phrase to me. I now recognized he always said it with reverence and that was something I’d need to pay closer attention to, not what was said to me, but the manner in which it was spoken.
“He calls you ‘little warrior’ Angel,” Roman whispered to me.
I looked at Sebastian and asked Roman to wheel me closer. Once he got me close enough I could make it without falling and freaking everyone out, I rose from the wheel chair, grabbed my IV stand that was being moved with me, and climbed into the bed with Sebastian curling up to his side. I was very careful not to nudge his wounds.
I hugged him as gingerly as I could and settled in.
“Thank you so very much for saving me and the girls. I forgive you for every bad thing you’ve ever done.” I hugged him tighter and looked up into his eyes, “I’m going to fix you up with one of my girls so I can keep you around, but you have to be a good guy in order to win the tribe over.”
Roman snickered. I was trying to have a poignant moment with Sebastian and didn’t need Roman diminishing it.
“Can you leave us alone please?” I asked in as snotty of a tone as I could with my sore throat.
His face went serious and he replied, “Hell no.”
“Fine. Can you try to be quiet? I am working on my relationship with Sebastian and you’re interfering.”
“The only relationship you need to work on is ours. And threatening the man with a lifetime with one of your sisters is hilarious, so I laughed.” I needed to keep in mind Roman had been sitting at my bedside for four days and hadn’t had much sleep.
“Maybe you should go home, shower and get some sleep.” The look he gave me shut me up and I turned my attention back to Sebastian.
“Little Warrior ,” This time I knew what he was calling me so I snuggled closer, looked at Roman and stuck out my tongue.
That made him laugh.
That’s okay. I had a lifetime to torture him, starting with the perfect marriage proposal. I squinted at him. If only he knew what I had in store for him!
“Thank you for saving me and the girls. The three of us would have died horribly without you.”
“Little Warrior ,” was whispered at the top of my head, just as a nurse and doctor entered the room and booted us out.
I was seriously going to fix him up with one of my girls. I needed to keep him around.
By the time Roman wheeled me back to my room, the tribe had arrived and were fit to be tied. Luckily Steve and Allistor were there to keep all of the drama at a minimum. That is until Allistor, who was normally the quiet level-headed of the two, got a hold of me. He went into diva mode and sobbed and cursed and said threateningly to us all to, “Watch ourselves, ‘cause he wasn’t doing this almost dying thing again!” I knew he had been through a lot, with losing Raquel and Antonio, Isabella getting shot at and now me. It was more than most could handle.
His outburst took us all by surprise, I mean, we expected it from Becca, but not our rock Allistor. Even Becca tried to calm him down. I’m telling you that was something to see.
I did, however, agree with him. We did need a break.
Hopefully, this was the last of the bad and now our tribe could settle in for some good.
One could only hope.
Chapter 28
A Sweet Wedding
I sabella and Cabe’s wedding was so sweet and small, just the way Isabella wanted it. It was attended by most of the commandos, Cabe’s guys Isabella renamed from Security Deployment International to Macho Men, and would forever be referred to as Macho Men by our wine tribe. Her mother attended, and the new recruit of the Macho Men variety, known as The Scot officiated. It was hilarious because no one could understand a word he said even though he swore he was speaking English.
I came to learn later that The Scot tried to stop my kidnappers, and got shot for his efforts, and was left to die. I didn’t know any of it because the first thing they had done was knock me out cold. The Chechens had taken Sophie the day before and because we were all so spread out we didn’t realize she was missing until she had suffered at their hands for a full day. That would never happen again.
I’d been released from the hospital and was recovering nicely. Sophie had also been released from the hospital and recovering slowly. The men had done unspeakable things to her. When she woke up, she cried that they had shorn off her beautiful braids, so that was one of the first things our tribe did for her as soon as her hair was long enough to hold the synthetic hair Jenna’s stylist used to recreate her lovely locks. Staying focused on something we could fix was good. My concern was about the things they’d done to her that she didn’t focus on. The things that would haunt her in the middle of the night.
When Sophie was released, Marcus gifted her with a dog named Stanly.
Stanly was a serious guard dog, a Pit Bull mix who was as lovable as Isabella’s whites, but Stanly was a trained therapy companion dog, and a trained guard dog. He had a black muscular body and a white face and belly, and black tips on both of his ears. He would go everywhere with her from now on.
