“I remember your mom always wanting sweet and salty things when she was pregnant with you,” she said with a laugh. “But with Mason, she wanted savory and spicy. Your dad said it matched your personalities perfectly.”
“You think so?” I touched my free hand to my tummy. “I’m all about the sweet and salty right now. Do you think my love bug could be a girl?”
“It’s a strongpossibility.” At her office door, she glanced at Jenner. “I think she’s safe from here, Godzilla.”
He started to protest, but she smirked at him and closed the door in his face. I bit my lip to keep from laughing as she walked around her desk and took a seat facing me. “I ordered lunch for us. My assistant will be back with it soon. I had her get a few selections of your favorites.”
“Thanks, but I really don’t care if we eat or not.” I leaned forward after taking my seat across from her. “How do I fix this, Aunt Emmie? I swear I didn’t mean to cause trouble. I can’t stand the thought of Dad and Uncle Jesse being at odds.”
“I know that, Vi,” she rushed to assure me. “Look, I get where both your parents and Layla are coming from. I’m not taking sides in this, but I do want to help you. If I can.”
The fact that she didn’t seem confident that she could made me queasy. If Aunt Emmie couldn’t fix something, it really was unfixable.
“How bad was it?” I asked. “Did Mom and Aunt Layla get…physical?”
“You don’t look as if you really want to know the answer to that, sweetheart.”
“No, but I need to know.”
She was quiet for a moment before finally nodding. “Yes. Your parents went to Jesse and Layla’s house the night you got married. Jess called me as soon as Shane started yelling, and I showed up just as Harper and Layla started tossing insults at each other.” She rubbed a hand over her forehead. “It wasn’t pretty, the things they said to one another. They were words said in the heat of the moment, but not necessarily untrue.”
“You think I’m not forgiving enough?” I asked since that was what I was told Aunt Layla had said.
“No, no.” She stood and walked around the desk to crouch in front of me. “That’s not what I meant. You have such a kind and forgiving heart, Violet. What Luca did was unforgivable. We all know that, including Layla.”
“Then why would she say it?” I whispered.
“Because she’s a mother who was facing a son’s heartbreak.” She sighed heavily. “When Luca found out about the engagement, it hit him hard. But when he found out you got married…”
I closed my eyes. “Is that why he was playing like total shit last night?”
“You saw that, huh?” I lifted my lashes and shrugged, remembering how I’d cursed at the television until I’d woken Remington. “That was just Luca throwing a tantrum,” she said with a twist of her lips. “He still hasn’t grown up, it seems. He’s lucky he still has a job today. His agent called me this morning, saying the team’s owner was talking about suspending him. I told her to let them if that was what they thought was the best course of action. Make him learn he can’t pull his little-boy stunts in the real world.”
She straightened and leaned back against her desk. “That’s what I meant when I said some things weren’t necessarily untrue. Jesse and Layla are great parents, I will admit that. But while Jesse was always trying to be the authority figure, Layla sometimes let the twins get away with a lot. It kind of shows where Luca is concerned, is all I’m saying.”
“I feel kind of responsible for that too, Aunt Emmie.” I pushed my hair back from my face, knowing I wasn’t guiltless. “You know how Luca is. How, with just a look, I would give in to him. Aunt Layla couldn’t say no to him, and neither could I.”
“I get it, sweetheart. And I can’t say I’m not guilty of doing the same with Jagger. Luca is a grown man now. Everything that happens to him is on him. Not his mom, not you, or anyone else.” She reached out her hand, and I gave her mine without hesitation. “I’m going to try to help you get this sorted out. But if it doesn’t work, I don’t want you to blame yourself. Understand?”
“I’ll try not to. But I’m really hoping we can at least get them to agree to be in the same room together.”
She nodded. “I’ll try to work some magic. But it may mean doing something you’re not going to like.”
That made me frown. “Such as?”
