Page 20 of Ciao Bella

“I know, baby. Don’t remind me. Scariest fucking thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Eagle holding her, crying like a little boy as he handed you off to me.”

“He was so gentle and sweet,” smiled Grace. “He told me everything would be alright because only good men lived there. He was right. Only good men.” Ghost hugged his wife closer, kissing her.

“What you went through was so terrible, Grace,” said Rachelle.

“No worse than what you went through, or Adele, or Alexandra,” she said, turning to the other woman.

“Oh. Yeah, well, my attack was almost identical to Rachelle’s since it was the same person,” she frowned. “Poor Tony finding me in that clubhouse was probably more than his big brain was prepared for. I don’t remember much other than Gaspar’s face and knowing that my hair was gone.”

“You looked like a tiny, wounded bird,” growled Gaspar. “I couldn’t leave your side at the hospital. I had Mama bring me clothes while the boys were out searching for that asshole. Finding out that you were ex-Navy didn’t feel coincidental at all.”

Again, the group laughed, realizing that there was some other magic at play in all of that.

“I was dumb enough to believe that my ability to remove emotions from my thinking would allow me to shoot when I needed to,” said Alexandra, shaking her head. “Turns out, it was Rachelle’s emotions that guided her to doing what was right.”

“I had to,” she whispered. “Tony gave his life for us, and I wasn’t going to allow that madman to come after you or me ever again. That’s the day we truly became sisters.”

Alexandra smiled at her, nodding.

“I think what always struck me was that I’d given a lecture once, years ago, and didn’t know that Nine and Gaspar were in attendance,” smiled Faith.

“Lucky you,” grinned Nine. “I remember thinking you were too pretty to be teaching a bunch of battle-hardened warriors. But you didn’t take shit from anyone. It took me a while to recognize you when we came to San Diego. I couldn’t believe it was you, and that big, ugly asshole actually won you over.” Ian laughed, shaking his head at his old friend.

“I suppose we can thank my old commander, Eric, for it all,” said Ian.

“Well, not exactly,” smirked Faith. “I don’t think any of you knew that Anna, Eric’s wife, had family in the New Orleans area.”

“No. No,” said Gaspar. “Do not tell me my mother conspired to get you two together.”

“Well,” laughed Faith, “I think she had a finger or two in that pot. Anna’s grandmother was one of the church ladies that Irene knew. She mentioned that her granddaughter had a friend that they were worried about. Said she was buying an old house that was way too big for her, and a beautiful woman like me needed protection.”

“So, I owe all of this to Irene?” frowned Ian.

“I don’t know if we owe it all to her, but she certainly made sure the first step was taken,” smiled Faith. “But all of you saved me. You saved me, you saved the house, and Noa saved Kelsey.”

“It never ends,” said Gaspar, shaking his head. They could feel the plane moving lower and lower through clouds and knew they were getting close to their destination. “Mama somehow has her fingers in it all, yet it’s Pops with the angelic abilities.”

“Doesn’t mean that Mama doesn’t have some magic too,” said Suzette. “After all, she knew about Erin being kidnapped.”

“What?” frowned Nine. Suzette laughed, shaking her head.

“Yep. She said some poor woman was kidnapped in the Middle East, and she sure hoped they sent someone to get her out.”

“B-but they thought I was a man,” said Erin.

“They did,” laughed Suzette, pointing at Nine, Trak, and the others, “but somehow, Mama knew it was a woman. Nine spoke to Gaspar the day they were leaving for the mission. You asked him to keep you informed of any intel he might hear.”

“That’s right. I was still active,” said Gaspar. “How could Mama know? How could she connect Erin and Nine?”

“How could she do anything she’s done?” smiled Erin. “She always seems to know everything and everyone.”

“All I know is that she called me when we announced our wedding,” said Nine. “You were all still active, but she said she heard I’d found my girl. That was what she said. You found your girl.”

“I never told her about the engagement,” said Gaspar, shaking his head. Erin smiled at them all.

“Well, our first visit is the Vatican. Arranged by Irene. No telling what will happen there.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN