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“So was Simon.” Nina rubbed her pregnant belly. “They were duped.”
“Shh.” Lola put a finger to her lips as the doorbell chimed, and she headed into the foyer to greet them.
The conversation lulled when a tall man with black hair and wary dark eyes entered the room with a woman his polar opposite—all blond sunshine and light.
She took the initiative. “Hi, all. I’m Ava. This is Max. Hope you don’t mind that we crashed your Christmas party.”
Lola hugged the perky blonde and shook hands with Max as the others in the group waved or got up to shake hands with the newcomers.
Ava held up a bottle of Patrón. “I brought a bottle of tequila for a peace offering just in case any of you still think our loyalties lie with Tempest.”
“Tequila?” Katie hopped up from the floor. “Why didn’t you say so when you walked in?”
Her lame joke broke the tension, and soon all the adults in the room were talking business.
After several minutes, Lola tapped her wineglass with a fork. “You know, you guys live with this stuff 24/7. It’s Christmas, or at least five days after Christmas. Let’s enjoy the holiday and each other’s company without the darkness intruding.”
“You heard the good doctor and lady of the house.” Jack clapped his hands. “Eddie, take the kids to the playroom and weed out those violent games for the younger ones. Liam, dude, put some football on and start pouring the shots.”
Mike came up behind Claire and curled his arms around her waist. “Is this crazy enough for you?”
“Me? Aren’t you going to miss it all?”
“They’ll still invite me to their parties.” He entwined his fingers with hers. “Come outside with me for a minute. I have a Christmas present for you.”
“You’ve already given me the best gift of all.” She kissed him but allowed him to pull her outside into the Florida sunshine.
Mike squinted in the brightness. “I guess we had our white Christmas in Colorado.”
“It was the best Christmas of my life. The Chadwicks will never forget what you did for Ethan. They wouldn’t have been able to endure another loss.”
“You didn’t let on how easy the rescue was, did you?”
“Mike.” She trailed her fingers across his clean-shaven face. “It wasn’t easy for you. You gave up the opportunity to foil the White House plot.”
“You heard Liam. It was nothing.” He took a flat package, wrapped in glittering Christmas wrap, from behind his back. “Here’s your gift.”
With a thrill of excitement, she ripped off the paper. She held up a poster board of a large circle with lines crisscrossing the center and moons and stars and astrological signs. “What is this?”
“It’s an astrological chart from Madam Rosalee. She did one for you and one for Fiona.”
She held it up. “I love it, but what does it all mean?”
“You see this line here?”
“Yes.”
“That one means you’ll meet a tall, dark stranger and fall in love.”
“Really.”
“This one means you’ll have three children.”
“Three? I’d better get busy, then. I’ve got two to go.”
He waggled his eyebrows up and down. “We can get started on that right away.”
She rubbed her knuckles across his dark hair, still growing in. “And the two lines that cross here? What do they mean?”
“They mean you’ll live happily ever after with the man of your dreams, once you find him.”
“You mean that tall, dark stranger?” She threw her arms around his neck. “I’ve already met him, and I’m ready. I’m ready for my happily-ever-after.”
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