A tap on the door had us turning just as the door opened, and Aunt Emmie’s assistant walked in with a tray loaded with takeout boxes. Rachel smiled in greeting and set the tray on the desk. “Hope you two are hungry because this food smells so yummy.” She glanced at the door where Jenner was standing at attention, as if he expected someone to come out of a dark corner and attack me at any moment. “That guy is kind of intense.”
I snorted. “Jenner is a pussycat,” I said just loud enough for him to hear and watched as he slowly turned his head. His eyes never changed, but I thought I saw a hint of a smile tilting at his lips.
“He’s one of Barrick’s,” Aunt Emmie mentioned as she picked up one of the boxes and opened it.
“I figured,” I said as I took the food she offered. It was an Italian-style wrap with pasta salad on the side. Standing, I carried it to the door. “Hungry?”
His mouth pressed into a hard line. “I’m good.”
“I didn’t poison it,” I teased. “And I promise neither did Rachel or Aunt Emmie. If you work for Barrick, then that means you work for her son-in-law. He wouldn’t be happy if she killed one of his men, even if he would hide a body for Mia.”
The smile grew bigger, and I nudged his hand with the box of food. “I’m pregnant, so you have to do as I ask or I’ll cry. Do you want me to cry, Jenner?” I pouted up at him, and he blew out a harsh sigh before taking the box from me. Grinning, I stepped back.
“I’ll remember this,” he grumbled.
My brows lifted in innocent surprise. “That I fed you?”
“That you’re devious and kind of adorable.” He lifted the sandwich and took a bite. “Don’t tell Sawyer I said that about his wife, though.”
I winked and stepped back with a laugh. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Chapter 41
Violet
Aunt Emmie was right. I wasn’t going to like what I had to do, but if it meant closing the rift between my parents and Luca’s, then I’d do what needed to be done.
Christmas Eve, Jenner pulled up in front of Aunt Emmie’s house. I sat in the back with Remington beside me and just stared at all the cars already parked in the driveway and along the street. I hadn’t been to one of my aunt’s huge Christmas Eve parties in years, and while I wasn’t exactly thrilled to be there now, I had missed seeing all my family together.
Remington caught my hand and brought it to his lips. “You don’t have to do this if you’ve changed your mind.”
I turned and smiled up at him. “No, I want to see my family.” With my free hand, I stroked my fingertips over his jaw. “Thank you for coming with me. And thank you for understanding why I have to do it.”
He pulled me onto his lap, and as it always did these days, one of his hands went straight to the small baby bump. We would find out what we were having the following week, and I was so excited to know if there was a boy or a girl kicking around in there.
“I would do anything for you, Violet. No matter what you ask for, I’ll always make it happen.” He buried his face in my neck, nipping at the sensitive flesh just under my ear. “But when this evening is over, I’m taking you home and keeping you in bed for a few days.”
I squirmed against him in anticipation. “I’m totally okay with that,” I assured him, arching my neck to give him better access.
“Good. Because I need you to remember who you love and married. Who put this love bug deep inside you.” He stroked his hand over the baby bump and down between my legs.
I covered his hand, pressing him closer since Jenner was out of the car and cou
ldn’t see. Turning my head, I caught Remington’s gaze and held it. “I’ll never forget who I married, because I love him more than life itself. And maybe later, he’ll give me a repeat of how he put our love bug deep inside me.”
“Count on it,” he said with a grin. With one soft, lingering kiss, he released me and opened the door.
Jenner came around to hold it open while Remington helped me out. As I stepped onto the sidewalk, my parents’ vehicle pulled in behind us. We stood there waiting as Mom and Dad got out, with Mason right behind them.
“Merry Christmas Eve,” Mom greeted and embraced us.
“Yeah, yeah,” Dad grumbled. “Let’s go. I’m not staying long. Just enough to give Emmie and Nik their gift and then get the hell back to Santa Monica.”
I tightened my hand on Remington’s, hoping this would work, but already fearing it wouldn’t. My husband kissed the top of my head encouragingly. “I’ve never been to a family party like this,” he mentioned, turning everyone’s attention to him. “Is it crazy?”
