Layla non-stop babbled on the other side of the door, for a peanut she was loud. Like her mother. Talia grinned and raised her brows toward Tack. For a second, I wondered if I missed an inside joke, or not. Tack had a taste of my nieces recently, or should I say they tasted him, or more like ate him up, especially Emma who dropped me like yesterday’s Barbie and clung to him like he was Ken incarnate. But make no mistake, I think it was my oldest niece who crushed hard that day. The amount of giggling and blushing and the insistent piggybacks rides were the first clue. Drew was screwed.
“Like mother like daughter. Wait until she puts some words with all the jabbering ... there will be two of them.” If Drew was screwed, Dodd was royally screwed.
“Yay!” Lili opened the door beaming. Jesus, we were fun and all and she was excited to see us, but this smile was right up there with her wedding day. “Everyone’s out on the patio, come on.” She zeroed in on Tack and pulled him through the door. I shrugged back at him, who knew what crazy plan she had concocted.
“Midnight chocolate.” Tack raised his cake-filled hand, breaking the awkwardness. Smooth kid.
“Oh my god, you went to Flour.” She came out of nowhere. “That’s the devil’s food cake with the chocolate buttercream!” Sierra bounced from the cake box to Talia and back. No, she seriously bounced. “Girl, I love you. You have no idea.”
“Delicious, I’ve never been, but the girls at work rave about it. Thanks, guys, maybe now she’ll quit bugging me when she gets her fix.” Lili teased her BFF.
“Flour is one of the best. I made Dodd Google every freaking chocolaterie in ten square miles, just in case. And I may have memorized the menu—don’t judge, I need to be prepared.” Mental note to introduce Dodd to the bags, he was going to need the escape.
“T ... T…” Layla squeezed past her mother, who I could only assume was hormonally jacked, with eyes for only one. I couldn’t blame her; my eyes were on the same target. She toddled up to Talia and raised her arms. Worked every time. Tal scooped her up and swung her in the air.
“How’s my sweet girl? TT missed you.” She snuggled Layla into her chest while I silently imagined all the years she held Tack that same way. No doubt they had so much fun together. And I missed it.
I tickled behind her chubby thigh and she giggled that adorable baby laugh. “Hey, I’m stealing a kiss from my princess. TT told me all about your last girls’ outing. You lucky girl and you even got to meet Tack at the park—heard I missed out on feeding some ducks.”
“I feed fucks … feed fucks … wack, wack.” Layla quacked.
Tack may have shared Layla’s choice words for ducks, but I couldn’t contain it. I busted out laughing, ignoring the evil eyes from the two women to my right. Not sure what was worse—the fuck or the wack wack. Only Sierra’s daughter.
“Don’t encourage her,” Lili mumbled.
I searched for a little back-up and saw Tack turned around, clutching his side.
“So much for the D sound being the first.” Sierra shook her head, looking way too serious. “And we’re going to interview for nursery school in a couple of weeks. We are so effed.”
I laughed harder. Perfect timing, Dodd emerged from the kitchen, beers in hand. With a quick chin raise, one was now in my hand. The guy mastered the tune out.
“Hey, you must be Tack. Dodd. My daughter keeping it lively out here?”
Layla wiggled free from Talia’s hold and made a beeline for Dodd. A true Daddy’s girl and you could tell Dodd loved it.
“Are you showing off your potty mouth, pretty girl?” Dodd flung her over his shoulder, suspending her by just a leg.
“Dodd, she just freaking ate, she’s gonna puke.” Sierra righted her gravity defiant daughter.
Dodd shrugged. “Never win, man.” Yup, Dodd could use a few rounds in the ring.
Lil grabbed the cake from Tack and corralled us toward the terrace. “Enough hanging by the door, it’s awesome out today.”
Lil poured some bubbly for her and Tal, while I did a quick scan. The terrace was empty. You had to be shitting me. “Gorgeous, where’s your other half?”
“Oh, he had to run back to the hospital a couple of hours ago. As soon as he hung up with you he got a call. Nothing crazy, he promised. I just spoke to him. He’s already out of the OR and getting changed. He’ll be here in fifteen, twenty tops.” Lil emphasized the promised. We were on the same page.
“Good.”
