Unchained

by Suzanne Halliday

  “Think the playing field got leveled, don’t you? Part of me wants to smack him when he gets back—for keeping quiet about the miscarriage.”

  Drae agreed with a quick nod. “Everything went to shit for us big time before the wedding. We rarely slept in the same bed, and when we did, well … you can imagine. I tried everything, Alex. Swear to god. Got it into my head that, uh …” He hemmed and hawed as discomfort gnawed at his gut. “Oh shit, I can’t believe I’m gonna say this out loud, but if I don’t, you won’t understand.”

  “Whatever you say stays here, okay?”

  He took a deep breath and let the words fall from his mouth. “I blamed myself. For the sex. Felt like a pig for wanting her so badly. Alex, ugh,” he groaned. “Sometimes, she’d cry. Like while we were doing it.” He shuddered at the memories.

  “So I tried cooling it and then she’d cry even more. It got so bad I started mapping out ways to avoid intimacy. All of this shit was like Chinese water torture. Drip by drip, we drifted further apart. I became obsessed with never putting her through anything like Daniel’s birth ever again. She suffered and changed, and I could see how upset she was.”

  “And this is why you should have said something, Drae. I’m right in guessing you started making unilateral decisions hoping to reach a status quo, aren’t I?”

  “Yeah. I love Daniel. I mean, holy shit, I’m a father, and my son is like the best thing, next to my wife, that’s ever happened to me. Having a dozen more rugrats would suit me just fine. But Victoria wasn’t cut out for making babies.”

  “Oh, Jesus. Did some asshole doctor actually say that?”

  “Not really but that’s how I felt. So …” He cleared his throat and winced. “So I decided no more kids. Not that way. If she wanted more, maybe we’d adopt. Or find a surrogate. I didn’t think it through. All I knew was I couldn’t put my wife through that again.”

  “Did Tori know this is how you felt?”

  He smirked. “We didn’t win the communication award, remember?”

  “Oh, right, right.”

  “Unfortunately, she interpreted any sort of protection as a slap in the face. Did she tell me this? No. And then, well, shit started coming to a head. She pushed all my buttons—you know how good she is at that. We start making up for lost time. It all seemed good and then I don’t even know what happened. The PPD played a part, I suppose. She was like an umbrella. Up. Down. Open. Close. I couldn’t keep up. That’s when I lost my fucking mind and decided to take matters into my own hands.”

  “Carol?”

  Stink eye was absolutely necessary so he threw some Alex’s way. “Fucking gossips.”

  “Those fucking gossips are only worried about you both, Drae.”

  “Well, the gossips were gathered round the trunk of the wrong tree. What y’all assumed was me being a dog is actually a guy named Stan Carol. Met him on a security assignment. He’s a doctor.”

  “What kind of doctor? You mean like a therapist? Were you secretly seeing a marriage counselor?”

  “He’s a urologist.”

  “Oh my god, Drae!” Alex barked. “What have you done?”

  He didn’t want to admit how stupid he was—not that he had a choice.

  “I went to Stan to have a vasectomy.”

  Alex jumped up and surprised Drae by grabbing his throat and pulling him off the bench. Fury was rolling off him in thick waves.

  “Are you insane?”

  Releasing him, the Major started pacing back and forth. “St. John, a vasectomy is a fuck ton more than screwing the pooch. If I were your wife, I’d cut you off without another word.”

  “And she more or less has.”

  “She knows?”

  “Yeah. I told her.”

  A heavy silence settled over them. “Alex. There’s more.”

  They’d been through a lot together, but he’d never seen his friend wear the expression he had now.

  “Please tell me there’s some light in this tunnel.”

  “Right before I made the decision, Victoria announced she didn’t think we should have another baby. Hearing her say the words gutted me. I know now that was the depression talking, but at the time, I really thought that was how she felt. So I made the appointment. By the way,” he interjected in his own story. “The reason for driving the Lamborghini was because Stan offered to buy it.”

