Blood and Fire (McClouds & Friends #8)(170)

She dragged a Kleenex out of her purse. Bruno stepped up behind his brother to give him the rings. Their gazes crossed. No getting away. They stared at each other while Kev and Edie exchanged their vows.

Lily didn’t hear a thing. She was trapped in an airless, invisible prison. All she saw was Bruno’s face. All she heard was her heart, thudding. Emotions rose up, swelling out of control. Threatening to burst out in some inappropriate, badly timed way, a sobbing fit, a fainting spell, a freak-out. She’d worn low heels in case she ended up running. And waterproof mascara. The gummy stuff weighed her lashes down like they’d been painted with tar.

Then Kev and Edie joined in a clinging kiss so joyful and inevitable the room broke into cheers, howls, applause. Everyone rose to their feet, yelling and whooping. So happy that these two fine people had found such joy together. Something snapped. The sobbing part was coming on.

Oh, shit. Not now. She jerked loose of Sveti’s hand and ran toward the back of the conservatory, out into the garden, pointing herself blindly toward the parking area—

A hand seized her arm, bringing her up short with a jerk.

She gasped, wet eyes wild, staring into the face of Alex Aaro. She sagged, trying to catch her breath as her heart tripped and stuttered.

“Oh, God,” she quavered. “Oh, God, you scared me to death.”

“Sorry,” Aaro said. He sounded both apologetic and sullen.

She stared, pointedly, at her trapped wrist. “I will accept your apology if you let go of me.”

“Uh, no,” he said.

She was alarmed. “What do you mean, no?”

“I just mean no,” he repeated. “You can’t leave yet.”

She yanked at her arm. “How dare you?” Her voice began to rise in pitch. “How dare you push me around? Let go of me, goddamnit!”

He easily managed her flailing and struggling. “I’m sorry.”

“Why?” she shrieked. “I have had enough of this shit!”

“Yes, you have, absolutely,” he said. “And I will let you go, I promise, as soon as Bruno gets out here.”

Her stomach went into freefall. She began to shake her head. “You can’t do that to me. You just can’t.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, helplessly. “I have to. I promised. I’m sorry.”

“You’ll be sorrier when I start screaming!”

He shook his head. “No, Lily. Every person here, every last damn person, will back me up. Go ahead and scream. You’ll see.”

“Then I’ll just tear your face off, if no one will help me,” she snarled. “Say good bye to your eyes right now!”

“I don’t care,” he said, grimly stoic. “I would rather die badly, right here and now, than let you disappear on him a second time.”

She realized how her abduction in the hospital must have felt from his viewpoint. The crowd was spilling out into the garden, curious people looking their way as the string ensemble started to play again. “You don’t understand,” she said, haltingly. “Things are different now. Between us.”

“I don’t care,” Aaro said. “That’s for you guys to thrash out.”

“That’s exactly it!” she wailed, jerking at her trapped arm. “I can’t deal with any thrashing right now!”

“Lily.”

Bruno’s voice wiped her mind clean. She forgot Aaro existed. The manacle on her arm disappeared. Along with all the available oxygen.

Close up, she could see the damage he’d sustained in their adventure. Shiny pink marks on his cheekbone, the thickened eyelid. A notch in his ear. Burn scars on his hands. But it was the pain in his eyes that made her feel like a fist was squeezing her heart.

Bruno released her eyes, flicked his gaze to Aaro. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, man.” Aaro slunk away.

She watched him go. “Anytime, my ass,” she muttered, sourly. “Does he take hostages for you on a regular basis?”

“No,” Bruno said quietly. “Just you, Lily. You’re special.”

“Not really,” she said. “I’m been enjoying my non-special status lately. My life is so normal now. Quiet.”

His jaw contracted. “I see,” he said. “Congratulations.”

They stared at each other. Now was the time to deliver her bombshell. The timing was terrible, but how could she see him again, on another occasion? Torture herself, over and over, with these feelings?

But it was absurd to pile another burden onto a man who had just single-handedly shouldered the responsibility for two toddlers.

Bruno, I’m pregnant. Uh, OK. So? What could he do about it?

This was not the moment. She’d miscalculated. She called on her minimal knowledge of wedding choreography for a distraction. “Um, aren’t you supposed to be in a receiving line, or something?”

“I bailed to come after you. Skipped out on the exit march, too. Like a rhino on stampede. Ronnie had to go out on Sean’s arm. Edie’s aunt is going to tear me to shreds and stomp on the pieces.”

“Oh. Well, then. That’s bad. You better get going,” she urged. “Can’t have any of that. Tearing and stomping, I mean.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I’m used to it. Being stomped on.”