Page 166

Bemused, Emma followed more slowly. Her lips parted at the sight of the crowd holding balloons, toys, and a huge banner that read, “Welcome home, Stella!”
Rainer and George were there, a huge stuffed bear tucked under Rainer’s arm. They were surrounded by the Auric co-owners and their soldiers, many of whom she’d met at the wedding.
Elias Gardner whooped, pushing his cousin Ian forward. In his arms, he held a huge pink unicorn. The pair swooped in with coordinated movements, almost as if they were attacking someone—which in a way they were.
Stella’s happy squeal could be heard over the crowd as Elias presented her with the unicorn like a knight bestowing a prized steed to his regent. He even kneeled.
“Who are all these people?” Mariana asked in a bewildered voice. “And why are they reenacting Beatlemania?”
Emma sniffed, waving a hand over her watery eyes. “These are some of Garrett’s friends and business partners.”
Mariana scanned the crowd with wide eyes. “Jesus, where did they grow them?”
“I think a lot of them are ex-soldiers,” Emma said, acknowledging the hit to the hormones the men made as a group.
Every single man in the crowd was six foot or taller, all fit and muscular.
“They work at a private security company Garrett invested in. He also trained with them at one point.”
She explained the history a little until she noticed Mariana’s anxiety.
Emma leaned over. “None of them are going to judge you for keeping Stella’s identity a secret. There was no way for Garrett to know she was his before now. They’re all aware of this.”
Mariana’s brow smoothed a touch. “I guess that’s true.”
Emma gave her mother a reassuring squeeze before herding her toward the group.
A small figure broke away from the crowd. George ran over, intercepting them to give Emma a fierce hug. “She’s so beautiful I want to cry.”
Emma nodded, instantly tearing up again. “She is. She looks like his mom.”
“I know! I saw the side-by-side pics.” George wiped her eyes, turning to Mariana. “Hi! I’m George. I live next door to Emma and Garrett with my husband Rainer. But you’re going to be just below us—right next door to my dad.”
Mariana thanked her, before jerking to face the crowd when Stella squealed.
Emma turned to see her daughter being passed around from man to man, occasionally tossed high in the air by the burly ex-soldiers.
Being Garrett’s daughter, Stella lapped up the attention as her due, giggling and screaming her delight to the world.
“I don’t care how big they are,” Mariana said. “If they drop her, I will be kicking some ex-soldier butt.”
“They would never,” George swore. But she turned around and scolded them to stop.
Garrett took Stella back from a blond man named Mason, another familiar face from the wedding.
He hoisted Stella on his hip, displaying his baby girl so proudly it brought tears to her eyes. The men clustered close around them, their genuine joy at the friend’s good fortune written all over their faces.
George put a hand over her heart. “Oh my God, I think my ovaries just exploded.”
“Agreed,” Emma said. “Mine physically hurt.”
They went to join the crowd, the festive atmosphere turning into a parade, then a party at their penthouse.
George and Rainer had warned the chef they shared to prepare a feast, but the crowd consisted of a literal army, so they quickly plowed through the trays of mini beef Wellingtons, charcuterie, dumplings, and otherfinger foods.
More food and drinks were ordered from a wide selection of restaurants. Their choices were dropped off by a steady stream of delivery people until the crowd was finally satisfied and then some.
They would be eating leftovers for a week. Even the arrival of theDe Ollacrew didn’t make a dent.