Dying to Love (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 18) Read online

  Her mouth sought out his, and the kiss was explosive. She poured everything into it, leaving nothing to the imagination.

  Callen held on, trying to remember how to breathe.

  When his wife set him free, he was staring into her eyes.

  “He was then. You are now. I’m very into sexy Native men. I noticed you’re growing your hair out.”

  “I am.”

  “I’m a two-man woman,” she said smiling. “I’m in love with you and your brother. I’ll never stray, and I never have. Do I regret my relationship with Chris? No. Would I go back there? No. Lyzee at twenty-six was a different woman. I was a child. Lyzee at forty plus has very different tastes, likes, and needs. I need you both.”

  He thought back to his life at twenty-eight. He couldn’t blame her. He’d made poor choices, and he’d paid for them. He wasn’t about to crucify Elizabeth for loving someone else before they ever showed up in her world. That would be like her being angry that Ethan and he weren’t virgins.

  Yes, he could get angry.

  Instead, he opted to be kind.

  “I told you that I forgive you. You’re the woman I love, so I’ll support you—no matter what comes of it. You found us. That’s all that really matters.”

  And it was true.

  “Back to this sexy hair. Want to get naked later and let it get all tangled up in my limbs?” she asked.

  “The answer to that will always be yes,” he promised. “I meant what I said. I love you. I’m okay.”

  She took his face in her palms. “I wish I could go back and meet you sooner, but the past is only part of me. There’s the present, and there’s the future. You’ll be part of both of them.”

  He kissed her. When he set her mouth free, he was staring into her beautiful eyes. “You had better believe it. I’ll fight to keep you in my life.”

  She ran her fingers down his chiseled cheek. “You don’t have to fight. You and Ethan have me. I gave you my heart and I gave you kids.”

  He nuzzled her.

  “Want to go inside and see our tribe?” he asked. “Ethan will be home shortly. He sent a text. He’s on his way.”

  “Can it involve pajamas and forgetting the world for one night? Tomorrow starts the marathon. Who knows when we’ll have peace again?”

  “Absolutely.”

  She climbed off of his lap, and they grabbed the food. Once inside the door, she smiled. “I love coming home.”

  Callen looked around. If his father was tied to a chair and a fire under him, it would be calmer than this mess.

  “Ethan is going to twitch up a storm when he sees this chaos. They’re out of control.”

  Yeah, they were.

  She snorted.

  Then she whistled. “Line up!”

  The kids all came running. Little Charlie and Bethe crawled her way.

  “Pajamas, pizza, and if you’re good, ice cream before bed. If you’re bad, pizza, and ice cream, but not the flavor you like. You get to eat the ones I like.”

  Callen snorted. “That’ll teach them.”

  The kids saluted her, and then they raced at Callen. He hugged each one, leaving a noisy kiss on their lips. “Daddy will be home in fifteen. Let’s show him how good we can be. Everyone pick up a toy.”

  They didn’t move. “Daddy will give you each five bucks.”

  That was all they had to hear.

  “Hey, at least bribery works,” she stated.

  Wyler came around the corner. “It was hell today. I barely survived.”

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “Maeve isn’t feeling well. She’s all sick from the pregnancy. I was down a helper.”

  Elizabeth headed his way. “Where is Mom?”

  He snorted. “Really? I don’t think she likes that. We all know you’re being sarcastic.”

  Yeah, only she wasn’t.

  They didn’t need to know that.

  “Hey, you’re granddad, she’s grandma to the kids, and you should have thought about that before telling us. You knew we were going there.”

  He hugged her.

  “Last I looked, she was passed out on your bed. She was trying to fold laundry.”

  “I’ll go,” Elizabeth said, kissing Wyler on the cheek. “I need to change anyway.”

  They watched her walk away.

  “This pregnant wife thing is brutal.”

  Callen laughed.

