Satan (27 page)

She ducked her head and shot him a side-peek. “I spoke with Indira a couple of days ago. She’s pregnant, much to her surprise. She’s been married for eight years and they’ve been trying for most of that time. She’s ecstatic, of course, and she’s decided she wants to be a full-time mom.”

“How do you feel about that?” He burned to ask her how
she
felt about motherhood.

“I’m thrilled for her. She’s wanted a baby for as long as I’ve known her. And I fully understand about her needing to stay home. I’d want that too. I’m going to take back the helm of Haven, for the time being. I’m going to continue to actively search for a new CEO though.” She grabbed a pillow and squished it into her lap. “Aren’t you going to ask me why?”

Satan wondered why her cheeks had gone red and why she suddenly found the black satin pillowcase fascinating. “I’ll bite. Why?”

“Because when I get pregnant, I want to be a full-time mom, too. At least until our kids start school. Then, maybe—”

He grabbed her into his arms and shifted so they both lay on their sides and face-to-face. A humungous lump in his throat prevented him from uttering a single syllable and an embarrassing wetness blurred his vision for a few seconds.

“Satan?” The tentative whisper together with the wariness in her blue eyes brought him back to the present. But the image of a little baby girl with Angel’s features swarmed his brain. “We, we haven’t talked about, you know, kids. Do you want children?”

“You bet.” He didn’t recognize his own croaky voice.

A tremulous smile crooked her lips. “I kind of envied Colleen when I was at the Chapmans. I mean, I don’t want eleven kids, but—”

Jesus, he loved her. Satan slanted his lips over hers and lost himself in the magic of their fused mouths. No frantic mating this time, but a slow, languorous loving instead, the cherished joining he’d been yearning to have with her in forever.

Much later, when dawn began to thread faint peachy rays through the slight part in the curtains, Satan cuddled Angel close to his side, and dropped a kiss on her hair. “So, if not eleven, how many?”

She tipped her head back to look at him. “Four or five? Of course, I’m saying that without knowing what pregnancy and delivery will be like. And I may change my mind totally after the first one.”

He smirked. “It looks like we’re doomed to play our relationship by ear. Sounds good to me. Let’s work on the first kid and then figure things out.”

She averted her gaze. “We sort of already are.”

“What?” He caught her chin and forced their stares to collide.

“I had the doctor take out the implant the week he gave me a clean bill of health.”

His glance dropped to her stomach. He splayed his hand over her belly. Their child could be growing inside her right now. There wasn’t a fucking thing he could do to prevent the tear that leaked from one eye.

“Are you angry with me?” Her fingertips grazed his cheek.

“I never dreamed I could be this happy. I had always thought I’d be the last of the Metaxas line.” He brushed his lips over hers. “Thank you, Angel, for this most precious gift of all.”

“I’m not pregnant yet. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I mean, it took Indira eight years—Metaxas?” She pursed her mouth. “I seem to remember you saying that before. Now, I’ve got. It was when you told me about your father and his horrible abortion tale. I don’t get it.”

“Metaxas is my father’s surname. McGuillycuddy is the surname of my great-great grandfather. When I told my father I was going to enlist, he gave me a choice—enlist and be disowned—or join the family firm and inherit the Metaxas fortune. I changed my name and then enlisted. It was a stupid adolescent reaction.” The Chapman family were the only ones privy to Satan’s legal flipping the bird at his father.

Her eyes went wider than a round spaceship. “But you inherited the fortune, didn’t you?”

He grimaced. “I did. My father left everything to my mother and my mother left everything to me, provided I retook the Metaxas name. There’s no stipulation that I have to
use
it.”

“Is this you giving your father the finger?” She placed her warm palms on either side of his face.

“Not any more. I’ve simply been too busy to decide what to do about the whole bizarre surname situation, but if we’re going to have a baby, that’ll have to change.” He picked up her hand, kissed the vein throbbing on the underside of her wrist, and set both their hands over her belly. “I don’t care either way.”

She flashed him a lop-sided grin. “Neither do I. You never cease to amaze me, you know that? So, I could be either Mrs. McGuillycuddy or Mrs. Metaxas? Hmmm…”

“Have you given any thought to a wedding date? Or a location?” He knuckled her cheek and marveled anew at the soft, silky texture.

“Not really. Have you?

