Singe (Guardian Protection #1)

“You look beautiful,” Jude whispered in my ear as we swayed together on the dance floor, waves crashing on the beach behind us.

I was. I knew that much. I’d spend six hours getting dressed. Two hair stylists. A makeup artist. A sleek, white backless gown complete with thousands of tiny, red crystals streaming up from the bottom. The most incredible black-and-red heels that had ever been made. But it was Jude’s wedding ring on my finger that made it all pop. Beautiful wasn’t a strong enough word.

“I know,” I whispered back, my smile so huge that it was almost painful.

For the first few days after Jude had saved me—a second time—I had done a damn fine job at keeping my shit together. I hadn’t missed Jude’s wary glances. He’d been worried. And rightly so. I’d been through hell. But the world had kept spinning.

Pete was facing a plethora of charges, and Sandy had been arrested at her home in New York after my so-called will had been recovered from Pete’s office, her name on the bottom line as a witness. She wasn’t even to the police station before she’d flipped on him, revealing everything from the name of the man Pete had paid to set the fire all the way to the attorneys he’d used to swindle my father’s estate from me.

It wasn’t until four days later, on Christmas morning, when the reality of it all crashed down on me. There would be no phone calls or visits from the people I’d considered my family for so long. I’d lost not only my real parents, but my surrogates as well.

I was in the process of shattering all the pictures I had of them when Jude stopped me. Wrapping me in a bear hug, he’d whispered into my ear, “Breaking them won’t erase the past, Butterfly. All we can do is fill the frames with new pictures. New memories.”

He was right, but I still cried for most of the day. Around five that afternoon, the men of Guardian flooded into my apartment, along with Apollo and Sarah’s sister, Emma, a local photographer. I looked like death with swollen eyes and a puffy face in every one of those pictures. But, the next day, I’d grinned like a maniac as Jude had hung them around our apartment.

Peering up at my husband, I smiled at the memory and slid my hand up the back of his neck to trace my fingers over his scars.

He smiled; the pain and torture that used to paint his face at my touch had long since vanished. They weren’t his scars anymore. They were ours. Together.

“You want to see something interesting?” Jude asked, his eyes flashing over my shoulder.

“Depends. Is it something sexy interesting?” I asked.

“Not for you,” he replied.

He turned us in step with the music until I saw Braydon and Katie standing around the bar, only inches separating their bodies. Her cheeks were bright red, and his smile was aimed at the ground, her shoes dangling off the tips of his fingers.

“Oh hell,” I breathed. “That is not going to end well.”

Jude chuckled. “You never know. I thought the same thing about Alex and Brianna.”

“Where are they anyway?” I twisted to the tables flanking each side of the dance floor but never found my maid of honor or her boyfriend.

“Probably having sex on our bed.”

“Ew… Hopefully they at least use one of the guest rooms.”

“I put a fucking padlock on Val’s room.”

I patted his chest. “Smart man.”

Apollo appeared beside us, asking, “Mind if I cut in?”

“Actually, I fucking do,” Jude grumbled, and I rolled my eyes.

He was so overprotective.

Apollo had been back in my life for the last two years, but I suspected that Jude would never trust him completely. For that matter, I wasn’t sure he would ever trust anyone with me. Only a few hours earlier, he’d given Johnson the evil eye as he’d walked me down the sandy aisle.

“Next song,” I told Apollo, not yet ready to let my man go.

He lifted his hands in surrender and slowly backed away, a giant smile splitting his lips.

It had taken me a while to realize that, though I’d lost part of my family, what I’d gained was so much more.

Once the remnants of my father’s money had been returned to me, I’d promptly liquidated everything Pete had ever touched and given Apollo his fair share. A part of me feared I’d never see him again after the funds were transferred. But, much to my surprise, his first big purchase was to buy Murphy’s bar directly across the street from my building. He’d been living in the apartment above it for a few years, and he said that it felt like home. While my relationship with Apollo literally changed overnight, it was a long time before the wounds of our past healed. It was a slow and rigorous process for us both. As to be expected, I became shy in the trust department. Apollo had a lot of demons to beat down, and I wasn’t real keen about being in the line of fire while he was doing it. But we had grown closer with every day that passed.

“What time does Val have to go back?” I asked, plastering myself against Jude.

“April said she could stay the night.” His hand drifted down to my ass, and he dipped low so his lips were at my ear. “But I’d really like to have some time alone with you, preferably out of this dress.”

My cheeks flashed pink. “You’ll have me alone for ten days in Bermuda. Let’s spend some time with her while we have the chance.”

He groaned but then relented. “You’re right. Besides, she has to sleep at some point, right?” He winked.

I cocked an eyebrow. “Are you proposing stealthy three a.m. wedding night sex?”

His lips twitched with mischief. “It’s probably going to be closer to one a.m. I’m not sure I’ll make it to three.”

While we still lived in our apartment in Chicago, we visited the beach house and Val every chance we got. April was still a bitch, but after years of dealing with Margaret Spencer, I’d become something of a bitch whisperer. It was amazing how drastically someone’s tune changed when they’d been offered free rein of a house in the Hamptons, a lodge in Aspen, and a penthouse in New York. I thought a vein on Jude’s forehead was going to rupture when he’d heard me offer them to her. However, two years later, she’d never once given Jude any trouble about getting Val for a weekend.

“All right, Levitt. Quit hogging the bride,” Leo said, not even giving Jude a chance to reply before dragging me into his arms.

Jude glared, the twitch of his lips giving his humor away.

“Make yourself useful and get us some champagne while I give your wife a whirl on the dance floor.”

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Wife. It would never get old.

“Right,” Jude replied in a bored tone before pecking me on the top of my head and then begrudgingly wandering away.

“Perks of being the boss,” Leo mumbled.

I tore my gaze off Jude’s back and asked, “What’s that?”