"Thanks for coming, Sergio.

"Nixon hit him on the back. "You're family, you should be here."

Sergio's crystal blue eyes cut straight to me. "There's no place I'd rather be than where I am right now."

I sucked in all the air I could, and forgot to exhale... only this time, it ended up with me collapsing to the floor.

CHAPTER NINE.

Truth always finds a way out...

Tex "WHAT THE h.e.l.l!" I grabbed Mo's body right before it crashed against the floor.

"Mo? Mo!" I shook her and then pulled her into my chest. "Baby, talk to me..."

Panicked, I kissed her mouth, urging her to wake up.

Her lips moved against mine as she let out a moan and then jolted back.

If I was being honest, it kind of scared the h.e.l.l out of me-I hated not knowing what to do in this situation.

"Mo?" Sergio's voice was laced with concern as he leaned down next to me and slowly touched her face. It was such an intimate caress that I was momentarily dumbfounded.

And then, like someone hitting me in the chest with a freaking two by four, I staggered back, nearly landing on my a.s.s.

"YOU!" Had Mo not been in my arms I would have shot him. I didn't give a rat's a.s.s that we were in City Hall. I'd go to prison. Gladly.

Sergio's brows furrowed together in confusion. "Me, what?"

"You did this!"

His face paled. "I did not cause her to faint!"

"Not that!"

"Tex." Nixon put his hand on my shoulder. "It's been a long day and..."

Mo stirred. "Tex, sorry... I just, so hot..."

"Can you sit up?" I asked in the gentlest voice I could manage, which just so happened to sound gruff and irritated.

"Yeah, yeah, I can, um, I can get up." Mo struggled a bit as I helped her to her feet.

Chase came up behind us with Mil.

Everyone was hovering, and I was sick of it.

"Guys, give her some s.p.a.ce." I kept my eyes locked on Sergio's. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d had no right to be staring at what was mine. I stepped around Mo so I was directly in front of him. With a grunt and a curse, he stumbled back.

"I'm fine guys, really, I'm fi-"

The sound of gla.s.s shattering pierced the air. I covered Mo with my body and looked up just in time to see Chase grunt and then fall to the floor followed by the Judge who'd just married us. Only there was no getting up for him.

He'd been shot in the head.

"Chase!" Tracey and Mil yelled at the same time, while he held up his hand from the ground with a thumbs-up.

"Get the girls out!" Nixon roared grabbing me by the collar of my shirt.

Mo tripped as I pulled her to her feet.

Trace and Mil kept their heads covered as they ran towards the door. Sergio pulled out his cell phone and followed me out then started barking orders in Italian to his men.

Well at least he'd brought backup.

Then again, why the h.e.l.l would he need it?

Police filed down the hall just as Nixon and Chase emerged. They were both smiling and laughing like they'd just gotten wasted at a party.

"Split up." Nixon growled, the smile fell from Chase's lips as he winced.

Mil ran up to him.

"I said..." Nixon's voice lowered.

"...split up, I've got Chase. Girls you go with Tex and Sergio, we've got this.

Make the calls." He pointed his free hand to Sergio. "Get one of your men in here to look at the cameras."

An officer ran up to us. "Sir?" He directed his sir to Nixon who sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let the Chief know we were getting married.

After the ceremony two shots rang out, silencer." He tugged at Chase's shirt.

I pushed his hands away. "Let me."

With a rip, the shirt weakened under my grasp. The bullet had lodged in his left shoulder. "Aw, we're bullet twins."

"Not. The. Time." Sweat poured down Chase's face.

I winced. "Sorry, been there, lived through that." As carefully as I could, I pushed against the skin surrounding the wound. "Yeah, it's lodged in there pretty good. From the looks of it, shooter probably used a rifle, possibly an MK12."

"Son of a b.i.t.c.h, that hurts." Chase leaned heavier onto Nixon.

I tried not to smile, but it was the best d.a.m.n part of my day seeing someone else get shot. Not because I wanted Chase to die but because I could at least focus on something other than Mo and the fact that Sergio had touched her in a way that was too familiar, as if he'd touched her in that way before- repeatedly.

"We'll let you know what we find."

The officer patted Nixon on the shoulder and walked back into the room.

"Well." I sighed looking around at the guys. "Clearly we don't know how to do normal weddings."

Everyone fell into comfortable laughter as we walked out of the building. The girls were probably halfway home by now and freaking out if I knew them at all.

"Nixon!" The same officer came running down the stairs, his chest heaving. "The papers..." He bent over and blew out a gutful of air. "The ones signed by the Judge..."

"Yes?" Nixon said impatiently.

"They're fake." He handed them over to us. "I'll make copies and send them through the usual a.s.sociates but, the wedding today? It wasn't real."

My mind whirled with possibilities.

Was the Judge in someone's pocket other than ours? How the h.e.l.l did that happen in our own city?

"Thanks." Nixon nodded. "Once we have the papers, we'll take it from there, understand?"

"Yes sir, of course sir. I'll let the Chief know."

"Well." Nixon cursed and kicked the wheel of his Range Rover. "Will life ever be boring?"

"Bleeding." Chase panted. "In case you guys were, oh I don't know, worried? Concerned? I mean, right flesh wound considering almost dying a few weeks ago, I got it, but it burns like h.e.l.l and I really, really need to make sure Mil isn't at the house ripping the curtains from the windows in a s.h.i.tstorm of emotion because you sent her away, Nixon."

At that Nixon laughed. "When is Mil not p.i.s.sed, Chase?"

Chase smirked. "Don't you worry about that."

"Disgusting," I muttered.

"Says the soon-to-be father." Nixon said dryly.

I glared in Sergio's direction and answered, "Right. Soon-to-be... father."

If he was bluffing about anything he didn't have any tells. Instead, he simply met my stare with one of his own.

One that told me.

I wasn't getting s.h.i.t.

CHAPTER TEN.

Dogs can smell fear... so can people.

Mo MY HANDS WOULDN'T stop shaking. I blamed it on the shooting. Since when have I ever been terrified of getting shot at?

Never. I'd been around this life since as far back as I could remember.

Funny, how it wasn't the violence that caused me to tremble.

But him.

I wanted wine so badly it wasn't even funny. Irritated, I followed the girls into the kitchen and waited for the guys to get home.

It was a tie between who I wanted to strangle first. Mil was stringing so many curses together it was hard to decipher if she was upset at the situation or at Chase. Trace spent her time soothing Mil while giving me the, "Are you okay?" eyes.

After about ten minutes the doors burst open, and the guys barreled in.

Chase stumbled a bit as Tex helped him into one of the chairs.

My husband, G.o.d it still sounded wrong, ran out of the room to grab our kit while Nixon tore the rest of Chase's shirt away from his body.

"Mil." Chase clenched his teeth.

"I'm fine!"

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" She punched him in his good arm. "Stop taking bullets!"

"Right." Chase snorted and lifted his head to the ceiling, closing his eyes.

"Because it was a choice!"

"Well!" Mil huffed. "d.a.m.n it, Chase, just try not to get shot every two weeks. It's irritating as h.e.l.l!"

"You're irritating as h.e.l.l!" he fired back.

"Good one, must be losing your touch with all that blood loss."

"Mil," he warned, then his eyes flashed as her breathing increased.

"Could you guys not eye screw each other right now?" Nixon swore and ran his fingers through his messy hair.

"It's going to be hard enough to get Chase to sit still Mil, so if you could stop making it so that he wants to do you on the kitchen table, we'd all really appreciate that."

Mil flushed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Sorry."