Sure that he overheard, I looked to Tack first. He seemed—for lack of a better word—good, casually chatting it up with Dodd. My woman, on the other hand, gave me a weak smile, her simmering nerves bubbling up.
I met her on the other side of the terrace, kissing her forehead before I mumbled against her ear. “You okay?”
“I’m good,” she whispered back, smiling. Hell, if good was the sentiment of the night, I’d take it.
“So I can’t wait, sorry. Chase will have to get over it. It’s not our fault he has to be some fancy-ass mega important neurosurgeon. He can be pissed at me, but then again, can he really?” Sierra made no sense half the time, but we were used to it. “I’m telling. Cause I want that cake, and I want it before dinner. And that’s weird. So guys, I bet you never thought it possible, but this chick knocked me up.”
The shriek that exploded out of Tal was so not like her, it threw me. The three women collided into a giant bear hug, giggling, and for all intents and purposes, purring lots of affectionate words at each other. Honestly, it was kind of hot. Actually women touching in general was hot, and because I was in love didn’t mean I lost my routes.
Tack pulled me from my fantasy, asking, “What’d I miss?”
He may have agreed with me that women touching was hot, obviously not these three, but he missed the telltale sign of a pregnant woman. It was a given after the chocolate cake orgasm, but her pass on bubbly sealed the deal. As for the over-the-top excitement regarding her second pregnancy, I chalked that up to Sierra drama. I stopped trying to figure that out.
I slapped Dodd on the back, congratulating the crazy bastard. “So Layla’s gonna be a big sister?” Three pairs of eyes simultaneously bulged, all female. Sierra looked at Tal and Tal looked at me with her fiercest you’ve got to be kidding me face. Feeling as naive as Tack, I echoed him, “What’d I miss?”
“Your Green Giant brain is full of freaking peas, huh? Hell no, Layla is not ever gonna be a big anything. What do you think I’m crazy? This family is complete, finito, capped, ideal, perfect.” Sierra smiled at Dodd and they exchanged glances. I swore Dodd shoulders broadened with pride. “Cousin, yes; big sister, no.”
“Holy Shit.” I wasn’t sure what my face looked like when I finally figured it out, but it must have been priceless because the three women in front of me were grinning like fools.
Shocked into silence, Tal had to spell it out for Tack. “Sierra’s carrying Lil’s baby.”
What the hell did you say to that? The pint-sized spitfire never failed to shock me. But today she amazed me. Dodd deserved every inch of pride. His woman took generosity to a whole new level.
“Wow.”
“Yep. Sure, just when I got my body back. I’ll have you know I wouldn’t eff this shit up for just anyone.” She winked at Lil, whose baby blues were pools of glass, watching her best friend ramble on as if she did something as simple as loaning her a car. “My ass has been shaking at Zumba since January and living on freaking rabbit food. I’m finally skinny. Give me a month, then poof it’ll be gone. Not to worry, I now have my personal nutritionist counting my calories and making sure I eat enough protein. And Chase will be on the hook for my personal trainer and tummy tuck if needed. I might even tack on a lift for the girls. And I’m putting it out there—just because I’m housing your kids for nine months, don’t think I’m squishing out any milk for them. You’re on your own for that one. Love ya, but these puppies’ G rating expired with Layla. NC-17 from here on out.”
“Them?” Tal questioned, looking as sur
prised as I did two minutes ago.
Lil’s smile reached her eyes and she lost her battle, happy tears spilling down her cheeks. Damn, the lump at the back of her throat had to be huge. The entire room felt it.
Sierra, being Sierra, swallowed past it. “Crazy, right? These twins better be Lili-sized, otherwise I’m effed.” She picked Layla back up, pretending not to have just dropped the pseudo f-bomb twice, and switched on her Mommy voice. “Right, sweetie pie? Yes, Mommy will kick Uncle Chase’s booty. Okay, we both need to work on our potty mouths.”
