Page 37

Thirty-Seven

Aiden

The first one to get there is Gray.

He crouches down and hesitates when Bri flinches before he murmurs something.

A long heartbeat passes before she nods and he carefully helps her up to her feet, tucking her behind his big body.

The music has cut out and pride flickers through me when I see that every single one of my teammates who are here today is standing, silently staring down Luna’s brother and father, murder emanating out of their bodies, filling the air with tension strung so tightly, one tiny spark is all it will take to set it alight.

All at once, Frank and John seem to realize that they’re in danger.

Critical danger.

Frank’s eyes go wide, and he steps back, halfway shielding himself behind his son.

Fucking coward.

“Who the fuck is that?” I hear Jean-Michel growl, and if murder is the name of the game in Luna’s gorgeous, flower-filled-huge-oak-tree-shaded back yard with twinkly lights my mom had my dad and me stringing over the last week, Jean-Michel’s tone is somehow even more deadly.

It speaks of kings who’ll decapitate, who’ll give the order for drawing and quartering, who’ll display bodies from city walls, and who’ll do it with enjoyment.

With fucking vigor.

“That is Frank Maybelle, CEO of Smythe Industries,” Jace says quietly, his anger frigid cold, so chilled it’ll blacken skin, burning flesh with its frost. “And his useless piece of shit son, John.”

Jean-Michel’s eyes come to mine.

And I know the short conversation I had with him the other night was the best thing I could have done.

He might have been in before.

But now he’s fucking in.

Victory ricochets through my insides, knowing that this shit’s going to get taken care of, that Luna won’t have to deal with it, with them any longer, but even as I’m tabling that emotion, preparing to show these fuckers the door, Luna—as usual—surprises me.

Not by showing strength.

She’s always had a steel spine, an intense work ethic, strong ideals…but sometimes those have been overshadowed by etiquette and her brother and father’s overbearing nature.

She would roll her eyes, let them vent their bullshit, and then quietly go the direction she wanted.

That was the way of Grams, so it’s not a surprise.

But that’s not the way of Luna, not today.

“You need to leave,” she says, slipping from my grip and stepping forward, out of my reach, out of my protection.

Heart pulsing, I follow her, but she’s moving fast, marching forward at a far quicker clip than I anticipated.

She pauses by Bri, looking into the girl’s face for a heartbeat, but whatever she sees there must be reassuring because she just nods sharply then keeps on marching.

Not stopping until she’s a foot away from her brother.

John, dumbass that he is, underestimates her as usual, sneering as she halts in front of him. “Oh,” he drawls. “I’m sorry. Are we interrupting your little party for corporate fraud? Fake weddings don’t need parties to celebrate them, so I’m sure you’ll survive.”

“There’s nothing fake about Aiden and me,” she says and my heart spasms, love for this woman filling every cell in my body. “Although?—”

Another spasm, this time fierce and painful.

Is she going to tell everyone the truth like she told my mom? That it’s complicated and means something, but not what they think?

Or worse, is she going to tell them that this is fake and meaningless and that it is strictly business, that I’m a dumb fuck who fell in love when I was really supposed to be fixing things and?—

“—if you two hadn’t been such pushy assholes”—she turns to Bri and winces—“sorry for the language?—”

I hear a quiet chuckle, see that Jean-Michel has flanked me, Jace next to him, my teammates at my side. And my family is right here too, Carrie and her husband Dave and Ralph, and my parents, my mom having tucked Bri against her.

Fuck.

That hits hard.

In the best possible way.

“I curse all the time,” Bri says, making Luns smile for a fleeting moment before she focuses her fierce glare back on her brother.

“If it wasn’t for you two, I never would have searched Aiden out again.

” Her shoulders tense, gaze coming to mine.

“I was too scared I would end up like all the other Maybelle women—alone and sad and wishing I’d never put my hand near the stove, so I wouldn’t have gotten burned. ”

“I think alone and sad are your destiny,” John says. “And hopefully, with third-degree burns because you’re such a pain in the ass.”

Gray curses softly, takes a step forward, but Smitty snags his shoulder, shakes his head.

