‘He is?’ she asked.
‘Like Colt said, you’re a Warner now… I’ll find a way to sneak a ring onto your finger.’
‘I might like that,’ she said and managed to smile.
That was the first time a man had suggested such a thing and she hadn’t recoiled in horror. These people had accepted her. They stood beside her in an atrocious time and still cared about her wellbeing. What was more, she cared about them, all of them, and had been willing to die if it meant saving them. This was family and she was a part of them as much as they were a part of her.
When Ruger kissed her again, she locked her arms around his neck and squeezed so tight that the tears began to flood her eyes. Layla wouldn’t let herself lose it completely because there would still be cops to talk to and if Drew arrived to see her in a mess he would probably start shooting people himself.
‘On a less serious note,’ Colt said and Layla let Ruger take her onto her feet.
‘What?’ Lyssa asked.
‘The guests are starting to arrive.’
‘Damn,’ Lyssa said. ‘And the terrorists ate our canapes.’
This truly was family because somehow they managed to find a smile in this tragedy. The FBI was circling them and they would all have to give statements. The scene would have to be processed too, so it was unlikely that there would be much time for partying, but there would still be an overflow of family members.
‘You can send them to the salon,’ she said. ‘It’s not much, but there’s space and they could order pizza or something.’
‘Excellent idea,’ Pru said. ‘Ruger you’ll run over there with the champagne, won’t you? They probably won’t let us leave.’
‘I’ll do it,’ Colt said. ‘He should be here for Layla.’
‘Do it at the club,’ Blaser said. ‘There’s a full bar there.’
‘If we’re talking about making a choice between sending your great aunt Ida to Layla’s salon or your strip club… do I really have to answer that?’
‘Fair enough,’ Blaser said. ‘I’m taking Bri outside to get checked out by the ambulance.’
‘I suppose the rest of us should start giving our statements,’ Lyssa said, clutching Colt’s hand and turning to law enforcement.
‘Do you need me to stay?’ Colt asked her.
With a smile, Lyssa rose to her tiptoes to kiss him. ‘No, I’m getting good at talking to cops.’
‘You’re good at talking to everyone,’ Colt said.
Blaser took Bri outside and Colt went out to wrangle guests while the rest of them were briefed by the FBI. This was going to be a long night and the questions would be more complicated than those asked after her previous statements to police. But she would do what was asked and hopefully by the time Drew arrived they would be finished. In the meantime, she was confident Ruger wouldn’t leave her side.
Chapter Twenty-Two
‘How do you feel?’ Ruger had been asking that same question at regular intervals throughout the day. Now it was dark outside, and they were alone in the salon, he asked again.
Drew had arrived with Serendipity not too long after she’d finished talking to the Feds. Because there were so many Warner family members at her place, Drew had taken her to dinner after she was dismissed, but she didn’t eat much.
Layla had tried to excuse Ruger from the meal because of his other family commitments, but he wouldn’t leave her side. He stayed close and held her hand like he was scared to let her go.
She was still trying to come to terms with what had happened. Recounting the story to Drew and Dipity—with Ruger's help—still didn’t make events more real in her consciousness.
Drew gave her advice on dealing with trauma, which led to him and Ruger trading “war” stories which just made her nauseous. Dipity was a great comfort. All of the newspapers would be leading with news of the showdown in suburbia, which diluted some of Serendipity and Drew’s hard work, but they weren’t disheartened. The story was being told and all they’d wanted was for the truth to be made public.
There was so much for the media to sink their teeth into that they wouldn't focus too much on the ignition of events, meaning Drew, Dipity and their compadres could maintain some of their anonymity.
Drew pointed out that the Warners were more likely to be hounded for their eyewitness stories and their brush with death. Layla’s horror was short lived. Ruger laughed off the chances of that sticking—the men wouldn’t allow their women to be exploited like that and Colt had already hired security for their parents’ place.
