Dance Around - Susi Hawke Page 0,6

front of the house.

The door swung open before I had my helmet off. Dear and Isaac were both there to greet me. Isaac got a kiss on the cheek, but I punched Dear lightly in the arm. "Dude. What happened to hanging out one night? Are you no longer allowed to come down to the pub if I'm going to be there?"

I'd been joking, but part of me was genuinely concerned about losing my friend because they knew about Dan. For so many years, Dear had been the only member of his family who liked me. Over the past year, the other brothers had thawed, and we'd slowly if grudgingly become friends of a sort, thanks to our recent job. Funny how easily we’d resolved our differences when we all stopped competing for the same work. It hadn't hurt how they'd needed my help more than once in recent months, even before our joint mission.

The entire family was present, including the babies. Dan was pretending to read a book. I let him have his moment and didn't bother to point out that his novel was upside down.

Instead, I went straight over to the couch and sat down beside Mona. It took nothing more than a playful pout and grabby hands to get her to pass my godson over. Nuzzling his fuzzy excuse for hair, I breathed in his lovely baby fragrance of pure innocence with a dash of diaper powder. They quietly chatted amongst themselves while I took a moment with Theo.

When I finally looked up to give Isaac my attention, I caught Dan looking at me with a bemused smile. He was instantly red-faced and seemed flustered. That was… interesting. I put his reaction aside to think about later and focused on the matter at hand.

Never one to mince words, I bluntly asked Isaac for the truth. "Sweetie, did you tell me your last name is Powell? Tell me, are you any relation to Adrienne Powell?"

Dear naturally reacted first to the dead bitch’s name. I normally would never call a lady such a foul thing, even mentally, but Adrienne had been a bitch of the first power. Killing her had been a kindness to humanity. When Dear stared at me, as if trying to read my mind, I shook my head almost imperceptibly and waited for Isaac to respond.

Thankfully, his first reaction was a full-body shudder. "Unfortunately. She’s my father's older sister. And not what anyone would consider a nice person, let me tell you. She runs the shifter purity organization. The SPTA? Let's say she is one relative I don't care to claim. Plus, she helped my parents with my arranged mating contract to Chuck."

Sighing, I pulled my hair over my shoulder and toyed with the ends while I considered how much I wanted to share. Saying fuck it and telling them the truth took less than a second. With a deep breath, I nodded and glanced at Nash.

"Brace yourself, okay? We didn't know everything before. I made the Powell connection when I was going through Sal's files. I only wanted Isaac to verify so I could ease my way into this little truth bomb." When Isaac started shaking, Nash pulled him onto his lap. Watching them together was sweet enough to give me a toothache. I avoided glancing toward Dan, not wanting to feel any other aching parts of my body right now.

I took a deep breath and forged ahead. "First of all, let me set your mind at ease. Your aunt died while you were in Sal's custody. And I know this because I was there when she accidentally got kicked over her hotel balcony." I shrugged, mustering my most innocent smile. "Shit happens, you know?" Isaac was startled into a laugh, which gave me the strength to continue.

"Isaac, honey. I'm sorry to tell you this, but you were targeted. Sal purposefully chose you because of your connection to Adrienne. Chuck mentioned during a meeting how his parents wanted to find him a mate. I believe you thought your culinary degree gave you the perfect pedigree for his family? Sorry, but while your education might have helped, people like them were more impressed by your relation to Adrienne. Sal already had a dossier on every member of her organization and their entire families."

Nash spoke through gritted teeth. "I wish I could kill every one of them again. But this time, I would handle Chuck."

Isaac took a deep breath, lifting his chin as he met my eyes.