Chapter Twenty Five - Stability

One month later.

"Jude?" I call as I close the door and set down my keys.

"In the kitchen!" He replies and I make my way through the house.

"Hi." I greet after I set down my things and embrace him from behind.

"Hey dove. How was therapy?" He asks as he finishes cutting the vegetables before turning around to kiss me deeply.

I pull away with a wide smile before winding my arms around his neck. "It was good. We're delving into my childhood now which is so exciting."

"I'm green with envy!" He gasps playfully and catches the grape I throw at him.

"How was work?" I ask as I take a seat at the kitchen island.

"Amazing!" He grins as he takes off his apron to come and pick me up. "I'm finally caught up on everything!"

"Great! Now you have no excuse to not visit your family!" I cheer and his happy expression drops as expected. "Oh, come on Judah!"

"Cameron isn't awake yet Macy." He sighs as he takes a seat on the couch and rests his head back. "I can't leave you. I need to be here."

Me and Judah eventually transferred Cameron to a hospital in the UK once he was more stable. It's very near the house which is a bonus and eases my worry. Judah was previously living with Kenzo and Aiden but he suggested we move to another one of his properties for privacy.

After a week of getting through interrogations with the FBI, paperwork and a lot of healing everyone was free to go. News circulating about the Quintana empire has died down now and thankfully mine and Cameron's identities weren't released.

Rodrigo and Ben have moved to Spain where Ben is from. They're currently traveling and are in Japan right now. I contacted Elenora as soon as Cameron was stable and let her know what happened. She had come by to check up on him in Venezuela before finding her family again. She's currently catching up with them in Brazil and we're planning to meet up soon too.

The Falcon team have returned to America but we all keep in touch. Me and Reece have become quite close and text almost every day whereas Cole and Judah are the same. We all have a group chat with Griffin and Parker included since they're so busy all the time and texting them one on one is terrible. Alejandra is working on dismantling her father's operations and removing herself from that way of life too. She's promised to visit as soon as she's done.

"Jude...what if Cam doesn't wake up for months?" I start softly as I play with his hair. "You can't keep your family waiting. I'm sure they miss you and want to see you after all that's happened."

"I'll think about it."

I sigh and nod before making my way back to the kitchen. He follows right behind me and pulls me back against his chest. I close my eyes when he rests his chin on top of my shoulder and presses a kiss to my neck.

"I'll check for plane tickets after dinner."

"Good." I smile as I turn around. "They've waited enough Jude. I can't imagine how worried your parents must've been when you were in hiding."

"I just don't want to leave you here alone." He grumbles before kissing my nose.

"I'll be fine. Now, go get ready." I gently push him towards the staircase. "We only have twenty minutes."

"Fine. The food is ready but the table needs setting." He calls as he walks away and I get started on that.

Kenzo and Aiden are coming over for the first time since me and Judah got back from Turkey. They've checked in on Judah multiple times but he wanted to give me some time to adjust to London before meeting his friends. It feels like I've known them for years with all the stories Jude's told me but I'm still quite nervous.

After making sure everything's perfect I rush upstairs to get changed into a casual black dress. I quickly touch up my makeup and my hair's already been styled from this morning so I focus on slipping on my jewelry and heels. Once I'm done I walk out of our wardrobe to see Judah fixing his top while looking in the mirror. He's dressed in a midnight blue jumper with black jeans and boots.

He looks up and smiles handsomely when we lock eyes. I watch as his gaze roams over my figure before he bites his lip. "You look stunning dove."

"Thank you."

"Do a twirl for me?" He asks while fixing his sleeves. I do just that with a light chuckle which makes him laugh too. "Gorgeous."

"You're so pretty." I sigh as I wrap my arms around him. Just then the doorbell rings and I turn with a gasp.

"Not so fast!" Judah tuts as he pulls me back in his arms. "You forgot the rest."

"You already know you're sexy." I deadpan as I wind my arms around his neck.

"And handsome, very fit, mouth-watering –"

"Mouth-watering?" I ask incredulously as I scrunch my nose.

"I'm only saying it because you mumble my name in your sleep sometimes and drool. It's so obvious you think I'm mouth-wateringly gorgeous." He rolls his eyes and pretends to flip his invisible long hair.

"I drool because my mouth stays open when –"

"Open and ready to fit this dick – ow! Ow Macy! Let go! I'm sorry!" He shouts when I twist his ear before letting go. "You little she devil!"

"Come on, we've kept them waiting a rude amount of time so you can explain that one."