Layla kept sweeping the salon floor, listening to Ruger bag the dirty paper cups and plates which had been brought over from the hardware store while the Warner guests were here. The group hadn’t had what could be called a party exactly, but the salon gave them a place to congregate, to have a drink and something to eat while they caught up on the gossip from the evening.
Lyssa and Colt had played hosts with his parents in the fray too. Even Bri and Blaser had come to join in later on. But by the time she and Ruger left Drew and Dipity at their hotel and got back to the salon themselves, the core group were tidying up. Feeling terrible that she’d kept Ruger from all of the fun, Layla asserted that everyone else go home and she would handle the clean-up. Again, Ruger had insisted on staying with her.
‘I don’t know how to take away your pain,’ he said with deep frustration. ‘I wish I knew how to make you feel better.’
She stopped sweeping and turned to him. When Ruger had her attention, he dumped the paper cups he was holding into the trash bag then dropped it. ‘I’m not in pain,’ she said. ‘It’s over, this whole mess is done with. It’s finished.’
‘Is that why you’ve been quiet all night?’ he asked, coming to rest his hands on her shoulders. ‘It’s done, so you’re planning your next move?’
‘Planning? No… I don’t know. I suppose I’m still processing everything. I should be elated because it’s finished and no one got hurt… no one on our side anyway.’
‘You’re upset that Ashcroft is gone?’
‘It’s not that,’ she said. Ruger took the broom away from her and propped it against the wall. In the salon, she felt like they were in a fishbowl. Layla hadn’t gotten blinds for the front window yet, and so with the lights on inside and the dark dominating outside, their actions were playing like a life-sized movie for anyone who walked by.
‘He killed himself,’ she said. ‘Right there in front of me. I saw… I was looking into his eyes when he put the barrel to his head. How could somebody do that?’
‘He was desperate,’ Ruger said. ‘He probably figured out that killing you wasn’t going to get him anywhere. If he wanted to proclaim he was a hero then all of you would have to die. He would also have to set up his own men to take the fall and that was quite a group of guys to drop a dime on. Even if he’d made it out alive, his men would’ve sung to save their own necks.’
‘It just feels… wrong,’ she said. It sounded wrong that she was saying these things about the man who had caused them all such drama. Exhaling, her forehead collapsed to his chest and as selfish as it was, she was happy to have Ruger’s strength to lean on.
‘It feels wrong because you’re a good person and it’s not easy for a good person to watch another person suffer.’
‘He was looking right at me, Ruger, right at me. I was the last thing he saw before…’
‘Then he had a beautiful view,’ Ruger said and kissed her head. ‘Do you know what we should do?’
‘What?’
‘First thing tomorrow, we’ll go and see Lyssa.’
‘To apologise for ruining her engagement party? Right after that we’ll go and apologise to your mother for those idiots wrecking her house and stealing her food. Then we’ll go and see if Blaser and Bri will forgive us for endangering their future… She’s pregnant, Ruger, the stress alone—‘
‘We can visit everyone if you want, Legs, but they’ll tell you the same things that they said earlier. No
one needs you to apologise.’
‘So why should we go and visit Lyssa?’ she asked.
‘Because she’s a therapist. She knows about this stuff.’
‘I thought she was a sex therapist.’
‘That’s her specialty,’ Ruger said. ‘But she went to school for all of it. She’s a real MD. She coached Bri through a trauma, and being best friends with Suzette must be a trauma in itself.’
Encouraged to laugh, she tipped her head back. ‘You think that she can fix me?’
‘I don’t think you’re broken. I think that everything you’re feeling is normal. But she watched her ex-husband die and her stalker too. I think she can identify with what you’re going through, on a human level at least, if you don’t trust her doctor skills.’
Her head sank to the side until her cheek rested on her shoulder. ‘I’m so screwed up. Why would you want me to be a part of your family?’
‘You already are,’ he said. ‘Do you want to take a shower? I’ll finish up down here.’