“I’m so happy for you.” Tal squeezed Lil’s hand. “And Sier, what you and Dodd are doing for Chase and Lili so they can have a family is beautiful. It’s the most selfless thing a woman could do for someone she loves. You are amazing. Wow, I can’t believe this, this is so exciting!” The women hugged again and I remembered the afternoon Chase and I last kicked the shit out of each other, him swinging at the fear of Lili wanting to go the surrogate route, while I swung at the pain of discovering Tal had a son I believed was his. Terrified and powerless, we dealt the only way we knew how, unsure which side of the coin would be facing up in the end. Go figure, about time we both landed heads.
Another generation of Colton twins. As if that thought weren’t sobering enough, an unfamiliar feeling tugged at my chest and I imagined giving my woman the only thing she was missing. For a nanosecond I wondered if she would even consider adopting a little girl. Before my mental crazy train skipped another rail, I blinked back to sanity and moved to hug Lil.
“So two, huh? Means double of all the shit.” I wiped her wet face. “So happy for you, I knew you two would figure it out. And Sier, wow girl, I don’t know what to say. You just elevated yourself to gorgeous in my book. Thank you for doing this for them.” Tal smiled and squeezed my hand, telling me she agreed with Sier’s well-earned nickname. I was confident Lil wouldn’t mind sharing the title.
“Well, over my dead body was a random stranger carrying these beans. We were in the middle of a laser touch up session when Lil casually dropped the surrogate bomb. Granted, you can’t always control your thought process when your cooch is getting electrocuted. But, I was tempted to rip off my goggles and zap her in the forehead with the damn torture tool. Seriously, she deserved to lose her eyebrows for starting that interview process. Can you imagine, she was going to trust a stranger with Layla’s cousin?”
And that was Sierra spewing shit causing you to decipher through her run-on-rant what was TMI and what was important. This time I decided to focus on what she didn’t say. Lil never even asked, didn’t have to. Because it’s what you do for family. Sierra and I had more in common than I thought.
“You too?” Sierra waved at Talia, who joined the tear fest. “Really? I’m the one who’s hormonal and you two are bawling like babies. Lil’s been crying since I peed on the stick. Tack must think we’re all nuts.”
The room shot toward Tack.
“Hey, no, no.” He held up his hands in surrender, laughing a little. “Good stuff, this news is awesome. Just trying to figure out who to congratulate. Seems like it’s in order for all.”
Like I said, Tack was smooth. I looked at my woman who was grinning through her tears at her son and had to be thinking the same thing. Forget good, tonight was turning out to be fan-fucking-tastic.
Lil elbowed Tack’s arm. “You know what that makes you, right?” He raised his brow, his expression screaming, No, but I know you’re gonna tell me. “An uncle!” Talk about insta-family. The kid had no idea what was coming down the pike.
Tal raised her glass. “To healthy babies and a non-eventful pregnancy for Sierra!”
“Wait. Wait. I need my seltzer. Let me grab my wine glass.”
Before Sierra had a chance, Lil was up and out. “Sit, sit. I’ve got it.”
The doorbell chimed three times in a row, followed by a knock heavy enough to hear out on the terrace. Asshole forgot his keys, but was just in time.
Sierra and Tal started babbling about random pregnancy stuff. I heard “itching” and “cream” and I exited the conversation pronto, grabbing another beer and sneaking Layla an ice pop, just because. “Our little secret.” Her high pitch squeal totally sold me out. Dodd chuckled and tipped his bottle at my ballsy disregard for his wife’s crazy rules—before dinner, after dinner whatever. He didn’t care; he resumed his conversation with Tack.
I couldn’t even begin to fathom what went down in his head during this whole process. That was for another night and another bottle of Patron. I know what I said, but come on, his wife was carrying another man’s children, plural. If hangovers were ranked in order of worthiness, this was up there as deserving.
Out of nowhere, Layla’s excitement was interrupted by an ear piercing what-the-fuck shrill.
The kind of gut-wrenching sound that caused my heart to hit my throat.
It was Lili.
The glass bottle slipped from my hand and cracked against the slate while I scanned the landing. The sheer panic radiating from Sier and Tal pointed toward the doors. They had a better view inside the house from where they were standing. My legs were already in a full sprint. At the far end of the entryway, Lili was cowering against the wall with both arms raised in the air. The front door was wide open. The scene played in slow motion, yet it was moving so fast I couldn’t stop it. Tack and Tal were frozen behind to my left, while Dodd forced Sierra and Layla down behind the couch. Without thinking, I pinned myself in front of Lili.
