Page 27

CHAPTER 27

Kayley

It was cold and rainy in DC when my flight landed. I no longer had an official detail so I hadn’t expected it when DCMP officers boarded and escorted me off first, bypassing the jetway to descend a flight of steps through an “employees only” door to the tarmac. There, I was loaded into a large, black SUV which was flanked by DC and airport police.

Five minutes later, we sped through the dark toward the White House.

It felt weird returning here knowing my brother and his family weren’t in residence. I’d asked to stay at Blair House, but Ily Bardales insisted on me bunking with them in the residence.

When the First Lady asks you to do something, especially a force of nature such as Ily, you kinda need to do it. It wasn’t so much a request to visit as it was an FYI, clear my calendar, and show up when told.

Her husband might hold and control the nuclear codes but Ily held and controlled him by the short and curlies.

I wonder if Vic’s working The Shift?

I viciously snipped that thought off as close to the roots as I could. It’d been over three months since we said goodbye in person…. And frankly, it still stung.

Scratch that—I felt like my soul had been scoured.

Dammit psychologist, analyze thyself.

We still texted, but with decreasing frequency and little more than superficial friends-level exchanges that made me ache more each time I stared at my phone and wished for him to call.

Could I call him? Yes, but if I was always the one calling him, always initiating the contact, that was a sure sign that while our relationship wasn’t quite dead, the coffin certainly was being lowered into the grave.

It didn’t help that Valentine’s Day was rapidly creeping up and I’d be alone.

Again.

What I really needed to do was sack up and officially end things with Vic, move on, find a partner who wasn’t completely married to his job, and release Vic.

The problem was, who would I do that with?

Especially now that I knew I enjoyed kinky shit?

That required a level of trust in someone vastly deeper than just “dating”.

Not to mention I was still unable to randomly “date” like I could before my brother was drop-kicked into the international spotlight. I had no idea if someone was legit or looking to use me for clout or access. Even with an unofficial nod from the former head of my security detail that they’d be happy to run full background checks on potential dates for me, the thought of going through all that left me feeling…

Empty.

Still, I refused to lay all the blame on Vic’s shoulders. If I wanted to, I could take a sabbatical, or find a position teaching close to DC. Between my CV and my brother’s influence I could probably write my own ticket nearly anywhere.

Problem was, I didn’t like to lean on name-dropping. If that wasn’t a hang-up of mine, I could do exactly that and be close to Vic.

Except would I be? Really ? Me moving to DC wouldn’t change the fact that he was still on the job. He could be sent anywhere in the world for weeks at a time on assignments, still leaving me alone.

Still leaving me in second place to his job, and still leaving me home alone too many nights.

And the last thing I wanted was resentment to bleed into our relationship and taint it. Staying in California, for now, and working was one less resentment to poison any potential future we might still have.

If we still had one. I honestly had no idea anymore.

Frankly, I didn’t know how Leo lasted as long as he had waiting for Elliot. I would have kicked that man to the curb after a couple of years of that push me-pull you BS.

Then again, Leo also had Jordan to balance things out during the times Elliot was unavailable.

All I had was… me.

I hadn’t told Vic I was coming to DC. I wanted to hear Ily’s pitch first and learn what I would be doing before screwing up the courage to contact Vic.

Besides, if he wasn’t in DC, then I wouldn’t be disappointed when I arrived and could focus on whatever this was.

I didn’t spot any press lingering outside the White House when we pulled up to the ground floor entrance outside the Diplomatic Reception Room and agents opened my door for me. I followed them inside through familiar corridors, past rooms I could never forget, and I took several deep breaths once I was in the elevator for the ride upstairs to the private residence.

Act cool. Don’t be a dork.

Ily Bardales stood waiting when the elevator doors slid open. I’d barely stepped out of the car when she enveloped me in an exuberant hug.

“Kayley! I’m so glad you came!”

“Thank you, Mrs. Bardales.”

She tsked and hooked her arm through mine. “ Ily . Save the formalities. I swear, Leo’s right about the stubborn streak running through your family.”

“He’s not wrong,” I said. “And he should know because he’s just like me.”