‘That sounds great,’ she said. ‘Make sure you lock all the doors and windows before you come up.’ Because she hadn’t been home since events unfolded, Layla still had duct tape gum on her skin. Each time it caught on something, she was reminded of how close she’d come to losing her life.
Ruger carried on with the task as she headed upstairs. Layla tossed her clothes straight in the trash, she didn’t want to be reminded of this day at all, and then she tiptoed into the hot spray. The apartment wasn’t large, so the shower stall was small, but she enjoyed the security that gave her now. The steam increased, but she didn’t turn the temperature down. She took her time scrubbing herself, determined to wash the memories of the day from her body.
It didn’t work of course. Nothing would make those memories go away. She would have to live with those images in her mind for the rest of her own days.
‘Room for another?’ The shower door slid aside and Ruger entered the shower with her.
There wasn’t really room for two of them in here, but she’d already washed herself, so there was no need to accomplish anything other than being close to her man.
The slippery water skidded over their bodies and the pulse of the beads joined the pound in his chest, which she experienced when he took her into his arms and held her. Letting herself relax, the dammed emotion of the day began to seep out and while the water was still hot, she let herself cry. Ruger didn’t say anything, didn’t offer standard platitudes or try to cheer her up. He let her cry in this private sanctuary, where no one could get to them. Here she felt safe, in Ruger’s arms, her cheek resting on the beat of his heart.
When the tears were finished, he ran his fingers through her heavy hair and she went with the motion, letting her head fall back so she could meet the kiss that she knew was coming. Layla didn’t have to hear him, to open her eyes and see it, she could feel his intention in her belly. Being naked, steamy, and pressed together brought his arousal up early, but while she cried, they both ignored it and he was happy to soothe her.
After kissing her, Ruger stroked his fingertips over her eyes, down the sides of her nose and around her lips to her chin. ‘You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.’
Now she did open her eyes. He was bullshitting her, he had to be. Her eyes would be red and puffy from the crying. She’d scrubbed her skin scarlet, and any makeup she had left on had to be smeared all over her cheeks. But he wasn’t smiling, didn’t even look like he was teasing. His expression was so sincere that she frowned.
‘I told Drew I had fallen in love with you,’ Ruger said, still using the ends of his fingers to caress her face.
‘When did you do that? Oh my god, you can’t say something like that after the trauma of today.’
‘It wasn’t today that made me feel it,’ he said. ‘Being away from you, leaving you under the care of my brothers when I went to Rushe and Flick, I knew I loved you then. I just didn’t want to admit it.’
‘Now you want to admit it?’
‘I don’t want you to run away,’ Ruger said. ‘I’ve been holding back because I don’t want to spook you. But I don’t want you to mistake this for something less than it is.’
‘After today, I don’t think that’s possible,’ she said.
Pleased that she hadn’t dashed for the nearest exit, Layla was dismayed when Ruger tried to reach past her to turn off the water. She was tired, but that didn’t mean she was going to neglect him. Intercepting his hand, she guided it to her breast and she almost laughed when his face lit like a kid being given the keys to his first car.
Ruger bowed to kiss her again and caressed her breasts at the same time. The water was beginning to cool, so they wouldn’t have much time if they wanted to finish their consummation here. Bending her knees, she vanished from his kiss and from his arms, and opening her mouth wide, she took as much of him as she could into her mouth.
On their first night together, she had told him that he wouldn’t fit in her throat, and she had no intention of pushing to that limit tonight; she didn’t want to hurt or make a fool of herself. Still, he seemed to enjoy her sucking and working her hands up and down his length while not neglecting his other intimate areas.
‘Tonight is supposed to be about you,’ he groaned out.
Every night they had been intimate was about her and she had been happy to take the pampering. Layla didn’t want to take Ruger for granted. He deserved some pampering of his own. Taking control helped to put her insecurities to bed. She was a confident woman, but being tethered and tormented today had played on her psyche and she didn’t want that vulnerability to take hold.
