Tuck opened the door to his home and watched Gregor, Tulli, and Lara climb out of the big SUV.
On the far side, Charlie and Joel climbed out, and once Gregor had retrieved the rented wheelchair from the trunk, Charlie leaned in and lifted Mischa out, placing her gently into the chair.
Joel was instantly by her side, holding her hand, and though Tuck could see the tension throughout her body, once she held onto Joel, Mischa seemed calm enough. Certainly, she was a whole lot better than she’d been in the hospital.
Candy stepped past him and walked towards Tulli and Lara, giving each of them a hug.
“Welcome, ladies.” She smiled. “Come on in, and let’s get you settled.”
As Charlie pushed the wheelchair around the car, Candy crouched down, so she was the same height as Mischa.
“Hello, Mischa.” She touched the girl’s hand. “Do you remember me? I’m Alex’s mom Candy. We’re so pleased you’ve come to stay with us for a few days. I hope you’ll be happy here.”
Tuck saw the muscles in Mischa’s shoulders relax, but still the girl said nothing. It was still early days, he reminded himself.
Tuck shook Gregor’s hand as he approached.
“Can I give you a hand with the bags?” He offered, nodding back towards Gregor’s car.
Tuck sidestepped the ladies and Charlie and headed back to the open tailgate of the SUV.
Tuck stared at all the bags.
“How did they amass this little lot in only two days, when they’ve hardly left your house?” He whistled.
Gregor grinned.
“Two bags are full of their new clothes, shoes and personal stuff like shampoo and whatever.” Gregor smirked. “One bag is full of all the supplements Sara wants the women to take before and after meals, to help them keep the food down and also to get their strength back. And those two freezer bags are full of meals that my housekeeper cooked in advance of being banished on an enforced vacation with her family.”
“Did you think we wouldn’t feed Tulli and her sisters?” Tuck frowned at Gregor.
The Russian chuckled.
“I’ve been to your house several times Ryan, and always left with my belt loosened a notch.” He smiled. “No, I just thought that it would be pointless keeping them at my place where they’d go to waste. Marcy is an excellent cook, and if it saves Candy or yourself an hour or two in the kitchen, I thought it would be a small gesture.
Tuck grabbed a couple of the larger bags while Gregor grabbed the rest.
“Come on.” He headed towards the house. “Let’s drop the bags where they belong, and head to my office. There have been a few developments you need to be aware of, plus Sophia will be calling in about ten minutes to have a video-conference with us.”
“Sophia?” Gregor stopped in his tracks. “My Sophia?”
Tuck turned and stared.
“Do we know many other Sophias?” He puzzled. “I mean, there’s Sophia Loren, of course. And there’s Sofia Vergara... But if Candy’s around, we don’t mention her. I pretend I’ve never heard of her.”
Gregor smirked.
“I’m guessing there’s a story behind that statement, but I won’t ask.” He headed towards the door. “So, assuming it’s my Sophia, and she’s calling about these developments, would I also be correct in assuming I’m not going to like what you’re going to say?”
Tuck waited for Gregor to pass through the door and then kicked it shut behind him.
“Very astute, my friend.” He headed for the kitchen. “But shall we wait until Tulli can join us to start the conversation?”
They deposited the freezer bags on the kitchen counter, and Tuck led the way up the large staircase to the first floor.
Tuck watched Gregor look around him as he seemed to be admiring the way the house was laid out, with a long wide hallway, and the open doors on either side showing off the lovely large bedrooms.
Along the walls were photos of the various family members, similar to the ones they had downstairs, but where the ones on the ground floor were full of adults and kids laughing and having a great adventure at family parties and the like, these ones were individual family portraits and group photos, with lots of hugs and smooching going on. It was as though the guys had thrown off the Alpha cloaks and were just being husbands and dads for the day.
Tuck loved these pictures the best, as he always thought that he’d never seen the men look happier.
Gregor stopped at a group photo with a large number of smiling adults, and four or five little kids with a young teenage girl.
“Are these all related?” He asked Tuck, obviously recognising some of them.
“Yeah, by marriage at least.” Tuck pointed at the picture. “That’s Luke and Ellen, with their two sets of twins. Behind Ellen are Luke’s parents, who are standing next to Jenny, who’s Sara’s mom, which is why Sara and Marcus are standing there. Jenny is the bride in the picture, as can be guessed at by the cream coloured dress, and the distinguished guy looking very proud to be standing next to her is former Colonel Joseph Bailey. He’s Alice’s dad, which is why you have Alice, JT, and their two kids, Joanna, or Joey as she’s known, and Andrew.”
“So, Sara’s mom is married to Alice’s dad?” Gregor clarified.
“Yeah, about two years ago, give or take.” Tuck nodded. “They’re based in London, and Joseph still does a lot of work for the military, despite the fact that he’s supposed to be retired.”
“You have a lot of well-connected friends.” Gregor murmured.
“You don’t know the half of it.” Tuck chuckled. “Sara’s dad is also a politician, who having been almost assassinated a few years ago, is back in the cabinet and tipped for the top job before the next election.”
“Douglas Winston is Sara’s father?” Gregor glanced at Tuck in surprise.
“You know your British politicians, then?” Tuck turned and tapped on a door-frame before placing the bags just inside with a big smile for his wife.
“There haven’t been too many assassination attempts on politicians in the UK in the last ten years.” Gregor shrugged.
“Thank the good Lord for that!” Gregor spun around to see Sara standing in the doorway.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”
“Gregor, it’s fine.” She smiled and patted him on the arm. “My dad’s doing just fine now. In fact, the assassination attempt helped him put things in perspective and take the stick out of his ass! He’s actually quite a nice person these days, and he’s actually getting really excited about becoming a grandfather for the first time.”
Gregor smiled as Tuck snorted.
“Listen, Sara, do you think you could pry Tulli away from her sisters and get her down to my office in a few minutes? We need to let her know what’s going on.” Tuck asked.
“Ok, but can you look after her once she’s there? I really need to give Mischa another examination, and she’s calm at the moment, so it would be a good time.” Sara explained. “And if you’re going to give Tulli any bad news, make sure Gregor’s holding her hand while you do it. There’s only so much shit a woman can take, y’know?”
Tuck grinned.
“I’m sure Gregor is up for hand-holding duty.”
Gregor smiled.
“A man knows what he’s good for, and if that’s the role you’ve assigned me, I can think of a whole lot worse.” He bowed slightly, not a hint of a smirk anywhere near his face, which impressed Tuck no end.
“Come on.” Tuck turned towards the stairs. “Let’s get set up for that videoconference with Sophia Loren.”