That was all the warning Phantom got before Jazz transferred Victor’s spawn into his arms, and Han and his wife ran hand-and-hand off toward the house.
Leaving him behind with the sleeping baby.
He’d never actually held her before. And it wasn’t…
Well, it wasn’t horrible. His baby cousin was kind of cute. Dawn’s face and Victor’s serious eyes—like, don’t sleep on me just because I’m cute, bitch. I could be The Silent Triad’s first woman Dragon someday.
He thought about his fiancée and found himself wondering what it would be like to have a kid with—
The baby’s eyes suddenly popped open, and her alarmed wail cut off all those thoughts of having a kid of his own one day.
Phantom panicked. How did you turn this thing off? What was wrong with her? Was it hunger making her cry? Shit in her diaper? Or maybe she just didn’t like him the same as her mother?
Luckily, Victor came through like a superhero and took the ticking bomb back with a signed, “Thanks, Phantom.”
Joi immediately calmed down when she was back in her father’s arms, so odds were it was waking up to Phantom’s mean mug that pissed her off.
Whatever….
Without Han to talk to or a baby to defuse, Phantom was kind of on his own, so he got up and went out to the beach to stare at the ocean for a while. Funny how spending so much time in a landlocked state with his fiancée had made him truly appreciate this shit.
Still, he couldn’t stop thinking about the woman who hadn’t been able to make it to the wedding. Eventually, he pulled out his phone and called her—like, actually called her instead of texting because he wanted to hear her voice.
But all he got was her telling him to leave a voicemail.
“Fuck, I’m not good at voicemail,” he told her after the beep. “I’m in Hawaii without you. And the ocean’s beautiful, but it doesn’t have anything on you. So I guess I’m just calling to say I….”
So many words trembled on his tongue, including one that might have started with L. But in the end, he opted for, “I miss you. That’s all. See you tomorrow.”
Okay, time to go, he decided after he hung up. Dancing wasn’t his thing, and everyone was on the villa’s huge-ass lanai getting down to one of those Justin Bieber songs Dawn liked so much.
But just as he was planning to ghost out without saying goodbye, a blood-curdling scream cut across the party. And it came from inside the house where Jazz and Han had been headed the last time he saw them.
Phantom immediately sprang into action, and he reached the inside part of the house at the same time as Jazz’s sister.
“What happened?” she asked, her eyes full of fear. “Did somebody…”
She couldn’t even finish that sentence. Considering what happened to her sister in December, Phantom couldn’t blame her. He was wondering the exact damn thing.
He looked all around for Han and Jazz, but the house had gone quiet. Where were they?
As if in answer to her question, Han and Jazz came tumbling out from someplace behind the stairs.
Someplace that probably had a mattress, judging on their appearance. Jazz’s hair was a mess, and the shirttails of Han’s immaculate tux were untucked with the bow tie missing in action.
They both stopped short when they saw Phantom, Mika, and just about half the damn wedding party gathered at the edge of the lanai.
“Jazz! Did you two just—” Again, Mika cut off. But this time, it was because she was so disgusted. “In our bed?”
“No!” Jazz answered, ducking her head under her hand…before peeking out to tell her brother-in-law. “Nice office, Rashid.”
Mika made an outraged sound that was somewhere between a strangled choke and a banshee wail.
And Phantom demanded, “Da fuck made you scream like that?”
“This is my fault.” Han pushed Jazz behind him, like the protective asshole he’d become ever since he made her marry him. “I gave her some good news, and she was very happy, perhaps too happy to hear it.”
“What could possibly….” Mika started to ask.
“We’re coming back to Hawaii. For good!” Jazz answered before her sister could finish the question. “I’m going to take over Bill’s surfing school and camp. And Han bought a house for us in Haleiwa!”
Mika gasped. Then she screamed even louder than Jazz, even though Phantom knew for one hundred percent that she hated her brother-in-law.
Then the both of them started screaming together. And for some reason, everyone at the party began congratulating Han and Jazz like they hadn’t just scared the shit out of them.
Phantom had to walk away at that point. He would either shoot them or himself if he had to listen to much more of this.
