20. Windsor

CHAPTER 20

"Okay, but read this part," Arden, Tanner and Tucker's younger sister, sighs as she sits across from me at my desk while her brothers and husbands are locked away in their office.

"The Graham brothers have made no hesitation in announcing their engagement to Windsor James over the weekend and are now planning an extravagant but quick wedding to take place at the same resort where Miss James was poisoned and nearly killed by an unknown assailant. Their love appears to know no bounds as they explore a relationship triad and shower the woman they've chosen with gifts and love."

"Isn't it just romantic?" She grins at me as she takes a sip of her iced peach green tea.

"How did they even get all those details?" I respond, grabbing the paper as she's about to hand it to me. It's been almost a week since they proposed, and everything feels calm for the moment. "Won't this send the person after me into a tailspin or something?" I mutter that to myself.

"I think that was the point," Arden says, giving me a duh look as the elevator dings, alerting us to someone's arrival.

As the doors begin to open, I stand with a smile on my face, prepared to welcome whoever is here. Lux steps out, a giant grin on her face as she holds up the paper. Another woman stands behind her with a pinched expression, looking pissed.

I aim my attention at her. "Welcome to Graham Shipping I'll take care of him. Find that bitch." She rushes to the bathroom, presumably for towels, while Dare and I head out of the office.

"I'll take the stairs; you grab the elevator," I tell my brother-in-law. I need my hands on this bitch first.

Fucking coming after my woman, shooting my brother. Samantha will pay for the shit she's caused. Before Windsor came in, announcing she was here, Boston and Dare had been asking about her. They discovered she had been low-key stalking us and even found footage of her at the hotel in Lake Placid. Just as we were about to call Beau, Windsor arrived, and everything exploded. Now, she'll pay. I'd be happiest with her death, but I'm no murderer, so I'll settle for her incarceration.

Quietly opening the stairwell door, I hug the wall as I search for her. I hear the clacking of heels as she runs down the stairs. She's muttering something, but I don't catch what.

Jumping down two or three steps at a time, I follow after her but remain out of her line of sight when she glances back to see if anyone is pursuing her. When I hear her stop two floors below, I continue to move stealthily as she breaks down into a sob and sits on a step.

Retrieving my phone, I wait until I'm closer before hitting the record button. A few seconds later, she starts speaking. "Stupid Samantha. Should have waited until the bitch was alone. I can't believe the rat poison didn't work, either." I still can't figure out how she knew Windsor's favorite cake, but that doesn't matter right now.

Standing up, she lets out a huff, wipes her eyes with the back of her hands, and stomps down the steps, uttering, "I'll get her next time. Hit her with my car if I have to." This chick is unhinged.

I continue following her after pocketing my phone, remaining silent and out of sight. Once she exits the stairwell, she'll be forced into the lobby, and I'm sure security will stop her for no other reason than she's a stranger in our building, using a less-than-conventional way of exiting while in heels.

As soon as the door closes, I rush down and fly through it, just in time to see Dare putting her in a headlock as a security guard takes her weapon. She's screaming profanities and struggling to get out of Dare's hold, but he won't release her.

"You got cuffs?" Dare asks the guard. I grab them off his belt before he can.

"Should have stayed away, Samantha." I shake my head, angry and sad all at once.

"Can't believe you two dated this psycho." Dare glares at me, and I shrug.

The truth is, we went on two dates and didn't feel any kind of connection with the woman—Tuck was bored halfway through the first one. She begged for the second, and I relented because what if our initial feelings were wrong? Turns out, they weren't. This was also nearly eight months ago. She's the last woman we dated, and there's been no one since. Which I suppose, she could have taken as us maybe still wanting her. I don't fucking know. Can you ever make sense of a mentally unstable person's actions? Probably not.

"You can't do this to me!" she spits out.

Grabbing her chin, I squeeze until she stops squirming and looks me in the eye. "You fucking killed my baby, Samantha. There is nowhere you can go to escape our wrath now. Your life is fucking over, and there is nothing you can ever do about it. So just fucking stop."

The wind flies out of her sails as she stares at me. "A baby?"

"Yeah, Windsor was pregnant with our child when you poisoned her. It killed the baby. Nearly killed her and us along with it. You fucked up big time." For a moment, a very brief second, I see emotion in her eyes as she realizes she killed an innocent life.

"Who cares!" she shouts. "That whore deserves it for stealing you and Tucker away from me!" Ignoring her comment, I understand there is no arguing with her. I step back and allow Dare to deal with her as paramedics arrive.

"This way." I lead them to the elevator and to our office, where Tucker is now sitting up against the desk, a mask of pain covering his face as Lux applies constant pressure to his wound and Windsor brushes her fingers through his hair, remaining the strong woman she never believes she is.