“I have. What about a wedding in the Alps? I own part of a quaint lodge in the mountains of the Swiss Alps. We could honeymoon there and you can tick off all your winter to dos.”

She shrieked. “We could have a winter wedding with candles and snow falling and then have a great dinner before a roaring fire…but, don’t you want to have the squad there? It’ll be too expensive. And what about all the Chapmans? Good Lord, if there are eleven grown brothers and sisters, how many little Chapmans are there?”

“A dozen and a half at last counting. Darlin’, I’m rich. I’ll hire a jet, and we’ll take everyone.” He had to smile when her face glowed, but then her mouth canted down. She went from ecstatic to distressed on a breath.

“What? What’s wrong now?” He nibbled her ear.

She batted at him. “Stop that. I can’t think when you do that. I kind of feel guilty about such extravagance. Why don’t we go to Utah instead? It’ll be a ton cheaper.”

He killed himself laughing. His belly ached he guffawed so hard.

Angel frowned at him, then chuckled, frowned again, and finally shook her head in exasperation.

When he finally regained control, he swiped the laugh-tears away.

She planted her hands on her hips. “What was so funny?”

“All my adult life, and even during my adolescent years, women have thrown themselves at me. For my money. To spend as much of my money as they can. Or have me spend my money on them. And then I find the woman I love, and she tries to penny-pinch our wedding. That settles it. Colleen Chapman and I are going to plan this wedding. Next thing I know you’ll be putting everyone up at a Red Roof Inn.”

“Are you nuts? A bride’s
supposed
to plan her own wedding. Are you going to choose my wedding dress for me too?” Her offended expression transmitted into her plaintive tone. He checked to make sure no smoke spewed from her ears.

“Have I told you how adorable you are when you’re annoyed?” He kissed the tip of her nose.

“I am so going to brain you if you say that one more time.”

“I hate having to leave you.” He knuckled her cheek.

“Where are you going?” She looped her arms around his neck.

“Work, darlin’. You can come if you want?” He captured her wrist and nosed her palm.

“No. Thanks for the invite, but I think I need to get a few things settled. Like maybe putting my condo on the rent market?” She studied him intently.

“Yes. Sell it if you want. Angel, you know that I need to have you here with me, right? For always?” His heart pounded his chest so ferociously he couldn’t think.

“I couldn’t be apart from you if I tried. I love you, Satan. I want to be with you forever.” She caressed his jaw.

“I’ll be back around six-ish. Dress up. We’re going out for dinner tonight.”

Forty minutes, Satan met with the entire team in the boardroom of the Hades Squad corporate headquarters. He glanced down the table and wondered what the guys would think of his news. Clearing his throat, he said, “Nikar, you called this meeting, want to take the reins?”

“I’ve been going through the recordings and pics from the rescue in Balmoral Bay. Suffice to say, as we suspected, one of the hoodie tangos was Yaman Moses.” Nikar pointed a remote and a screen descended from the ceiling. “Get the lights for me, Jinn.”

Jinn, who was seated closest to the door, tipped his chair back, and fist-checked the switched on the wall. The room darkened, save for the reflection of Nikar’s laptop’s display on the screen.

Nikar’s fingers flew over the keyboard.

“Okay. This is the tango who wore the black hoodie. I put together his profile by combining different angled pics. This is the composite.” He paused for a few seconds. “This is Yaman Moses profile. Now, these are the two side by side.”

Devil whistled. “One and the same. Good work. Moses is dead, and he was black hoodie tango. One tango down, two to go. I’m assuming there’s more than the confirmation of the identity of a dead man, Nik?”

“Yes and no. I couldn’t get a composite profile of the tango who wore the gray hoodie, but I did get a full frontal of his eyes and of him from the nose down. This is it.” Nikar hit his arrow down key.

“Shit,” Satan muttered. “Zoom in on the corner of his left eye, Nik.”

Next to him, Devil sucked oxygen in audibly through his mouth. “Fuck. If I didn’t know better…”

“Who in this room doesn’t recognize this man? Jinn, Nikar, Volac, you’re new to the team—”

“Jinn, Volac, and I all know who he is. We figured you guys needed to know. Informed decisions and that kind of crap.” Nikar fingered the collar of his shirt. “What do you want us to do, boss?”

