I look at Anthony and say, "I see the resemblance with you and Chip."

"Our dads are brothers. I'm not a f.u.d.g.e. .p.a.c.k.e.r though, if you know what I'm saying."

I quickly say, "Chip is one of the best guys I've ever met."

He smiles and says, "We grew up like brothers, we did everything together, until he decided to become a photographer. I could tell you stories about Christopher that would blow your mind about him.

Unsure I ask, "Chip's real name is Christopher?"

"His dad's name was Christopher so when Chip was born, instead of calling him Jr., they would say, 'A chip off the old block' which eventually just turned into Chip."

I smile and say, "That's an awesome story." Lorenzo was quiet, looking around the parking lot for any suspicious activity. Both men have slicked-back, jet black hair, dark brown eyes that have lived many years beyond their age, stand about 5'8, and are dressed in slacks and a sweater. Despite their height, both men would scare the p.i.s.s out of anybody.

Lyrics says, "Y'all are welcome to come inside with us. We need to double check and make sure we have everything ready before the movers get here."

Anthony says, "We'll be right here, but we will take you up on staying in the new house. This sleeping sitting up s.h.i.t is killing me." Lorenzo nods in agreement.

I shake their hands again and tell them how grateful I am to have them here for us. They both say, "Anything for a friend of Chip."

As we walk away, Anthony yells my name and I head back to him. He looks at me and says, "I want to make sure we are clear here. You probably have an idea of how we settle ugh situations, right? That being said, if something should go down, you don't know me at all. No questions. No keeping in touch. We don't leave situations unfinished, if you know what I mean." My heart is thumping out of my chest.

I clearly say, "Yes sir, I understand." He turns to get back in the car and I head back to Lyrics.

Lyrics asks me, "What did he say?"

I laugh and say, "Basically if we don't keep our mouths shut about them, he'll cement our feet and throw us in the ocean."

Her face get s ghostly white and she says, "Holy s.h.i.t, really?"

I laugh and say, "No, babe. He just told me that if something does go down, we aren't to ask questions or admit to knowing them." She smirks and pushes my arm.

"Kind of feels like we are living an episode of the Sopranos."

I laugh and say, "You'd definitely been Adriana. Man, she's hot!"

"Wrong. I would be Carmella, without a doubt. I love Tony Soprano."

I pull her into me and say, "How about I take you upstairs and treat you like Tony's gumar?"

She says, "Why is it that he always totally crazy f.u.c.ked his gumar but barely touched his wife? I think if he'd have done Carmella the way he did his girlfriend, they would have had a happier marriage."

I laugh and say, "I'm pretty sure he pretended to f.u.c.k both, the way the writers scripted him to do so. But, I promise, I'll always f.u.c.k you like a madman."

"Pinky promise?"

I look at her and say, "You're a dork, but a s.e.xy dork."

Chapter 20.

'But you and I, we've got this, you hear me?'

Lyrics It's ten a.m. and the movers pull up right on time. Behind the big moving truck, I see Mom, Dads, and Sophia pull into the lot. I yell to Tan in the other room, "Here comes the circus."

He laughs and says, "Guess this is really happening." Instantly, b.u.t.terflies swarm in my belly.

"It's a good thing, right?" I ask quietly, Tan leans his head into the living room, flashes his s.e.xy smile and says, "No, it's not a good thing. It's a great thing."

The b.u.t.terflies fly away and I believe him whole heartedly. This is a great thing, I mean really, a new house, new boat, new mafia bodyguards...h.e.l.l, what more could a girl ask for? This apartment, so many memories it's crazy. We must have written over one hundred songs in here, right on that fluffy couch. I can't even pretend to know how many sunrises we've seen together after staying up all night writing and talking. And of course, in this very apartment, in my very own room, that's where we proclaimed our love for one another. That's what'll forever remain the most special memory from this place.

Mom's high-pitch, "Oh honey, look at this place. Seems like just yesterday we were checking out the new apartment y'all moved in to."

I shake my head and say, "It sure does. Well, y'all will see our new house at the same time we will." Mom looks at me like I'm nuts. Quickly I tell her, "Tan wouldn't look through the whole thing without me and he just knew it was the house for us."

Mom looks at Tanner and says, "Son, that's either the most romantic thing or the stupidest thing ever. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt though."

"You'll see. When you see it, you'll understand." The truth of the matter is that I couldn't give two s.h.i.ts about what the house looks like. I'm sure I'd love anywhere we live as long as we were together. Luckily, this house is bada.s.s and I haven't even seen the inside!