Rightly reading that Luna needs this moment.

To come into her own.

To say her piece.

To protect herself.

More spasms clench my heart—both because I’m shoving away flashes of a future without this woman passing through my mind like a depressing slideshow and also because?—

“No,” she says, turning and looking at me, her eyes so bright and beautiful when they connect with mine that my lungs freeze, not restarting until she glances at the semi-circle of people surrounding her.

“No,” she says again. “I’m not alone.” Her chin lifts.

“All that’s left of my family may be jerks, but I’m building a new one—and they don’t get sick satisfaction from hurting or manipulating or trying to squeeze every bit of usefulness out of me.

They like me as I am, and they have my back instead of sucking me dry. ”

Christ. My throat is tight.

My eyes burn.

Because I’m so damned proud of her.

How had I ever let her go a decade ago?

Of course, I know why.

Youth and time, busy lives and heavy travel, spending too much time being an idiot while working toward my dreams.

And…immaturity—not understanding exactly how precious of a gift she is.

Lucky for me, she did knock on my door.

Because I recognize the treasure, the beauty of her, and I’m prepared to fight tooth and nail for it.

Today.

Forever.

“See,” she says, “you chipped away at me when I was a girl, wore me down when I was caring for Grams. You took advantage of my grief, and you poked and prodded and eroded anything I wanted to do with Smythe, no matter how good. And for a while, I believed it was better to back down, to walk away. Then Aiden helped me fight?—”

“Fuck yeah, sweetheart,” Smitty says.

Luns glances back at him, a soft smile on her face, before she’s turning back, stepping closer.

“The thing is, you pushed me too far. Now, I’m not alone, I’m not bereft with grief, and I’m sure as hell not uncertain and cowed.

Oh no”—a shake of her head—“I’m finally thinking clearly.

And I’m going to fight for what I want—even if that means going toe-to-toe with you. ”

Frank Maybelle looks rightfully terrified.

But John—never the smartest tool in the box—doesn’t seem to realize the end is near. His sneer grows at Luna’s words, deepening the ugly furrows in his face. “Such idiotic sentiments.” A sniff. “Especially when we can draw this out, can bankrupt you in a legal battle that will go on for years.”

“And drain the family’s trust fund when my lawyers come after it for fees?” she asks archly.

Fuck yeah, sweetheart is right.

John growls, steps forward, lifting his hand as though he’s going to hit her.

I move without thinking, darting between them, and grabbing him by the throat, squeezing.

Tightly .

John chokes, his face turning purple, and he scrabbles at my hand, trying to pull my fingers free.

But, yeah, that’s not going to fucking happen. “You fucking touch her,” I growl, holding his eyes that are the same color as Luna’s eyes and yet nothing alike, “and I will rip you apart, piece by piece by—” I shake him like a rag doll. “— piece .”

He gargles out something unintelligible.

But I don’t loosen my grip enough to discern it.

“Do you get me?” I grit out and because it feels so good to put the fucker in his place, I shake him again. “Do you get me?”

A bobbing nod, even as the purple shade of his face darkens, as he scrabbles at my hand.

“Aiden,” Luna murmurs, lightly touching my arm. “Honey, it’s okay?—”

I glance at her then shake John again. “It’s not fucking okay for him to do this shit to you. He’s hurt you. He’s put you through hell. He fucking pushed Bri”—I see Bri twitch out of the corner of my eyes, but I’m too busy choking John to look at her—“and he was going to hit you?—”

“Honey.” Her hand slides to mine, gently tugging at my fingers, silently encouraging me to let go. “I’ve got this.”

I suck in a breath, striving for control.

I don’t find it.

I still have to force myself to loosen my fingers slowly, one by one, to step back, and I can’t stop myself from staring him down as I say, “Touch her again and I will fucking end you.”

“I will fucking sue you,” he rasps out, clutching at his throat.

“We have a dozen witnesses for your assault on a minor,” I say. “You really want to play that game?”

Luna laces her fingers with mine, squeezes, and I take the cue to shut the fuck up.

