* * *

“Lyon your daughter is fucking adorable.”

“Dude what the fuck, she’s sixteen.” I glared at Mancini the fuck ready to take him out.

“Not the teen you ass, the little one.” That shit made me snort like Kat does. “Oh yeah?” She’s been working her con on her new uncles. To a man they melt whenever she bats those lashes of hers at them.

She knows better than to try that shit with me. That ship sailed when the little shit was three and I caught her making her own damn glue to fuck with her big sister’s hair.

“What’s she doing that makes her so adorable this time?” I hadn’t seen her in a little bit, figured she was with her mom and the other women. Thank fuck. We were here to relax after all and that one don’t know the meaning of the word.

“She’s reading to Zakira, very hush-hush. Must be some story the way the two of them have their heads together whispering.”

I flew out of my chair two seconds later. “Lyon what the fuck?” Tyler and the others looked at me like I was nuts before they came after me.

I held my hand up when we reached the door to the playroom. I don’t know what, but I was pretty sure Mengele was up to some shit.

Her mother knows she’s not to be left unattended for more than the five minutes unless she needs to use the bathroom; and even then you need a fucking armed guard at the door.

We listened as she seemed to be telling the baby a story. “Okay listen good Kira, you have to remember okay? Daddy won’t get me the real stuff like the uncles use, but I know how to make it another way look.”

She moved and that’s when we saw the line of bottles and bowls she had on the floor in front of them.

“What the fuck?” I whispered the words since I didn’t want to give away our position, not yet, not until I knew what the fuck Hitler’s youth was up to.

“I found some powder but we don’t need that now, don’t breathe okay.” She put a mask around Zakira’s face and one around her own before pouring some dark powder in a bowl very carefully. “Now we add nitroglycerine and diato…I can’t say the long word but it’s okay.”

“What the fuck is she doing?” I was at a loss, it didn’t sound like her usual recipes. At least I didn’t hear anything about sulfuric acid so we were safe.

“Dynamite. The long word is diatomaceous earth. The only thing that’s used for is dynamite. I don’t know what she needs the gunpowder for though.” Mancini answered.

We turned back to hear the rest of her little lesson. “Those bad guys come back we’ll be ready.”

“Where the fuck? Which one of you taught my kid that shit?” They started backing up hands in the air. “Wasn’t me.”

“Yeah you’re laughing now but you won’t be laughing when she blows your house to shit.

It’s too fucking early o’clock for this fuckery.”

I stormed into the room and the little sneak smiled up at me. “Hi daddy, whatcha doing?”

“The question is what the hell are you doing?”

“Oh nothing, it’s a science project.”

I looked back at the men who were all laughing their asses off and wondered what the hell I was supposed to do with my kid.

“That’s enough science for one day, go outside and play.” Geez this kid! She gave me a put upon pout and took her little friend’s hand and led her out of the room.

I heard her greet her uncles who came into the room to join me as we looked over her little stash. “Somebody wanna tell me where the fuck she found this shit?”

“Um, I might have it around somewhere. I guess I’m gonna have to up the security around here since she seems to find her way in and out of places she ought not to be.”

“You know Lyon, if you give her to me now I can train her.”

“You fancy getting shot in the ass Hank, I can help you out there. Leave my kid alone.”

“Let’s go see if the women need any help with last minute preparations.” Logan slapped me on the shoulder.

“I’m pretty sure they told us to fuck off bro.”

* * *

* * *

The wedding is today. There had been a lot of fuss last night when the women tried selling us on some old wife’s tale about not seeing the bride the day of. That hadn’t gone over well with any of us.

The girls had planned a party on the beach in place of the traditional bachelor and bachelorette parties and we’d stayed up well into the night.

I spent most of the night watching her as I’ve been doing ever since we got back from the Gulf and no longer had to worry about being hunted.

She was completely relaxed and at ease, almost as if she’d been part of our little family for years instead of a few short weeks.

It didn’t take her long at all to find her footing. In fact she seemed to just jump into life as my woman easy enough without too many hiccups, though sometimes I feel like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.

As much griping as the others had done over the last few months when it came to their women I was kind of expecting the worst.

Instead it’s been the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. Even our little skirmishes are funny as hell because we both know there’s no way in hell she’s ever gonna win, but that doesn’t stop her from trying.

I can already see the influence of the other women, and it’s funny, but having her has opened my eyes to the fact that these women really do rule us. No matter how we shake it, everything we do is for them, to keep them safe and happy.

It’s like she’s taken over every aspect of my life and though I find time to do other things, like get back to work, I still spend a good chunk of each day thinking about her, wanting her.

I don’t know if it’s my ‘gift’ or just your every day lust, but I don’t think a day has gone by that I haven’t spent some part of it buried inside her.

Which brings me to believe since she’s not on birth control, and I damn sure never used a condom with her, that she might be pregnant. Since she hasn’t said anything to me I figured I’d let her tell me herself when she’s ready.

I looked down at her head on my chest, still in wonder that something this beautiful could belong to me. It’s the same every morning when I wake up next to her.

