Not her alone. Never again.
The MS diagnosis hadn’t changed, but she was ready to move forward.
She walked over to Riley, hugging and talking to people as she went. When she got to him, instead of kissing him, she bent and kissed little Thomas’s cheek.
“Come on now, don’t make me be jealous of a newborn,” Riley said.
She rolled her eyes but tilted her face back so he could kiss her lips.
Except, instead of the little peck she’d expected, he caught her bottom lip between his teeth and tugged before shifting Thomas to the side so he could deepen the kiss.
“Gross, get a room!” Baby said.
“Yeah, I still have my badge. I’d hate to have to arrest you for unlawful PDA,” Gavin joked.
They broke apart at the heckles around them, but both of them felt the heat coursing through their veins. It might be time to leave the party soon.
“I’ll save you from certain jail time.” She pulled back and winked at Riley. “I’ve got to run out to the car and grab my present for the bride and groom anyway.”
It wasn’t much, just a coupon she’d made for free nights babysitting so Cade and Peyton could have some alone time whenever they wanted it. It was the novelty wrapping paper she really wanted to show off—it was meant for business or office gifts, wrapping paper designed to look like contracts. And the primary words visible were nondisclosure agreement.
Most of the people in the room wouldn’t understand, but Cade and Peyton, given their history, would get a kick out of it.
“Do you want me to go get the present?” Riley was carefully neutral in how he phrased the question, and she appreciated it. It was one of the big things they were having to figure out, balancing his need to protect and care for her with her need to be independent. It was going to be a continual give-and-take that would change as her MS progressed.
But they would work it out.
“No, you’ve got your hands full. I’ll be back in a minute.”
He bent down and kissed her on the nose, then moved his lips to her ear. “Hurry, so we can find a coat closet, and I can give you a couple of hickeys where no one will see them but us.”
She pulled back and her eyes flew to his. “You really are going to get us arrested.”
He winked at her.
Her heart turned to goo. God, she loved this man. She’d been so damn stupid to think she could live without him.
Outside, the late November air was cold and brisk. She made a beeline for her car, grabbing the present from the front seat.
She closed the door and turned back to The Eagle’s Nest, jumping a little when a limousine pulled up and a very handsome man of Middle Eastern descent got out of the back seat. His suit had to cost more than what she made in a month.
This had to be one of the groom’s friends or business partners. Word must be getting out about the nuptials.
The man gave her a smile as he tapped on the hood of the limo and it pulled forward, leaving him here.
“Pardon me, this is The Eagle’s Nest?”
“Yeah.” Riley smiled. “Don’t tell me, you’re a friend of Cade’s?”
“No, I know Riley Harrison. Actually, I should say Riley came to my home in Egypt to ride motocross bikes on my personal course.”
“Yeah, that sounds exactly like Phoenix.” She shouldn’t be surprised he’d made friends as far as Egypt. Riley had fans wherever he went.
The man gave her a charming smile. “Yes, it was a great honor to have the world-renowned Phoenix in my home. Accepting my hospitality and goodwill. And now I am in his own backyard as he was in mine, as they say.”
His phrasing and terminology were stilted. Odd. But one thing traveling around the world with Riley had taught her was that communication had different rhythms in different cultures. Sometimes communication wasn’t possible at all, so when it was, even when it was stiff, it was to be appreciated.
She smiled again. “You should come inside. I’m sure Riley will want to say hello to you. There’s a celebration going on, but there’s always room for one more.”
“I’ve come a long way to personally deliver a message to Phoenix.”
“Okay, I’ll help you find him.”
The man took a step closer. “Actually, I need you to help me deliver the message.”
“Really, you should just tell him yourself. I’m—”
“The message is ‘You took something that belonged to me. I have returned the favor.’”
She felt a sting on the back of her neck and spun in time to see the limo driver step back from where he’d snuck up behind her.
“What the hell?”
Everything began to blur. She stumbled toward the door of The Eagle’s Nest.
“No one steals from Sayed El Kadi without retribution. It’s time for your Phoenix to learn some manners.”
She mentally clawed to hold on to consciousness, knowing this was her only chance to get away, but she couldn’t stop the world around her from spinning and fading to black.
Chapter 26
“Sorry, buddy,” Phoenix cooed into Thomas’s tiny ear. “I’m going to have to give you back to your mom or dad soon. I’m not sure what’s taking your beautiful aunt Wildfire so long, but I need to do some things to her when she gets back that you won’t appreciate until you’re much older.”
Baby walked over to him and gestured to Thomas. “You next? Is a kid in the cards for you and Girl Riley?”
It had been one of the things he’d been researching on his own. If MS meant Riley couldn’t safely get pregnant, that was fine. They could adopt, or it could just be the two of them.
One of the things he was trying to help Wildfire focus on was that she didn’t necessarily have to assume the worst-case scenario for everything involving MS. She liked to be prepared for the worst, but that didn’t mean it was going to happen.
Riley shrugged. “Kids are definitely possible, no reason why we can’t. But we’ll see if it’s in the cards. I’ve got to talk her into marrying me first.”
Baby smiled. “The great Phoenix wants to settle down and get married and raise little Phoenixes. Never thought I’d see the day.”
“Believe me, the great Phoenix would’ve settled down roughly two point five weeks after meeting Girl Riley if he could’ve talked her into it.”
Baby took a sip of his beer. “Really? She always made it seem like you weren’t interested in marriage either. We all know how she feels about marriage.”
He shrugged. “I tried to play it cool. Maybe I played it too cool. But all that is about to change. Full-court press. I’ve got a ring and everything.”
He was biding his time because he knew Wildfire was still afraid he was just in this out of a sense of duty. But he had proof that marriage had been on his mind before MS was even on the radar. When the time was right, he was going to show it to her.
Baby slapped him on the shoulder. “That’s good to hear.”
“How about you? So many ladies around here, and I haven’t seen you really talking to anyone. Quite unusual for you.”
“Uh. Listen.” Baby shifted on his feet, uncharacteristically awkward. “I might need to discuss something with you.”