"You catch that bitch?" Tucker asks as the paramedics take over his care.

"Yeah, Dare is down there with security. They're waiting on Beau." Lux pales at the mention of our detective friend, and I feel for her, but my concern is Windsor and Tucker. "You good?" I nod at where blood has slowed to a trickle on his side.

"Yeah, Lux said it likely didn't cause too much damage. Never stops hurting like a bitch, though." He laughs, then groans.

The EMTs haul Tuck up on a gurney before taking him to the elevator and telling us which hospital they'll go to. Lux rides with them as an extra set of hands in case she's wrong, and things go south.

After checking on Arden and Boston, I grab Windsor's hand, and we head to the hospital together.

Tucker

Three times in my life I've taken a bullet. Once in Afghanistan—insurgent got me in the thigh. Broke my leg and had me laid up for six months before I was back in action. The second time was in Iraq, and I took it in the chest, but my vest prevented penetration. I walked away with three fractured ribs and four weeks of furlough. This time, I wasn't expecting it, so I wasn't in the same head space where I'd been anticipating getting shot. It hurts like a motherfucker.

"How you feeling?" Lux asks me for the fifth time since I was loaded up in the ambo.

"You keep asking me that, Lux, and I'm going to think you lied to Windsor, and I'm worse than you believe." Her eyes stay glued to my vitals before she answers me.

"No, not worse. I just… I can't be wrong, you know?" She looks at me then, and I see the fear in her eyes. Fear that if I die, her sister won't forgive her.

Reaching for Lux's hand, I grip her tightly and say, "You know she's never letting you go, right? Before she met you, she was so nervous but elated to have family. Whatever happens, Lux, it's not your fault, and your sister will know that." She nods her head, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Thank you for saying that, Tucker. I need her too, you know?" I keep hold of her hand until we arrive at the hospital, only letting go because I'm forced to. When asked how we know each other, I tell the staff that she's my sister. She will be, so it's not a complete lie, but I refuse to let them shut her out. These James sisters are strong but vulnerable in ways that deserve to be protected.

Luckily the exam, which was painful as fuck, only proved what Lux said was true. No vital organs were hit. I have to go in for surgery to clean the wound out and get stitched up, but I'll be able to leave in the morning.

As I'm rolled into my room after recovery, I find Tanner in a chair in the corner with Windsor curled up in his lap fast asleep.

Once the nurses have my bed settled, I tell Tanner, "Bring her over here." He gives me a dubious look. "I'm fucking fine, man. Bring me our girl and go find Lux; she's been stressing about shit unnecessarily."

"Yeah, we saw her earlier, but she seemed a little skittish." I'm not surprised. I figured she'd keep some distance until I was in recovery.

"How's our girl?" I ask as Tanner places Windsor on the bed with me. It's not until I glance out the window and notice it's past dark that I realize how late it is. Shit really changes when you're shot and unconscious.

"Terrified and enraged. I'll explain what Beau said when I get back. You want anything?" Glancing at the cup full of ice chips on the table, I shake my head. Windsor cuddles into me as Tanner leaves, and my world settles.

"You're alright?" Her husky voice is music to my ears.

"Yeah, sweetheart. Now that I've got you, I'm perfect." She gives me the same look Tanner did earlier—neither believes me. But honestly, no one's dead. We can move on with our lives, and I'm ready to get a start on that now. "Tell me something." I lean away so I can see her clearly.

"What?"

"I want you to carry our babies sooner rather than later. You ready for that?" She gives me a teary smile filled with regret and happiness. A feeling I can match because I understand the reason behind it.

"Is anyone ever ready for children?" She chuckles a little, and I bask in the soft sound. "Yeah, Tuck, nothing would make me happier than tying our lives together so intricately."

"Good, because I say we get working on it when I get out of here." Nuzzling her neck, I kiss up her jaw, only stopping because Tanner returns.

"You're okay." Lux blows out a sigh of relief. She must have snuck in behind my brother.

"Told you I would be." She nods and shuffles over, hugging Windsor and me at the same time. Beau trickles in a few minutes later, asking if I've been filled in yet.

After listening to what Samantha is being charged with, thanks to my recording—two counts of attempted murder—I feel better knowing she won't be able to target Windsor or our family again. The possibility of twenty years is less than she deserves but more than I thought she might get. The truly shocking part is that she is related to Joe, Windsor's old neighbor. It explains a lot about how they knew things about us they shouldn't have.

Now, all we need to do is get out of this fucking hospital and work on the baby-making and wedding plans because there is nothing I want more than to tie this incredible woman to us, and I know Tanner feels the exact same way.