I let out the breath I’d been holding. “What happened?” I asked Con, because there was no denying the shock in his voice.
“Nothing, it’s…” He hesitated before saying, “This guy who used to be a fighter died.”
“Did you know him?” I asked. While Con was very well known in the MMA world, I didn’t know much about the sport. I’d never been a big fan of watching my brother getting beat up, even if he did always win his matches.
“Yeah,” Con said glumly. “I, uh, need to go,” he added. Then his arms were closing around me briefly. “I’ll call you when I get back to Vegas.”
“Wait, are you heading back there today?”
Con didn’t respond to me. Instead he said to Gideon, “Take care of him.” Then I was getting one more hug before he was gone.
“Gideon—”
“He looked as upset as he sounded, Lex,” Gideon confirmed.
Before I could say anything else, my phone beeped, indicating I had a text message. I hit the button and heard the robotic voice say, “I’m okay, Lex. I promise. I love you and I’ll see you soon.”
Gideon wrapped his arms around me. “He’ll be all right, sweetheart.”
I nodded my head because I knew how strong my brother was. How strong he’d had to be. But I also knew Con had a lot of secrets and there was only one person on Earth who might be privy to them. “Do you think I should tell King?” I asked.
My husband-to-be pressed a kiss to my neck. “I think we need to let Con and King figure things out between them on their own. But how would you feel about a little detour on the way home? Maybe in a certain city that’s obsessed with quickie weddings?”
I turned in Gideon’s arms. “You’d be okay with that?”
“With what? Making sure my future brother-in-law is okay? Even if he weren’t already important to me, Lex, he’s important to you and that’s all I need to know.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, then I dropped my head against his chest and just let him hold me for a while.
After a minute or two, Gideon pressed a kiss to the top of my head and said, “You should know that I have every intention of trying to convince you to agree to one of those quickie weddings while we’re in Vegas. You, me, and Elvis.”
I chuckled. “You should be using your unique powers of persuasion for good, not evil.”
I felt Gideon’s mouth tug into a smile where it was resting against my temple. “Quickie marriage in Vegas followed by honeymoon number one which will consist of sex, room service, sex, more room service, then maybe some sex…”
“Okay, color me intrigued,” I said.
“…to be followed by us on a beach with our toes in the sand with a minister and our families looking on as we say our vows. I’ll describe that exact moment when the sun touches the water and the stars dot the sky above us. I’ll tell you every dirty look your brothers give me as they threaten to do me bodily harm if I hurt you in any kind of way. The waves crashing on the sand will be our orchestra and the breeze will tell you which flowers are surrounding us—”
“Yes,” I cut in right before I searched out Gideon’s mouth. “To both,” I said when I managed to tear my mouth from his. “I can’t think of anything better.”
Gideon pressed his mouth to mine in a brief kiss, then kept it there so I could feel his smile. Then he began humming a familiar tune and it was all I could do not to cry when he softly sang the words that went with it.
“Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, Zip-a-dee-ay. My oh my, what a wonderful day…”
Yes, it was.
It really was.
The End