Page 41 of Rush

“And we respect one another,” said Ian. “So do our wives. I think that more than anything amazes me. A hundred guys together, and if they argue, they just fight it out. Women can get crazy as shit vindictive. Not our women.” He looked at Alec, Gaspar, and the other brothers.

“What? What did I do?” asked Gaspar.

“Nothing, but I still can’t help but think your Mama had something to do with all of this,” said Ian.

“How? She didn’t know a lot of you,” said Gabe.

“I know, I know, but still. Something always gives me the feeling that she’s involved. Almost like she’s watching us from afar,” said Ian.

They started to walk again and passed the entrance to the ancient underground market. It had been in place since the time of Christ, still boasting stalls of carpets, lanterns, jewelry, spices, and more. When Noah hit the entrance, he stilled, gripping his son’s shoulder.

“Dad? What’s wrong?” asked Rush. He looked at all the men, smiling.

“There are thousands of years of ghosts in this place. They have been relatively quiet so far. But now they are all shouting a message. A message I have just received from Mama Irene, via Martha, to my new friend, Babinar.” Noah nodded at the empty space, and the others all stared at him, then looked around to be sure others weren’t watching.

“I hear you, friend; I do not need you to yell at me. Yes, I understand that the old woman was insistent and woke your slumber. My apologies. Look, I am not in the habit of arguing with ghosts. What is the message you have for me?” Noah nodded, listening carefully.

“We are to gather a list of spices that she has just sent to Gaspar’s phone.”

“She didn’t…” Ding! “I’ll be damned. Red pepper flakes, cumin, saffron, cardamom, sumac, urfa pepper, aniseed, black cumin seed, and a bunch of other shit I don’t know.”

Noah smiled at the man, then began to laugh. The others could only follow suit, nearly crying with laughter. Rush just shook his head.

“Now, are you going to tell us she has nothing to do with all of this?” Gaspar looked at his brothers, and they all shrugged.

“No. I don’t think I am.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“So, you and Moose,” smiled Caroline.

“God, I’m so humiliated,” said Ece, shaking her head. “Your great-grandmother and aunt finding me in bed with a man I’m not married to!”

“Ece, we don’t judge here. We’ve all been with our husbands before we married. We understand that your family’s culture might frown on that, but we don’t.”

“I was raised in a Western culture,” said Ece. “My parents didn’t speak much about it, other than they had an arranged marriage but wouldn’t force me into one. I just couldn’t seem to let go of him. We were sleeping, and I felt the plane land, but I didn’t care. What kind of woman does that make me?”

“Normal,” laughed Kennedy. “It makes you completely normal. I’m Kennedy Stanton. My husband is JT. I think you met his father, Ghost, in Istanbul.”

“I met a lot of men, but that name does sound familiar,” she said, nodding at the beautiful young woman.

“I’m one of the doctors here, so I’m just going to check the leg while you continue to chat.” Ece nodded as Kennedy removed the boot and looked at the leg for swelling or unusual redness.

“Moose is a wonderful person,” said Caroline. “I’m sure you’ll be very happy here, but don’t feel as though you have to get married right away. They wouldn’t push you to do that.”

“Is it bad that I don’t mind that they want me to marry him? I mean, the first few days, we were constantly at one another’s throats, fighting with each other. Then suddenly, we were alone on that plane, and all I saw was this incredibly handsome, virile man. I acted so brazenly.”

“It’s not brazen to ask for what you want,” said Caroline. “I did. I was the one that made the first move with Rush. He was a gentleman and realized it wasn’t the right time. He pushed me away.”

“Oh, no,” said Ece. “That must have been painful.”

“It was, but it also was the right thing to do at the time. He knew that better than I did. The way we connected this time, minus him getting shot and the psycho after us, that’s how it was supposed to be.” The women all chuckled, nodding at Caroline.

“Ece, it might help for you to understand about Moose’s ex-wife as well,” said Kate. “She was pretty demanding of him and didn’t want him to continue as a Navy SEAL. She found the lifestyle difficult. Unfortunately, her way of dealing with that was screwing around on him.”

“He did mention something about that, but I was so distracted by his body and lips I couldn’t think straight,” said Ece. “If I stay, what then? I can’t not work. I’m a reporter. I can’t report on the work that you do here, so what do I do?”

“Well, maybe you could help us with news stories that go out and attempt to shine a light in a different direction, and not on us,” said Faith. “It’s not that we don’t want people to know that good deeds are happening, but we don’t want them to know it’s us. Maybe you could report the story as an anonymous source to other agencies or as the reporter that only writes about the feel-good stories.”

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