We hear the movers coming down the hall, as does everybody that lives within five miles. The dolly sounds like they drove the truck itself up to the apartment.

Three big country men walk in and before I can even say h.e.l.lo, one of them says, "Dang, thought those watchdogs downstairs were gonna check my b.u.t.thole for weapons."

I couldn't help my laughter, I tell them, "Sorry, he's just doing his job."

The maybe not so smart one asks, "His job is to check people's b.u.t.tholes?" We all bust out laughing.

Tanner says, "No bro, they are just protecting us from a whack job. That's probably enough about b.u.t.tholes. Let me show you what's being moved." The three men nod their heads. Tan says, "Actually, it's just all the boxes, everything else is staying. If y'all want any of the furniture, it's yours. If not, I called the Purple Heart a.s.soc. to come pick it up as donations."

The shortest man says, "That's cool dude. My Uncle Red is a VET." We all say a few niceties and then head toward the door. I know if we don't leave right now, we'll be here for another hour listening to stories of Uncle Red. Tan shakes each of their hands and confirms the address. Wow, I can't believe this is happening.

As we pull up to the house, my heart begins racing. I'm holding the keys in my hand and with every bit we travel up the driveway, my hand clenches tighter to them. There's a part of me that is waiting for the s.h.i.tty to happen, and by s.h.i.tty, of course, I mean that s.k.a.n.ky tramp, Jennifer. Tanner's warm hand touches my thigh and all the s.h.i.t in my head disappears. Dads, Mom, and Sophia are right behind us. As soon as we park the car, I jump out and run up to their car.

"Get out, let's go see it!"

Mom and Sophia hop right out but the Dads take their sweet-a.s.s time. Tanner has a pride that is just beaming off him, and let me tell you, he wears it well.

I toss him the keys and say, "You do the honors." He waits a minute until the Dads get up on the porch with the rest of us and then opens the door.

"Holy amazeb.a.l.l.s!" This place is unbelievable.

Mom says, "Holy amazeb.a.l.l.s is right. Look at this place, it is amazing."

Tanner grabs my hand and leads me somewhere. He says, "Without a doubt, this will be your favorite part of the house." Oh my G.o.d! I am standing in the middle of our very own recording studio. I jump up on him, wrap my legs around him and cannot seem to stop yelling. The family runs in and each of them is in awe over the studio. Tanner says to the crew, "Y'all check it out, we're gonna check out the upstairs really quick." n.o.body even acknowledged him, they just kept looking at everything. Tan smiles at me and says, "Let's go see our new love nest."

I laugh and say, "Tan, you really are all kinds of messed up."

He smiles and says, "Come on slowpoke." We run upstairs like kids and at the end of a long hallway are double wooden doors with music notes carved into them. We both stop in our tracks and words can't find their way out.

I whisper, "Those are the most beautiful doors I've ever seen."

Tanner smiles and says, "I can't believe this. This house was made for us, baby." He gently threads his fingers with mine and we open the doors. The whole room is lined with bay windows facing the lake. To the right are French doors that open to a balcony.

I say, "Umm, I don't think I'll be able to leave this room, ever." It isn't just ma.s.sive, it is gorgeous. The bathroom is set with his and hers vanity areas and sinks. The closet is big enough to almost be considered another bedroom. But the view! There is nothing that can compare to this view. I look at Tan and say, "We shall call this the family expander room."

He chuckles and pulls me into him. His mouth is on my neck and he whispers as he grips around my waist tighter, "Can we start right now?"

I kiss his beautiful lips and say, "I'd say we have about thirty seconds before the fam bursts through those doors. Raincheck for this evening?"

He smiles, sticks out his pinky and says, "Pinky swear?"

d.a.m.n, could he make it any harder to resist him? I pull him toward the balcony and as we step out, a cool breeze blows into us.

He points and says, "Perfect for a table and chairs right there. We can create many songs right here." As he says it, I can envision it perfectly.

The crew comes right into the room and Sophia comes out to the balcony while Mom and Dads explore the rest of the room.

She says, "This house is amazing! Honey, you didn't even see the kitchen yet, did you?"

Shocked, I say, "Oh my gosh, I haven't even seen the kitchen!" I grab her arm and we run downstairs. It's like I'm in Disneyland. Dark wood cabinets, stainless steel appliances, double oven, and granite counters everywhere. There's an island with one of those pots and pans rack above it. Oh my gosh, the sink is deep and gorgeous. I open the fridge and it is so ma.s.sive. How in the world will I ever fill it? Normally, I have a few items of food and the rest are beverages.

