So this was what Dom had meant when he’d said he recognized her and mentioned the Fearless Finnegans and a changeling among them.Jillian stood out among the men.Even as a child, she’d been amazing.
He stopped breathing when she put her helmet back on and took off, doing a loop before disappearing off the stage.Then she reappeared on one side of the stage, riding her bike on a wire.If he’d thought watching her do a stunt at the set was bad, this was five times worse.Lex broke out in a cold sweat as she crept up to the top of a wall while doing tricks.
“Turn it off!”Lex snapped.
The men turned to look at him.
“But you haven’t seen her Phantom Rider act yet,” Cade protested, but Lucien hit a key and the screen went blank.Someone turned on the lights.Not wanting the others to see how rattled he was, Lex left the media room.Sloan called out his name, but he didn’t slow down, almost bumping into Dom.
“Are you guys done already?”he asked, but Lex kept going.“What the hell is going on?”
“He’s pissed we were watching the Bay Area Circus,” Cade said.“He won’t let us meet her, so we found a way.”
“How the hell did you find her?”Dom asked, proving he hadn’t told the others about the Fearless Finnegans.Not that it mattered.Cade and Lucien could break into Fort Knox if they could get away with it.
Lex tuned them out and disappeared inside the nearest bathroom.He stared at his reflection and cursed.He looked like shit.Was it always going to be like this?Breaking out in a cold sweat every time he thought Jillian was in danger?He couldn’t wrap her in bubble wrap to keep her safe.He’d love to though.He splashed his face with cold water.At least she wasn’t performing in that circus anymore.
When he rejoined them in the media room, the others got up and congratulated him.“Always knew you’d get hitched first,” Sloan said.
Lex chuckled.“Why?”
“Your family is big on producing the next generation of Fitzgeralds, which brings us to your future wife.What happened to her?”Cade asked.
“Yeah, we were looking forward to welcoming her to the group,” Rod chimed in.“And wiping the smirk from Dom’s face.”
“We wouldn’t have resorted to researching her if he’d just told us what we wanted to know,” Sloan said.Dom leaned against his chair and shrugged, but the gleam in his eyes said he was enjoying their annoyance.
Lex wanted to ignore them, but they’d only continue to push his buttons.“What do you want to know?”
“Does she have a sister?”Lucien asked.
“Is she hot?”Rod asked.
Lex shot Rod a look that could have shriveled a lesser man.“If you ever mention hot and Jillian in the same sentence, I will kick your ass.You already owe her an apology.”
Rod grinned.“I’ll send her a nice gift.”
“Something appropriate, you knob head,” Aiden warned.
“American insults, Aiden,” Lucien said and kicked the Englishman’s foot.“They have more impact.Is Jillian still with the Bay Area Circus?”
Lex shuddered.He hoped not.“Feel free to ask her when you meet.Hopefully before the wedding.”
Silence followed, their expressions sobered as though it finally dawned on them that one of them was getting married.Cade had an aversion to dating, so he slept with women with questionable morals.Rod dated several at the same time and somehow managed to keep all of them happy.Lucien fell in and out of love so often they were convinced he’d bite the bullet first and settle down.Sloan nearly got engaged a few years ago, but things had turned sour and he hadn’t dated in over a year.Aiden had a steady girlfriend, who hated the idea of settling down.Rake was monogamous, but presently between relationships, while Dom went through two phases—when he went through women like he had something to prove and when he shunned them.
“When is the wedding?”Sloan asked.
“In a couple of weeks.You’ll get the invitation.Maybe,” Lex added.
“You’re kidding.Wearegoing to be your best men.”Rod glanced at the others.“I know I’d want all of you to stand by me if I ever met a woman worth giving up my freedom and lifestyle.”He shuddered.
Lex hadn’t thought of asking them.He had brothers and cousins who would stand by his side when he wed Jillian.These guys didn’t.“Do you want to?”
“Yes,” was their collective response.
“Fine.”Lex shifted his attention to the images on the screen.Rake, who’d been quiet since Lex arrived, had done his thing—used his satellites to find hot zones, images of a people dying of a viral hemorrhagic fever.Since the government in question had openly denied there was an outbreak, it was time forInfitinusto get involved.
“What organization are we using this time?”Lex asked.
