Page 15 of Paradise

This was going to be so much fun.

Chapter eight

Jonah

The mansion was immense. That was really the only word for it. Jonah had been inside some damn big houses before; hell, he’d lived on a Drifter commune ship that had been cobbled together to consume a cubic mile, only cohesive in the central core. That had been damn big, but it wasn’t the same as this place. This house was intended for a single family: the governor’s. The governor of an entire Alliance planet who was also Garrett’s father, and a general, and the son of one of the oldest, wealthiest Central System dynasties. To say that Jonah was comfortable with the situation would have been grossly overstating it.

Cody was having the time of his life, though. His shyness had lasted all of about a minute, and from there on out, he became the cheerful, friendly, and above all noisy child that Jonah recognized. He bounced between the different members of the welcoming committee, talking nonstop about the movie he’d made for them and how soon they could watch it, abouthow different it was here and whether there were any toys in his room, when they could have dinner and what it was going to be, and when he could go for a ride on Wyl’s bike. Wyl was encouraging him, and Claudia looked completely smitten, even with the baby in her arms. Miles was quieter, but Jonah kind of liked it that way. The man intimidated the hell out of him.

They got to Cody’s rooms, which were around the size of the entire top floor of Jonah’s house back on Pandora, and his kid promptly lost the last of his self-control and just ran around, eyes wide, mouth open, and joyfully whooping at everything he saw. The rooms looked like they had been designed for Cody. They probably had been, actually, given the company. The walls were covered with Space Ranger holograms, the bed was shaped like a rocket bike, and the floor had pressure sensors that triggered a lightning-bolt effect wherever someone took a step.

“You can change it to do other things,” Wyl added, pulling up a control pad on the wall beside the bed. “Jump.” Cody jumped, and a ripple effect flowed from his feet across the floor.

“Wow …”

“Jump again.” This time it was fireworks, a different color every time.

Cody looked over at Wyl worshipfully. “What else can it do?”

“Oh, man, whatever you can think of; come here.” Cody ran over to join Wyl, and they settled in to play with the floor. Claudia held up Renee to watch the colors change as she stepped around the room, and the baby seemed transfixed.

“That’s it, hand her over.” Garrett made peremptory, grabby fingers at his stepmother. “You’ve had her forever; it’s my turn to hold my little sister.” Claudia rolled her eyes but handed Renee over to Garrett, who curled her into the crook of his arm and grinned at her. It was an expression Jonah didn’t see very often on his fiancé, one that was totally open and uncalculating, even more than with Cody. Renee was too little to need teasing orcoaxing—all she wanted was Garrett’s undivided attention and apparently his face to grab onto. Garrett let her little hands roam freely over his mouth and nose but backed up a bit when they got close to his hair.

“What?” he said when he saw Jonah smile. “It took forever for me to get it this way.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“I can hear you thinking it,” Garrett said with a sniff, turning to look back at his little sister. “You’ve got good genes, Renee, but remember, being beautiful still takes work. You can’t let the haters bring you down to their sartorial level.”

“Hey, I like the way you look no matter what,” Jonah protested.

“Gare spent hours in front of the mirror as a kid,” Miles said. “I’m hoping Renee won’t be quite so attached to her own reflection.”

“We can’theeearyou,” Garrett singsonged, spinning in a slow circle. “La la la la la …” Images of blue orchids sprang up beneath his feet, the result of Wyl and Cody’s latest try, and Jonah couldn’t have looked away if he tried.

A quiet knock sounded by the door. They turned, and Jonah finally saw Robbie Sinclair, the last member of their intimate group. He was in his marine uniform, a black military jacket and slacks with a colonel’s insignia on each shoulder. His hair was short, sandy with gray at the temples, and he had a calm, almost grave expression on his handsome face. It changed to a smile as soon as he and Garrett made eye contact.

“There you are! Honestly, what is wrong with your people, shooting guns at tanks and making you late for the important things in life?” Garrett groused. “Hang on a sec.” He turned to Jonah. “Can you take her for a moment?”

“Uh … sure.” An instant later, Jonah’s arms were full of baby, and Garrett was at the door and in Robbie’s embrace. It was tight and warm and …

Jonah turned his eyes back down to Renee. She stared back at him with bright, curious blue eyes. They looked a lot like Garrett’s, actually—the same warmth and long, long lashes. She reached for his face, and he intercepted her little fingers with one of his own, letting her tug on that instead. It had been a long time since he’d held a baby. Those had been a tense couple of years with Cody, always worried about his health and dealing with a slow and painful separation from the life Jonah had always known. Renee started to squirm, and a moment later, Claudia was there, reaching for her.

“She’s probably hungry,” she explained. “I should take her back to our wing and feed her. Miles—” She turned toward the door, then frowned. “Where has he gotten off to?” Miles and Robbie and Garrett were all missing although Garrett came back into the room after a few seconds.

“Sorry, Robbie had to steal Dad because he’s a heartless bastard with a lousy sense of timing,” Garrett explained nonchalantly. Wyl sent him an aggravated look. “I’m sure it’s nothing serious,” Garrett added. “Some kind of a thing over a thing, whatever; their work is never done. So!” He looked at Jonah. “We should get moved in ourselves. Our suite is right down the hall.”

“We should get Cody settled first, grab the rest of his stuff out of the ship—” Jonah started, but his son looked up with wide eyes.

“No, not yet! Wyl has to show me how the rest of the room works. Can we do it later? Please?”

“It’s not a problem, I have nothing else on my schedule today,” Wyl added, his fingers tapping fast against the tops of his thighs. He never seemed to get entirely still. “I’d love to spend somemore time with Cody. You guys go get moved in, and you”—he smiled at Claudia—“feed your baby. We’re good here.”

“You sure, bucko?” Jonah asked. All he got was a distracted nod as Cody began experimenting with sound effects.

“I guess we’ll all meet for dinner.” Claudia sighed. “Your rooms are all set up, Gare, but just let me know if you need anything else.”

“I’ll let the staff know, not you,” Garrett chided her. “Honestly, woman, are you not busy enough? Do you need another baby to use up that extra time?”

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