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The other two cold cases that’d been uncovered on the mainland would take a lot of unraveling, but Nico was sure they’d pin them on Serge eventually.This court trial could drag on for years, but in the end, justice would be served.
In jail, Serge would hopefully get the help he needed—not that Nico was sure he deserved it after all the atrocities he’d committed—but it might help him reconcile exactly how damaged he’d been by everything he’d seen and experienced in the Gulf.
PTSD was an insidious disease, manifesting in many ways, and Nico had to accept that Serge couldn’t take the full blame for his murderous spree.He was a sick man.But in Nico’s mind, that’d never fully excuse his father for his actions.Serge had enough awareness to understand he was becoming a monster.But not enough balls to stop himself from following through on his urges.He blamed the monster in his head for driving him to kill those women, but they still had no clear idea why he’d chosen the women he had, and why he’d moved on to sex workers because Serge refused to say anything and wouldn’t even speak to a court-appointed psych.Hopefully in time, the whole truth would come out about Serge’s macabre choices, but for now, they were left merely to guess at his motives.If only Pacca had been of more help to Serge when he’d joined the veteran’s group.Perhaps he could’ve made a difference if he’d urged him to get help, maybe even stopped him before he started killing.But then he couldn’t put any blame on Pacca.No one had any real idea of the demon that lurked in Serge’s subconscious.
“Hey, dude, got your speech ready yet?”Brice thumped him on the back scaring the shit out of him; he’d been so absorbed in his own thoughts he hadn’t heard his brother approach.When Nico turned to glare at him, Brice handed Nico a glass of champagne and took a large gulp from his own glass.“Nice bubbles, by the way.The proper French stuff.”Brice held his glass up and clinked it against his brother’s.
“I know,” Nico said, taking a gulp of champagne.“And to answer your other question, sort of,” Nico hedged.The honest answer was not really.But he didn’t need to write it down; he knew that when it came to talking about his new bride, his words would flow straight from the heart.“What about you?Have you got your best man speech ready?”Nico challenged.
“Of course,” Brice scoffed, and patted his pocket.Nico had no doubt that Brice had been working on that speech since the day he’d found out his younger brother was getting married.
“Can I ask what’s in it?”
“Nope.”Brice smirked.“All you need to know is that there’s some good stuff.All your dirty laundry is going to get aired tonight, don’t you worry about that.”
Nico rolled his eyes and grimaced at his big brother.“Is that really necessary?”Brice had been his best man at his marriage to Marietta as well, but he didn’t remember him being this ebullient, or this mischievous.Actually, now he thought about it, Brice had been decidedly sour-faced throughout the whole ceremony.No one in his family had really liked Marietta.That should’ve been the biggest red flag for him, but he’d been so blinded by lust and too young and full of his own self-importance to take their warnings seriously
“Of course it is, bro.”Brice pounded him on the back again.“And by the way, just so you know, you lucked out.I don’t know how you managed it, but you got an excellent woman there.”
“I agree.”It was Nico’s turn to smirk, but he knew what Brice was trying to say in his roundabout way.He liked Lacey.He approved of her.And that meant the world to Nico.
Before he could put his sentiments into words, however, Brice said, “Hey, be a good brother and introduce me to your lady friend over there.”His gaze was focussed over Nico’s left shoulder.
“What?”Nico swung his head, confused.
“Over there.”Brice pointed to a group of his workmates standing near the entrance to the shed, watching the covered trays of food arrive with hungry gazes.
The group contained Sally-Ann, Tyrell, Gorman, Hickey, and… “Oh, you mean Dawn?”Nico turned to stare at Brice.“I thought you said you’dneverget involved with a police officer.That we’re too career oriented and self-righteous.”
“Yeah, I know what I said.But you didn’t tell me how downright gorgeous some of your colleagues are.”Brice’s gaze hadn’t shifted from Dawn’s face.Now that Nico took the time to notice, Dawn was looking rather fine in her knee-length, dark-blue dress, hair left to flow long and smooth over bare shoulders, and smoky, kohl-lined eyes.Nico was so used to seeing her in her uniform, hair pulled back, and no makeup that he barely paid any attention to her physical looks; it was her sharp mind and great police skills that interested him.
But now he reassessed her in this new light.Perhaps if Brice was distracted by Dawn, he might forget to make jokes at Nico’s expense during the speeches.And if Brice fell in love with a Tasmanian cop, he could do worse than move to Burnie.Nico would love to have his big brother close by.
“I can do better than that,” Nico said, elbowing Brice in the ribs.“My wife is in charge of seating arrangements.How would you like to sit at her table?”
“Yep, that’d be great.”Brice’s face had gone a little flushed and Nico had to hold back the urge to laugh.His brother was a bit of a Casanova, he’d never settled down, and all his relationships were short-lived.Perhaps Dawn might be the answer to taming his brother’s wild ways.
Nico, Brice, and Gaëlle had had a long talk over a group video call the day after Serge was arrested.They’d brought their mother in later, but first they wanted to sort out a little of how they felt about their father being a serial killer.And about Nico being the one to capture him.None of them blamed him one bit for being the one to bring their father down.They congratulated him.
Brice was pragmatic about the whole thing, saying he was just glad the bastard was behind bars now.Gaëlle, being the youngest had a misplaced belief that Serge had good reasons for faking his own death, and had held out hope that he wasn’t the serial killer after all.She wanted to believe in the fantasy of a father who could do no wrong.But they’d been shattered when Nico had rung and confirmed her worst fears.She was bouncing back quickly though, at least on the outside.And his mother… She’d taken the news hard, as he expected her to.Nico was eternally grateful to Andy, who’d been Catarina’s rock while she grieved for her husband and his heinous deeds all over again.They all promised to keep reminding each other that it was not their fault that Serge had turned out like he had.Nico hoped that one day he’d start to believe it.
A small hand slid around his waist and settled in the small of his back.“Hey, husband,” Lacey whispered in his ear.
“Hey, wife,” he whispered back, realizing it was the first time they’d had two minutes alone since last night, and she leaned into him, pressing her palm against his cheek and looking deep into his eyes.The surrounding noise subsided until he could almost imagine they were alone here, standing beside a gorgeous cake beneath a canopy of emerging stars.
“Whatcha doing?”she asked.
“Just taking a moment to breathe,” he replied.
“I know what you mean, it’s been a whirlwind.But in a good way,” she amended, blowing a long tendril of hair away from her eyes.The flowers in her hair were so cute; they made her look younger, carefree, like a beautiful garden nymph.He’d already told her how ravishing she looked ten times over, but he could still barely believe that she was his.
“Today has been very special,” he agreed.“But… And don’t take this the wrong way… I can’t wait until it’s over.Because I have a secret.I have this urgent need to go inside, undress you, and hold your naked body next to mine all night long.”He didn’t even need to make love to her.It was enough to know she was there with him.He could sleep soundly in the knowledge they were both safe and heading for a bright future together, with his arms wrapped tightly around his soulmate.
Her jade-green eyes lit up, reflecting the glow of the fairy lights.Then a look of contemplation turned to one of mischief as her lips turned up on an impish smile.
“Well, I have a little secret of my own.I’m not wearing any underwear,” she whispered in his ear.
“You’re wh…?”He could hardly believe his ears.But his cock heard her all right.It was already standing to attention, and he had to turn around, so his back was to the rest of the guests.This pregnancy thing certainly had its advantages, one of the major ones being that all those extra hormones turned Lacey into a horny little minx.This new, lascivious Lacey was a buffet of fresh and exciting menus to be sampled nightly.God, she smelled divine, like roses and apples and vanilla all combined, and he wanted to taste her so bad.
