Operation Date With Destiny (24 page)

She pushed at his hold and tried to get up but he held her firmly.
“
Tupperoni—if you want to keep your family jewels—you better let go of me right now
.
”
She looked up and caught her brother watching them warily and gave a harder shove, rolling from Johnny
’
s hold and getting back to her feet.

“
Would you relax. You
’
re jumpier than a nun in a brothel.
”

Destiny rolled her eyes.
“
I
’
m supposed to be a role model for goodness sake—I can
’
t be rollin
’
around in the sand with a half-naked man
in front of him
,
”
s
he hissed,
softly, keeping her voice low and
lightly slapping away Johnny
’
s wandering hands.

“
You
’
re his sister—not his mother. You don
’
t have to change who you are.
”

“
This
isn
’
t
who I am either,
”
she said waving a hand between them.
“
I don
’
t even know who I am now days.
”

“
Are you two love birds gonna
’
play or what?
”
Del called.

“
Maybe if you stop blaming yourself for everything, you
’
d remember who you were,
”
Johnny said quietly, dropping a quick kiss on her lips before turning to toss the ball across to Tate.

Easier said than done, Tupperoni.
She
’
d figure out who she was once she
’
d made sure Tre
’
ago had paid for all the carnage his greed had left in his wake.
Until then she
’
d just have to continue to juggle her series of conflicting identities.

Chapter
Fourteen

Destiny found herself making a salad after the big football game later that afternoon
alongside Mercy,
and it was the first time she
’
d had a chance to really talk to
her alone
.

“
Chase has been so great with Jackson,
”
Destiny
said quietly and saw
Mercy
smile.

“
He
’
s great with kids
. He
’
s great with pretty much anyone.
”

“
So how did you two meet?
”
She knew Summer and Willow were sisters and that explained the connection those two had with the men, but Mercy wasn
’
t any relation and it seemed odd that a U.S Marine would end up with another Australian.

“
H
e rescued me. Found me washed up on a river bank while he was out fishing.
”

“
That would have to win first prize in
a wild kinda
’
‘
how did you meet your husband
’
story
contest
,
”
Destiny grinned.

“
Anywhere else maybe,
”
she chuckled
as she
slic
ed
tomato
for the salad bowl
.
“
But you obviously haven
’
t heard Summer and Willow
’
s
stories
.
”

Actually she had. She and Johnny had talked long into the nights. She looked forward to those long conversations. Tucked in his arms, she loved listening to his voice rumble in his chest beneath her ear. He
’
d told her lots of stories over the short time they
’
d been together, some sad, some hilarious, but all of them in some way relating to this very special group of men and their families.
“
If I hadn
’
t seen it for myself, I probably wouldn
’
t have believed thes
e
guys were the real deal.
”

“
They
’
ve been through a lot. Actually, we all have. It might look from the outside
that
we have it all. And I guess we do
in a lot of ways
,
”
she shrugged lightly, concentrating on her task.
“
But the fact is, they
’
re protect
ive
and over bearing for a reason. I know
Tre
’
ago
’
s
your father and I guess it must be
weird
for you and all, but he
’
s a constant threat to these guys.
I don
’
t think any of them will completely rest until
the day
they know
for
sure he can
’
t hurt them or someone they love ever again. I hate that my husband is always so weary—so on guard. This island is the only place they truly feel safe.

“
I
’
ll end this. I promise,
”
Destiny said after
a while when
the gentle tap of the knife on the chopping board
was the only sound between them
.

“
You shouldn
’
t take this all on
your own
shoulders. It
’
s not your fault he
’
s your father. You have
a
brother to think of now days.
”

“
It couldn
’
t have come at a worst time. I just don
’
t need this right now, you know?
”

She saw Mercy glance up with a strange look on her face
and sighed
.
“
It
’
s just that everything is still such a mess.
I
’
ll have to leave him and you know what—he
’
d probably be better off staying here.
I have to end this thing—and having him to worry about on top of everything is just…too much to bear sometimes.
”

“
That
’
s the problem with life—it throws you curves you weren
’
t expecting,
”
she smiled lopsided as she stroked her stomach.
“
Falling pregnant with my ex
’
s baby, the man who tried to
kill me,
was not something I would have written into my own fairytale story, but that
’
s how it turned out. Sometimes you just have to go with it.
”

Destiny thought about it for a moment before blurting out her next question in a rush.
“
Are you okay with it all—this whole parenthood thing? I mean you don
’
t have any experience with kids either right? This is your first baby…aren
’
t you scared out of your brain by all that responsibility?
”

Mercy put the knife down and tilted her head slightly as she pondered the question.
“
I guess I am…or at least I was. Yeah, it really freaked me out when I first discovered I was pregnant. At that point I was going to be a single mother—that didn
’
t help.
It was
pretty intimidating. Is that what you
’
re worried about with Jackson?
”

“
It
’
s all I think about. All he has is me now. My mum was
such
a great mother. She was kind and gentle and loving—and we were like polar opposites,
”
she smiled sadly.
“
I
’
m pretty sure I
’
m the least maternal person you
’
d be able to find…what if I do it wrong?
”

“
You love your brother. Think about how fiercely you fought to get him back. That
’
s love Destiny. That
’
s
real
love…that right there is exactly what your mother would have done—it
’
s maternal. It doesn
’
t matter that he
’
s your brother and not your child…he
’
s family and you love him
. T
he kids already miles ahead of a lot of other
’
s
out there living on the streets or in homes where they
’
re being abused and mistreated…you
can
’
t
do it wrong—there
’
s no book on raising kids.
No one has any freakin
’
idea what they
’
re doing.
All you have to do is love him,
”
s
he shrugged, sending her a gentle smile before picking up the knife again and selecting a new
tomato
.

Really? It was that simple? Surely not.
But deep down it gave her a small measure of optimism.
Maybe she could do this…maybe not gracefully, but surely she could fumble her way through it? Couldn
’
t she?

****

Destiny glanced down at her phone when it started vibrating on the table later
that
evening
as she sat and watched the sunset sink behind the horizon.

“
Doug. How
’
d you go?
”
Even as she answered the phone call, her eyes strayed to the solitary figure jogging along the beach towards her and she had to drop her gaze from his naked torso to concentrate on the call.

“
I got it.
”
Doug
’
s words instantly caught her attention.
“
Vincent Lemont. He
used to be
a prominent attorney
. H
andled a lot of high
profile clients
who all had one thing in common.
”

“
What was that?
”

“
They were all crooks.
”
Doug
told her
dryly.
“
He represented a number of dubious mob related criminals, corrupt businessmen and…
”

“
Samuel Tre
’
ago,
”
Destiny finished for him.
”

“
You got it. He dropped out of circulation a few years ago under a cloud of controversy. He works under a company banner named FortMax. The office is located in a very nondescript middle class New York suburb, and he keeps a rather low profile.
”

“
So all this subterfuge, the low key office, the fact he doesn
’
t actually practice law any more, is to throw everyone off the scent?
”

“
Would look that way
,
”
Doug agreed.
“
You sure you know what you
’
re doing
,
kiddo?
”

“
Yeah,
”
she said in a
cold tone
.
“
Something that should have bee
n done a long time ago.
”

****

“
I found him.
”
Destiny said, clos
ing her phone and glancing up as
Tupper
reached the bottom step of his porch.