Free Unchained by Suzanne Halliday, Jenny Sims Page A

desperate situations. Not all of them came back, and some came back in pieces. He’d live the rest of his life seeking personal redemption for the actions his oath of honor led to.
    But if Meghan was near? When she touched him? Alex was sure the contented peace of mind she brought to his world saved his life. In many ways, he’d found a good portion of the recompense he sought with his Irish wife and her open, giving heart.
    She kept her hand on him as he played. They were really, really good at silent communication. Being connected as they were, each of them only needed to come close, and an unspoken conversation began.
    When the final notes played, his hands lifted off the keys as the melody hung in the air before eventually fading away.
    “What the hell did I do to earn a hot husband with rock-hard biceps who’s nice enough to pour his wife a drink and then serenade her fat ass with a beautiful song?”
    Fat ass. Oh, my god. When she taunted him this way, it was all he could do not to haul her fantastically curvy derrière over his knee for a sexy whacking. He snickered. Probably why she said it, you stupid fuck.
    Alex swung around on the bench and wrapped his arms around her waist as she stepped between his open thighs. Staring up into her beautiful face, he thanked his lucky stars for the millionth time for bringing this magnificent, gorgeous big-hearted woman into his life.
    “The folks get off all right? Wish they would’ve let me fly them home.”
    “Oh, don’t grumble,” she teased. “Ma loves the train, and you know my dad. He loves anything she does.”
    “I know, but come on,” he continued to gripe. “What good is it to be a big-time CEO with an agency jet if I can’t use it to impress the in-laws?”
    She snickered and ruffled her hands through his hair. “Settle down, Zorro. My parents are impressed enough without you unleashing Captain Sawyer and the Gulfstream on their blue collar butts.”
    Zorro. Good lord. Meghan’s older brother, Deval, finally stopped referring to him as a desert rat. About time too, since he’d done the right thing and married the guy’s only sister in front of half of Boston. And with Alex’s uncle, the priest, doing the deed! Backing off with the snarky nicknames seemed the least Dev could do.
    In a moment of brother-in-law solidarity, desert rat was retired, but in its place, a new snark-name was inaugurated . Zorro —because Dev considered the moniker to be a tip of the old Irish Paddy Cap to Alex’s Spanish ancestry.
    “Your parents pulled out every trick in their entertainment arsenal when mine went to Arizona. I think if I have to hear about the five-star treatment they received at the Villa one more time, I’m gonna hurl.”
    He chuckled. Without knowing any details, he didn’t doubt Carmen stood on her damn head for the O’Briens. Not that it was necessary. A fast friendship formed between the new O’Brien and Marquez branch of the family tree and included Parker’s folks and even Calder and Stephanie. Far as grown-ups went, those eight people were an interesting and diverse tribe.
    Hearing Meghan mention the Villa reminded Alex of the things he needed to say—stuff she needed to know before they went home.
    Pressing his face into her chest, he held her tightly and listened to the steady rhythm of her heart. She wasn’t going to be happy with him about any of it. And not just because shit in the desert was clearly off the fucking hook and speeding toward a ditch.
    His wife gave him full control when it came to all contact with Arizona during their honeymoon. How could she not? In the context of their relationship, she deferred to him when it was just the two of them.
    But had she been happy with his heavy-handed decree that she only touch base with the girls occasionally? No. And she still didn’t know the half of it. Not only had he carefully monitored the information flow, but he’d also made sure through Cam and Drae that neither Lacey or Tori