Page 40 of Gator

Dylan couldn’t help but grin at the big man. She was still amazed every time she looked up to see one man more handsome than the last. It was like a feast of gorgeous hunks, various ages, sizes, and colors. But the best part was they were more gorgeous on the inside. Strong, courageous, loving, and devoted. All very, very swoon-worthy.

“What are you gonna do, babe?” asked Gator.

“I’m going to write a new will, and I’m going to protect my son.”

“Good,” he grinned.

“I’m not done. You’re going to marry me and adopt him immediately. If something happens to me, Hanz will have to go through you, all of you, to get to Joey.” Gator nodded toward her, then leaned back. “I mean, I hope you’ll marry me and adopt him.”

“Baby, you know that I want nothing more than to marry you and be Joey’s father, but I want to do that because it’s what you want. Not because you’re being forced to make that decision.”

“I promise I want this,” she said, nodding. “I love you, Ian. I didn’t think it was possible to love someone so quickly. Then Kate and the others gave me this advice.”

“Oh, I think I know what advice they gave you,” smiled Jean.

“They said it was new, sort of rebooted,” she grinned. Jean tilted his head, listening more carefully. “They said love is so very hard to find that when you do, recognize it as the gift it is. You should hold it gently. Don’t squeeze too hard, but don’t let it go. These men are different in every way. Their lives have been entirely about protecting others, with no thought as to who would protect them. Expect that they’ll be overbearing, alpha in every way. But recognize how unbelievably special that is and that they’ve chosen us to be by their sides. He will protect you, but you will protect him as well. He will drive you mad with his overprotection, but he will soothe you with his love and adoration of you. And there is nothing like the love of one of these men.”

“That’s really beautiful,” smiled Rose. “My advice was a bit different, but I like both of them.”

“I love you, Ian. I don’t know how it happened so quickly, and I don’t care. The love that your parents and grandparents have shown Joey and me these last few weeks tells me what kind of man they’ve raised. The best.”

“Then I’d say we need to have a wedding.”

Within forty-eight hours, Dylan had a will that was executed, signed, and sealed. If she died, everything went to Joey under the guidance of his father, Ian William Dougall. Two hours after the will was notarized and filed, she became Mrs. Ian William Dougall.

Cam and Kate argued with Nine and Erin, and Rafe and Savannah, over who should keep little Joey while the couple enjoyed at least one honeymoon night together. In the end, they agreed to do it together in Nine and Erin’s new cabin.

“You’re a married woman,” smiled Gator, holding up the sparkling two-carat diamond, surrounded by emeralds. “How does it feel?”

“Surreal. Magical. Amazing. Unbelievable.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Mostly, it feels wonderful and right. I never knew I wanted this until I met you, Ian. I just hope I didn’t bring more pain to your doorstep than you think. It’s obvious that Hanz is unhinged and wants those holdings more than anything. I just wish we knew what was in them.”

“They’re still digging, baby. It was a lot to go through, and your father was a very clever man. He had a code all his own, and the tech boys are trying to help Ella, Rose, and Jean decipher it. They’ll figure it out.”

“I just hope they do that before he finds us,” she said, hugging him close. He kissed her forehead, rolling her to her back.

“Why don’t we stop talking about Metzger and get back to what we do best. Make love to one another.” Dylan smiled up at him, kissing him, rolling her tongue along the seam of his lips.

“Oh, yea,” she grinned. “Talk dirty to me.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Why in the hell does Metzger have such a hard-on for holdings that are thirty years old? Hiro and Pigsty stared at the information, digging more and more into the information. As they dug in, Kate, Ajei, and Sophia Ann took Dylan out to G.R.I.P. They wanted her to have a feeling of security and to know that she and Joey were safe.

“Wow, the weather has really turned cold,” she said, shivering.

“It’s always colder on the water,” said Ajei. “Everyone always thinks that because we’re in the south, it doesn’t get really cold. The water makes it a damp, biting cold that just cuts through you. We usually have the flaps down on the windows to block the wind, but they haven’t done that yet.”

They passed the island mansion, and the women all gave a small wave toward Ham and Sadie. He held her hand gently in the crook of his arm as they walked around the small garden paths. She was wrapped in a long sweater coat, a shawl around her shoulders. Her blonde hair was in a messy bun on top of her head.

“I hope she’s okay,” said Dylan.

“Physically, she’s fine,” said Ajei. “It’s going to be a while before she comes to grips with what happened to her. She said that it was like having someone send a text message to your brain non-stop. The same message repeating itself over and over.”

The women just nodded, realizing how awful that must have been for her. The once bright, smiling, always chipper young woman was a shell of herself.

“Whoa,” whispered Dylan. “What is that?”

“That is G.R.I.P.,” smiled Sophia Ann. “Both my sister and I work there as engineers, but the real genius comes from Montana, Doug, and Ryan. They’re amazing and always coming up with new thoughts and ideas.”

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