“Yes, well, that’s a big brother for you.”

Sometimes I wish I had sisters. I could imagine them being like Ily.

We started walking. Rather, she led the way but wouldn’t release my arm, so I had to walk with her.

“When do I get the details about this mystery project?” I asked.

“Soon, I promise.”

I couldn’t help glancing around and studying agents’ faces, hoping for a glimpse of Vic as we headed to the small family dining room. Ily hadn’t changed the decor here from what Jordan designed for Elliot, although there were a few different pieces of furniture and the arrangement was different, as well as new artwork on the walls. Still, the paint and wallpaper, rugs, and drapes were the same.

Ily ushered me to the head of the table and didn’t release my arm until I was seated. “Wait right here for a minute.” She exited the room, which left me sitting at the empty table.

My back was to the doorway leading to the kitchen. I pulled out my phone and started scrolling through my emails and didn’t look up when I heard a server enter and set a covered silver platter in front of me.

“What’s this?” I asked as the lid was whisked off but the server exited just as quickly as they’d arrived.

On the platter wasn’t a plate of food.

It was a sheet of paper folded in half.

I picked it up. My hands trembled as I unfolded and read it, tears blurring my vision and forcing me to blink them away.

It was a formal acknowledgement of retirement beginning on the first of next month.

Just a couple of weeks away.

For one Special Agent Victor August Belefonte.

That’s when I realized the paper had been covering something lying on the plate beneath it?—

An engagement ring.

At least, that’s what it looked like.

My eyes widened and I’m pretty certain my jaw gaped as I picked it up, because it was a damned large diamond.

“Hope you’re still hungry for dessert, baby,” he said from behind me.

I turned and spotted him standing there, leaning against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. Yes, in a suit—damn him—and looking completely smug.

“I should add that I’m on leave starting today and running up to my retirement date, because I had a ton to use up still.” He walked over and took the ring from me, dropped to one knee, and then slipped the ring onto my left ring finger.

“I love you,” he said. “And you’re right that life is short. It wasn’t fair for me to be so chicken-shit. My career has a natural expiration date but yours doesn’t. I don’t want a full-time career and a part-time submissive. I want a full-time relationship with the woman I love, however she wants to define that relationship with me. I have my pension, but I can also pursue other employment options from nearly anywhere in the country and still be home with you nearly every night.”

I blinked back more tears. “My department head might have offered to let me reduce my class load and teach remotely while I work on my book,” I said. “All I need is a stable internet connection. Sir,” I added.

He cupped my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it. “Really?”

I nodded. “Really.” I took a deep breath. “I don’t know if I’m ready to face the full-time fury of a Montana winter, but I’d be willing to split our time between Laguna Beach and Montana. At first, at least. You know, until we decide if that’s where we want to be.”

A slow, sexy smile filled his face. “Oh, reeeeally?”

“Yeah. On one condition.”

“Name it,” he said.

“No butt plugs. At least not during allergy season. And definitely not after Mexican food.”

He snorted. “Agreed, baby. So, will you marry me?”

I nodded, full-on crying now. “Yes!”

He stood, pulling me into his arms where he laid a long, sweetly sexy kiss on me.

Exactly the kind of kiss I wanted to enjoy on a daily basis for the rest of my life.

And for the first time in several months my soul felt peaceful, like this was exactly where I was supposed to be.

“Are we good?” Ily spoke from the doorway.

Vic turned us and I spotted her playful smile. “Yeah,” I said. “Thank you.”

“Well, it was time someone did something to give this guy a foot in his ass. It was that or I was going to have him sent to Alaska to protect him from Jordan. And congratulations.” She walked in and hugged me, then him. “If you want to have the wedding here, just tell me the date and we’ll arrange it.”

I stared up into Vic’s gaze. “What do you think?”

“I honestly don’t have a preference where, when, or how we get hitched, as long as we do. I’m through wasting time.”

I thought about it. “I don’t want a public ceremony.” I turned to Ily. “Could we have a small, private ceremony here? My brother, Jordan, Elliot, my parents, and Elliot’s parents?” I won’t leave them out because they’ve adopted me and I love them. “And you, your husband, and the kids, of course.”