Hollowing her cheeks, she sucked the solid length of him into her and then rose higher on her knees to press her breasts into him. ‘Do you want more?’ she pouted up at him. The shower spray ran in a solid river through the waterfall of her hair and into the firth of her back. The tepid temperature was arousing, ticking down her spine and over her ass.
‘I sure do,’ he said. Bending to pick her up, he guided her legs around him and slid into her all the way on his first advance.
Pushing her clit to his groin, Layla began to wriggle against him, stimulating herself as he kissed her again. His hot mouth moved fast, his tongue slid along her teeth then coiled around hers before disappearing only to come back and taste her all over again. His hands kneaded her ass, giving her perfect leverage to work herself against him. But her clit was abandoned when he slid out and in. Pacing himself, Ruger brought himself back from the brink, and took his time working himself within her.
One of his hands skimmed her hip and began to toy with her clit, rubbing in gentle circles to torment her because the pressure and rhythm she wanted was far greater than what he gave. Before Layla could complain, he pressed a finger into her and increased the pace of his thrusts, then matched it with the pace of his finger. He was giving her everything she needed and with his tongue still battling hers, she couldn’t let him know just how his actions were affecting her.
His lips slid away, but he kept his head close to hers. ‘Baby, are you—‘ She screamed and her back arched into the bulldozer of orgasm that clenched her so hard, her knees clamped themselves into his ribs. She didn’t need to answer his never asked question with words, because her actions spoke for her.
With that permission, Ruger quickened his actions until he too was sated and the two of them hung together in a sopping statue of bliss. The water was cold now, but that didn’t affect them. They remained where they were, wrapped together, until their panting slowed.
‘Bed time?’ he asked when he straightened his posture, though he kept her in his arms.
‘Bed time,’ she agreed and this time, let him turn off the water.
The emotion of the day and the workout in the shower left her exhausted. Ruger set her on her feet after carrying her through to the bedroom and then retrieved towels for both of them. Layla towel dried her hair as best she could and ran a comb through it. Ruger was a
lready in bed and the sight was too inviting. So as quickly as she could, she put the towels in the laundry hamper, turned off the light and climbed into bed beside him feeling more at peace than she had in a long time.
Epilogue
‘Does anyone ever say that the ceremony was horrible?’ Layla asked Ruger when he came over with a fresh flute of champagne for her.
‘What?’ he asked, his face was dancing with mischief as it had been all day. This wasn’t supposed to be the happiest day of his life, but no one would know that by looking at him.
‘All day I’ve heard people tell Lyssa that the ceremony was beautiful. I’m just wondering if anyone would actually have the balls to say the opposite.’
‘You would,’ he said, sipping from his own flute and turning to observe the same scene that she was drinking in.
Three months after the devastating engagement party that never really was, Lyssa and Colt had been joined at the altar today. Layla was looking at them now, standing beside the wooden gazebo that had been erected in the Warner back yard especially for the occasion. The three brothers had insisted that they could build it themselves, so the women had made margaritas and sat on the patio to watch the pantomime, but the men had eventually made good. Two batches of margaritas were made that day, one alcoholic, one virgin.
Bri and Blaser were by the buffet table now and Blaser was talking to his new fiancée as she fed her proud baby bump. For now only family knew, but Lyssa was going to be sporting her own baby bump soon. She had just hit eight weeks this week, but in another month or so everyone would know that Colt wasn’t firing blanks after all.
‘Who are they?’ Layla asked, nodding toward a couple who had stayed in the shadows at the back corner of the yard. ‘They’ve barely spoken to anyone.’
‘I’ll introduce you,’ Ruger said and Layla wasn’t sure that she liked his heightened sense of mischief that sparked and fizzed on her skin when he snatched her hand and began to drag her toward the couple.
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