We make our way downstairs and I feel my nervousness grow the closer we get to the door. Judah chuckles and kisses my temple when he catches on. He intertwines our hands and I stop behind him, almost hiding as he opens the door. Two men stand on the other side and I'm able to differentiate the two easily based on the pictures Judah showed me one evening of their many travels.

"Sorry guys! We were having a quickie." Judah grins devilishly and I don't hesitate to swat the back of his head.

"We were not! I'm so sorry!" I apologize to them who only stare at us in amusement. "Please come in."

"It's nice to finally meet you Marcella. I'm Kenzo." Kenzo smiles sweetly as he kisses my cheek before handing me pink roses. "These are for you."

"Great to meet the woman who's got this idiot wrapped around her finger!" Aiden greets while giving me a bouquet of lilies before I can respond to Kenzo. "I'm Aiden."

"Thank you so much you guys. It's lovely to finally meet you too! Judah has told me so much about you." I grin as they hug Judah before we all make our way to the sitting room.

"All good things I hope?" Kenzo chuckles as he elbows Judah who only rolls his eyes in response. "You're all Judah talks about. How do you put up with him?"

"Hey! Is this just going to turn into a let's bash Judah for the entire evening?!" He frowns and I smile as I move to the kitchen to put the flowers in vases. I hear them tease the hell out of him before he walks into the kitchen with a pout. "We're not inviting them over ever again."

"Aw did they hurt your feelings?" I coo only for him to shove me away as he grabs the wine. "Come on mister pouty, grab those glasses and let's go."

"Mister pouty!" Kenzo and Aiden exclaim before they burst into laughter.

"Oh, fuck off!" Jude mutters as he takes a seat before pouring everyone a glass of red.

"Anyways, will you tell us a little bit about yourself Marcella? Is it true you're Quintana's daughter? Jude told us about what happened but we don't believe him most of the time." Aiden grins cheekily as he helps himself to the cheeseboard and small tapas.

"You can call me Mar or Marcie if you want and yes, I'm Quintana's daughter." I smile before telling them about myself as well as answering their questions.

We exchange a lot of stories about our childhood and they tell me about all the wild times from their college days. Much of their tales usually start with Judah being reckless before the other two would give up on being sensible and join in. I'm almost near tears when they recall their triple date night where the women ended up having a foursome with Aiden.

"Judah was the most devastated out of the two of us." Kenzo rolls his eyes playfully as he takes a sip of his wine. "The heartbreak lasted about two minutes before he launched into a rant about what a catch he is."

"Still am thank you very much!" Judah tilts his head haughtily as he leans back and drapes an arm across my shoulders.

"His ego is bigger than this house!" Aiden snorts which makes me nod.

"Yeah I caught on very quickly trust me." I giggle when Judah pokes my side in response.

"Was it just you Mar? Or do you have any siblings?" Kenzo asks and Judah curls his hand around my thigh reassuringly.

"I have an older brother, Cameron. He's great and we're very close." I smile fondly as I reminisce about our childhood. "He got me out of there then took down dad's operations. He helped us keep ahead of him when we were on the run but he got hurt so he's currently in the hospital."

"Is it serious?" Aiden frowns in worry which only deepens when I nod.

"He was severely injured so his body shut down. He's in a coma and we don't know when he'll wake up." I explain and Judah tucks me into his side comfortingly.

"Hopefully he wakes up very soon and has a fast recovery." Aiden smiles at me as Kenzo nods in agreement. "Sounds like he's a protective older brother so were you the troublesome one then?"

That lightens the mood as we all laugh. "Yeah Cameron had his mischievous moments but I'm the reckless one out of us both. He covered for me all the time. One time I snuck out to a party and my guards found me so of course dad found out next."

"Oh god! How did you get out of that one?" Kenzo grins as we move to the dining room to have food.

"Cam sped to the party and took the blame because I was already in hot water with my father. Dad wasn't too convinced though so Cameron pulled my best friend Elenora and lied about being there with her and that they're dating." I chuckle as I help Judah serve dinner. "Dad immediately invited her over for dinner the next evening and they pretended for about two months before breaking up."

"Two months?!" Judah exclaims as he takes a seat next to me.

"Yeah that's mostly my fault too. I kept getting into trouble and they would cover for me. It wasn't long before we realized that our father really liked Elenora and thought she was an angel who could do no wrong." I roll my eyes playfully before I take a sip of my drink. "Me and Cam would sneak off and do things we'd normally be restricted from then blame it on her. She eventually got annoyed of us and ordered Cameron to break up with her."