  “Still waiting on the light …”

  “Alex. When the time came, I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t go through with it for my own selfish pig reasons. It killed me to hear her say no more kids, but I just couldn’t. Thinking about the D-Man brought it all home. The truth is I want a bunch more kids. And I want them with Victoria. So when she confronted me, I told her what I had planned to do. Pointed out that she said she didn’t want more kids. Gave her an opportunity to shoot it down. She threw me out instead.”

  “Hold up,” Alex drawled in that insufferable way he has when he’s about to point out what an asshat Drae could be. “Are you saying you didn’t go through with the procedure, and she doesn’t know it?”

  Was an answer really necessary? The tinge of amusement hanging off the edge of the question told Drae that his friend already knew the answer.

  Laughing, Alex slapped him on the back. “Holy fuck, St. John. How is it possible that you have the ladies’ man reputation when the truth is you couldn’t find a trail out of your own ass with a map, two compasses, and a handheld GPS?”

  “Hardy, har, har. Yeah. Real funny.” He scowled at his friend and said nothing.

  “Well, you sorry fuck. Did you at least get rid of that pretentious pussy magnet masquerading as a sports car?”

  Drae laughed. “Yeah. Cash. Got way over book value too. Gotta remember to thank Remy for getting the car showroom ready.”

  “Dude,” the Major drawled. “My suggestion? Take that money and blow Tori’s flip-flops off with it. She must want something.”

  He thought about it for a minute, until a scene worthy of his wife came to mind.

  “Feel a family outing coming up. Pete’s. Have something in mind.”

  Curious why Alex barked out a laugh that sounded angry, he only had to wait for the man to comment to understand the reaction.

  “And you think you’ve got problems? My wife’s little brother set a match to her childhood memories, proved that sibling rivalry is alive and well in this century, and lobbed a grenade you aren’t going to fucking believe. You ready to shit right here on the floor?”

  Drae snorted derisively. “Go for it, man. Especially if it deflects attention away from me.”

  “This’ll do it. Appears old Pete decided it was time to retire.”

  “No way.”

  “Wait for it, man. It gets better. Sold the business.”

  “Uh …”

  “To Finn and Barry. The tattooed guy running the bar.”

  “Aw, come on.” He chuckled. “Get serious.”

  Alex just looked at him.

  “Oh, my god. You ARE serious. That little putz Finn O’Brien owns our watering hole?”

  “Yeah, he does, and your little putz attitude is a good part of the reason why. Didn’t win any new fans for Justice with him.”

  “Whatever,” Drae muttered darkly. “And besides, he’ll come back with his tail between his legs. Count on it.”

  Alex cocked his head and looked at him. “What do you know?”

  “Me and my wife aren’t all there is to gossip about.” Drae smirked and rolled a shoulder. “We’re old news compared to a certain transportation director and her shockingly pithy dislike of young Finn.”

  “We talking about Remington Bisset?”

  “One and the same, big guy. It’s early days, but word around the compound is that those two snarl, hiss, and claw a little too much to be disinterested. You don’t know the lady, but take my word for it—she’s one hundred and ten percent Justice, one hundred percent of the time. Have to get the details from Cam, but I’m assuming the military did her dirty in
the end, so for her, Justice is a life raft. If Finn wants the hard-ass ex-pilot, he’s gonna have to be Justice compliant.”

  Justice compliant. God, that was funny.

  ALEX WAS RUBBING swirls of shaving cream on his face as his wife prattled on and on. They’d been home a week, and man, what a week it’d been. Literally, except for the main house, everyone and nearly everything else on the property had changed.

  Dylan’s first birthday was almost here. Lacey was pregnant. Cam was still M.I.A., but every day that passed without bad news, he counted in the win column.

  Drae and Tori were in some sort of weird stasis. No movement. But so far, he hadn’t found Drae’s testicles strung from the ceiling. And Tori was slowly becoming her old self. Changes in her diet, daily yoga with his wife, bunch of essential oils, and some other female mumbo jumbo seemed to be making a difference.