Satan heaved a sigh. “Sit on this for now. What about the other tango, the one who wore the brown hoodie?”

Nikar snorted. “Fucking nada. I’ve analyzed every shot, tried every trick in the book. I can’t even get a clear shot of his nose or chin, which I should have been able to get. What fucks with my head most is that the gait of the brown-tango hoodie is familiar to me. I’ve seen him before. I just can’t for fuck’s sake remember where or when. Sorry boss.”

“One. No one calls me boss. Satan or hey you if you must, but never boss. Second, it’ll come to you. Try not to force it.” Satan snatched a pencil from a holder in the middle of the table and twirled it. “Anything else, Nikar?”

“Nope. Did I overstep by calling the meeting? It’s just that, seeing as we all know who—”

“You did right, Nikar. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. If there’s no other business to discuss…?”

Devil shrugged, Demon shook his head, Jinn and Volac folded their arms, and Nikar said, “No.”

Lucifer steepled his hands and leaned back in his chair. “From the look on your face—you have news for us.”

“I do. Nothing of monumental importance. First, Angel and I are getting married soon. No dates’ been set, but I want all of you there.” He broke off when his team erupted into discordant shouts and whistles of congratulations.

Five minutes later, his back burning from all the slapped felicitations, Satan raised his voice and said, “Come to order. There is one more point to be discussed.”

All eyes turned to him. Satan took a deep inhale and quickly summarized how he came to have two different surnames.

Sinner, who knew his intent, was the only one not slam-dunk surprised.

“After discussing the situation with Angel, I’ve decided to revert to Metaxas. My lawyers have begun the process to legally change my last name. If there’s any objection from anyone here, let me hear it now.”

A molecule-drop silence permeated the room.

Satan made it back home in a half an hour. Threw open the front door and hollered, “Angel?”

She emerged from the kitchen and sprinted down the hallway to him, her arms wide, her smile—radiant. “Welcome home.”

Only when she was totally ensnared in his embrace did he feel completed. She made him whole. He hugged her tighter and whispered, “I love you, my Angel Dare.”

She drew back, cocked her head to one side, and shot him a sexy wink. “I’m ready for dinner, but I’m guessing you need a shower and change first?”

“I do indeed.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll hurry. Our reservations are for six.”

They made the reservation, barely. Seated at his favorite dockside table with a picture window overlooking the bay, Satan draped his arm around Angel, and pushed the menu to her.

“Aren’t you even going to look at it?” She waved the leather-bound bill of fare at him.

“Nope. Always have the same thing. Lobster Thermidor. Best version on the planet.” He nuzzled her ear.

“Satan?”

“Hmmm…” She smelled like paradise, a hint of Shalimar, a hint of nature, and all Angel.

“This place is totally empty.” She gestured to the tiny square forming the inside of Sea Watch Five-One-Five, Satan’s preferred pub and restaurant.

“I know.” He nibbled on her lobe. “I rented the place for the evening.”

She swatted him. “What? Why on earth—”

Satan bounded to his feet, reached for the ring he’d purchased earlier, and went down on one knee. He flipped open the box, and opened his palm. “Will you marry me, Angelica Dare O’Malley?”

Colleen Chapman found
the
church in Whistler, British Columbia.

Angel approved the destination happily.

Jess, Destiny, Nalini, Jacinta, and Angel became best buds in the hunt for
the
wedding dress. Swatches of fabric of every color and fabric filled baskets were all over the house during the gown decision period.

Because Satan refused to divulge the details of the ceremony and the dinner and dance afterward, Angel declined to reveal the women’s final choice regarding the bridal gown and the bridesmaids’ dresses. He was told that a black morning suit would be appropriate for him to wear to the ceremony.

Satan repeated Angel’s ideas about candles to Colleen and therefore the wedding was scheduled for sunset.

Three weeks later, Satan surveyed the Swiss Chalet style church and smiled. The Chapel was packed to the gills. Snow fell in thick flakes outside the stained glass windows lining the two sets of pews.

He glanced at his watch—five-thirty. The sun was due to set at five-forty-five. The shadows shifted, and the stained glass windows were illuminated as the sun’s setting rays backlit the colorful frescoes. Peach and pink hues danced around the intimate church. A communal murmur broke from the congregation when the hundreds of candles scattered throughout the chapel were lit.