Mason laughed as he fell into step with us. “You have no idea. It seems like someone always gets engaged at one of these parties. Or announces they’re pregnant.” He glanced at my baby bump, all too noticeable beneath my tight red dress. “Guess it’s going to be the baby announcement this time since you haven’t told many people yet, sis. I don’t think anyone else is even dating anyone to get engaged.”
I thought about Shaw and Jagger, but I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure anyone even knew about them yet, or even if they were official or not. It was hard to keep up with those two.
My brother rang the doorbell, and seconds later, Uncle Nik opened the door. With Emerson in his arms, he greeted us with a huge grin. “Come in,” he said, winking at me. “You’re missing out on all the fun.”
“Whatever,” Dad grumbled, but then Emerson threw herself at him, and he was powerless to do anything but catch her and love on her. “What’s my favorite little redhead doing?” he asked, sounding marginally happier all of a sudden. “Did Santa come yet?”
“Papa said Santa only comes when I’m sleeping. But how can I sleep with everyone making all this noise?” She glared around at everyone in the living room as we walked in. “They need to use their inside voices.”
With Remington still holding my hand, I glanced around, looking for Aunt Emmie. She’d assured me everything was already set when I’d texted her earlier, but I knew it was anyone’s guess how this would turn out. I’d planned out how I would handle everything in my head, but I wasn’t overly confident I could pull it off.
Two steps into the living room and I caught sight of Luca standing across the room. He was with Lyric and Mila, who was very obviously pregnant with twins. I didn’t know how she could walk around so easily with so much weight in her belly keeping her off-balance, when I had become so damn clumsy with just the little bump I had.
She looked beautiful with her hair pulled up in a simple ponytail, in a red dress similar to the one I was wearing. Lyric stood beside her, his eyes eating up the sight of his wife. He looked so happy, I couldn’t help smiling, glad he had found his endgame and was enjoying the life he was making for himself and his growing family.
But my eyes went straight back to Luca, unable to keep them away from my ex. Dressed in black pants and a deep green button-down with the sleeves rolled up to show his massive forearms, his hair cut shorter than I was used to seeing and a drink in his hand, he looked like he was at ease in the room full of our family. But I saw the slight tension in his shoulders, the set of his jaw that not even the smile he gave his sister-in-law as she said something to him could fully hide.
Aunt Emmie said he knew the plan and was on board with it, but I was scared he would cause a huge scene once he realized I was pregnant.
As if he could feel my eyes on him, Luca turned slowly and met my gaze. I watched as he stiffened, then slowly smiled. His eyes warmed and then started to run over me. But when they landed on my waist, his entire body turned to stone and he took a step back, as if I’d physically pushed him.
Quickly, he righted himself and started toward me. With each step he took, I could hear the conversations around us pausing until the entire room was so quiet, all I could hear was the faint holiday music in the background.
I tightened my hand on Remington’s, and I felt his thumb caress the backs of my knuckles. Taking courage from my husband, I put a brighter smile on my face, and by the time Luca reached us, he was smiling too. Smiling, but the color of his eyes told me he was in pain. This was killing him, but he wasn’t going to disappoint me.
He stopped only feet from me and then extended his hand. Remington hesitated for just a moment before shaking Luca’s hand. As I looked from one to the other, I saw something strange pass between the two of them, but I didn’t understand it and couldn’t ask about it when I could feel my parents’ eyes on all of us, along with Uncle Jesse’s and Aunt Layla’s.
We needed to show them that we could be adults. Which was exactly how they should have been acting too. Not fighting. Not holding grudges. They needed to let the past go, because we had.
And even if that might not be completely true for Luca, at least he was trying.
For me.
“I see you have more than one thing to be congratulated for.” Luca dropped his hand as soon as he could and then reached for me.