As I'm staring into the fridge, Sophia comes behind me and says, "When you have kiddos, you'll easily fill this up." I turn and smile at her. I can't believe she knew what I was thinking.

The rest of the gang comes into the kitchen and Mom says, "Shall we check out the backyard?" We line up like we are in grade school and file out one by one. The pool and spa are sparkling.

Tanner says, "The pool is heated if you want to go swimming." He looks at me and we both smile.

Dad says, "Heated pools are for wussies."

I laugh and say, "Bet you won't say that after you jump in."

"We'll see about that."

I point to the gra.s.s area and say, "That's where we are getting married."

Everybody looks at me and both Mom and Sophia say, 'Oh honey, that is perfect. It'll be absolutely gorgeous." It really is perfect.

Tanner's dad says, "The Jacuzzi sure looks inviting. I'm gonna need to test that sucker out."

I say, "Hop in! Come on, get on in it." Everybody joins my banter and he takes his shirt off and then off comes his pants. Luckily, he leaves his briefs on. We can't stop laughing. Like a child, he runs and jumps into the Jacuzzi.

"Hey son, would you put the jets on?" Tanner walks over to the panel on the wall, hits a few b.u.t.tons and then we hear, "Oh yeah. This is it, right here. Honey, come in with me, you'll really like the jets."

I say, "Yuk!"

He says, "On her feet, geez, Dylan." My face grows redder than red.

Mom looks at us and says, "Dad has a point. I'll catch you guys later." One by one, the clothes come off and our family is piled in the Jacuzzi with just our underwear on. It really does feel great. What could be better than this? I look at my man and he has the most peaceful face right now. When his caramel browns look at me, I know he's thinking the exact same thing.

Chapter 21.

'You aren't just part of my heart, you are part of my soul.'

Tanner Everything went according to plan, which is crazy seeing as though this whole deal happened in less than one week. The boat is sitting pretty in our dock, beds were delivered for every room, and most of the family is here. Anthony and Lorenzo have made themselves at home in the back bedroom. Anthony placed surveillance cameras all around the outside of the house. This guy's the real deal.

Even though we didn't have to move our things ourselves, everybody is exhausted from the excitement of the day. We decide to order some bbq from one of our favorite places, Rudy's Country Store & Bar B-Q. Lyrics must be starving because she d.a.m.n near orders everything on the menu.

Mom asks, "Are more people coming over?"

I laugh and say, "Not that I'm aware of but with that order, it sure seems like it."

Lyrics smiles and says to the person on the phone, "You know what, let's add another large creamed corn." She winks at me and it's impossible for me not to laugh. When she hangs the phone up, she asks the crowd, "Do you think I got enough?"

Her dad says, "For us or the Army?"

"I just wanted to make sure there was enough.

In unison, we all say, "There'll be enough!"

As I'm unloading one of the boxes, Anthony comes to me and quietly asks me to come with him for a moment. We walk into the back room and he rewinds something on his computer screen and says, "This car has driven past the driveway about four times now. Do you recognize it?"

I watch the feed a couple of times and say, "No, never seen it before."

"Okay, we'll keep our eye on it."

I ask him, "Any word on Jennifer?"

Lorenzo chimes in and says, "That crazy b.i.t.c.h is all over the headlines today." My heart beats hard.

Quickly I ask, "What for now?" He pulls up some cyber news link and pushes play on the posted video. Jennifer is clearly drunk and she's yelling at some photographer that apparently refused to work with her, thanks to Chip.

On the video, she says, "f.u.c.k you. You really think I have to rape somebody? That f.u.c.king f.a.g is a liar. I wouldn't want to work with you anyway!" My stomach knots up and instantly my fists clench. The mere sight of her makes me want to puke.

Lyrics yells from downstairs, "Tan, guys, dinner is here." I motion for them to shut that c.r.a.p off, I don't want Lyrics to see or hear anything to do with that criminal s.k.a.n.k.

The warm smell of smoked brisket, spicy sausage, and all the delicious sides wipe my mind clear of all that bulls.h.i.t. We've been going all day and haven't eaten at all. The food is spread across the island in the kitchen and there's a line waiting to dig in.

Mom says, "Dylan, good call on the extra creamed corn. I could probably eat one whole tub by myself."