My Stallion Heart
Autore
Deborah Fletcher Mello
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Harlequin🏰 Historical
HarlequinChapter 1
The prestigious Westminster flat was an interior designer’s dream come true. Eggshell-colored walls were lined with exquisite abstract artwork. Ornate sculpture sat on top of marble pedestals. The decor was upscale and expensive. Subtle jazz played softly throughout the space and the sound of fingernails tapping against a computer keyboard resonated in the background.
The house phone rang three times, then clicked to an answering machine on a glass-topped table. The taped greeting suddenly drowned out all the other sounds.
“It’s me. I’m not answering, but then you already know that. If I need to tell you what to do, don’t waste my time.” BEEP.
A woman’s voice resounded loudly from the other end of the line. “Natalie! We’re headed to the pub for a pint of ale. Take a break and come meet us. I know! I know! You have a deadline. Well, screw that. If you don’t show up I will personally ring your doorbell at 3:00 a.m. and kick your skinny ass for ignoring your best friends—”
The answering machine beeped a second time, cutting the woman off midsentence. Across the room Natalie Renee Stallion was seated at an antique cedar desk typing diligently on her laptop. Amusement shimmered in her dark eyes. She smiled, her grin wide and full, as the telephone rang a second time, the machine picking it up again. Her best friend shouted at the device, her deep alto voice echoing about the room.
“Why don’t you have a machine that will let me speak until I’m finished? Even better, pick up the damn phone and talk to me because I know you’re there. I know you’re ignoring me. Hello? Hello? Natalie?”
Francesca “Frenchie” Adams sighed into her receiver before she continued. “Like I said before, Natalie, be there or I will wake your behind up. Love you. Bye. Call me on my cell if you have to,” Frenchie said just before being disconnected a second time.
Natalie continued to type. The third time the phone rang it surprised her because she wasn’t expecting any other calls and definitely not on her house number. Curiosity came over her. The male voice on the other end caught her completely off guard. Her fingers stalled against the keyboard.
“Natalie, it’s me. Noah. Your brother. When you get this, please call me back. You need to come home.”
There was a pause and she could hear muffled voices encouraging him.
“You really need to come home now,” he said before disconnecting the long-distance call.
A feeling of dread suddenly washed over Natalie’s spirit. She took a deep breath and then a second. Her expression changed, the easy lift to her mouth turned into a deep frown. She drew a hand through the length of her hair, twisting the silky strands into a loose bun at the nape of her neck. She stared toward the telephone for a brief moment before she resumed her typing, wanting to ignore the call that had just interrupted her.
An hour later she was still distracted, curious to know what had moved her estranged brother to even think about her. It had been years since she’d last seen him or any of her siblings. Natalie imagined that too much time had passed for any of them to just pick up where they’d left off, starting over as if nothing had happened. Because much had happened since they’d all parted ways. But Noah had said it was urgent for her to come home. For Natalie, home was London. Nothing about Utah remotely felt like a place where she belonged. At least, that’s what she’d spent years trying to convince herself of.
She heaved a deep breath and pulled her cell phone into her palm. Rising from her seat she crossed the room to the answering machine and replayed the message. She jotted down the telephone number Noah had left. With another deep breath she dialed it, then waited for him to answer.
It was close to midnight when Natalie climbed into her car and pulled into the late-night traffic. Across town she drove past the entrance of the Trafalgar Tavern. A crowd of partygoers was still straining to get inside. Natalie paused for a quick moment, peering through the driver’s-side window for a familiar face. When she saw no one she recognized, no one there to change her mind, she sped off, guiding her Jaguar XF toward London’s Heathrow airport. For the first time in twelve years, Natalie Stallion was headed back home.
* * *
“So, exactly when did we get this aunt?” Luke Stallion questioned. He looked from one brother to the other.
“And how come she had to die before we found out about her?” their sister Phaedra Stallion-Boudreaux asked.
Brothers Matthew, Mark and John Stallion all shrugged their broad shoulders. The three men turned to their cousin Travis Stallion who’d come bearing the bad news.
Travis’s wife, Tierra Braddy Stallion, changed the subject before her husband could answer. “I smell bacon. Do you think you can feed me and my family while Travis fills you all in?”
