Deadly Honeymoon (Hardy Brothers Security Book 7) (10 page)

“Finn shows me the opposite every day,” Emma continued. “You guys show me the opposite every day. I now know what a real family is now. You guys have made me whole.”

“Me, too,” Sophie interjected. “I never had to go through what Emma did, but when you get cast in the foster system at such a young age – like I was – you start to question your worth. You guys have shown me more love than I ever thought was possible. You guys are pure delight.”

Ally moved to Sophie’s side, slinging her arm around the woman’s narrow shoulders. “You guys seem to think that we’ve given everything and you’ve taken everything,” she said. “That’s not the truth.”

“No,” Mandy agreed. “You guys have given us just as much as we’ve given you.”

“Not even close,” Sophie said, wiping an errant tear from her cheek. “You’ll never know what you’ve given me.”

“Or me,” Emma chimed in.

“And you’ll never know what you’ve given us,” Ally said, hugging Sophie tightly. “You’ll never know.”

Mandy grabbed Emma’s hand, tugging her across the hot tub so the four women could embrace in totality. “I love you guys.”

“Me, too,” Emma sobbed.

“Me, three,” Sophie added.

“We’re a big pile of love,” Ally said.

The sound of someone clearing their throat caused all four women to look up and fix their attention on the four men standing on the pavement next to the hot tub.

“Does someone want to tell us what’s going on here?” James asked.

“We’re very happy,” Mandy said, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Okay,” James said. “Let’s erase blueberry margaritas from future drink menus and get these drunken females out of the water. This is just too … freaky to wrap my head around. I can only take so much.”

“Oh, leave them be,” Jake said. “I think it’s sweet.”

“It’s also disturbing,” James said. “Anytime I find my wife in tears, I’m concerned.”

Mandy stood, placing her hands on her hips. “How many times do I have to tell you that women can cry when they’re happy?”

“Just until my heart doesn’t break when I see the tears,” James said.

The four women burst into uncontrollable sobs in unison, his words tugging at four different hearts.

“Okay,” James said, glancing at his brothers and Jake. “I’m guessing some more beer is in order.”

“Lead away,” Grady said. “This whole … thing … is freaking me out.”

“I want a blueberry margarita,” Finn announced. “I don’t care if it’s girly.”

James smirked. “I think blueberry margaritas will do us all good. Although, I’m not climbing in there and hugging you guys while I cry.”

“Dude,” Grady said. “We’re not girls.”

“Baby?”

The lump beneath the covers didn’t shift, but James was sure he heard a slight whimper. He sat down on Mandy’s side of the bed and carefully pulled down the covers. Mandy’s hair was a mess of waves and kinks from sleeping on it wet, and her face was pinched and pale.

“Baby?”

“Shh,” Mandy said, her voice raspy. “There’s no need to yell.”

“I’m not yelling.”

“It sounds like you’re yelling.”

“I think that’s because you’re hung-over,” James said.

“I am not hung-over,” Mandy scoffed, wrenching an eye open and then immediately slamming it shut. “Where is that light coming from?”

“The sun.”

“Well … make it stop.”

James fought the urge to laugh. “Can you sit up for a second?”

“Why?”

“I want you to take a few aspirin and drink this bottle of water.”

“Why?”

“Because if you do, and you go back to sleep for a couple of hours, you might just wake up feeling a little better,” James said..

“Fine,” Mandy said, sighing as she struggled to a sitting position.

James dropped the aspirin in the palm of her hand and unscrewed the top on the water bottle. “I’m guessing that blueberry margaritas are going to be off the menu for a good, long while.”

“Ally is evil,” Mandy grumbled, popping the aspirin into her mouth.

James’ eyes widened as he watched her down the entire bottle of water without stopping for a breath. “Thirsty?”

“I feel like I’ve been reincarnated as a dirty dish rag,” Mandy admitted. “Why did you let me drink so much?”

“I didn’t think you drank that much,” James said. “Ally must have put more tequila in those things than I realized.”

“Evil,” Mandy mumbled.

James pushed Mandy’s hair out of her face, deciding that making a big deal out of it probably wasn’t wise – at least for now. If he could figure out a way to snap a photo with his cellphone without her noticing, though, he was going to use it as blackmail material for months.

“Why are you dressed?” Mandy asked after a moment, looking him up and down. “It’s Sunday.”

“I know. I have to go and help Grady move.”

“Oh, I forgot about that.”

“I bet.”

“I guess I’m supposed to help.”

