Chapter 33
”Can I get you a drink? Beer? Iced tea? Spring water?”
”Magic spring water? Fuck no,”Jamie snorted. He looked at Rafe as if the man had lost his damn mind.
”I”m just asking,”the bald giant replied with a smirk.”You show up unexpectedly with a scantily dressed female by your side—come on,”he shrugged. ”It smells like a love connection to me.”
”First of all,”Jamie retorted drily. ”Rebecca is not scantily dressed. And secondly, you sound like a besotted bridegroom.”
Rafe morphed into the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man of Ghostbusters fame. His shoulders broadened, and when he sucked in his gut, his already imposing torso grew until the buttons on his shirt strained.
”The wait proved long, and there were times along the way when things with Domineau seemed hopeless, but we made it, and that”s what counts, so I”m cool with whatever snarky shit you come up with. Believe me, I”ve been called worse.”
Characterizing Raphael D”Alessandro and Domineau Rivera as a unique couple was the understatement of all understatements.
While Jamie was still the new guy at Justice, he once overheard some recruits talking about the agency”s upper echelon when one of them asked what Rafe did in the military. The answer amounted to a body count.
Domineau”s legend loomed equally large with lurid stories about her exploits that sounded like a movie script starring the most lethal female spook ever imagined.
But put the two fearsome warriors together, add a cute kid and Pywakett, of course, and you end up with a picture-perfect all-American family next door.
Go figure.
Rafe moved to the foot of the stairs and put a finger to his lips. He looked up toward the second-floor loft area and appeared to listen.
”Disney is the best babysitter,”he drawled after a long, silent pause. ”I”m in charge of the kids,”he explained, ”so we have to stay close in case.”
”In case of what?”Jamie asked. ”Aren”t they a little young to get up to trouble?”
”Dude,”Rafe chuckled. ”They put Pywakett in an empty Amazon box, tied a rope around it, and lowered her over the railing. Slice it any way you want, man, but trouble is around every corner when it comes to kids.”
Imagining the black cat letting her kid friends use her for a gravity exercise made him laugh.
”I don”t get kids,”he admitted. ”They”re a mystery to me.”
”Guess what?”Rafe laughed.”That feeling never goes away. My kid—Molly? Total mystery, man. Last month, she was all about crafts—especially friendship bracelets.”Chuckling, the indulgent dad rolled his eyes.”Fast forward to this week, and suddenly bracelets are yesterday”s news. Her current obsession lives at 702 Beach Vista Lane.”
Frowning, Jamie asked for context. ”Say again?”
”It”s the made-up address of the doll house my mother plans to bring for her granddaughter when she arrives before the wedding. I foresee a fascination with dollhouse miniatures in my future.”
”My sister had a doll house. In fact, she still has it. Set it up in an empty guest room.”
”I told Domineau to consider a dedicated space in the family home she”s designing for us.”
”Well,”Jamie drawled, ”it”s only fair— many a train set has taken over countless basements and garages. Dollhouses should get equal time.”
”Interesting way of looking at it—and you”re right. Being a girl dad opens a man”s mind and makes you think about shit. Like, how come boys use baseball as a path to college scholarships, but girls get the shaft?”
Jamie nodded. ”Yeah, I get it. My folks weren”t rich—there was no way a hard-working blue-collar family had the resources to put three kids through college, so locking down scholarships was critical. My brother and I had no problem getting sports scholarships while Nora fought tooth and nail, stitching together a patchwork of smaller awards. Sucked to be her.”
”What was your sport?”Rafe asked.
Wryly, Jamie drawled, ”I could tell you, but then I”d have to kill you so…”
The biggest shit-eating grin ever recorded settled on Rafe”s face. ”Let me guess. Dance team? Competitive spirit squad? Ooh, maybe badminton? Synchronized swimming?”
Should he spit it out and take the razzing he would surely get?
Eh, why the hell not? He was a big boy and had certainly endured worse.
”Fencing,”he answered with a smirk. ”And before you make jokes, consider this—fencing is considered a combat sport.”Winking, he joked, ”And it”s also a gateway to understanding lightsabers.”
”Fuck yeah,”Rafe snickered.
They fist-bumped and grinned at one another.
”Okay. Enough useless banter. What have you learned? Are those two morons, Cam, and Drae, plotting against me?”
”Before I answer, tell me why you”re sure they”re coming for you.”
”Justice tradition. We fuck with each other for the hell of it, and, well, Domineau and I may have pushed the boundaries with a bachelor night stunt that rearranged Roman Bishop”s deck chairs.”
Jamie raised his brows. ”You have my attention.”
Rafe”s demeanor changed. Clearing his throat, he sounded far less sure of himself than he had just moments ago when he confessed to having given Roman a near heart attack.
”Okay, so there was an escape room, alcohol, and strippers—senior citizen strippers. Domineau may have jumped out of a cake. Threats were made.”
He cleared his throat again and winced. ”Failure on Roman”s part to get everyone out of the escape room would have resulted in a trip south of the border and a quickie marriage by a local magistrate.”
”I don”t get it.”
”The marriage involved Roman as the groom, but instead of Kelly at the altar, Domineau was the stand-in.”
It took Jamie a full minute to imagine the scene Rafe created.
”Y”all are fucked up,”he finally snorted through a fulsome chuckle.
