Page 2 of Paradise Ties

Lauren nodded, feeling lighter knowing Drew was at least interacting with someone, even if that person wasn’t her. Lauren looked across the aisle at Kanan, who was patiently teaching Katarina to play chess while her sister Natalia slept. Roz had originally adopted the girls, and when she’d married Kanan, he’d also adopted them. “I wonder what it is about K that makes Drew trust him.”

Dane’s gaze followed hers and he shrugged. “Who knows what draws people to each other? K was a lost soul himself for a while, maybe Drew recognises that in him.”

“Perhaps.”

Lauren took a sip of the champagne circulated by a flight attendant, closed her eyes, and allowed herself to relax. The past few weeks had been crazy with organising the finishing touches for the double wedding with Lucy and Jace. Crazy, but also a lot of fun and she couldn’t imagine doing this without them. Dane and his siblings were close, but he and Lucy had an incredible bond, so to share her special day with them felt right. As a family they’d endured more than most, so it was fitting they join with the other couple and have a joint wedding.

That the entire team and their extended family were flying out with them for the wedding was perfect. It also allowed her and Lucy to have all their friends as bridesmaids. In fact, the entire first class section of the plane was filled with their group from Fortis, along with their spouses, partners, children, and some of their extended family. The rest of their family and friends, including the guys from Eidolon and the girls from Zenobi were all making their own way to Saint Kitts later that day.

Her eyes fluttered open sometime later as soft lips touched hers, and she smiled at the sensation, one so familiar and yet one she’d never get used to.

“Hey, beautiful, time to wake up. We’ll be landing soon.”

Dane’s face in hers made her grin, and his words warmed her. He moved back as she lifted her arms to stretch the kinks from her body. “I can’t believe I slept so long.”

“I guess you needed it. The kids slept too.”

Lauren looked at the sleeping babies on the beds next to hers, one of the best benefits of first class. As Dane leaned in and secured the sleeping infants for landing, she smiled again at how lucky she was to have this man in her life. He reached for her hand over the babies, and she watched the beautiful island of Saint Kitts come into view on their descent. The long, sandy white beaches, turquoise water, and the vibrant green of the palms made her insides pop with wonder.

They were here, they were doing it, and she couldn’t think of anything more perfect than marrying the man she loved to distraction with friends and family surrounding her.

The landing itself was smooth, and everyone applauded the captain for his efforts. They began to disembark the plane that, even though they were in first class, was always going to be tricky due to kids and hand luggage and not enough arms.

Her head snapped up at the sound of Drew’s laugh as Aaron lunged for him. Drew adored his niece and nephew and always made time for them. Sometimes she wondered if they were what had kept him going those first few weeks after the accident.

She watched Aaron leap from Dane to Drew, who hefted him easily into his strong arms. The prosthetic, which was state-of-the-art due to Zack’s connections and insistence that it was covered on Fortis’ health insurance, didn’t affect his balance in any way.

“Hey buddy, you making a run for it?”

“He wants more boob to grab hold of, I expect,” Roz called.

“Boy is just like his father,” Jace said, repeating Lauren’s earlier words as he helped Lucy with her bags.

“Excuse me, but I’m practically a saint compared with the man-whore holding him,” Dane replied indignantly.

Lucy pointed to Drew. “He’s got you there.”

“What’s a man-whore?” Four-year-old Riley asked as they all began to shuffle towards the exit.

A collective gasp from the adults mixed with a snort from Riley’s mother Ava, came on the heels of the comment.

“Will you froggers watch your language in front of my son?” Zack demanded, using his own newly-coded swear word to insult them.

Ava raised an eyebrow at him. “Like you’re any better.”

Zack looked affronted as he held his daughter Ella so tightly in his arms, the only things showing were her red hair and tiny feet. “I’ll have you know my language is lily-white compared with what came out of your pretty mouth when my angel was born.”

Ava paused and turned slowly back to him, hands on her hips. “Did you just call me out about my language when I was pushing your seven-pound daughter from my hoo-ha?”

Zack, the most feared and respected SAS leader ever, and badass owner of Fortis Security, looked momentarily scared of his wife as he realised his mistake. “Never my love, I was merely saying I’m not all bad. In fact…” He leaned close to his wife and whispered something that made her blush and then giggle like a schoolgirl.

“Can we please move this along? Zoey just puked on my shoulder,” Daniel said.

The group began to move down the steps into the small airport terminal. Chatter was loud and excited with grumbling and laughter, even a few tears from the tired children, but Lauren thought the chaos and love that surrounded them was the most wonderful feeling in the world.

Chapter 2

As comfortable as first class was, Dane was glad to be off the plane and stretching his legs as their group weaved through the bustling terminal towards the baggage claim. Once they had retrieved their luggage, they could head outside to the coach that was waiting to whisk them to the Paradise Bay Resort. With so many in the group, it had seemed the best way to get them to the hotel that would be hosting them, and in four days, the wedding.