She decided to put off her internship and college and I supported her decision. I wasn’t ready for her to leave. Maybe I’d never be ready. We had a lot of catching up to do. We decided to hire a tutor from the local university to teach her some of the basics she would need, and she was able to take some remote classes at her own pace.
Roman went around telling everyone we were engaged. I let him know, under no circumstances were we engaged, because I didn’t have a ring and I’d never seen him go down on one knee.
He ignored me and went on telling lies about our engagement.
So, I declared I wanted to buy a plane to anyone who would listen and scheduled several appointments to look at used small jets.
Roman had a fit. Seemed Tall Dark and Handsome didn’t like the idea that I could jump on my own plane and leave anytime I wanted.
Yes, that’s right. I wanted to purchase a smallish jet plane and rent out a hanger at the airport not far from my house. I would be there eating at the cafe anyway, and this made sense. I would be able to take Sophie to all the places in the world I wanted her to see, and also the wine tribe could load up and take a shopping trip anytime we wanted. I needed to have a plane large enough to make it across the country, refuel, and then across the pond, as the English like to call it, to the homes I owned in the other wine regions.
I wanted to share this life with Sophie and have her come into the business with me. She liked that idea too. I’m telling you right now, my heart swelled to
near bursting. Everything I’d worked so hard for was now going to be shared with my very own girl.
After Roman voiced his dislike of my idea of purchasing a plane, he retaliated. He bought a small jet and informed me and Sophie about it over dinner one evening. After he showed us the photos of the gorgeous little jet, I was mad as a hatter at him. I didn’t want him to feel like he had to risk his ethics to provide for Sophie and I.
“Where in the HELL did you get enough money to purchase a plane?” I kinda yelled at him, surprised and a little worried he was involved in something illegal with his uncle, who, by the way, he still hadn’t properly introduced me to.
“I have money.”
“I know you have money, but we are talking about a lot of money here. Not your normal amount of a lot, but a lot, a lot!” I was shaking mad that he would risk everything like this.
“Angel, I have money. I have more money than you do.”
I went still at that statement. “What do you mean you have more money than I do?”
“I have a trust fund from my father’s family I’ve rarely touched,” he said causally, like he was talking about the weather, and popped a cherry in his mouth.
“You, you have a trust fund?” I asked. “Why am I just now hearing about this?”
“Why would you need to hear about it sooner?”
I may or may not have snarled at him.
Which may or may not have made him laugh.
“Who cares Sydney? We have a freaking plane!” Sophie, always the practical one in the family, said.
“This isn’t over Roman,” I growled under my breath.
“If I agree to write a big fat check every month to Safe Haven will that buy me out of the dog house?” Roman asked, scooting closer to me and kissed the side of my neck.
I tilted my head to give him better access and breathed, “Maybe.”
It was weird to find out so late in the game that not only was the man I was madly in love with the most handsome man I’d ever met, but was rich too. I felt the power shift a little and wasn’t sure how I felt about it.
Isabella’s news about the baby had sent the tribe into a frenzy. That poor child woudn’t be able to make a move in this town without one of its aunts knowing what was up. We were excited for the new energy the baby would bring. Cabe was acting like a caveman and Isabella was sick from the pregnancy half the time.
I’d had a sterling silver charm made of a tiny three tier wedding cake encrusted with diamonds and other colorful precious stones. This charm would symbolize Cabe and Isabella’s wedding, and the love we all had for each other.
After the service was over and the tables were set for our family style dinner that served as the reception, I started to gather the ladies up and realized Isabella was missing. I found her in her uncle’s library, holding what I knew to be the letter her Aunt Raquel had left her, with tears streaming down her face.
“Hey Bella, you okay babe?” I asked gently, walking towards her. Choosing now to read Raquel’s letter was Isabella’s way of including Raquel in her special day.
She looked up at me and said, “I miss her so much Sydney.”
“I know honey. We all miss Raquel. There isn’t anything I can say that will make it better. Except she would be so damn happy for you and Cabe. And now, with the baby? Oh my gosh babe, she would be beside herself with joy.”
Isabella gave me a watery smile.
“Come on Bella. I have a charm I want to give out and I can’t do it without you.”
“I’ll be right there.”
