The Law of Motion (Law Series) (70 page)

              “You’re engaged, you’re engaged, you’re engaged!” Tink screamed when we came back through the doors of Gravity the next morning and she saw the ring on my finger. I was barely through the door and had only taken my hands from my pockets to shrug out of my coat so that Adrian could hang it with his. The woman had some type of super matrimony detector.

             
Since I had gotten a good look at it this morning, no longer in the shadows of darkness, I hadn’t been able to stop looking at it. It was distracting. It wasn’t the traditional diamond solitaire that most women had. There was one large heart shaped diamond in the middle nested in over a dozen deep green emeralds, secured to my hand by a platinum band. I laughed yet found it oddly fitting when he told me that he designed and purchased it through Blue Nile. The memories of how we got together echoing in the ring itself.

             
“Yes I’m engaged.” I smiled when Kristen pulled me in for a hug while Adrian was congratulated by the guys.

             
“I knew that he’d finally get a ring on that finger.” Joanne congratulated.

             
Tink barely made her way through the crowd to hug me before she started talking. “Actually it’s the third finger, because the thumb isn’t—” Doc nudged her and she stopped her stream of info, “it’s gorgeous.”

             
“It’s huge.” I added chastising with my eyes. He admitted to getting carried away, and promised that the band itself would be simpler.

             
Kristen took another look at the ring on my finger, this time bringing my hand to her. Her eyes widened and then corrected themselves as she released my hand. “Relax Chance, it’s not like you plan on doing this more than once.”

             
“That’s what I keep telling her,” My favorite velvet voice crooned into my ear after a set of strong arms grabbed me from behind and wrapped around my torso. “Relax, Honeyface.” He demanded in my ear before planting his lips on my temple.

             
I smiled, turning to kiss him, the kiss being interrupted by my comic relief of a big brother. “Stop hogging the bride to be.” Macon demanded, picking me up and turning me away from my grumbling fiancé. He leaned low pretending to whisper conspiratorially. “Just a heads up, since I didn’t get a bachelor party before I got married, Adrian here is going to have
two
. I am the
Tink
of bachelor parties.”

             
“Way to get the kid in trouble Mack.” Dario groaned, hugging me. “Don’t listen to him
Giselle
, I’ll take the reign on that. It will be very tasteful.”

             
“Yeah, only
five
strippers,” Jackson drawled sarcastically which made all the guys laugh, and for some reason myself.

             
I looked over at Adrian, who didn’t know whether to deny everything or keep quiet. I just shrugged, “I don’t care how many strippers you have.”

             
Macon’s mouth dropped as Danny and Jeff slapped high fives, before slapping Adrian on the back in celebration. Tink frowned and Kristen just rolled her eyes calling them all idiots. I looked over at Doc and Ross, who wasn’t fooled in the slightest, a smirk playing on Tawny’s lips as I said my next sentence over their laughs. “Just keep in mind that for every stripper you guys have I will have
two
.”

             
That got the reaction I knew it would, because none of those men wanted to picture their wives with a night of shirtless men in banana hammocks. I left the girls to their laughs and the boys to their strong protests and objections, “I’m going to my office, Kristen we’re leaving for Neil Tower in ten.”

I went straight to my filing cabinet to pull my most recent case file before all of this mess happened. I wanted to check on Patricia Morgan, not only to make sure that Craig got the hint and stayed the hell away, but to see if Conner and Patricia were safe.  As the phone rang I was hoping that everything was well, and she didn’t go back to Craig, as women tended to do in abusive relationships.

              The conversation was short due to Patricia’s need to get to her new job on time, but I was thrilled to know that she had found an apartment just outside of D.C. She got a job as a loan officer at a bank, just inside the perimeter and Conner was making new friends at his new school without trouble. She had to adjust to her new lifestyle—budgeting wasn’t something she ever had to do—but she was happier than she had been in years. She thanked me every four sentences and I reminded her each time that it wasn’t necessary. The best way for her to show appreciation in my eyes was doing exactly what she was doing,
living
.

             
“Good morning, Babes.” A familiar Biloxi accent greeted entering my office.

             
I smiled up at him as I closed the file and tucked it back into the drawer. He wasn’t in his standard DIA issued suit, instead the all black clothes that marked
my
security team at Neil Tower. “Good morning, are you ready to look over this benefit security, it’s going to be a nightmare because it’s partially out in the open and surrounded by so much.  These next few weeks will be hell. I’m thinking that—What?” I asked when I noticed that he was staring at me funny.

             
“So the murmurs are true.” He stated jerking his head towards the ring on my left hand.

             
I looked down at it, for some reason feeling the weight of it for the first time. “About me and Adrian? Yes, I’m engaged.”

             
He raised an eyebrow at me, his blue eyes holding questions, confusion, and sadly, pain. “Yesterday?”

             
I nodded. “You were right you know? You know I don’t like admitting that, but you were spot on, when it came to why I never said yes.”

             
“You didn’t think he could accept your secrets.” He guessed low, his eyes focused more on the Newton’s cradle sitting on my desk than my face. I knew it was because he didn’t want to talk about what was happening because the balls of the pendulum were at rest.

             
“Yes, how you can figure me out so easily I will never know.” I sighed leaning against my desk and tucking my hair behind my ears.

             
Hunter didn’t say anything, but he gave me one silencing look that seemed to say ‘you know why’. “You’re happy with him?”