Sometimes it takes me a minute to remember my good fortune and then that feeling comes over me. A feeling of immense joy unlike anything I’ve ever known.

I no longer worry about what it had done to my dad, or that I’ll lose my fucking mind. Because when I look at my brothers, men that I trust, men that I know are strong, I don’t see much difference in the way they treat their women.

I lifted her face with a finger under her chin and kissed her warm lips until she awakened with a sigh. “Morning baby, it’s our wedding day.”

I rolled her to her back as she stretched and wrapped her arms around my neck returning my kiss as she opened her legs for me to fit in between them.

It was easy to slide into her warmth, her body still wet with my seed from the night before and make love to her slowly for once.

Our mouths stayed fused together as I showed her without words what she meant to me. And when she tightened around me and cried out her love for me I spilled my seed deep inside her.

* * *

* * *

“Stop being so nervous, everything is going to be fine.” We were about an hour out from the wedding on the beach and she was the one reassuring me.

I don’t know why, but now that we were down to crunch time I have this fear that some shit is gonna go wrong. Maybe because I know that she’s the best thing that ever happened to me.

Or maybe it’s because I still don’t think I deserve her. Whatever it is, I have this feeling that some shit’s gonna go wrong.

“Come ‘ere.” I wrapped my arms around her and felt myself settle. “I love you, I’m not nervous about marrying you, I just don’t want anything to go wrong on our big day.” I hope Ty the fuck isn’t lurking around somewhere listening to this or he’d ride my ass for sure.

“Nothing’s gonna go wrong, now go be with your brothers while I finish getting dressed.” Dani and Gaby had been pounding at our cottage door for the last half an hour trying to get me to release her.

The women were getting dressed together up at the mansion and I’m pretty sure like me my brothers were already dressed in their monkey suits, ready to get the show on the road.

I walked her over and withstood the evil glares and hisses before they slammed the door in my face, and headed out front to join the others.

“We look like assholes.”

“Give it a rest Zak, it’s the price we pay for making them wait. At least we can thank Mancini for letting us use his place since it means no one else will ever see us like this.”

A plane came in for landing on the airstrip and my guts went into overdrive. Everyone else was here except the commander and Samson. Their crew was being very hush-hush which only made my nerves go up a couple notches, but when I saw the horde of men in robes filing onto the island I was ready to nab her and bolt.

“Chill brother, the CO said he had this right. He’s never let us down before trust him.” I tried to accept Quinn’s words but I’d never been this afraid in my life.

These last few weeks had shown me what life with her would be like. I knew if I lost that now my shit would be FUBAR. She makes everything worthwhile, including my fucked up past, because it all led to her.

“What if he….”

“He’s not.” Lo and the others lined up beside me as we watched four men cart what looked like trunks into the mansion.

When the CO and Samson came into view flanking an old man with a cane, dressed in full Saudi royal regalia, I didn’t have to guess who he was.

I started to move forward when he went towards the mansion where she was but Logan held me back with a hand on my shoulder. The CO as if sensing my angst, looked back over his shoulder at me and winked.

For some reason that settled me, but the next half an hour was the hardest of my life. I didn’t breathe again until I saw her come out the door looking for me.

I met her halfway and as soon as I saw her face my worry disappeared only to be replaced with anger. “What happened, what did he say to you?” I was ready to go pound his ass for making my girl cry.

Her hand on my chest calmed me down and I wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m fine, we had a nice long talk and everything’s okay.”

“What did he say? And what the hell were all those trunks?”

“He said to be happy and the trunks are our wedding gifts.”

‘That’s it? He didn’t try to get you to go back with him?”

“Of course he did, but I told him if I didn’t marry the father of my baby it would bring shame to his family.”

“Your what?” There was a ringing in my ears and I stumbled backwards a little bit until I corrected myself. I stared down at her in a daze until I shook myself out of it.

Now I was the one with tears in my eyes. “Why do you think I haven’t been nervous this whole time? I knew that once I told him about the baby he’d have to see reason.”

“How long have you known?”

“A few days, but the girls and I discussed it and decided it was best to wait to share the news. This close to the wedding they can’t come up with any alternatives.”

“Do you have any idea how happy you’ve just made me?” I pulled her back into my arms and looked over her shoulder at Kelly and Quinn who were sharing the same embrace.

From the way he put her away from him and looked down at her tummy before placing his hand there told me that he’d just received similar news.

I looked up at the sky, at the sun high above the clouds, shining down on us and gave thanks that we’d each found our one and only. That something good had come out of the hell we’d lived through the last year and a half.

Kat came outside and called the girls back in. “Okay ladies, your time’s up let’s go.”

“I’ll meet you on our cliff in a few Devon.” She lifted up on her toes and kissed me before walking away back to the house.

I walked back to my brothers and we looked down towards the water. “Let’s get married brothers.” We walked down to the beach, seven men whose lives had been intertwined since we met those many years ago.

As we got closer to the place where the women would meet us to say the vows that would bind us together for a lifetime, I felt a cool soft breeze brush against my cheek.

Mom! My life had come full circle.