Page 19 of Ciao Bella
“Once again, things happened in such a strange way,” said Clay. “I mean, Mac was saved by Miller, Bull, and the others and brought into the family fold. I was visiting Kari because she was handling my case against the Army and the VA, which only led me to Miller, which led me to Irene. I remember your parents inviting me for Christmas that year and telling me that anytime I wanted to come out there, I was family, and I should come.”
“That’s Mama and Pops,” smiled Adele. “I also seem to remember calling you clumsy after we tripped over one another.”
“I was clumsy,” laughed Clay. “I was still getting used to my new prosthetic, and you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Knocked me off my feet. Foot.” He laughed, and the others groaned at his own joke.
“Rachelle and Mac had just announced their engagement, and I was so excited for them and yet sad at the same time. I was going to be alone for the first time in my life.” Adele reached for her sister’s hand, squeezing it.
“We’re twins. You’ll never be alone.”
“I’ve learned that since then,” she laughed. “I am, literally, never alone. There is always someone tripping over the other.”
“I love that,” said Antoine. They all turned to look at him. Antoine was the one sibling who wanted privacy more than any of the others, except perhaps Jean.
“You? Mister I want my space?” laughed Suzette.
“I do want my space, with my wife. I remember being so confused after that mission, where we rescued Luke, Carl, and the rest of the kids. I’d been on the team that got Ella and Ryan. That poor kid was too small for his age, terrified of everything and everyone, and she was like a mama bear protecting her cub.”
“He was my cub as far as I was concerned,” smiled Ella.
“All I remember is that you couldn’t keep your eyes off of her,” laughed Rachelle. “We knew she was the one for you, but it took you some time to realize it.”
“It didn’t take me any time at all. She’d been kidnapped, stripped, forced onto a stage to be sold. I wasn’t about to be an asshole and come onto her. During that entire time that Gaspar and Alexandra were settling in with the kids, I was tiptoeing around having her and Ryan in the house, trying to figure out how tonotembarrass myself.”
“You were a gentleman, and I was absolutely in love with you from the moment I leaped into your lap on that plane.” Ella kissed her husband as the others chuckled, watching them.
While eating breakfast, the pilot let them know that they had about ninety minutes left in their flight before arriving in Rome.
“Ninety minutes,” smiled Suzette. “Just enough time to hear the last five stories.” She looked at her oldest brothers and smiled as he stared at his friends, Ian, Ghost, Nine, and Trak.
“Alright, baby sis,” he grinned. “But you all know our stories.” Adele smiled at her brother. The historian of the group, she always wanted to relive history if it was healthy to do so.
“We know your stories, but it seems appropriate to relive them in the most romantic place in the world.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Ours was easy,” said Trak in a stoic voice. “She was injured, in trouble, beautiful, and I fell in love and told her we were getting married.” Lauren rolled her eyes at him as the others laughed.
“It wasn’t exactly like that,” she laughed. “Yes, I was beaten and in trouble, but as I recall, you told me I was going home with you and didn’t have a choice.”
“You didn’t.”
“Trak,” laughed Erin. “It’s not like you ordered her to go with you. I thought you showed tremendous compassion for someone in her predicament.”
“That’s because you always see the good in me, baby sis.” She smiled at her cousin, grateful every day that they’d found one another.
“The harder part for Trak was definitely having to return to New Mexico,” said Lauren. “I didn’t want to make him do that.”
“You didn’t make me do anything. It was my decision, and it was time. Besides, I was able to reconnect with my grandfather for the last time. To remember why he’d been forced to do what he did for me. And most importantly, I discovered my connection with Erin and my true love for you.”
“See,” smirked Tailor, “he can speak more than three words at a time.” Trak glared at his old friend, then gave a small grin.
“I’ve learned to speak more because of you,” he smirked. “If I don’t speak up, you’ll tend to speak for me, and it’s always wrong.”
“That’s true,” laughed Tailor. “But that trip got me connected to Lena, you connected to Lauren and your past, and we got a few good men out of that situation, including Sniff.”
“I remember hearing about what happened,” said Ghost. “We all knew the work that you boys were doing, and it was what prompted me to start Steal Patriots. I never in a million fucking years thought Grace would walk through our gates.”
“Well, I really stumbled,” she smiled nervously.