She eagerly rubbed her hands together. “Give me a date and it’s done.”

Vic cleared his throat. “Forget someone?”

My eyes widened with horror. “Oh, my god! Your family! I’m so sorry!”

But he burst out laughing and engulfed me in a hug. “God, you should see your face, baby. That was adorable.”

“We can fit all of the Belefontes in here, I’m sure,” Ily said with a smile.

Vic nuzzled my nose with his. “I will turn Jordan loose with the guest list as soon as you give us a date.”

I still struggled to… think. “I mean, how soon can we do it?”

“I could call the chief justice over right now,” Illy playfully suggested.

“Chief justice?”

“Yes. You know. Of SCOTUS?”

“SCOTUS?”

“The Supreme Court,” Vic whispered.

I started laughing…

Until I realized from her arched eyebrows that she wasn’t kidding. “Um, no, that’s okay,” I said. “Let’s not do that.”

Vic met my gaze again. “Breathe, baby. We don’t have to decide it right this second. I’m not going anywhere. Not anymore. Not unless it’s with you.”

“I threatened to have the Secret Service slap a radio collar around his neck if he didn’t do this,” Ily said.

I… was reasonably certain she wasn’t kidding.

“Anyway, your things are up in your room.” She gave us one last hug. “Go have fun. Dinner’s in two hours.”

Vic led me upstairs. We’d been given a guest room at the far end, away from where the family quarters were located, and he locked the door behind us.

I turned to speak but found his lips slanted over mine. I wrapped my arms around him, burying my fingers in his hair as his hands dug into my ass and pulled me against him.

I needed him. Desperately, and right now.

A clothes explosion happened, and seconds later we were on the bed, fucking with me on my back and my legs wrapped around his waist as he gave me what I’d desperately missed way more than I’d wanted to admit to myself.

His blue gaze looked dark, midnight in the room’s dim light. “Not letting you get away again,” he hoarsely said. “I was an idiot.”

“Apology accepted. Now please fuck my brains out!”

“Happy to oblige, baby.” He hoisted my legs over his shoulders and started grinding on me in a way that made me forget how to speak English. He pinned my hands over my head with his and started pounding me. “Wish I could spank your ass right now.” He leaned in and sucked at the base of my throat, and I suspected I’d have a mark there later. “But I think reminding you who loves you will suffice, for now.”

My soul unhinged as the first orgasm caught me by surprise and I bit down on my lip in order not to sound like a bad porn star.

“There you go,” he said, picking up the pace. “That’s what I wanted out of you.” Maybe a minute later he exploded and fell still, both of us breathing heavy and now gently kissing, exploring, tasting.

“Wow,” I whispered. “That was… wow .”

He smiled. “Glad I can still surprise you, baby.”

I reached up and played with his hair. “Me, too.”

Our gazes locked and we stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I wasted time between us. I never meant to make you think you mattered less to me than my career.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t exactly offering much of a compromise, either.”

We both flinched when someone pounded on the bedroom door.

“Hey, when you’re done with the first round of makeup sex, give me a date, dammit!”

My eyes widened. “Jordan?”

“It’s certainly not the Tooth Fairy, sis,” he called back.

Vic started laughing and pulled the covers over him while I climbed out of bed, found a robe hanging on the bathroom door, and I unlocked the door so I could peek out.

Jordan shooed me back and I let him in, closing the door behind him.

He held his cell phone in his hand, ready to take notes. “Wedding date. Now .”

“I… I?—”

“Mrs. Bardales had me wait in the living room because she rightfully said if you saw me you’d know it was a setup. Now give. Me. A. Date.”

I helplessly looked at Vic, who lay on the bed, his hands laced behind his head and a smugly pleased smile on his face. “You pick the date, baby,” he said.

I focused on Jordan again. “Where’s Leo and Elliot?”

He waggled his fingers at me. “Gimme, girlie. Date .”

I finally settled on four Saturdays from that weekend. That would give Jordan time to arrange charters and transportation for everyone, as well as lodgings at Blair House.