”I know, right?”Rafe said, making a face. ”Blame the war—almost dying every day makes a man—or a woman—entertain strange things.”
”Thanks for the clarification. Now I have a better idea why you”re freaking out.”
”Paybacks are a bitch.”
”Word,”Jamie agreed quasi-solemnly. ”No wonder you”re worried.”
After sighing, he continued. ”Look, Drae saw me coming a mile away. They were waiting for you to make a move. To me, this suggests they”re a Trojan horse. I”m happy to play go-between, but whatever they throw my way will be a ruse. Luring you into thinking you”re a step ahead is all they”re after.”
”So, you think someone else is leading the payback? Roman? Hmph. Doubt it. He”s deep in honeymoon-land.”Rafe scratched his bald head. ”Julian Bishop comes to mind, but Roman”s cousin is focused on his new wife. Next up is Roman”s BFF, Liam Ashforth—but he”s got his hands full with a pregnant wife and looking after Matty while Roman and Kelly are overseas. Calder and Brody are on maternity leave, and technically, so is Cam. Who”s left?”
”Beats me,”Jamie admitted. ”I”m the new guy.”
The reality of his situation must have hit Rafe because he groaned like he”d been sucker punched. ”I fucking hate that Popeye and his sidekick Olive St. John are getting one over on me.”
In quick succession, Rafe revealed some curious body ink showing what looked like Bluto and Popeye engaged in fisticuffs. Then, he produced his phone to show him some cartoon fight scenes.
”Way back then, I got the tattoo for the sole reason that it annoyed Jason.”
”You mean Cam?”
”Yeah, yeah. Cam. We have history—wartime stuff—nothing meaningful—more like male stupidity. In a head-to-head face-off when we were both equally shit-faced and should have known better, I maybe, sorta, kinda made him look like a tool. He”s still salty about it, too. I think the only reason he hasn”t gotten back at me is because his wife told him to grow up.”
”Ah, Lacey. Yes. I”ve never encountered anyone else with such a pure soul. The lady with the blonde ponytail makes everyone she touches want to be a better person.”
Jamie wasn”t sure he had the whole picture, but things were clearer.
”I just assumed that when it was my turn in the bridegroom barrel, Cam would gleefully lead the prank charge.”
”Sorry I can”t be of more help.”
”Eh,”Rafe shrugged. ”Shot in the dark.”He put his hands up. ”Whatever.”
Their conversation was abruptly ended by loud noises from upstairs—followed seconds later by a trio of rambunctious kids tearing down the stairs at high speed.
”Dr. Hunter!”Molly squealed happily.
”Hey, it”s Dr. Hunter!”Matty Bishop shouted at the same time.
Bella Jensen was the caboose in this kid squad. She came down the stairs, hopping on one foot.
”Hiya Doc,”she exclaimed.
”What”s up with your foot?”he asked as Rafe stood by with a concerned expression.
”Oh, nothing,”Bella replied. She put her foot down and even stomped it a few times. ”I lost a bet.”
”Yes, you did,”Molly laughed as she and Matty high-fived.
Jamie heard Rafe muttering about Family Justice adults serving as crappy role models thanks to everyone”s propensity for turning life into a betting pool.
It was funny because it was true. Justice had bets on everything—even whether he and Rebecca would one day do bodily harm to one another.
Thinking about his date”s body lit a fire inside. He was looking forward to phase two of tonight”s agenda.
”Hey guys, I brought brownies, and I bet if you ask nicely, you can each have one.”
”Woot! Woot!”Matty crowed.
”Kitchen!”Molly hooted and then grabbed Bella”s arm.”Let”s walk backward!”
Watching them go, Rafe chuckled and shook his head.
”I think I”ll gather my date and head out,”Jamie said.
In the kitchen, Domineau was under siege by the rowdy, demanding kids who were focused on the bakery box of sweets. Rebecca was leaning against a counter, smiling big. She looked delectable in her short, sexy dress.
Thinking about what he planned to do after leaving Rafe and Domineau”s made his groin tighten.
Sidling alongside Rebecca, he stealthily ran his hand up the back of her thigh and rubbed her ass. He nearly laughed out loud when she squeezed her butt and gave a startled squeak.
Leaning in, he whispered, ”I thought we might relive our high school days and park in the moonlight.”
Nobody was paying them any attention—not with three exuberant kids acting out.
”I could do that,”Rebecca quietly replied. ”Do you have someplace in mind?”
He smirked. ”Really?”
She laughed. ”Of course you do! My bad.”
”Then it”s settled. Say your goodbyes, and then I want your sexy butt in my truck.”
”Yes, sir,”she cooed with a ton of cute mockery that, no joke, made him instantly hard.
”Just so you know,”he drawled into her ear,”insolence is kind of a turn-on.”
She gasped, blushed, and gave him a playful shove.
Yep, yep. Time to go.
”And we”re out,”he announced as a ploy to hurry the goodbyes along.
In the driveway, he helped Rebecca into the passenger seat— playing the gentleman under Rafe and Domineau”s watchful eyes.
After leaving the gated development, they drove in silence for a minute. He wondered when or if she”d say something, and to his surprise and satisfaction, she simply smiled as he plotted their course to a private spot where he intended to give Rebecca a taste of his dominance.