Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
GYPSY
Odette came back out with my baby brother in her arms a second later. “Sorry. I tried calmin’ him myself, but someone wants big sis.”
Raleigh’s face was pulled into an unhappy frown, his cheeks ruddy and his eyes red. It was the same look he got when he was seconds away from exploding if he didn’t get what he wanted, that being me.
“Ah, come here, punkin,” I cooed, holding my arms out and wiggling my fingers. He immediately lunged for me, trying to throw himself from Odette’s arms. I scooped him up and gave him a little toss, making him laugh before pulling him close. “Ah, there’s my sweet boy. Welcome back, Lee.”
“Cee Cee,” he said, resting his cheek on my shoulder to work off the last of his sleep.
“Yeah, sweetie. I’m your Cee Cee.” I felt something like a warm caress on my back and turned to find Marco watching me, warmth swimming in those hazel eyes.
Something came over me just then. His earlier words, the thoughtfulness, that look. It was all too much to fight, and I moved closer to him instinctively. “Hey, baby boy. This is my friend Marco. Can you say hi?”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Raleigh’s chubby hand come up, his fingers clenching and opening in a wave as he mumbled, “Hi.”
“Hey, little man.” Marco spoke softly, reaching up to take his fist. “How you doin’, huh?”
“My Cee Cee,” he declared with toddler haughtiness.
“Yeah, bud,” Marco said on a laugh. “She’s your Gypsy. I got that.”
Seeming happy with Marco’s answer, Raleigh began to squirm, wanting down so he could play. He waddled over to the bins in the corner of the living room and pulled it onto its side, spilling toys everywhere.
“He’s cute, girasol.”
“Thanks.”
A sound like a herd of elephants trampling toward the house came from outside just before the front door was thrown wide and Holly, Sunny, Raylan, and Rhodes came barreling in with all the force of a hurricane.
My youngest sister was the first through the door and came to a jerking stop at the sight of Marco standing in the kitchen.
“Marco!” she cried, throwing her arms wide.
I should have known she’d have an excited reaction to seeing him again, considering she hadn’t been able to stop talking about him since their first meeting days ago. “Did you come to visit me?”
“Sure did. I wanted to make sure you were feelin’ better.”
“I’m feelin’ lots better,” Holly declared. “I’m not sick no more.”
“Anymore,” I corrected.
She looked at me with little girl annoyance, which was more adorable than anything, and stated, “That’s what I said.”
“I’m glad, preciosa.”
“What’s goin’ on here?” At Rhodes’s hard voice, everyone turned to him, and I noticed his jaw had locked as he stared Marco down.
“Guys, this is Marco,” I started, hoping introductions would tone down the overprotectiveness radiating from my brother. “Marco, this is Rhodes, Sunny, and Raylan, but we all call him Ray.”
“Wow.” Sunny stared at Marco with unconcealed appreciation in her eyes. “Wow.”
“All right, down, girl,” I muttered, giving her shoulder a bump in the hopes of snapping her out of the trance she was currently in. “You’re about to start drooling.”
She turned her big eyes my way and squeaked, “Well, can you blame me?”
Marco’s chuckle drew her attention, and he stepped up to offer his hand. “Nice to meet you, Sunny. Dig the name.”
“Thanks.” My sister blushed furiously as she shook his hand. “It’s actually Sunshine, but we shortened it so I wouldn’t sound like a crazy hippy.”
“And my real name’s Holiday!” Holly crowed, not to be outdone by Sunny for Marco’s attention.
“Well, I think they’re both pretty either way,” he stated, making Holly preen and Sunny swoon.
“Are you two dating or something?” Ray blurted, never one to beat around the bush.
“No,” I answered quickly, giving Marco a look that warned him not to disagree with me in front of my brothers and sisters. “We’re just friends.”
“I’ve seen you before,” Rhodes muttered, still eyeing Marco while trying to be as intimidating as possible. “You were at Lincoln and Eden’s engagement party. You a friend of his or something?” he interrogated.
“Yeah. I’ve worked for Linc for a few years now, and we’ve become buds.”
That seemed to catch Rhodes off guard, and I recognized the moment the mistrust faded from his expression, quickly replaced by something that looked a lot like hero worship. “You work at Alpha Omega Investigations?”
“Yep.”
Seeming to catch that he was fanboying just a little, he schooled his features and cleared his throat. “That’s cool.”
Boys.
“What do you got over there?” Ray asked, tipping his chin to the grocery-lined counters.
“Well, I figured I’d give your sister a night to just kick back and relax a little, so I got everything to make dinner for you guys and Odette.
” At his inclusion of my neighbor, her chest swelled.
Marco had just earned himself some serious points from all my loved ones.
Damn it. “Spaghetti with garlic bread sound good to you guys?”
“Heck yeah!” Ray shouted.
“That’s hot.” Sunny sighed.
“You’re makin’ us all dinner?” Rhodes asked.
Marco looked to my oldest brother and nodded. “Gypsy works really hard. I wanted to give her a break.”
And just like that, he’d earned Rhodes’s respect with one simple sentence.
“Can I help?”
At Holly’s question, Marco looked down at her with a heart-stopping smile. “Of course. I was hoping you’d ask. I don’t think I can get this all done without your help.”
Sweet holy hell, this man is good.