My palms still itch to hit him, but my woman is in complete control as she says, “You were right, I don’t want the dirty money. And I don’t need it. I have Gram’s place and I have good people taking my back like Aiden and Kathy and Mike?—”

“And me.”

My eyes skim to the right, seeing that Smitty’s come up, flanking her other side.

“And I have Smitty,” she murmurs, face softening slightly when she looks at my teammate.

“And me,” Gray says.

“And Gray.” Her throat works.

“And me,” Bri says, stepping out of the circle of my mom’s arm, her shoulders ramrod straight.

“And you have me,” Joel says.

“And Joel.”

“Not to jump in on this whole I am Spartacus thing,” Jace says. “But you also have me.”

Frank pales, terror growing, clearly recognizing the billionaire biomedical tycoon.

But it’s what his expression does when Jean-Michel chimes in, “And me,” that truly warms my heart.

Luna is compassion and kindness, strength and life…but her father only respects money and power and…

Fear .

And Jean-Michel can evoke that in spades.

I grin, no longer wanting to commit murder.

If I’m in jail, I won’t get to see the pain he dishes out to the Maybelle assholes.

“And Jean-Michel Dubois and Jace Henderson,” Luna tells them, her chin lifting higher.

“So, yes, we can absolutely take this battle to court. We can draw it out for years and years and years .” Her tone hardens.

“But I’m not going to give up. And because of that, I’m going to win.

” She glances up at me. “Because how can’t I with all of these great people at my side? ”

God, I love this woman.

“Let’s go,” Frank says, tugging at John’s arm.

He shakes off his father. “No, I need?—”

“No,” Frank snaps. “We need to go.”

“Yes,” I say, stepping forward again, Smitty and Gray right beside me. “You need to go.”

John tries to stare me down.

Newsflash, that doesn’t fucking work.

So when Frank tugs at his arm again, he finally gives up the bravado and turns, following his father through the doors and back into the house.

“I’ll just make sure they leave,” Gray tells me quietly, his words still filled with deadly intent.

Not trusting myself to see to that— and keep my hands to myself—I nod. “Thanks.”

He nods back and it’s curt.

Then he follows them into the house, Smitty and Joel on his heels.

I touch Luna’s cheek before our family closes ranks around us.

“You okay, my tiny tornado?” I ask before we’re interrupted, needing the assurance from her before we deal with explanations and reassurances and…

with all that’s my parents and siblings and teammates and…

her newfound billionaire fairy godfathers.

“I’m okay.” Her lips kick up and when I open my mouth, she presses a finger to it, saying, “Because I have all of this.” She sweeps her hand around the party, everyone already doing their best to get over the interruption and back to the festivities.

Joel has come back outside and is passing out beers, my mom has Bri tucked close to her side again and is making her laugh, and Smitty…well, he waltzes out, gray on his heels, and loops his arm through my woman’s, dragging her to the makeshift stage and tempting her into a duet.

When I was traded to the Grizzlies from the Breakers, I didn’t know what my hockey future would look like.

The family I found in Baltimore was unique, special, impossible to create anywhere else?—

The music cranks on to an ear-piercing volume and I wince.

Then shake my head as Smitty and Luna begin belting out a boy band ballad.

But I do it smiling.

Because it turns out that if I find the right people, I can build a family that’s just as good here.

That’s maybe—somehow—even better I think as I look to Luna, who’s been drawn into singing, who’s already shaking off the bitterness of her family, her brightness shining through the huge smile on her face.

She’s fucking incredible, fucking perfect.

Jean-Michel pats my shoulder and I manage to tear my gaze away from the beauty of my woman to see his eyes shining just as bright—only not with beauty.

With brutal challenge.

Like he can’t wait for the confrontation ahead.

“Oh, Aiden,” he says, clapping me on the shoulder again then jerking his chin at Jace, who nods back, his expression just as fierce, “I’m so glad we talked.”

He’s glad?

That whole scene was a fucking shit show.

And I still want to pummel someone.

“You are?” I mutter.

He drops his hand to his side. “Yup.” A beat. “Because now it’s fucking on .”