AllFreeNovel
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He was an only child, and now he’s one of three. He had no sisters, but now he has many. He never expected to be part of a family, but now he has two nieces, and another on the way.
Everything is how it’s supposed to be for him, and though I begged and pleaded for him to let me make the move, to relocate to the city and take up residence in the plaza where I would always feel a little green when looking out the window, despite my numerous requests to be the one to move, he saw through my bullshit and wouldn’t allow it.
He knew I didn’t want to leave my cop family. He knew I’d never truly settle as a trophy wife in the city. And more than that, he wanted to be closer to his brothers, so he packed up and created a new arm of Griffin Industries. The plaza remains, and Annaliese runs that place now, as she always has, but Gunner has opened his own smaller office here.
It houses twenty or so staff, four of which are assistants to help in his quest to speak to as few people as he can, and Checkmate has signed an exclusivity agreement with Griffin for tech, and for, well… the other stuff.
The explosive kind of stuff.
Mostly, Jay and Kane skip out on their own work to hang out with Gunner, because while they thought building computers was cool, building explosives is infinitely way more awesome.
Because of Gunner’s relocation, I didn’t have to leave my job, my chief is happy like a pig in mud, and now Gunner and I share a home a few blocks from Kane and Jay, and we see them every single day. It’s a codependence I’m not sure any of the brothers wish to cure themselves of, and it’s certainly not something I’ll ever dissuade.
They have a lot of catching up to do, and despite the fact Jay basically ignored Gunner’s existence for most of our travels while searching for Olly, Kane still feels like he has catching up to do. Jay had two months with Gunner that Kane didn’t, and Kane, being the oldest, feels compelled to be the father figure. The caretaker. Which means he needs to make up that time, and bond with the guy that he’s now accepted as his little brother.
Kane was being honest that day in his boardroom – he loves fiercely. If you’re out, then you’re dead to him, but when you’re in, you’rein.
And now Gunner is so far in, he’s not sure what to do with himself. He’s lived a solitary life, and now he finds himself so surrounded by people that he’s been caught sneaking out and hiding away at home until he’s able to catch his breath.
All three brothers are different in their own ways, but when you dig right down to the core, you see the similarities. The love. The loyalty. The respect. And the most annoying senses of humor.
“Come for a walk with me?” Gunner pulls back far enough to catch my eyes. “It’s hot in here.”
“Sure.” I drop down onto my heels and take his hand as he leads me off the dance floor. We pass Kane and Jess and the girls, and despite his full hands, Kane still manages to shoot out a fist for bumping as we pass.
We scoot around the edges of the dance floor, around Jay and Soph while she seduces him with her dancer hips, and his hands remain cupped around her teeny tiny little belly.
She said ten years. He said ten days.
He won, she lost, but she doesn’t seem all that put out about it.
We shimmy between seats and meet at the exit in the same moment that Meg, the wedding planner, does. She’s beautiful and blonde, and obnoxious enough that I’ve felt the deepest compulsion to toss her into our cages at work a million times in the past.
Of course, being obnoxious isn’t a crime, and I’m all about being a good cop, so I leave her be and take myself back to the gym to work through my urges. I’m in such a good mood tonight that I don’t even try to hurry Gunner along so we don’t have to chat with the bombshell who holds a clipboard and wears sky-high heels.
“Hey, Tate.” Meg flashes a wide grin and shows off pearly white teeth behind bright red lipstick. “You guys having fun?”
“The wedding is beautiful. You did good.” We push through the doors and breathe a sigh of relief when the heat and music lower the second we step into the hall. “What about you? Have you had time to relax?”
“Sure have. The cake was amazing, right?”
“I liked the turkey dinner,” Gunner answers with his repressed grin. Repressed, because he’s still a grump that rarely makes friends, but the turkey was too good for him to pass up. “Who’s in charge of catering? Because that was delicious.”
“My friend catered.” Meg makes a note on her clipboard and follows us to the end of the hall. “I’ll be sure to tell her you said so.”
“Oh, sugar! Yes.”
We stop before we turn the corner, caught out by Dolly’s indecent noises just a few feet away. As a group, we lift our brows and bite our grins, because that’s not a Bishop-inspired ‘Oh, sugar, you look so sexy’ that Dolly’s so inclined to give. But something else, something much more… err… physical.
“Just let me…” The poor woman grunts just out of sight. She growls after a moment, and purrs a moment after that. “Yesssssss. You know how to make a woman happy.”
“Oh my God.” Meg whisper-laughs and presses a hand to her mouth. “Is Dolly fucking in public?”
Gunner shakes his head, though he can’t possibly know.
He becomes our sacrificial lamb, our scapegoat, when I push him toward the corner and flick my wrists in a shooing motion.
“Go check,” I whisper. “If she’s fucking, I have to take her to the station.” My belly rolls with muted laughter. “Please tell me she’s not fucking.”
Gunner takes one last step forward and peeks around the corner, and in the silence, he turns back with laughing eyes and shakes his head. “She’s not fucking. But how much tongue is permitted before it’s illegal?”
My lips curl back.
“Oh Dolly.” A man’s voice slithers along the hall, and though it makes me and Gunner laugh, it’s almost like Meg has shoved a fork into a power socket.
No longer stealthy, no longer giggling, she surges around the corner and turns sheet white.
“Daddy?”