“All right, guys,” I said, commandeering the kids’ attention. “Those of you with homework need to get started. Holly, go wash your hands before you start helping with dinner. I need to have a word with Marco.”
Everyone scattered, but I noticed Sunny pull her phone from her back pocket and put it up to her ear as she headed off to her room.
“Blythe?” she asked into the cell. “You’re never gonna believe what’s happening in my house right now.
” She closed the bedroom door behind her, and I let out a beleaguered sigh, knowing I was so screwed.
Blythe was Nona’s daughter. As soon as Sunny finished spilling the beans, I knew she’d go running to tell her mom everything.
That meant it was just a matter of time before my girls descended on me like a flock of well-meaning yet annoying vultures.
Grabbing Marco’s hand, I practically dragged him down the hall behind me. “I know what you’re doing,” I snapped the minute my bedroom door shut behind us.
“Yeah?” He didn’t even bother trying to hide his grin. “And what’s that?”
“You’re buttering up my family so they’ll take your side!” I whisper-yelled, throwing my arms wide in frustration.
He didn’t look the least bit contrite as he said, “Whatever it takes, baby. I’m not above fighting dirty.”
“So you aren’t even gonna deny it?” I squeaked in bewilderment.
“My plan’s working, so what’s the point in denying it?”
“Gah!” I shouted to the ceiling.
When I looked back at Marco, I was startled to see he’d moved without me even noticing. His eyes drilled into mine as he reached up to cup the back of my neck and whispered, “If you’d just stop fighting this, you’d see how good it could be between us, Gypsy.”
“I-I don’t date,” I stuttered, his touch and the spicy scent of his cologne throwing me off-kilter.
His fingers pressed deeper into my skin as he pulled in an inhale through his nose. He studied me closely, pausing for a couple beats before responding. “Fine. So we won’t put a label on this. For now.”
My mouth fell open at his audacity, and he used that as an opportunity to lean in and kiss me.
A simple swipe of his tongue against mine was all it took for the fight to drain from me completely.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a little girl out there ready to sous chef for me, and I don’t want to keep her waiting. ”
Then he brushed past me, casual as could be, and left me reeling in the privacy of my bedroom.
“So you joined the military when you were eighteen?” Rhodes asked, no small amount of admiration in his voice.
With Holly’s help, Marco had made a delicious dinner.
We somehow managed to fit all of us around my kitchen table and dug in, Ray and Rhodes devouring their meals like they hadn’t eaten in weeks.
One of the things about having two growing boys under one roof was that my grocery budget had tripled.
Fortunately, Marco had planned on that and prepared more than enough.
I twirled the last of the noodles on my plate around my fork and popped it into my mouth. My brother had spent the whole dinner drilling him with questions about his job, showing an interest in Alpha Omega I’d never seen before, and I found I was just as interested in the answers as Rhodes was.
“Yeah,” Marco responded. “Enlisted in the Army as soon as I graduated high school and worked my way up the ranks before eventually joining the Rangers. Best decision I ever made.”
“Why is that?” I asked before I could stop myself.
Marco looked across the table to me. “It gave me the discipline I needed, taught me patience. I was a pain in the ass as a kid. A little out of control. The Army forced me to grow up and become a man.”
I wanted to prod for more, discover everything I could about this man, but it wasn’t my place.
Getting to know each other was what couples did, and despite what he thought, we weren’t dating.
Pushing my curiosity to the side, I gathered a sauce-covered Raleigh from his high chair and took him back into my room for a bath.
His eyes were drooping by the time I got him into his pajamas.
Sitting in the rocking chair in the corner of the room, I sang “Baby Mine” in a soft whisper like I did every night until he was fully out.
I was on the second verse when a shadow formed in the doorway.
Looking up, I saw Odette resting against the doorjamb with a proud, gentle look on her face.
I finished the song and placed a kiss on Lee’s head before standing up and carrying him over to his crib.
“I’ll never get tired of watchin’ you with them,” she said quietly. “It was like you were born to be a mother.”
“More like forced into it,” I corrected on a scoff.
Moving farther into the room, she shook her head and muttered, “No, child. How you are with them doesn’t come from anything other than pure instinct that’s been ingrained in you since day one. You were born with a purpose, and that purpose is them.”
It warmed my heart to hear that she thought I was doing a good job. Most days I felt like I was barely treading water. I worried constantly that I was failing them, so hearing that someone else had confidence in my ability to take care of my siblings helped lessen the anxiety I felt far too often.
“Thank you, hon. That means a lot. Especially coming from you.”
Her expression grew thoughtful as she looked down at a sleeping Raleigh. “It was nice today, seeing what it would look like for you to have a little help.”
“Detty—”
“You’re gonna have to lower that wall sometime, baby girl,” she admonished.
“One day, this little guy right here is gonna grow up and start a life of his own, just like the rest of them. You don’t learn to let people in now, you’re just askin’ for a long, lonely life once these kids are gone. And that thought breaks my heart.”
I couldn’t respond to that, mainly because my throat had closed up and I was close to tears.
She started for the door but stopped at the threshold to look at me over her shoulder. “Oh, and just so you know, Marco wrangled the kids into cleaning up the kitchen and finishing their homework. So it looks like you have the whole night off. You know, if that matters to you.”