Chapter 14 #2
I left the room, closing the door behind me, and led the puppy down the stairs.
Bullet was already in the office lying on the couch so as soon as I lifted the child safety gate, Storm bolted into the room to join the German Shepherd.
But that lasted all of ten seconds because the young dog then noticed that Memphis’s cat, Tink, was lounging on one of the arm chairs.
Tink ignored the puppy’s antics as she tried to get the cat’s attention, but wasn’t quite brave enough to actually risk irritating her.
I chuckled as I put the safety gate back in place and then headed towards the living room where the guests who’d already arrived had started to congregate.
The weather had ended up cooperating and while it wasn’t warm enough to have the ceremony outside, it was a sunny and surprisingly dry day so we’d left the front door open so people could come in on their own if the young woman we’d hired to take coats and direct guests was busy.
My guess was that more than half the guests had arrived, but my focus was on the two girls sitting in the far corner of the room near the fireplace.
My plan had been to go check on Willow and Nicole, but I hesitated when I saw Cade and Rafe’s eleven-year-old daughter, Rebecca Barretti and thirteen-year-old Hannah Devereaux talking to both girls.
I stood back to watch and smiled when I saw Willow showing both girls how to sign something to Nicole.
“Ronan,” I heard someone say and saw Dom Barretti heading towards me, his husband right behind him. They were holding hands and Dom released Logan’s hand only long enough to shake mine.
“Glad you could make it,” I said.
“How are the grooms holding up?” Logan asked.
I chuckled and said, “I’ve only seen Hawke but let’s just say he’s very, very ready to do this.”
Dom chuckled and glanced at his husband. “Been there, done that.”
Logan smiled and leaned in to brush a kiss over Dom’s lips. “You practically dragged me down the aisle.”
Dom’s look turned heated as he growled, “Can you blame me?”
I laughed and shook my head because I knew exactly what they were talking about.
“Dom, Logan!”
I turned to see Mav and Eli making their way towards us.
Dom and Logan immediately wrapped their arms around their son and I shook Mav’s hand.
My eyes fell on the silver and brass ring on Mav’s finger and I smiled.
When I lifted my eyes to meet Mav’s, he was smiling widely and nodded.
I understood the silent message and I didn’t need to look at Eli’s hand to know that I’d see the beautiful white gold and black ring there.
I embraced Mav. “Congratulations,” I whispered in his ear.
“Thank you,” he murmured. “For everything.”
When I pulled back, I saw that Dom and Logan were admiring Eli’s ring so I quietly said, “Caleb?”
“He’s okay,” Mav said. “He’s with Jace.”
That surprised me, but before I could ask, Mav said, “I’ll tell you all about it later.”
I nodded.
“Ronan?”
At the sound of my name, I looked up to see two men walking towards us and I smiled. “You made it.”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” the older of the two men said as he reached out his hand.
Cash Malloy was in his late thirties and was built like a tank.
With his dark hair and even darker eyes, the man always had a dangerous look to him and I rarely saw him smile even when he was in the company of the guy who was more than just his partner in my group.
Sage Brighton was Cash’s polar opposite with his reddish brown hair that nearly touched his shoulders and the perpetual smile on his face.
I didn’t know exactly when the two men had started up a personal relationship, but it had been going on from almost the moment they’d both joined my organization within a few months of one another and had been assigned to partner up on a case.
Since then, they always worked cases together and since they were such an accomplished team, I’d never even considered splitting them up.
Sage leaned in to hug me and then he and Mav were chatting.
“Ronan, look who I found,” I heard Memphis say and he pushed his way through the group of men. I smiled at the sight of Daisy practically being dragged behind him. My IT girl clearly looked like she’d rather be anywhere else.
I wrapped my arms around the young woman. “Thank you for coming,” I said softly in her ear.
“Well, he” – she motioned to Memphis – “practically made it an order.”
I chuckled because I had no doubt that was true. Daisy’s comfort zone was located on the opposite side of a computer screen.