Everyone laughs and we spend the evening exchanging stories. They shudder at the idea of me and Cam having to wake up early to train but lean forward with curious eyes when asking about our assignments and the weapons we'd use. Luckily they have a lot about Judah and his family too so I find out all the trouble him and his brothers have gotten up to over the years.

"So, you know about Judah not knowing how to comfort someone when they're crying right?" Kenzo asks and I nod with an amused smile to Judah who only huffs in response. "Well, one Christmas when me and Aiden went to meet his family Judah offered to babysit all his nieces and nephews while the rest of us attended a Christmas party. Judah dated the guy's daughter and it didn't end well so he refused to go."

"She was obsessed with me!" Judah whines dramatically which makes them scoff.

"You didn't have to slam a pie in her face at Thanksgiving just because she was getting clingy Judah!" Aiden flicks his head with a napkin.

"Judah!" I gasp and he has the decency to blush.

"Anyways! What happened then Kenzo? Continue!" Judah drapes his arm across my shoulder before glaring at his friend. "For the love of all that is holy!"

"Judah's the fun uncle and isn't great at actually taking care of tiny humans. He forgot to put them down for a nap and instead kept them up by bringing them out for a drive to the toy store, getting ice cream, had them watch cartoons and race each other on toy cars. By the time we got back he was surrounded by children crying and screaming at him because they were tired and grumpy." Kenzo explains and I gape at Judah who only frowns in response. "The parents of the kids were not happy at all as you can imagine. Right after they put their children to sleep Judah was banned from babysitting them ever again."

"I've improved though!" Judah argues and they glance at each other with a chuckle.

"The following year you made them ride ponies unsupervised and then forgot the life jackets when taking them out for a boat ride on the lake. None of them had learnt how to swim yet!" Aiden cackles and I join him.

"I'm not having kids with you." I chuckle and Judah crosses his arms with a small smile.

"I improved after that I meant!"

"That was hilarious!" Kenzo laughs while I grab the dessert. "His parents, Michelle and Evan, were so mad at him. He was making it up to everyone for days!"

"Man, I love his parents! His whole family are amazing actually!" Aiden grins before arching a brow at Judah. "Are you going to be visiting them anytime soon?"

"I've been trying to convince him." I sigh as we move back to the sitting room with our desserts.

"What?" Aiden frowns as he turns to Judah for confirmation. "You said that you're done catching up at work so it's not like you don't have time. Why don't you want to go?"

"I just don't want to leave Mace alone." Judah grumbles and I shake my head at him. "So much shit happened and it's only been a month."

"We can check in on Mar if that'll ease your worries." Kenzo shrugs as he takes a sip of his drink. "We don't live that far from this place anyways."

"You should go Jude. Make it a short trip if you're that worried." Aiden suggests with a half-hearted shrug. "Marcie has us now. She'll be fine!"

Judah stares at them for a minute before sighing heavily. "Fine. I'll go for a week."

"Two!" We all suggest and he shakes his head vehemently.

"A week and a half." I try to convince him and frown when he doesn't budge. "Jude...please?"

"If you agree to a driver and security outside the house then fine."

"What?! No!"

"I'd take a driver any day of the fucking week!" Kenzo stares at me pointedly.

"I don't need them though!"

"You're still Quintana's daughter and he has a shit ton of enemies." Judah states and I sigh when I realize he's right. Some of my father's enemies know what me and Cameron look like too. "I already have guards protecting Cameron so just let me do the same for you."

"Wait...really? I never saw them." I frown in confusion which makes him smile.

"They're doing a good job then. Some are outside the hospital and the rest are on his floor."

I open my mouth to negotiate when Aiden interrupts. "Don't bother trying to bring down the number of guards or something. He won't budge."

"Ugh fine! You'll go for a full two weeks and no coming back home early. Deal?" I ask firmly as I give in.

"Deal." He smiles victoriously before kissing my cheek.

"Now that that's settled let me tell you about our holiday in Dubai where Judah and Aiden fell off their camels and then crashed the dune buggies right after." Kenzo grins as he rubs his hands mischievously.

"Oh god." Jude groans as he sinks in his seat with a hand covering his face. "Kenz, can we not?"

"Never mind him! Tell me everything." I smile cheekily at Judah who only narrows his eyes playfully at me.

And so, we spend the rest of the night reminiscing with laughter and smiles.

Update schedule is: once a week whenever I find time!

Vote if you are enjoying this story!

Chapter 26 is already up on Inkitt! Click the link in my bio or announcement post to read my book faster!

1. Download the app

2. Follow my profile

3. Put my book in your reading list!

- R.W. ♡