  “Come on! How did you survive it?” Wyler asked. “I wasn’t there for your mother or Ethan’s. I need help. You and your brother are all I have on this one.”

  Callen cracked open a beer, and then a root beer for his father. “Well, you rub her feet and back whenever she says they hurt, and you make sure she is fed. A full, pregnant woman won’t kill you. She’ll just growl. A hungry one…run.”

  Wyler stared at him. “Are you being serious?”

  Oh, he had no idea.

  “Yes, Dad, I am.”

  “Okay, what else?”

  “The day she pops this kid out, you make sure you have one hell of a present for her. Make it shiny and make it damn expensive—the pricier, the better. New moms relate rough childbirths to sparkly gifts that show your appreciation for what they’ve just given you. They give you a life, and you give them a shiny rock on a chain.”

  “I like the feather around Elizabeth’s neck.”

  He did too. He’d bought her lots of things, but that seemed to be her favorite, since she wore it every day. In fact, he had bought one for all of the tribe. They all had one.

  “Me too. I’ll give you the jeweler’s name.”

  “What else?”

  “Tissues. Buy lots and lots of tissues.”

  “She does get weepy a lot.”

  Callen laughed. “No, Dad, not for her—for you. You can’t have sex for about six weeks after she gives birth, and she’s not going to be in a magnanimous mood where you get a blowjob because you’re ‘suffering’.”

  “I really hate this conversation,” Wyler admitted.

  Callen laughed, and then he continued, “You’ll need the tissues for the crying, and then you can use them to wipe the lotion off your hand.”

  He stared at him in horror.

  “What does she see in you?”

  He snorted. “I’m sexy, and I have some awesome genes. She loves me for all of thee above.”

  The back door opened, and in walked Ethan.

  “What did I miss?” he asked, looking around. “Where are the kids?”

  Callen told them their nightly plan before the investigation started out tomorrow.

  “Dad was asking about advice for dealing with a pregnant woman,” he stated.

  “Did you tell him rub, food, run, and learn that masturbation can be your friend?” he asked, grabbing a beer.

  “Jesus! You too?”

  “Use a condom next time,” Callen stated. “You’re going to have a house full of children.”

  “I didn’t think a woman of Maeve’s age could get with child. I think I want to cry.”

  “That’s what else the tissues are for,” Callen said, clinking his bottle off his brother’s, “and apparently, she can. Lesson learned.”

  “Mean kids,” he muttered.

  They hugged him.

  “We love you, Dad.”

  “And if I do all of these things, I’ll be okay?” Wyler asked, sipping his root beer.

  The boys laughed.

  “Hell no!” Ethan said. “There’s no rationalizing with a raging pregnant woman. You bob and weave,” he stated.

  “And wear a cup,” Callen added.

  “Jesus.”

  “Yeah, he can’t help you now,” Ethan said. “Welcome to the hell that we create when we bone the babe.”

  Callen snorted.

  “To the Blackhawk men.”

  Ethan continued, “They like their pie, they have excellent swimmers, and they never know when to pull out.”

  Callen laughed uproariously.

  Wyler…not s
o much.

  She found her upstairs as she was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  Maeve was a small woman, but the baby bump was huge when she was on her back. She was almost five months, and this kid was going to be big.

  Except no one told her that.

  The day she went to deliver…that would be the doctor’s job. Good luck, Wyler. He wasn’t getting sex for a very long time after she healed from this large baby.

  “No.”

  Elizabeth sat down on the bed.

  “Want to talk about it?”

  “I want to cry.”

  “About?”

  She pointed at her belly. “I’m too old to do this. I feel like someone stuck a straw in me and sucked the energy out.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, that’s normal. It’s not an age thing at all.”

  She started crying more. “I am so exhausted, scared, and worried. How did you do this five times?” Maeve asked.

  “Love.”

  She wept. Elizabeth hugged her. “Don’t cry, Mom, we’ll get you through this.”

  She cried harder.

  “You guys are just teasing me.”