John chuckled ever so softly. “Sorry about that,” he said as he slipped an arm around the woman’s shoulder and gave her a quick hug.
Tierra laughed. “You should be. You invite us to family breakfast and then don’t want to feed us. What kind of mess is that?”
John’s wife, Marah, suddenly appeared in the doorway. “Especially since the food is ready,” she said, a bright smile filling her face, “so come and eat. And you all know the rules. Leave any talk of business right here in this room. We won’t be having it at the breakfast table.”
“They weren’t talking business,” Tierra said as she cradled her infant daughter in her arms. Her toddler son leaned against her pants leg, his thumb in his mouth as his wide eyes darted back and forth.
Marah looked from one stunned expression to the other and shook her head. “Do I even want to ask?”
Luke pushed past the others. “Well, you might not want to, but I have a lot of questions,” he said as he led the way into the oversize kitchen and dining area.
There was a crowd already gathered for breakfast as Travis and his family followed Luke. Matthew, Mark, Phaedra and John brought up the rear.
The women greeted Tierra warmly, hugs and kisses filling the room. Family friend Vanessa Long eagerly pulled Tierra’s baby from her arms. “Look at this sweetie pie!” Vanessa exclaimed as she leaned to show the new baby to her own little boy. Toddler Vaughan Long eyed his mother and the infant without interest, his attention focused on two pieces of sausage clenched between his palms. Tierra and Vanessa both laughed as Tierra leaned to kiss the little boy’s forehead.
“When did you get here?” Marah’s twin sister, Marla Barron, questioned. She was seated at the large oak table, preparing a plate of food for her own child.
Tierra took a seat beside her old friend, pulling her son into her lap. “We drove in this morning. Lorenzo, did you say hello to Auntie Marla?” she chimed as little Lorenzo hid his face in her chest.
Travis joined the conversation as he took his own seat. “My boy’s still sleepy. He’s not speaking to anyone this morning. Usually, we can’t shut him up!” he said with a warm laugh. He glanced around the table. “Where’s Edward and Juanita?” he questioned, referring to Marah and Marla’s father and his wife.
“On a cruise to Alaska,” someone answered.
Travis nodded. “Must be nice.”
John took the seat at the head of the table. “I wanted all of us to go but we couldn’t coordinate everyone’s schedules.”
“Tierra, did you meet my husband, Mason?” Phaedra suddenly asked.
Mason Boudreaux extended his hand in the woman’s direction. “I don’t think so. The last time you were here I think I was out of the country.”
“Mason is also Katrina’s brother,” Matthew Stallion added as he leaned to kiss his wife’s cheek.
Katrina nodded.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Tierra said as Mason leaned to give her a hug.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, as well,” Mason responded.
Travis shook his head. “This is why we need to have a family reunion.”
“That and we’ve suddenly got family coming out of the woodwork,” Luke said as he reached for the platter of scrambled eggs.
His wife Joanne eyed him curiously. “Who’s come out of the woodwork this time?”
“We have an aunt,” Luke answered.
“And more cousins,” Mark Stallion interjected. His wife Michelle passed him their daughter, Irene, who eyed her father with large, dark eyes and a bright smile. “Cousins I can take,” the large man continued as he settled the little girl in a booster seat and slid her close to the table. “As long as no one tells me I have another sister I’m good.”
Phaedra chuckled softly as the table fell silent, everyone remembering the family breakfast where she’d announced her familial connection to the Stallion name.
Luke shrugged, pointing an index finger toward Travis. “So give us the dirt,” he said as he took a bite of French toast saturated with syrup.
The former staff sergeant shrugged his broad shoulders. He sighed. “We’ve always had an aunt,” he started as he proceeded to fill them all in, everyone eyeing him intently. “Her name was Norris-Jean. She’s actually the oldest out of the Stallion siblings.”
“I don’t remember my father or Uncle Joseph ever talking about her,” John said. He leaned back in his chair, his arms folded over his broad chest.
“Neither did I,” Travis continued. “From what I’ve learned she was much older and had left the family home when the boys were still very young. There was some kind of falling out and our grandparents disowned her. She moved to Utah and never kept in contact with anyone. No one knows why, though.”