“Yeah, I think you’re going to be more of a hindrance than a help right now,” James replied. “I want you to go back to bed for a couple of hours. If you can be over to Sophie’s by one, though, I’ll buy you lunch. If not, you’re on your own.”

Mandy held her stomach as she contemplated trying to digest food. “I’m not sure … .”

“You’ll feel better later,” James said, cutting her off. “You need to eat regardless.”

Mandy nodded, leaning her head back on the pillow. “Okay.”

James leaned over and brushed a quick kiss against her forehead. “I love you,” he said. “Get some sleep.”

“Hmm.”

James tucked the covers around her, smiling down. “Oh, and don’t worry, baby,” he said. “We promise not to load the video of you four in the hot tub together to the internet, even though we know we could make a fortune off of it.”

“Uh-huh,” Mandy said, her eyes closed again.

James moved to the door, watching as she bolted to a sitting position a second later. He snapped the photograph the minute she stopped moving, smiling as her face tipped into a scowl.

“What video?”

“See you in a couple of hours,” James said.

Mandy could hear him laughing as he moved down the hall.

“WHERE
is Ally?” Finn asked, glancing around Sophie’s front yard. He was waiting for the moving truck with James and Jake, and his sister’s absence had just hit him.

“She’s in bed,” Jake said.

“Hung-over?” James asked, arching an eyebrow.

“I believe her exact words were ‘just kill me now,’” Jake said. “I actually felt a little bad for her. I poured some aspirin and water down her, and then left her there.”

“Mandy was just as bad,” James said. “I took pictures.”

Finn smirked. “You took pictures of your sick wife? That’s not nice. I guess the honeymoon really is over.”

“First off, the honeymoon is never going to be over,” James said. “I won’t allow it. Secondly, she is not sick. She’s hung-over. She did it to herself. I wouldn’t take pictures of her while she’s sick. I’m not that kind of guy.”

“Oh, well, at least you have your standards,” Finn teased.

James pulled his phone out and showed the photograph to Jake and Finn. “I think she looks cute,” he said. “This is always the woman I dreamed about marrying.”

Finn bent over at the waist, gales of laughter pouring out of his mouth. “Omigod!”

Jake managed to refrain from laughing out loud, but amusement was brightening his dark eyes. “Ally looks just as bad.”

“Isn’t Emma hung-over?” James asked. “She had just as much to drink, and she’s a lightweight compared to my sister and my wife.”

“You just like saying ‘wife,’ don’t you?” Jake asked.

“I do,” James admitted.

“Oh, Emma could never look that bad in the morning,” Finn said. “It’s genetically impossible.”

James rolled his eyes.

“Besides, I didn’t get to see her this morning,” Finn said. “She refused to lift the covers. I had to leave her aspirin and water on the nightstand and promise not to look.”

James snickered. “Is that the model thing?”

“She says she doesn’t like people looking at her, and I believe her,” Finn said. “She’s got a surprising vain streak, though. She doesn’t like looking bad. She won’t even wear jogging pants in public, even if we’re just going to the store.”

“She’ll get over that,” James said. “Mandy used to refuse to kiss me before she brushed her teeth in the morning. Now? Meh, she’ll wander around in almost anything – or nothing, for that matter.

“Although, she was worried the neighbors could see her getting into the hot tub naked the other night,” James continued. “That was kind of funny.”

“I bet that hot tub is fun,” Finn said, sighing.

“You have no idea,” James said. “I’m keeping it going in the winter, too. That reminds me, I need to make a call to have that thing winterized before fall hits.”

“You still have two months.”

“I know, I just don’t want to forget,” James said. “I have very specific visions of naked Sundays with hot toddies and mountains of steam while it’s snowing around us.”

“Stay classy,” Finn said.

“Hey, what’s not classy about that?”

“I think he’s taking about you telling us about your naked Sunday plans,” Jake filled in.

“Ah.” James shrugged. “You’ll live.”

“Here he comes,” Jake said, pointing as the moving truck trundled closer. “I’m glad he doesn’t have a lot of stuff. I hate leaving Ally home alone all day when she doesn’t feel good.”

“She’s not sick,” James said, watching as Grady backed into the driveway. “She did it to herself.”

“Is this your tough-love approach?” Finn asked, a grin splitting his face. “Because I seem to remember a guy who spent an entire night sleeping on the bathroom floor when his girlfriend had food poisoning.”

“She didn’t do that to herself,” James said, stubbornly holding his ground.

“So, you’re not going to go home and fawn all over Mandy?” Jake asked.

“Nope.”

