Page 11 of Edge of Desire

“Yep,” she agreed.

I turned to Justin and said, “Man, this is some kind of crib you got here.”

He laughed. “You like it, huh?”

“How can I not? It’s incredible. But you still have that apartment, right?”

Caroline asked, “You mean in case of emergencies?”

“Yeah.” I never took their safety for granted. I made them keep an apartment as a safe house, just in case.

“Yeah, we do. I pop over there every so often to check on things.”

“Good. Make me a happy brother and keep doing that.”

They wanted to know how long I planned on staying and I honestly didn’t know. A couple of weeks sounded about right. That would be enough family time and then I’d head up to Montana. After going back and forth over what to do for dinner, we agreed on going out for seafood. There were a million and one places to eat, so we let Justin choose and off we went.

We returned home a couple of hours later, and Caroline put on a pot of coffee for us. Justin had to be at the hospital at seven a.m., so he wouldn’t be up much longer. I disappeared for a moment and came back down with the flash drive I’d uploaded the photos on. “Hey, can we pop this in one of your computers? There’s something I want to show you two.”

Caroline wore an odd expression, but she asked, “Can it wait till the coffee’s done?”

“Sure.”

As soon as she had our cups made, the three of us went into their office and she slipped the flash drive into the computer. I made the two of them sit next each other, and when the first couple of pictures popped up, they both turned around to look at me. Man, I wish I’d have had my phone’s camera pulled up, because it would’ve made a great shock shot. I just chuckled, plopped into a chair behind them, and watched the show.

The photos were perfect. Caroline’s expressions were exquisitely captured and the way the camera caught Justin’s eyes as they gazed at her made even my heart skip a beat. The love that radiated from them was a thing of beauty. The photographer was a genius. Even though I had seen these a dozen times, my cheeks were damp when the slideshow finished. It was nothing compared to the two of them.

“How?” they both asked, their brows raised.

I chuckled again and then cleared my throat. “You won’t like this, but I was there.” I looked at Caroline and said, “So was Pete.”

“At the wedding?” my sister asked.

“Who’s Pete?” Justin asked at about the same time.

“He’s a coworker and a friend,” I answered.

“How were you there? Why didn’t we see you?” Caroline asked.

“I had to be there. The Middletons aren’t exactly obscure. I knew when word got out you two got married, it would hit the web immediately. I couldn’t have you out there alone, without protection, just in case. So yeah, I was there. Anyway, when I saw the photographer, I freaked. I knew how she’d post her work online and I couldn’t blame her. The pics are amazing. But I couldn’t have them out there, making you two vulnerable.” I gave them a sheepish look. “So, I sort of bumped into her and stole her smart chip. I paid her, only it was sent anonymously. She probably went home and thought the chip fell out of her camera when I charged into her. I made it all look like an innocent accident. But I had every intention of getting this to you earlier, except my fucking job got in the way ... again. Anyhow, I hope you like your wedding album. Personally, I’ve never seen a more beautiful bride in my life. You probably could’ve done a little better on the groom, but it wasn’t my call.”

She was on top of me, hugging the breath out of me before I could say another word.

Justin still sat at the computer. There were several pictures taken of Caroline alone, looking out at the sea, laughing, the wind blowing her hair. And there was another where she had this unbelievably special smile on her face. I knew she’d been looking at him, because I remember thinking that maybe one day a woman might look at me like that. Justin simply stared at them, mesmerized. He didn’t have to speak. I knew exactly what he was thinking by the way his eyes went soft. My sister had herself a good man.

Five

Ava

The weekend rolled around and I couldn’t put it off any longer. I had to pay a visit to Justin and meet his new wife. If I didn’t go today, it wouldn’t look very family-like of me.

Don’t ask me why, but I went without calling first. Maybe I hoped they wouldn’t be home. I don’t know. Visiting them threw me into a bundle of quivering nerves. I hadn’t seen Justin in over a year, and then there were those few times when I’d fiercely berated him.Yes, I apologized but it had all been over him dating Terri. When she died, I was miserable over what I’d done. What did one say to a brother they hadn’t seen for that long and had been extremely hateful to? And then, what would I say to his new wife? Nice to meet you was over in a blink.

Before I chickened out, I hopped in the taxi and gave the driver the address. When the cab pulled up to their house, he asked if I wanted him to pull into their driveway. I told him no. It was gated and I was embarrassed. What if Justin’s wife was there and didn’t let me in because we had never met? What if I scared her or something?

Yeah, this was probably a bad idea. I should’ve called first.

There was an intercom-buzzer thingy on the gate, so I pushed it and waited a few minutes. When no one answered, I started to walk away but I stopped. Where the heck would I go. I had absolutely no idea where I was. I opened the Maps app on my phone to decide if I should order an Uber. This didn’t look like a place where taxis usually hung out.

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