Vanessa laughed as she pulled Tierra’s baby to her shoulder. “You people got a lot of skeletons in your closets!” she exclaimed. “Sisters, aunts, cousins. If you keep this up we might find out I’m related to you by blood!”
Mark cut an eye at his old friend and nodded in agreement. “Right!” he said with a hearty chuckle.
Luke laughed. “Oh, hell no!”
“How’d you find out about her?” Matthew questioned.
“She passed away last week and her children have been going through her papers. It seems she kept a diary. Her oldest son, Noah, contacted me, looking for my father,” Travis said.
John Stallion glanced around the table as the family continued talking, everyone shooting questions in Travis’s direction. Excitement fueled the air, energy like a firestorm through the space. It hadn’t been too long ago that their requisite family breakfasts included only him and his three brothers. He’d married first, his wife Marah and her family adding to the mix. In a short period of time he’d seen his brothers and his cousin Travis marry, their small clan growing with wives, babies and extended family.
Last year they’d discovered they had a biological sister named Phaedra, the news completely throwing all the brothers for a loop, and now the Stallion family tree had suddenly sprouted a whole new branch. John’s head moved slowly from side to side as he pondered the implications. Minutes passed before he refocused on the conversation.
“I told Noah that we would love to meet him and his family and he suggested we all fly to Salt Lake City for his mother’s memorial service,” Travis was saying.
“What do you think?” Luke asked, directing the question toward his oldest brother.
Everyone at the table was suddenly staring at John, awaiting his opinion.
He met the looks they were giving him and nodded. “I agree. I think we should. They’re our family.”
“Can everyone get away?” Marah asked, looking around the table.
“Well, transportation won’t be a problem,” Mason stated. “We can use my plane.”
John nodded just as his newly adopted daughter Gabrielle suddenly rushed into the room. The miniature hurricane tore around the table, her deep laughter moving them all to smile. Matthew and Katrina’s teenage son Collin raced behind her.
“Where have you been, Gabi?” Marah questioned, eyeing her daughter with a raised eyebrow. She tossed her nephew a questioning stare.
“Sorry,” the teenager gushed. “She didn’t want to leave the playroom. I had to chase her and then she kicked me!” He leaned to rub his bruised knee.
Katrina laughed. “Tell your uncle John he’ll owe you combat pay on top of your babysitting salary.”
Gabrielle jumped into her father’s lap, a bright smile filling her face. She rolled her eyes at Collin and licked her tongue out at him. John grinned as he pressed a damp kiss to her rosy cheek. “Did you kick your cousin Collin?” he asked, his gaze narrowing.
The little girl’s eyes widened. She shook her head. “No.”
Everyone around the table laughed.
“That’s not funny,” Marah admonished. “Y’all are bringing her into some bad habits, laughing when she does something wrong. She thinks she’s being cute.”
Matthew laughed. “Don’t worry about it, Marah. When Luke was her age he used to tell lies, too.”
“I did not!” Luke chimed in as he reached for another slice of bacon.
“Yes, you did,” Mark said teasingly. “And John used to wear your behind out! Gabi better straighten up!”
John shook his head, his attention still focused on the bundle of energy in his lap. “We don’t kick people, Gabi, and we don’t ever tell Daddy lies. You always tell Mommy and Daddy the truth, do you understand?”
Gabrielle blew a deep sigh as she dropped her head against John’s broad chest.
“Now tell Collin you’re sorry,” her father scolded, “and if you kick your cousin again Daddy’s going to give you spanks.”
The little girl pouted as she tossed her cousin a look. “Gabi sorry, Collin,” she muttered softly. She turned her attention back to her father. “Gabi wanna go pane ride. Go pane ride, Dada?” she questioned, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck.
John’s gaze reached out to each of his family members. There was a moment of pause before he finally answered. “Yes, baby girl. We’re all going to do just that.” He gave her a tight squeeze before she jumped out of his arms.
She scurried to Marah’s side, her arms outstretched. Marah lifted the little girl onto her lap. “Go pane, Mommy! Dada said we go pane!”
Marah laughed. “We’re going to eat breakfast first, munchkin! Then we’re going on a plane ride so you can meet your new cousins.”
Vanessa laughed. “More Stallions! Lord, have mercy!” she exclaimed as everyone around the table laughed with her.