“You’re such a liar,” Finn said, tugging on his work gloves as he moved toward the truck. “I see visions of blue roses, chocolate, and her favorite Middle Eastern food in her future.”

“I told her to come here if she wants lunch,” James countered. “I am not babying her because she drank too much.”

“Okay,” Finn said, holding up his hands. “I’m impressed with how strong you are. The old James would’ve rubbed her back while she threw up.”

James scowled. “I did that one time.”

“That we know of.”

“Oh … just empty the truck,” James grumbled.

“WHERE
do you want this?” Jake asked, holding the box of books up so Grady could see what he’d carried in.

“Put it in the office,” Grady said. “Is that the last of it?”

“Yup.”

Grady ran his hand through his hair as he glanced around the living room. He didn’t own a lot of furniture, and what he did bring had been easy to find a spot for. Sophie was something of a minimalist, and she wasn’t territorial, so Grady felt comfortable with the current placement of his things.

James opened the refrigerator and tossed a bottle of water in Grady’s direction. “Where is Sophie?”

“She’s in bed,” Grady said. “She feels like death.”

“I think all of our women do,” Finn said, smirking. “Speaking of which, I should probably decide what I’m ordering so I can take it home to Emma. I don’t think she’s leaving the apartment today.”

“Ally is probably still in bed,” Jake said. “What a way to waste a Sunday.”

“Oh, did you two have plans?” Finn asked.

“No, we were just going to … .” Jake glanced at James. “We were just going to watch some television.”

Finn barked out a laugh. “Sure you were.”

Thankfully for Jake, the sound of the bedroom door opening at the end of the hall caught everyone’s attention. The brunette reporter in residence shuffled down the hallway, her long brown hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun. She was dressed in plain flannel sleeping pants and an over-sized T-shirt.

Since he’d only ever seen Sophie disheveled once since he met her – and that was under extenuating circumstances – James was mildly surprised by her appearance. “Hey, Sophie.”

Sophie lifted her finger to her lips and shot James a withering look.

She ignored the rest of the men as she rummaged through the refrigerator. Grady, standing at the counter, didn’t even bother trying to hide his smile when he saw her start guzzling a bottle of water.

“How are you feeling, sugar?”

Sophie scowled. “I’m going to kill Ally.”

“Does your head feel better?” Grady asked.

“No.”

“Do you want to try and eat something?”

“No.”

“Do you want us to go outside and talk? Because we have one quick work thing to discuss before everyone goes.”

“I thought they were helping you move,” Sophie countered.

Grady faltered. “They did. I just have to take the truck back. We’re done.”

Sophie’s angular face was awash with confusion. “How did you move everything so quickly? Were you up at the crack of dawn or something?”

Grady pursed his lips. “What time do you think it is?”

Sophie shrugged. “I don’t know, eleven?”

“It’s almost three, sugar,” Grady said.

“It is not.”

“It is, too.”

“No.” Sophie shook her head furiously, raising her hand to her forehead when the pain associated with the gesture hit her.

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but it’s three,” Grady said, holding up his cellphone for proof.

Sophie frowned. “You’re saying I’ve lost an entire day because of Ally’s blue drink of death?”

“Pretty much.”

“I hate her,” Sophie growled.

“You’ll feel better when you’ve eaten,” Grady said, rubbing her back. “How about I pick you up something from that deli you like on Gratiot on my way back?”

Sophie was still pouting. “I guess.”

“Do you want us to go outside to talk so we don’t hurt your delicate ears?”

Sophie made a face. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “I am perfectly capable of listening to you talk without curling into a ball on the floor and crying.”

Grady kissed her temple softly, exchanging an amused look with James across the counter island. “Okay. Just … drink another bottle of water and try to feel better.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “Do not treat me like a child.”

Grady stood there, helpless. “You know, so far, this living-together thing isn’t working out so well for me.”

Sophie didn’t respond, but her eyes softened as she pulled another bottle of water out of the refrigerator.

Grady moved to the other side of the island. “Okay, so I talked to Maverick this morning,” he said.

“And he still maintains that the file on the flash drive isn’t corrupted?” James asked.

“He says it’s not,” Grady said. “He says that’s all there is. They’re numbers. He says he has no idea what they represent.”

Grady flipped the file on the counter open before continuing.

“So, we have nowhere to go until we know what these numbers represent,” he said.

“I don’t like it,” James said. “Why would someone stick a flash drive with numbers that no one can read and a map into Mandy’s purse?”

“Maybe they thought they could come back and get it later,” Jake suggested. “Maybe they were being followed or something.”