             
I nodded undoubtedly, “Very much so.”

             
“Tell me what you’re thinking.” I demanded as gently as possible when the silence became unbearable again.

             
He looked at the ring, and then back at me. “Does he know you at all?”

             
“What do you mean?” I whispered, now feeling the need to put my hands behind my back.

             
He looked at me pointedly, “That ring can sink the Titanic. It’s flashy, flashy isn’t you Alyssa.”

             
I sighed, he was right, the ring was a bit grandiose for my taste, but I would love anything Adrian gave me. “I know that, but it holds meaning as well. I love my ring Hunt.”

             
“It’s impractical.” He clipped.

             
I let out another breath putting my hands at my side. “This isn’t about the ring, so tell me what this is about.”

             
“I feel torn.” He answered honestly sitting down in the chair in front of me.

             
I waited for him to answer on his own, but eventually my impatience caused me to press, “
Between
…”

             
“Between what I know, how I feel, and what I want.” He answered truthfully. “I feel robbed Alyssa. My chance with you was taken before it started, and I’m losing you again before I could even get you back.”

             
I sat in the chair next to him putting my hand on his, because
his
emotions I didn’t know how to soothe. I was starting to realize that he was
in love
with me, the way that Adrian loved me. When Adrian was struggling, I could kiss his doubts away, alleviate any insecurity with my caress, and absorb his fears with gentle whispers. This however, I couldn’t do with Hunter, so I was stuck with my hand on his, searching for words.  “You knew that I was with Adrian.” I reminded, and felt like an ass, because it sounded more like I was trying to shirk responsibility than help.

             
“I know that, but you know me, Alyssa. I’ve always been a believer in signs. I come back when you and Adrian are at your worse, and I still feel the same, like time never passed, and in my head, it
means
something.” He processed.

             
I listened as he went on. “I know you Alyssa. When you’re upset, and you hide, I can
read
you like a book. You’ve fooled everyone in that room out there, except for me.”

             
“Then what do you see?” I asked staring into his blue eyes waiting for an answer.

             
He searched my eyes for a fraction of a second, before tearing them away and looking back at the pendulum on my desk. “You’re happy.”

             
I nodded trying to think of the words to say. “Hunt… you and I…” I wanted to tell him that I once was in love with him. That it was a hard choice to make, that saying ‘yes’ was difficult. I wanted to tell him that he had a place in my heart all of this time. I wanted to tell him that if things were different, and I never met Adrian, that he and I would be together, and that it would be his ring on my finger right now. I wanted to tell him all those things because those were the words he wanted to hear.

I let my words trail off because, as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t tell him those things. I loved Hunter, yes, but not in the way that he loved me now. When I left the military, there was nothing positive in my heart, and it was Adrian, who found his own place within me. The decision was never difficult, because since we started it was either Adrian or no one at all, and I couldn’t picture anyone’s ring on my finger but his. So I couldn’t tell Hunter the lies he needed feel better, which for some reason saddened me more.

“I know.” He sighed running a hand through his dark hair. “You don’t have to say anything.”

I had to ask the question aloud, “So where do we go from here?”

“Do you want me gone?” He asked looking at me, for the first time in a while, his eyes holding surprise, and for some reason a touch of fear.

It would have been better for him to go, considering I knew how he felt, and I knew my choice. I smiled at him weakly, “Would it be selfish of me if I told you I don’t want you to leave?”

He cracked a weak smile of his own. “Yes, it would be very selfish, but you will get your way Alyssa. For some reason I don’t feel compelled to leave either. We found each other again for a reason—”I started to reply but he silenced me with a raised eyebrow. “—and not just to help you get Juan and yourself back home. No… I’m
meant
to be here.” I rested my head on his shoulder in relief as he continued. “Besides it’s not over yet, you haven’t said ‘I do’.”

             
“You better not let anyone outside this door hear you say that.” I teased, resting my head on his shoulder in relief. He wasn’t going anywhere, and his jokes told me that being around wouldn’t be too painful. He was my only friend before anything happened to me, and I didn’t want to lose him.

He chuckled deeply into the top of my hair. “I know, I don’t even think the girls could save me then, not that they wouldn’t help. In all seriousness Alyssa, I know I’m meant to be here, just not as your lover like I assumed. I just need to find where I fit.”

“You can fit anywhere you want to.” I promised. It took me a few seconds of silence to realize what could have been mistaken as a double meaning, and my head shot up immediately in fear of hurting him. Instead, his wicked grin and wink made me punch him in the arm.

He rubbed it dramatically though there was no strength behind my jab. “I’m not sticking around to be a walking bruise.”

I ignored his threat and stood up ending the conversation. “Yeah, well I want to get this case done before I get married please.”

———————

“All of the preparations have been made, and the place looks fantastic.” Joanne boasted coming back from the newly renovated rec center to get dressed with the rest of us girls.

Tink had left her dress laid out on the sofa of her home and she directed her that way before bringing mine over. She handed it to me looking at my hand in disappointment. “It’s a shame you can’t wear your ring. It would have made the perfect accessory.”

I had taken it off before I even set foot into Neil Tower, giving it back to Adrian. I swore to him that I was in no way taking back my yes, and that the case would be more difficult with it on. The press would have a field day, and since he wasn’t supposed to be with me, he himself couldn’t deny the need to take it off. I nudged Tink as she handed me my dress shaking my head at her.