  Elizabeth sat her up. “Hey, you listen to me, lady. We are not teasing you when we call you mom. You married Wyler, and we love him. He’s our father. You get the honorable position of being his wife.”

  She sniffled. “You’re not being mean and sarcastic?”

  “Hell no. We like you. You should see what we did to his one girlfriend. I fired her ass, and then danced around a Voodoo doll, buck ass naked. We haven’t seen her since. I think zombies got her.”

  She started to laugh. “I believe that.”

  “See?”

  “I really do love him.”

  “We know. You’re a good egg, Mom. Can I call you that?” she asked.

  Maeve nodded.

  “Oh, and you’re fired.”

  She began crying again.

  “Chill out, Mom. Here’s why. These are your grandkids. You don’t have to work here. You get to come and go as you see fit. You get to love them because you want to—not because we’re paying you—or in the case of this tribe, holding you at gunpoint.”

  “I want to be here. Wyler would die without these babies. They are his soul.”

  “Then how about this. You stay, and we’ll hire you help. You get to sit on the floor, play with Charlie, and we can get a housekeeper and cook. They can make dinner, clean up, and you get to be grandma.”

  She smiled. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  She hugged Elizabeth. “I really do love you, Elizabeth.”

  “Lyzee. I’m your daughter-in-law. You get the privilege of being the head of this nut farm. Congrats. It was getting lonely at the top.”

  Maeve wiped her eyes. “I see why he loves you. You have a very old spirit, Elizabeth. I can feel it.”

  “Well, feel this. Get your pajamas on, we have pizza, and the kids will be well-behaved.”

  She kissed her on the cheek. “I’m lucky to have found this family. I love it.”

  Maeve headed out, and Elizabeth got changed. She caught the woman in the hallway, and offered her a hand. “Shall we?” she asked.

  Maeve nodded. “I like your toes. What color is that?”

  “Slutty red. Callen likes it. Your stepson is a freak.”

  She giggled. “Can I borrow it? He’s his father’s child,” Maeve offered in her Irish singsong voice.

  “Absolutely.”

  Maeve started crying again.

  When they reached the living room, Wyler looked worried. “What’s wrong with my wife now?” he asked.

  He just enjoyed saying it. It had been a very long time.

  Maeve sobbed. “She fired me.”

  Ethan knocked over his beer bottle, and Callen stared at their wife. “WHAT?” they said together.

  Wyler looked at her. “Why would you do that?” he asked, a little hurt. “What did Maeve do to get fired? I’m sure there is some kind of misunderstanding.”

  Elizabeth shrugged. “She married you. She’s part of the family, and not an employee. You knocked her up, so you take care of her. That’s how we roll. You have to be responsible for your wife.”

  He still stared at her, unsure what to say.

  “She wants to hire us help,” Maeve said. “She told me I’m really their mother. I get to be part of the family. We get to be with OUR grandkids,” she said, rubbing her belly. Then she went and hugged both Callen and Ethan. “I love you both.”

  Wyler was surprised.

  “You get a housekeeper and a chef. Your sons can afford it. I can’t because I’m a lowly public servant, so I’m going to let moneybags pay for it.”

  They all looked at Callen, and he laughed. “I’m okay with that.”

  “She gets to relax, put her feet up, and grow a Blackhawk child. God knows with this gene pool, she’s going to have her damn hands full. Hopefully, it’ll be a girl because the men in this family have been known to break the law and laugh while doing it.”

  “It’s a boy,” she said, wiping her eyes. “We had the doctor appointment today. We were going to show you pictures after dinner. We finally saw his man bits.”

  “I can’t believe it’s going to be another freaking man. We’re flooding the world with hellions. This one is not on me,” she stated.

  They each gave Wyler a high five.

  Then he headed toward Elizabeth. “You are the most amazing daughter a man could have, Elizabeth. Timothy was right about you, and your father had to be so proud of you. I know I am.”

