“Keep him out front,” she said. “I’ll meet him in a minute.”
Harry Boy nodded and left.
She took a step away from me, fixing her hair, and then she ran a cool hand along her neck, which was on fire. “He’s not,” she said, the force back in her voice. “He’s not going to believe this! What do I say? What do I do? I don’t want you to kill my brother if I fuck this up!”
I took her hand, leading her toward the front door. “The truth, you’re mine, and not a damn thing else, darlin’. Not a damn thing.”
11
Keely
I didn’t get satisfaction out of hurting other people, not like the marauder did, but we were alike in a way that I hated to admit. I did get satisfaction out of getting revenge on people who hurt me or mine.
Did that make me a bad person? I had no idea.
Just like I had no idea how deep this feud between Cash and Scott went. I’d find out after we opened my brother’s front door and Scott saw the two of us together. Holding hands. A huge emerald engagement ring on my left-hand ring finger. The one with the vein that ran straight to my heart.
Scott was never going to believe that Kelly and I were together. Not in the real sense. He was never going to believe that I was that kind of woman. The kind to bring two men to my bed at the same time, fooling one of them. He had to believe it, though, or I had no idea what the marauder was going to do.
Cash stopped right before he opened the door, turning to face my brothers, who had all decided to walk behind us.
My brother, Lachlan, cleared his throat. “We’ll find out more about the ring on your finger in a minute, but Harrison filled us in on the detective. You were seeing him too, Kee? At the same time as Cash?”
“Yeah,” I said, my voice breathy.
Harrison shook his head and leaned against the wall.
“It just happened.” For a bunch of men who’d known me my entire life, none of them even blinked at me. At the lie. Usually one of them did if I was lying, but it was usually me calling them out on their bullshit. Maybe I was becoming a better actress.
“Keely Kelly, Keely Kelly, Keely Kelly,” my brother Owen said real fast, but he messed up my soon-to-be name the third time he’d said it. Then he made an ung sound when Declan elbowed him in the ribs.
Lachlan shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. You have the right to love who you want. But maybe you should’ve been honest with the detective before he showed up.” Lachlan looked Cash in the eye. They stood at the same height. “Is this going to become a problem for my sister? For my brother? Since this is his place?”
I looked up at Cash, who stared back at my brothers like they were, collectively, nothing but easy dinner. He grinned. “No problem at all.”
Lachlan nodded. “Let’s see what he wants.”
Shit! How could I tell them that I’d invited him?
Cash went to open his mouth, but I beat him to it. “No,” I said. “I’d rather keep this between Scott and me.”
“The three of us,” Cash said, and with his accent, “three” came out as “tree.” “It’s best if the man knows where I stand. And where he stands.”
“And where I stand,” I said, my voice steadier than my hands and knees.
Harrison stood straighter. “We’ll wait right here then.” He squeezed Lachlan’s shoulder.
I took a settling breath that wasn’t settling at all as I opened the door. Scott was looking down at his phone, and I caught how tired he was by the set of his face. When he looked up at me, the look seemed to melt, and a huge smile bloomed on his face.
“Sweetheart,” he said. “You’re a sight for sore eyes. I hope—” The words died in his throat as the force from behind me slipped a hand around my waist, at the same time moving us out onto the porch, closer to Scott.
Scott. Me. The marauder.
Of course.
In that moment, I was officially the center of this feud between enemies.
“It’s so nice of you to join us, detective,” Cash said from behind me, his warm breath flowing over my skin, making me tremble. Not from attraction this time, but from the coldness in his tone. “A little late for the party, though.”