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“I’m really sorry, Hunter,” she says softly, and my eyebrows go up. Girl drama. “For the past. The way I was before,” Lexi explains. “I am not that person anymore, please believe it. I made peace with your brother. And I get along well with Brooke. I don’t want things to be weird with you.”
“Now I really need to know what the deal is,” I chuckle, watching both girls carefully.
Hunter lifts her eyes at me. “Lexi was a bitch to my brother.” She is not even trying to be nice about it. “And it made me mad.” She turns her head to look at Lexi. “I appreciate your apology though. If you and Ridge are good, that’s all I need to know. You also need to remember that Marco is also like a brother to me. But I apologize for my behavior today,” she continues.
“Thank you, Hunter.” Lexi is very proper in her response, but you can tell that she’d love to say more. I give her a quick wink when she looks at me.
“How’s Miss Julia?” I ask about her baby niece, turned adopted daughter.
“She’s really good,” Lexi smiles at me gratefully, then chatters away about all the baby’s milestones. I smile back and say all the right things, joke when appropriate, but deep down, I wonder how I’d have been with a baby of my own.
My eyes fly to Hunter, catching her watching me with sadness and fascination, like she is seeing me for the very first time.
The four-hour flight back home goes by really fast, all three of us finally finding our comfort zone in the situation we got ourselves in. Instead of landing at the airport in the city, like we would’ve had to if we took a commercial flight, we land at a small airport right outside of Lake County, putting us practically in our own back yard.
“Marco is here,” Lexi grins like a lunatic when she steps up to the open door of the aircraft and spots her husband. She rushes down the steps and runs to him like she hasn’t seen him in a month. I’m pretty sure she was gone for two days, tops.
“They seem happy together,” Hunter whispers from next to me, watching the same scene I am. She jumps back a step when Lexi squeals at something she sees in the back seat of her husband’s large SUV.
“Let’s go,” I lead us to them. Marco Cavalli watches us intently, no welcoming smile on his face. Then again, that is Marco Cavalli for you. Always impassive and the best poker face I know.
“I brought Julia with me,” he comments when he sees my questioning look toward Lexi.
“Thanks for the help, brother,” I put my hand out and we shake. “You know Hunter, I gather.”
“Slayer,” he opens his arms wide and my wife steps right into them, making me want to growl under my breath in annoyance.
“Marco,” Hunter mumbles in his chest. “You haven’t been over in a while.”
“Well, you haven’t been home in a while,” he teases her. “And we’ve all been busy this summer, right?”
“Can I meet your baby?” her voice sounds tentative now, like maybe she is regretting being a tad bitchy to Lexi during our flight here.
“Here she is,” Lexi calls from behind Marco, baby in her arms, sucking on a pacifier. She really is a cute kid.
“Hi, Julia,” Hunter’s voice wavers when she approaches the baby. “I’m your Aunt Hunter,” she touches one of her tiny bare feet, kissing her toes. All of a sudden, she starts crying, startling the baby. “I’m sorry about your sister, Lexi. I’m happy for you and Marco.”
Lexi Cavalli’s sister, brother-in-law and grandmother were involved in a horrific car accident when her sister was pregnant. The wreck killed the grandmother on site, then brother-in-law at the hospital, and later, after an emergency surgery followed by the birth of little Julia, the sister. Lexi became the sole guardian to her baby niece. Shortly after, she married Marco, and together, they legally adopted Julia as their own.
“Thank you, Hunter,” Lexi is graceful in her acceptance of my wife’s apology. “I promise to make Marco happy,” she gives Hunter a wet smile.
“I had a car brought out for you,” Marco interrupts the weepy scene. “Here’s the key.”
“Good deal,” I grab it from him, and we are done here. “We’ll see you guys around. Especially now that we’re family, right?” I chuckle and feel Hunter freezing at my side.
“How so?” Marco’s serious face assesses our body language, trying to come up with a logical explanation of what’s going on.
“Well, you’re basically part of the Montgomeries, and I just married one, so…”
Lexi gasps in shock, clutching the baby tighter to her on reflex. Julia starts kicking her little feet in distress. “I’m sorry, baby,” Lexi kisses her head to calm her down.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Marco’s menacing tone gives me pleasure. Imagine how Ridge is going to feel. He never liked me. This is going to be great.
“We got married in Vegas,” I wrap an arm around Hunter’s shoulders and pull her into me. “We’ll throw a party, have everyone over.”
“Zach,” Hunter tries to dislodge herself from my tight grip on her.
“Does Ridge know?” Lexi’s shocked voice asks the obvious.