He tapped notes into his phone. “President Samuels volunteered to officiate, if that’s okay with you.”

I’d just started to process everything but my jaw snapped shut. “ShaeLynn Samuels?” I finally asked.

Jordan smirked. “There’s not another President Samuels.”

“Oh, yeah, we should invite them,” Vic offered from the bed. “Chris Bruunt and I worked together for years.”

Jordan nodded. “The three of them and the kids, then.”

ShaeLynn Samuels, her husband Chris Bruunt, and their third, Kevin Markos, were one of the families who publicly dropped the info that they were a throuple when the news unexpectedly broke about Elliot, Leo, and Jordan.

I stared at him. “We… we’re going to have three presidents here for our wedding?”

“Looks like it.” He tapped more info into his phone. “I know you said low-key, so we’ll set it up to hold it inside. Any color scheme in particular?”

“I... I?—”

“Jordan,” Vic said, laughing, “you just melted her brain, dude.”

“No, I distinctly heard you melting her brain.” He smiled. “I’m just opportunistically taking advantage of her stubborn force shields temporarily being down as a result. Remember, I’m used to dealing with her brother. I will take any advantage I can get.”

I finally snapped out of it. “We can’t afford a huge shindig,” I said.

He waved my objection away. “Mom and Dad already said they’d pay for it.”

Nope, stunned again. “Wait, my mom and dad?”

“Mom and Dad Woodley ,” he said. “Don’t worry. With what Stella left them, they can more than afford it. Mom Woodley and Mom Cruz are already planning the menu. Mom Belefonte—nice woman, by the way, Vic, congrats—called dibs on organizing the dessert table. She wants to go cake testing with you next week. She’s already coordinating with your mom to set that up and will fly to Cali on Tuesday.”

I grabbed my head as I struggled to process all this info coming at me at once. “Wait a minute! How do they all know about this already?”

Jordan grinned. “Oh, I activated the phone tree as soon as you said yes.”

“Phone tree?”

Vic chuckled. “Failure was not an option today, baby. Either you were going to accept my proposal, or three mommas and the first lady were going to skewer me and roast me over an open fire on the North Lawn and cook marshmallows in the flames.”

I sank onto the edge of the bed. “Does Leo know about all of this?”

Jordan started to answer when someone else knocked on the door. “Yes, he does.” He went to answer it and there stood my rat-bastard big brother in the flesh.

He wore a smugly satisfied grin and Jordan closed the door after him. “Congratulations, sis.”

I let him pull me up for a hug and…

Breathe, Kayley , I told myself.

“This is a stupid question, I know,” I started, “but why the fuck are you here?”

“Backup,” Jordan, Vic, and Leo said in unison before they cracked up.

“Vic wanted backup in case you said no,” Leo continued, smirking. “Who better than your psychologist big brother, who had years of experience wrangling a very stubborn guy who was afraid to commit in the beginning?”

“And who is also an expert in being a fuckup in the relationship department,” Jordan snarked where he was head down over his phone, thumbs flying as he typed.

Some women might have been creeped out by the level of planning that went into this, but…

Yeah.

I wasn’t.

I’d wanted a big family, and now it looked like my wish was granted. “If we don’t use Pecan as our ring bearer, I’ll never forgive you, Jordan.”

His face blanked for a second before he doubled over with laughter. “The first tortoise as a ring bearer! I love it!” Pecan was the pet sulcata tortoise of ShaeLynn Samuels’ family.

Vic was smiling, too.

Finally, I was able to shoo Leo and Jordan out. They were apparently joining us for dinner with the First Family. I climbed back into bed and into Vic’s arms. “You’re sneaky,” I said.

He shrugged. “Don’t forget my entire career consisted of extensive and secret over-planning for success, baby. I was leaving absolutely zero to chance.” His smile faded. “Not letting you get away again, sweetheart. We’ll make this work, I promise.”

I stared into his eyes. “And if you fuck up, I can have Ily Bardales ask her husband to send you to a CIA black ops site.”

He snorted. “There is that. Because it’s that or Jordan will kill me.”

I started to laugh until I realized he was serious. And then as I thought about it…

Yeah. He was probably right.