I left her to gather herself and headed back to the group of the most amazing women I’ve ever known. Shortly after Isabella joined us carrying a small bag.
Once we all settled, I handed out my burgundy box with the beautiful white satin ribbon. I had a larger box for Sophie, and gave that to her.
“These charms represent growth and happiness,” The ladies opened their charms and appropriately oh’d and ah’d. Sophie opened her large box to retrieve the new sterling silver charm bracelet with a few charms already attached to it.
“This is yours to fill babe,” I said to her and received the tightest hug she could give me. I helped her put her new bracelet on and showed her the charms I’d included and what they meant.
The ladies were busy adding the stunning charms to their bracelets when Isabella said, “I have something for the tribe too,” and handed out her boxes. These were a light blue box with a sliver ribbon.
We were all excited to see what we were being given, everyone got their boxes open and the charms lifted out to examine the silver hearts with two sets of foot prints. They were stunning and so beautiful but it wasn’t until Jenna screamed and all our heads swung her way and then she yelled, “Does this mean….?”
All of our heads swung to Isabella and she was nodding her head yes!
Yes!
Our tribe was growing in the best possible way.
Chapter 29
Family
E verything seemed to be settling down after all of the hoopla and the wedding. Sophie was working with a tutor and we were waiting for her passport to be issued so we could start her real education, which would be learning about the different wine regions and seeing the world. She’d formed a nice bond with both Terra and Jenna, I loved how the women folded her into our tribe.
Sebastian was out of the hospital and on the mend too. I was working on him to go out with my real estate friend Justine, but he was resisting. I think our tribe scared the big bad Russian. Little did he know, he wasn’t going to shake me. I had my sights set on him and I’d get him paired off with one of my sisters if it killed me…or him.
Safe Haven was still operating without the U.S. Marshal services because of the incompetence of Deputy DA Jones. We were able to obtain other donors and with Roman’s generosity we weren’t as worried about the money as much as we were previously, but it was still precarious. Keeping the house funded and operating would be a never ending job, one me and my tribe were up to.
Roman was so deep in the dog house he was going to need a spot light to find his way out. Not only had he kept his being rich from me, he also had not properly proposed. He had however, continued telling everyone we were engaged. I would simply hold my hands up and say, “Do you see a ring? No. No you don’t see a ring. That means we are not engaged.” Roman seemed to think this was hilarious. I didn’t see the humor at all.
He also had not bothered to make any plans to introduce me to his family. Yes, they might not be the upstanding citizens I’m sure Roman wished they were, but still, I’d made a point of telling him I wanted to meet them, and he blew me off. Let’s see how he likes it when Sophie and I are sitting on the beach in Greece sipping champagne while he sweated his butt off back here in the states.
We’ll see then how he feels. Stupid Jerk!
I said something to that affect and we got in our first real fight as a couple, a fight that bothered me so much I found myself swimming naked in my pool at midnight.
The next morning, after my midnight swim where I did, in fact, rethink all things Roman and I, he entered the bedroom where I was uncharacteristically taking my time getting up and lounging around in bed.
“Angel, are you feeling okay?”
“Yes.”
“Get up! Sophie and I are taking you for brunch,” Agatha jumped up on the bed purring loudly and curled up under my chin. Oh, Lord Almighty , it was nice to have her back in my bed. Since Stanly had come to live with us and now slept in bed with Sophie (Marcus was furious about it), Agatha was back to sleeping with me. Thank God.
Sophie and Stanly were there and suddenly jumped on my bed which drove Agatha away. “Get off my bed you mangy mutt,” I said to Stanly, who licked my face.
I had zero authority here.
“Fine,” I said and threw the blankets back in order to get up and get dressed.
I took my time making them wait. I wore a flowing pale pink skirt with white off the shoulder gauzy top
and pale pink pearls in the long necklace, studs and a wrist full of the same matching pearls. I slipped on a pair of white wedges. I wore my hair up in a messy bun and applied very little make up except my trademark red lips.
I hummed as I dressed. I knew I was being an ass, but didn’t really care. I was feeling a little destructive and vengeful about the lack of a proper proposal, but since all of the normal adult ways of handling it had been attempted and ignored, I was resorting to immature tactics.
What did I care?
If I had to spend the rest of my life with the big jerk, he needed to know what he was in store for him when I was upset and disappointed.
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