“Get down.”
“What the fuck?”
“Who the fuck is this?”
Adrenaline took over, my mind racing the jackhammering against my chest. My stomach sank and I bit back the urge to puke my guts up. Confusion rattled me. Was this guy really pointing a gun at us? At Lil. No way. Not on my watch. This was a warped joke. We’d all come too far. We had too many awesome things on the horizon. This asshole wasn’t gonna ruin that.
“Whoa, man.” I held up my hands, barely recognizing my voice. It was the voice of reason—calm, rational … both of which I was not. “Put the gun down. Talk to me, man. Let’s work this out.”
Large drops of sweat dripped into his bloodshot glazed eyes. His dark hair was plastered to his skull, drenched with grease, and his clothes were filthy. Digging through dumpsters and sleeping in alleys kind of filth. Torn and disheveled, he was a fucking mess. Plain and simple.
Of all the townhouses in all of Boston, this degenerate picked here and now. First thought was drug addict. Yet something didn’t feel right, it didn’t feel random.
“You want money? I’ve got money, what do you need?” He had to have a price.
Lili clung to my back, her incoherent mumbles getting louder in between small outbursts every time he waved the gun in our direction. Tal and Tack were able to retreat a few feet deeper into the living room, but the open layout of the space didn’t furnish many hiding spots.
“I knew I’d find you. Can’t hide, can’t hide. Lili Porter, all Lili Porter’s fault.” The lunatic’s voice was hoarse and spewing disjointed nonsense. He swiped at his beading perspiration with his pistol-waving arm. “You ruined me. You and your fucking big mouth. Think you’re better than everyone, don’t you? Better than Wrangel, better than me. No better … no better. You’re NO better!” His free hand smacked himself across the face twice.
This wasn’t an addict in search of his next hit; it was a psychotic break unfolding before us. And it wasn’t random.
“Lil, who is this?” I hissed over my shoulder, pushing backward, trying to distance us from point blank range. But there was nowhere to go—Lil was already against the wall.
“It’s him ... Rrroyy Wayne. Oh my god, he got out, he got out,” she stuttered, completely panicked.
“Can’t hide behind your man. Come out, bitch. Your speech didn’t work this time, did it? Did it!”
My eyes snapped from the barrel of the gun back up to his face. I’d seen his ugly mug. The fuzzy picture became crystal clear. He was t
he asshole who Lil testified against last year during a child abuse case, the psychopath who burned his own kid. Chase mentioned Lil going back to Wrangel for his parole hearing a few months back. Son of a bitch.
“Oh god, Asher. He’s gonna kill me … he’s gonna kill us all. Get the baby out of here, you have to get Layla.” Lili’s body stiffened and then slowly sunk to the floor behind me.
“Shhh. We all need to calm down. Okay. Now why don’t you give me the gun? You don’t want to do this. I’m a lawyer. I can help you. You haven’t done anything you can’t take back yet. Just give me the gun.”
The look in this madman’s eyes justified Lil’s hysterics. This wasn’t just a vendetta. There was no reasoning with this freak. All ties with reality were already severed. My calm turned desperate. This was my best friend’s wife. And I was running out of time. But he was gonna have to get through me first, even if it was the last thing I did on this earth.
I just needed an opening, just one more sloppy wave of his gun, just one more freak out. He was going down.
Balance, Cock, Torque, Strike.
“You see what you did to me? Look at me, BITCH. You’re gonna watch!” His growl was cut off by the deafening sound of gunfire. The first shot up in the air, the second straight into his open mouth.
Blood curdling screams followed the thud of his lifeless body.
Ignoring the growing crimson ring on the hardwood, I dropped down and rocked Lili’s face against my chest, my hold suffocating. “I’ve got you, it’s over. It’s done, shh ... I’ve got you.”
Thank you, God.
Layla’s cry snapped me from my internal chant. My pulse was in overdrive, attempting to return flow to my brain. Dodd murmured similar words, trying to sooth his girls. Tack had Tal in his arms. Everyone was good. The asshole was dead.
Breathe.
Inhale. Exhale.
Lil’s quaking slowed enough for me to reach into my pocket to call for help.
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