  She played with a braid. “You chose well this time, Wyler. Not saying Catherine wasn’t a good choice, but Maeve is going to give you a really good son. You deserve this.”

  He thought so too.

  “Besides, I can’t wait to see how the gene pool mixes up an Irish Native. I’m betting red hair and dark skin. Fate likes to be funny.”

  The kids came running in, and they were trying to get dressed.

  She whistled. “Line up!”

  They listened. At the end were two dogs sitting there with doggie smiles on their faces.

  “See her,” she said, pointing at Maeve.

  “Yes,” they all answered.

  “She’s no longer called Maeve. From here on out, she’s married to Grandpa, so you call her Grandma. You treat her like you treat him. Got it?”

  She started crying.

  “She doesn’t look happy about that,” Cat offered.

  “She is. I promise. She’s having a baby, and that makes you one hot mess.”

  Cat shrugged. “Okay, Grandma it is.”

  Cat was turning into the leader of the group. She was coming into her power. The boys followed her.

  Well, or Charlie. They liked crawling around after her.

  Literally.

  Cat headed toward her fathers and stared up at Ethan. “Daddy said you were going to pay us money for being good,” she said, holding her hand out. “We was good. Real good.”

  Elizabeth snorted.

  She loved that child.

  Cat was her mini me. It proved that genetics only got you so far.

  Ethan picked a wallet up from the counter and waited. “How much did he say I was giving you?”

  “Twenty each with an option for interest later.”

  He handed one over as Callen was watching. He began laughing.

  “What?” Ethan asked.

  “I told her five. She just conned you.”

  Ethan shrugged and held the wallet up so he could see the driver’s license. “It’s actually your wallet, so technically, she conned you.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yep. This ain’t my first day at the rodeo,” he said heading toward Elizabeth. He tossed her over his shoulder, and she laughed.

  “Let’s eat!”

  “Being the baby sucks,” Callen said, and then he looked at his father and grinned. “Thanks for that,
” he said, pointing at Maeve’s belly. “I’m now the middle child. That’s a whole other dynamic.”

  Wyler grabbed pizza and carried it in. “We already picked out a name for him.”

  They all took a seat on the couch.

  “What is it?” Elizabeth asked.

  “My son is going to be Timothy Jackson James Blackhawk. Named for the three men in my life that offered me so much. My father loved me, no matter what. My eldest son makes me proud when I think of his drive and success, and my Callen…he’s the strongest man I know. I want my next son to have all of those traits.”

  Elizabeth’s eyes filled with tears. “He’d be happy to hear that, Dad.”

  They all were.

  Timothy Blackhawk would live on.

  As he should.

  * * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *

  Rothschild House

  Eight P.M.

  When he got home, the place was quiet.

  Eerily quiet.

  In fact, it was so silent that it put him on edge. When he walked in, his wife was standing in the kitchen, drinking wine. From the look of it, she had already had a few glasses.

  Or a couple of bottles.

  She was soused.

  “Uh, rough day?” he asked. “Where are the kids?” Gabe asked, looking around. This wasn’t like her at all. Livy was a mother to her core.

  There was no way she’d get shitfaced drunk while her kids ran amuck.

  Never.

  “The President’s kids invited them over. They’re there watching a movie with them. They won’t be home until later, and Amy is out with her boyfriend.”

  “Oh, on a school night?”

  Yeah, that was the least of his problems.

  “What’s her name?” she asked.

  Gabe slipped out of his suit jacket. “What’s who’s name, Olivia?”

  “The woman you’re having an affair with. What’s her name, Gabriel?”

  He was shocked.

  Where the hell did this come from?

  “Me? Why do you think I’m having an affair?” he asked. “Where would you even get that idea?”

  He wanted to be sick.

  It hurt his heart that she thought that.

  He wanted to weep.

  “You’ve been sneaking around, you blow off work, and you lied to Ethan today. He said you were at a physical.”