Chapter 30 #2
No. It wasn’t possible. I had to be seeing a ghost.
“Danny.” As soon as I rushed toward him, throwing myself in his arms, another round of applause drowned out the thudding of my heart.
“Hey, sis. I’m sorry. I should have called.”
I pulled away, gasping as tears streamed down my face. “What? How? I saw you. You were dead.”
“What you saw was the man I killed who’d arrived to assassinate me,” Danny answered. “It all happened fast. There was a second asshole I had to outrun. I had no idea you arrived only minutes later.”
“I should have noticed,” Montgomery said, obviously furious with himself.
Danny shrugged. “The guy looked enough like me that with half his head blown off, you couldn’t have told the difference. I’m sorry, Mr. Prince. I didn’t know just how close you were to my sister when I attacked you.”
With Montgomery right by my side, I looked into his eyes. “Be nice,” I gritted out.
My handsome hero chuckled. “I’m always nice. We’ll talk, Danny.”
“Yes, sir.” Danny was nervous, rubbing his hands on his jeans. The fact he was standing here, safe and alive was…
No more time wasted.
“The man in the hotel room was the one driving the blue Dodge Ram that tried to run me down.” I was doing nothing more than putting pieces together.
Danny was clueless, his eyes darting back and forth. “We’ll fill you in later,” I told him, my stomach still in knots.
Everyone in the diner was holding their breath, listening in and waiting.
Montgomery sighed, finally holding out his hand.
Danny lifted his eyebrows, uncertain whether to accept the gesture.
“Go ahead. The two most important men in my life need to be friends.” I wasn’t requesting. I was commanding.
At least they both complied.
And everyone in the diner was finally able to breathe.
“How did you get away?” I asked.
“Well, according to the online sources, Danny Sebastian was dead. That allowed me to hide. I knew you’d find my letter. I knew it.”
“You should have called me.”
“That would have been dangerous even if he had the burner phone number,” Montgomery offered.
“He’s right, sis. I’m so sorry for what I put you through. Can you forgive me?”
I had no idea what to say, I was so overrun with emotions. And everyone, on every stool, in every booth and standing was waiting silently for my answer.
“He is family, little flower. Family is all that matters in this world.”
Hearing Montgomery’s voice broke through the veil of silence and pain.
“Absolutely. You will always be my brother. Even if I need to kick your ass.”
As I hugged Danny again, I touched the necklace and could feel the spirits around us. Including my parents and even Montgomery’s father. They were watching us as they always had and always would.
I had my brother back and I’d be damned if I’d allow anyone to tear us apart again.
Even more important, I had a man who believed in and loved me, a man who’d allowed me to peel away his layers exposing the most amazing person I’d ever known.
And the man I planned on sharing the rest of my life with.
No bag of gris-gris required.
Two months later…
Montgomery
“Well, Pops. I guess I was wrong about you.” My words were whispered, difficult to utter but necessary. “I miss you, Dad.”
The light breeze tickled my skin and I could swear Fleur’s fingers were caressing my cheek. I even touched my face. She was always with me. My rock. My little flower.
Sensing more than one presence around me, I bristled. “Really?”
“We thought we’d find you here.”
Hearing Sinclair’s voice, I had to laugh even if it wasn’t the time or place to do so. I was in a fucking cemetery, for God’s sake. I was paying my respect and my three brothers decided this was the right time and place for a business meeting.
“You have no empathy,” I told all of them.
“Now, he’s learned empathy from that hot little woman of his,” Jaxon mused.
He had his head turned toward her where she remained standing by the side of my car. She’d insisted I visit my father alone.
“At least I have a hot little woman. You have a squishy pillow you hold tightly at night.”
Alexander and Sinclair hooted while Jaxon rolled his eyes. “You’re on fire since you met that woman.”
Scratching my beard, my thoughts shifted all the way to her. “Yeah, and I like it. I also like me better. Did you all know that Pops saved a little girl’s life? She was choking. Or that he paid for a new fire station. I never knew he had a soft side.”
Sinclair clapped me on the back as he flanked my side, staring at the Prince family mausoleum. “We’ve all learned things about our father that we didn’t expect.”
“He was a generous man,” Alexander added.
“And a pain in our ass.” Jaxon didn’t mince words.
“Yeah, but I miss him.” And I did. “So why did you need to track me down?”
“Zane Cummings was found hung in his cell early this morning.” Alexander was matter-of-fact about the news. “We thought you might want to know.”
“Did you share that with Fleur?” I asked.
Alexander shook his head. “It’s your place to tell her before it hits the news.”
Which didn’t hurt my feelings in the least. “Ah, what a shame. That could have waited.”
“New rumbles on the street are that Papovek’s kid and Ivan’s children are forming an alliance. They don’t have any support.” Alexander wasn’t happy.
“But you’re worried they will.”
“Always. Which is why you need to keep Danny Sebastian close. He could prove very useful.”
Grinning, I tipped my head toward him. “I’m already ahead of you. He’s working for me now, although with helping Fleur with Sunlight and Sparkles in Vermont. He knows better than to bite the hand that feeds him. Besides, Fleur would kick his ass should he even look disloyal.”
“She is tough,” Jaxon said.
“You have no idea, brother. She’s even dictating how Sunlight and Sparkles items will be hung in Indulgence. Emmeline begged me to find a spot for Fleur in another building.” I didn’t want to share that my kitchen and the gardens were filled with suncatchers. And that I adored every one of them.
“Maybe Fleur’s wild ways will be good for Emme,” Sinclair noted with a wink.
“We shall see. We’ll handle the Russians if they rear their ugly heads again.” I felt confident that we would. I only hoped there’d be peace for a few months.
“Yes, we will. But we need to keep our guard up,” Alexander reminded us.
“And to protect our families at all costs.” I pulled out a flask that I’d brought for the purpose of finally giving my father the respect he was due. “To family and to our father, a man who taught us how to be men.”
I took a swig, handing it to the others. And in the distance, I noticed my lovely flower was waiting, watching over me as if making herself my guardian angel. She was the reason I woke up in the morning, and the only person in the world I wanted to curl up next to at night.
Maybe I wasn’t a good man in the sense of what she deserved, but I would do everything in my power and my life to provide her with what she needed.
As the light breeze whipped through her copper strands, tangling the gorgeous, flowered skirt around her ankles, I thought of the sweet words of how much my grandfather loved my grandmother and smiled. The phrase was perfect.
Mon c?ur continuera de battre tant que tu seras à mes c?tés. Une fois que tu seras parti(e), je me fanerai comme les pétales d’une fleur parfaite. Mais tu seras toujours à moi.
My heart will continue to beat as long as you’re next to me. Once you’re gone, I’ll fade like the dying petals of a perfect flower. Yet you’ll always be mine.
“You’ll forgive me, gentlemen, but I have a date.” I shoved the flask into my jacket and raked my fingers through my hair.
“Where to?” Alexander asked.
“Indulgence, of course. Where they serve the best Cajun food in town.” I didn’t wait for a reply, taking my time heading in her direction. Once I was only a few inches away, I took a deep breath. “Are you ready for an adventure?”
Fleur lifted her sunglasses, peering at me with lust-filled eyes. I’d be damned if she didn’t drag her tongue across her bottom lip. As usual, my cock twitched. The woman knew how to spark the man inside. “As long as I’m in charge of this new adventure.”
As I took her into my arms, my brothers walked by, Jaxon grumbling under his breath.
“Get a room.”
No need. I had the rest of our lives. “Not a chance, baby. Not a chance.”
The End