  Stephanie and Calder were on a disgustingly sweet high. His uncle’s mind being blown by the news he was going to be a fifty-something-year-old first-time father had changed the man in sometimes hilarious ways.

  Calder was a self-proclaimed old hippy, and Alex found it terribly amusing the man was hyperventilating over getting Stephanie’s ass to the altar. She was in deep pregnancy bliss and hadn’t warmed up to his demands yet. Which in Alex’s mind was a good thing because off the beaten path in a corner of the property where an original homestead stood, a crew of specialists were transforming the crumbling adobe building into a small chapel.

  The latest guesstimate for completion was mid-October. If Stephanie held Calder off long enough, they could get married there.

  Running the razor across his face, he listened with one ear to his wife’s fascinating take on the election all the while making a list in his mind of things he wanted to do.

  After thinking it over, he decided to pull his new security chief away from what he was doing and give him a new assignment. With the agency opening up to new clients and programs, the business side of the compound became a small city of activity. Sure, it was a fast-paced time, and all of their employees and contractors were busy, but he needed something else.

  Their new head of security, Duke Winston, was a ‘Nam vet with a grudge against the world and the best damn guard dog instincts on the planet. Even better than Drae. Justice was lucky to have him on board. Not that his services came cheap, but putting the gruff older guy in charge of agency security had been a good decision.

  But Alex wasn’t happy that at any time, another scene like the one Lacey described—of a caravan of black vehicles taking them by surprise—could descend out of nowhere and fuck up so much shit.

  This was his land. The Valleja-Marquez family settled here a hundred years before Arizona became a state. There were conquistadors in his family tree, for Christ’s sake.

  Respecting the government was one thing. But any of those guys who occasionally rattled their cages just driving onto his land was another thing.

  He was going to put Duke in charge of security for the family. Not only that, but he also wanted a manned gate and security sensors deployed on the property.

  About the time his wife switched to a debate about water rights, his mind drifted to a slice of happiness he found when they came home.

  Brody and Heather were kicking ass and taking names. The unexpected family was settled, happy, and so far so good with Brody’s daughter, Bella. Alex liked the little girl immensely. She was a survivor like her daddy. And she adored Heather. It looked to him like those two were next in line for a happily ever after. Another reminder to kick the chapel construction into high gear.

  “I found the same thing the other night on QVC, so I ordered a bunch.”

  Uh-oh. Did she just say QVC? Meghan had a hard-on for the shopping channel. When David was in the kitchen or Jane was hawking shoes, she was a happy camper.

  “Do you like this color?” she asked—holding her hand up. “I think it clashes with my hair. Maybe I’ll ask Amanda to bring her crew out here, and the girls can spend the day getting manicures. Take everyone’s mind off other stuff.”

  Alex looked at her in the mirror. She was sitting where she always did when he shaved. Plopped on the lower vanity counter between the his-and-her sinks. She was naked, cross-legged, and relaxed. In the mirror, where he had a clear view of her backside, he focused on the griffin tattoo and felt his mouth automatically curve in a smile.

  “I like pink,” he told her emphatically. “The color you wore when we went to dinner in Madrid. That one.”

  She smiled. He knew it pleased her to no end when he remembered details. Especially small ones.

  “It’s called Teddy Girl. I’ll order a case,” she teased with a sardonic smirk.

  “Oh, did I tell you? Dinner with the family. Thursday night.”

  “Here?” she squeaked. It astonished him that she still got nervous when they entertained.

  “No. Pete’s. At Drae’s request.”

  Her eyes narrowed, and though she tried to silence it, he heard a sharp hiss.

  “Honey, you have to go. And you have to meet Finn part way. You heard what Heather said when you explained the situation to her. And she’s a therapist, so I certainly listened. Your brother needs you to see him as his own man. Running Pete’s is important to him. All you have to do is show up and be nice. That’s all it’ll take to start the healing.”

  It was hard to see her this way. She was reeling from Finn’s hateful words. Heather pointed out that though Meghan was the recipient of her brother’s outburst, it was directed at the whole family. Since they weren’t here, it was up to her to make the first steps toward reconciliation.

