The chef his mother had hired had outdone herself, with a range of seasonal vegetables, soups, salads, side dishes, and a carving station that offered up five different kinds of meat. The dessert table was overflowing with miniature cakes, cookies, tarts, pastries, and puddings that would be demolished before the night was over.
Guests took turns serving each other, joking around, and piling their plates high with good food. It probably wasn’t the sort of party people would expect of a billionaire’s son, but it was one Jamie knew everyone he’d invited would enjoy. Jamie and Kyle didn’t stand on ceremony with anyone as they laughed and talked their way through dozens of conversations. The point of the engagement party was to spend it with friends and family.
So that’s what they did.
The fight happening on the other side of the country never registered in Jamie’s mind beyond a passing thought acknowledging that, if they’d still been active duty, it would behisAlpha Team still fighting that good fight.
Jamie was okay with letting someone else take on his team’s name and stand guard.
He, and those he’d served with, had put in their time.
“All right, all right,” Donovan said after the sun had set and everyone had a drink in hand. “Let’s gather ’round, because we got some toasts to get through.”
“You realize this isn’t our wedding?” Kyle said as he leaned against Jamie.
“You realize we’re saving the best stories for those toasts?” Madison said with a laugh. “Better block out an hour at least for everyone who wants to talk.”
“There’s going to be a two-minute cut-off for toasts at the wedding. I’m implementing that rule now,” Jamie said.
“Overruled!” Katie said with a laugh.
“What she said,” Annabelle agreed.
Liam gave Jamie a mock-pitying look. “I wouldn’t dare cross her, if I were you, Jamie.”
“Can say whatever I want at your wedding,” Alexei said.
Sean elbowed him in the side. “Within reason.”
“In conclusion,” Trevor interrupted, holding his glass high. “We’ll toast you again at your wedding, but the truth still stands. We’re all happy for the both of you. And you, Jamie. You got us in and through and out. We’ll never have a better captain.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Kyle said, raising his glass higher.
“And you, Kyle,” Donovan said, holding Gracie close to him. “Without you, Jamie never would’ve been this happy.”
Jamie nodded, wrapping an arm around Kyle’s shoulders. “Yeah, and I’ll drink to that.”
They all did, everyone’s voices echoing through the home he and Kyle were just beginning to live in.
Guests began to trickle out within the hour after the toast, saying lingering goodbyes, until only ten people remained. After the door was locked behind the last straggling guest, Jamie looked at the people who would always be his family in one way or another. Kyle, Katie, Alexei, Sean, Madison, Annabelle, Donovan, Trevor, and Liam all lounged around the living area with the last two bottles of champagne ready to be drunk.
For a couple of hours more, it was just Jamie and his team and Liam, all together one last time, reminiscing about things no one else at the party would understand. It was bittersweet and it wasn’t, because Jamie had them all in his life still. He hadn’t left their ghosts on the sands of Libya nor lost them in the shadows of all the missions they’d run through the years.
They were his family—hisAlpha Team—forever and always.
That would never change.
“Don’t be a stranger,” Katie said on her way out the door with the others just after midnight.
“Like you’d let me,” Jamie replied with a chuckle.
Katie laughed, throwing him a lazy salute as she headed for the elevator. The front door slid shut, blocking Jamie’s view, and he set the locks and security.
“See you both in the morning,” Liam said, giving them a wave as he headed up to the second-floor guest bedroom he was staying in while visiting.
“Night,” Jamie called out as he wandered back over to Kyle.
Kyle stared at Jamie from his sprawled position on the couch, empty glasses strewn over the coffee table. The place was still a bit of a mess, but the cleaners were coming over tomorrow to deal with it.