“You look beautiful,” I murmured as I released her and studied the long floral print dress that hugged her curvy figure and floated softly around her legs. Her long brown hair was pulled into a loose ponytail that hung down well past her shoulders.
“He picked it out,” she whispered as she once again motioned to Memphis.
I laughed and hugged her again. “I promise you can change as soon as the ceremony is over.”
That earned me a chuckle. I began introducing her to the other men, but when we reached Sage and Cash, I saw her hesitate.
“So this is the infamous Daisy,” Sage drawled as he reached for her hand and held it a lot longer than he needed to. I didn’t miss the electricity that flared to life between the pair, but Daisy pulled her hand free as quickly as she could without seeming rude .
“Nice…nice to meet you,” she stammered as she dropped her eyes.
I sent Sage a hard look, but he seemed clueless as his eyes stayed on Daisy. What the hell? Was he actually interested in her? My eyes shot to Cash, but to my surprise, he too was staring at the young woman.
“Daisy,” Cash murmured softly as he held out his hand.
That was it. He didn’t say anything else, but the way he said her name had me wondering what the hell I was missing.
Daisy shook Cash’s hand and nodded, but she didn’t speak and she struggled to maintain eye contact with him.
When she spied Mav, she got the escape she clearly needed and she hurried to him.
The pair had worked together early on when I’d hired Daisy so she seemed much more comfortable with him than she did with anyone else.
But her behavior with Cash and Sage seemed odd.
“What the hell was that?” I asked the pair as they both continued to watch Daisy.
“What?” Sage finally asked as he looked at me. He smiled and said, “We’ve talked with her on the phone a few times. It was nice to put a face with the voice, that’s all.”
“She’s just not what we expected, Ronan,’’ Cash said quietly and then he was snagging Sage’s arm. “We’ll catch you later.”
Memphis stepped to my side and I asked, “Do you know what that’s all about?” as I motioned to where Daisy was still talking to Mav, but kept shifting her eyes to Sage and Cash as they passed her.
“Not sure,” Memphis said. “But they’ve got a lot of calls between them.”
“Sage and Cash?” I asked in confusion.
“Sage and Daisy…even when Sage and Cash aren’t working a case.”
“Keep an eye on it,” I said softly.
“You know Sage is harmless…he’d never hurt her in a million years and he’s a hundred percent committed to Cash,” Memphis said.
“She’s got no one, Memphis, and for all her abilities with a computer, she’s not exactly a social butterfly. A guy like Sage could fuck with her head without even meaning to.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Memphis assured me. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” he asked me and I glanced at the clock on my phone.
“Yeah,” I responded and then I searched out Willow and Nicole again.
They were still talking to Hannah and Rebecca.
Another search showed Jamie was with Leo and Mrs. Finney.
He was showing the old woman the Spiderman doll Matty had given him.
I had no doubt it would just be a matter of time before he was racing Mrs. Finney in her electric wheelchair like Leo and Matty often did.
My only hope was that he’d do it with his clothes on.
“I’ll catch you in a bit,” I said to Memphis. “We need to talk to Magnus after the ceremony,” I reminded him. My eyes automatically went to Dante as I spoke and I saw that he was chatting with one of the young men who was part of the catering staff.
“He’s not going to like it,” Memphis murmured.
“Which one?” I asked.
“Either.”
I nodded at that. I had no idea why Magnus and Dante seemed to rub each other the wrong way, but I also didn’t really give a shit because my primary concern was making sure the older man was safe when he returned to Texas next week to testify in a high-profile case.
And while Dante wasn’t the easiest guy to deal with in terms of personality, he had killer instincts and in a situation where there was no credible threat, that trait would come in handy.
The bottom line was that I would do whatever it took to make sure Matty’s grandfather came home to his grandson.
“I’m not giving either of them a choice,” was all I said in response and then I went to find Seth so I could give my husband an update on how our kids were doing before we stood at our friends’ sides to help them celebrate this next chapter in their lives.