  “Why do I have to be the adult?”

  “Hey. Believe me, I hear you. Do you know how many times I’ve had to smooth things out with my sisters?”

  “You’ve talked to Finn, haven’t you?”

  “Not face to face, but yeah. That dude is not my biggest fan. But he loves you, honey, and I think once he had his little outburst, he regretted it. Baby steps. It’s just dinner. Let’s give the guy a chance. He promises to make brisket.”

  There was no way the snarky comment wasn’t going to get some part of a smile. He wasn’t wrong. She smirked and shook her head with a sigh.

  “Okay. You had me at brisket. But what does Drae have to do with the invite?”

  He wiped his face with a towel, leaned one hand on the mirror, and loomed over his wife, twirling a loop of her soft hair around his fingers.

  “Baby, I’m going to tell you everything I know. Because you’re my wife and we don’t keep secrets. But you have to swear to me you won’t interfere.”

  “Will I get a spanking if I disobey?”

  “Meghan. I’m not shitting around. This is serious stuff. I’ll tell you everything, but you have to understand … We must let Tori and Drae get there on their own.”

  She listened attentively as he told her the whole story. All of it. When he got to the part about what he knew of Drae’s plan, she gasped and clutched her hands over her heart.

  “Damn. That man is going to make me cry.”

  “He’s a good guy. Can’t remember a time when Draegyn St. John wasn’t my wingman. He knows Tori better than anybody does. If this is what he needs to do, all hands on deck in support.”

  She ran her fingers down the center of his chest. Her husky, “Mmm,” got his blood pumping.

  “If you ever shave your chest, I will leave you.”

  His head rolled back when he laughed.

  “I’m serious, Major.” She sniffed with an arched brow. “You have the sexiest happy trail around. I like a bit of shrubbery, and some landscaping is okay, but wild and free works for me.”

  “You’re a poet and didn’t know it.” He chuckled when she rhymed.

  “I have a question,” she said with a pensive look as she scratched her nose and nodded toward him. “Why don’t you have the same tattoo as Cam and Drae? Is there significance to the ink?”

  Alex drew in a long breath
and cocked his head to look at her face. Her brain was a marvel. One of the world’s greatest wonders. It was laughable that men thought they were such deep thinkers. Next to the mind of a woman? They were all amateurs.

  “I’ll give you the CliffsNotes version and then we have to get a move on. I want you to sit in on my meeting with Duke about the new security.”

  “Do we have time to make the bed together? You know how I hate leaving it for Carmen.”

  Hmm. “Is making the bed the same as taking a nap? Just asking so I can keep my priorities straight.”

  “It is indeed, Major.” She giggled.

  Well, cool. Then this was going to be the shortest story in history.

  “Six-man team. Search and destroy. They took heavy fire. Pinned down after dark, they tried to pull back. A shitstorm erupted. One man dead plus Drae was missing. Pitch black and Cam takes off after him. A bunch of bad guys were dragging him off. He found him unconscious and beaten to a pulp. The body count is Cam’s business, but he got him back, and they got the hell out of there. Drae owes his life to Cam’s uncanny Waldo skills. The matching tattoos happened when they had leave and went to Australia. Started with a river of cheap whiskey and ended with the tribal looking ink.”

  “Wow.”

  “Find out what you needed to know?”

  “I did. Thank you, Major. I’m a little speechless.”

  “Speechless, hmm? Well, let’s make the bed, and I’ll check your throat with my dick and see what that’s all about.”

  Twirling her hair, she opened her mouth wide and then giggled, “I’m saying ahhh.”

  He held out his hand and helped her off the counter. He was thinking about the undeniable pleasures of marriage when Meghan said, “Uh-oh.”

  Searching her face, he stiffened when she went pale. His naked wife dashing to the bathroom stopped him dead in his tracks. When he caught up to her, she was hanging over the toilet and puking her guts out.

  Oh, my fucking god.