I closed my eyes, preparing myself for his hug. His scent hit me first, and I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out at the sudden agony tearing my soul apart. It felt so good to have him hug me again. Not in a sexual kind of way, but to have him hold me for just a moment, to make me feel safe and believe that I wasn’t going to lose everything I loved. Needing the guy who had once been my best friend to tell me it was all going to be okay.
I pressed into him, wishing he could make things better with his hug. Pretend that I wasn’t slowly breaking apart inside with each passing day because Remington was only getting sicker. Not just with headaches but losing his vision at times, and only the week before, he’d had a seizure that had left me shaking long after he’d woken up in the emergency room. I needed someone to tell me it was going to be okay, that when the time came, I could let my husband go and not beg the doctors to do whatever they had to in order to keep him with me. I knew that wasn’t what Remington wanted. We’d already talked about what would happen when the time really did come and I had to let go.
But I hadn’t told anyone what was going on with my husband. Jenner knew, because he had to, but I hadn’t confided in anyone about what was going on. There was no shoulder to lean on but Remington’s, and I couldn’t let him see how much losing him was killing me.
I pulled back, my smile still in place as I looked up at him.
Luca’s hand went straight to my stomach as if he couldn’t help himself, and I felt my love bug give a powerful kick. It was stronger than anything the baby had given me since I’d first started feeling him or her kicking around in there. Luca’s eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything about it as he slowly dropped his hand. “You look amazing, Vi. Glowing and…in love.” He swallowed hard but didn’t drop his smile. “I’m really glad you are happy.”
“Thanks, Luca,” I murmured. “It’s good to see you. Did you have a good flight in?”
For a few minutes, we stood there talking about casual things until everyone around us started up their own conversations once again. I glanced over at Lyric as he and Mila started toward us, and I stepped around Luca to embrace his twin.
“Hey, you,” I greeted and was rewarded with a kiss on my cheek. Then I embraced Mila. It was our first official meeting since I hadn’t stayed for their wedding reception to be formally introduced, and I was glad to finally get to talk to her in person. “You look so beautiful, but how are you able to stand upright with those beasts rolling around in there?”
Laughing, she touched both hands to her gigantic stomach. “Girl, you have no idea. I honestly think
it’s a small miracle I’ve even made it this far into my pregnancy and I’m still able to walk.”
“You mean he doesn’t carry you around like a baby koala?” I asked in amazement, poking Lyric in the side.
“She won’t let me,” he grumbled unhappily.
“Good for her,” I laughed. Remington came up behind me, putting his arm around my waist while Luca turned to stand beside his brother. I leaned into my husband and caught up with my friend and Mila for a little while until I heard Mom and Aunt Layla talking quietly behind us.
I turned my head just enough to glance at them and saw the two mothers hugging. I nearly slumped against Remington in relief as Uncle Jesse gave Dad a glass of eggnog. The two of them were already joking around with each other like they had in the past.
“Hey, no one invited me to this party,” Shaw complained as she came up behind us. “I didn’t even know you were coming, douchenozzle,” she said to Luca.
“Wanted to surprise my mom,” he said with a shrug as he frowned down at her. “Where’s your brother?”
I stiffened at the way his eyes shifted around the room and then fell on Cannon. Oh shit. Years may have passed since I last saw him in person, but I could still read him like a book, and what I saw in his eyes told me he was plotting murder. I hadn’t thought about what would happen if Luca was in the same room with Cannon, and I wondered if Aunt Emmie had taken it into consideration either.
I met Shaw’s gaze, and she understood what I was thinking just as she yelled at her brother, “Cannon, run!”
Cannon turned, grinning until he saw Luca and the death threat flashing like a neon light out of his eyes. All the blood drained from Cannon’s face. “Fuck,” I saw him mouth, and he practically tripped over his feet as he made a run for the door.
Luca watched him with a predatory glint in his eyes, waited until Cannon reached the door, as if to give him a head start, and then ran after him. Luca passed Uncle Axton, who was talking to Aunt Emmie’s father, Eddie, but Ax didn’t move to help his son as the tank-like defensive player chased Cannon out of the house.
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