The party was in full swing by the time we arrived. No one asked where we’d been, but I supposed they could see by the looks on our faces what we’d been up to. The place was beautiful, tents set up all around the property with lights strung in the trees and along the edges of the tents, down the poles, making it bright enough for the party to go late into the night. Children ran around on the green grass, laughter filling the air like music from a DJ's speakers. Tables laden with amazing food and good drinks were spread out in each tent, waiting for guests to wander up. And music, the more traditional form of the art, was playing from speakers strategically placed all around the area.

Brent had picked a lovely place to build his new home. It was almost as beautiful as his bride to be.

“Have you tried the candy bar yet?” Rae wanted to know when she and Jack came over to say hi. “It’s awesome!”

I laughed as Bo tucked his arm tight around my shoulders.

“You’re a candy addict, Rae,” he told her even as Jack leaned in and whispered something in her ear. I could imagine what it was, and it made me blush—the idea of my brother and Rae and…not an image I really wanted.

Rae shrugged Jack away and took my hand, tugging me away from Bo. “Excuse us, boys,” she called over her shoulder, “but we ladies have a date with something much sweeter than the two of you.”

“If sweet is what you want, you picked the wrong fellow,” Jack called after her.

“You’re telling me,” she tossed back at him.

He laughed, the sound following us as we ducked into the nearest tent.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him quite that happy.”

Rae blushed. “He’s a blessing for me, Remy. He’s everything I always assumed I didn’t deserve.”

“I think he’s the one who doesn’t deserve you.”

She seemed shocked at that. But then she nodded, a slow nod that seemed almost like an attempt to convince herself. “Maybe.”

“Definitely.”

The candy bar was quite impressive. There was everything from gummy worms to chocolate covered peanuts laid out for the taking. Brent was standing behind the table, whispering with one of the caterer’s assistants. When he spotted us, he smiled.

“What do you think, Rae? I ordered it especially for you.”

She shook her head. “It’s like a dream come to life.”

“Help yourself. Take as much as you want.”

I stood back and watched her fill one of the bags set out for that purpose with every candy she could think of, giggling with glee each time she noticed something new. It was fun to watch, but the smell of the chocolate was doing things to my already weak stomach. I had to get out of there.

I was slipping through the open door of the tent when I heard someone complaining about a lack of fruit punch for the kids. I walked over and found myself face to face with the caterer—at least I assume she was because she was wearing a chef’s jacket.

“Is there a problem?”

She shook her head. “We somehow managed to leave a whole case of fruit punch back at the office. The kids are out of punch and the sangria’s going to run out soon.”

“What kind of punch?  I could go pick some up.”

“Oh, I don’t want to ask you to do that.”

“This is my brother’s party, so I don’t have a problem doing whatever I can to help out.”

The woman stared at me for a long moment, clearly struggling with the decision. Then she came to me, shoved a wad of bills into my hand, and sighed. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this!”

“No problem.”

It was good to get out of there, anyway. The anticipation was weighing heavy on my shoulders and I just needed a moment to myself. Besides, whoever called it morning sickness had gotten it all wrong because my sickness tended to come late in the day and I really didn’t want to throw up in front of all those people.

I grabbed a cold lemon-lime soda out of the cooler by the checkout, sipping it slowly behind the wheel of my car after the bag boy deposited the heavy jugs of fruit punch in the trunk. It helped more than I expected, settling the roiling waves in the pit of my stomach. I slowly felt human again, feeling confident in my ability to drive back to the party. I pulled out, moving into traffic without issue. But then this motorcycle appeared out of nowhere, blocking me in and forcing me to slam on my breaks. Another motorcycle came up around from behind, another moving up along my driver’s side, moving close enough that he scraped his handlebar against the side of my car.

I didn’t think anything of it at first. Coincidence. But then another pulled in front of me, slowing so far down that I had to brake to keep from hitting him. This guy had a leather jacket on with a patch identifying him as a member of Mad Dog MC on the back.

That was the oh, shit moment; the moment I knew I was in trouble.

I drove carefully, trying desperately not to hit one of these fools. But they stayed so tight against my car that I knew it was inevitable unless I pulled over. So that’s what I decided to do.

They pulled over, too.

“Remy Stone!”

My thoughts on the budding life deep in my belly, I slowly got out of the car and wished I had a gun to protect myself. The one with the leather jacket on came over and stood in front of me, his eyes moving up and down the length of me like he was trying to assess me as a whole body, not just a mind or a personality.

“You don’t look all that impressive. Everything we’ve heard about you, how you singlehandedly took down Vincent West…you don’t look like the ten-foot-tall, twelve inch balls of a woman everyone described you as.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and watched him.

“Nothing to say?”

I shrugged. “You must be Owen Harris.”

His eyes darkened a little. “They call me Bulldog.”

I tilted my head, trying to see any resemblance between him and a muscular dog. He was short, thin. Nothing to write home about. “Whatever.”

He frowned, moving closer to me. What was it with guys liking to get into my face? Did they really think it proved anything?

“Your brothers put my brother away. They say he’s going to get twenty years. And you took down West, causing us to lose a fortune in his money laundering deal. Took down most of our friends in this town.”

“Sounds like it might be time for you to move on, then.”

He shook his head. “No. We’re here to stay. But you might want to consider moving on.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because we’re going to take out Stone Security and everyone associated with it.”

I laughed. “Good luck with that.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“I don’t think you know what you’re getting into.”

“I will take them down. I will take you down. And when I do, you’ll get on your hands and knees and beg me for mercy.”

“Never going to happen.”

“You stay that way, sweetheart,” he said, tracing his finger over my cheek. “You stay confident. But you go home and tell your family to watch out. Mad Dog is coming.”

He stepped back then, gesturing to his fellow gang members to get back on their bikes. They roared off, probably thinking the sound of their engines made an impression on me.

It didn’t.

I was tired of the machismo and the threats and the bullshit. Hell, I was just tired.

I got in my car and finished the drive back to Brent’s new property. I had just finished helping the caterer get the punch out of the back of my car when Bo came over, a little breathless. He pulled me against his side and began to rush back around the tents.

“He’s here.”

We jogged together down the slight incline on which Brent’s future home would sit. A dark SUV pulled to a stop at the bottom of the hill as everyone gathered around, anticipation palpable on the air. One of Jack’s men got out and walked around to open the back-passenger door, stepping aside as a younger version of Jack and Brent stepped out of the SUV, dressed in desert fatigues, a cocky smile on his handsome face.

Aiden.

My brother Aiden was home, safe and sound from four tours in Afghanistan. I watched with tears in my eyes as he was greeted by friends and family, some members of our family who had come hundreds of miles just to be here for this today. Aiden had been gone for a long time.

“You okay, babe?” Bo whispered against my ear.

I thought about the baby in my belly, the business, the fact that Aiden was home and Gentry would be very soon. We’d be all together again for the first time since Dad’s funeral. And so many things had changed; so many things changed for the better.

Mad Dog didn’t matter. This. This was all that mattered.

I nodded. “I’m good.”

Then I slipped out of his arms and walked down the hill, my arms open as Aiden caught sight of me. He laughed as he lifted me up in his arms and spun around, making me fly like he used to when we were kids.

We had suffered great loss, some of us more than others. But we were together. We were a family. And there was happiness.

So much happiness.