of the table, leaving Declan the only one standing. “You ever consider law school? Because that was a careful lawyer-type answer.”
Beck rolled his eyes and he refilled the coffee cups around the table then sat down. “I think I should be offended.”
“Want to hear a lawyer joke?” Her eyes twinkled as he looked at all of them over the top of her steaming mug.
Once Callen’s laughter started it took a few seconds for him to stop. “I’m liking you more every second.”
Declan stood a short distance away and took it all in. His brothers joking with Leah. Everyone sitting down and sharing a quiet moment without fighting. The steady hum of happiness flowing through the room. He’d never been one to search for contentment. The Army gave him discipline and his mother taught him about honor. But the incredible sense of rightness he could get used to.
Leah’s voice broke through the steady chatter. “You okay over there, Declan? That look on your face . . .”
There was no question what was happening here. She owned him, she had him feeling hopeful in a way he never considered possible before. Declan skipped all of that and went for an eyebrow wiggle. “I had a good night.”
Leah burst out laughing. “Let’s keep it G-rated.”
“That’s a shame.” Callen stopped spinning his mug on the table when the doorbell dinged. “Who the hell could that be?”
All that pulsing satisfaction came crashing down around Declan with the unexpected chime. He knew late-night and early-morning surprise visits were never good. He’d been there for the calls from Charlie that always came at odd times. At first Mom begged him to come home. Then she begged him to stay away.
“Well, let’s not all rush to get it.” Beck got up from the table, making enough noise to telegraph how much of a nuisance he thought just the act of standing was. He walked through the kitchen and far dining room doorway until he could see out the family room windows at the front of the house.
Declan saw Beck stop and called out. “What is it?”
“The police.”
Leah’s wonderfully warm smile fell. “That’s not funny.”
“I’m not kidding.” Beck exhaled as he glanced at them over his shoulder, his gaze lingering that extra beat on Leah.
Her shoulders jerked and her back went ramrod straight. “I didn’t—”
Declan came over to stand behind her, hoping his presence would calm her down and show his brothers his unyielding support. “No one said you did.”
She played with the pink sugar packets flipping them around and stacking them in little piles. When Clay Darber and the mystery guy from the meeting stepped into the kitchen behind Beck, she slipped and ripped one of the packets in half. White powder spilled over the table and she rushed to cover it with her palm.
A heavy weight descended on the room. It was as if the air swelled and the oxygen got sucked away. Drawing this out would only make it worse.
Declan put a hand on her shoulder and felt the energy vibrate under his palm. “Chief Darber and whoever you are. Come in.”
The chief’s step came to a halt as he glanced around the table. “Leah? I didn’t expect to find you here this morning.”
Callen leaned back in his chair. “If you looked you would have found her here last night, too.”
“Spoken by someone without an ounce of tact,” Beck mumbled.
Leah shrugged. “But he’s not wrong. I was here last night and plan to be here much more often.”
Through the haze of frustration and swirling panic of the room, Declan’s muscles relaxed. He could handle whatever fallout came so long as he knew she planned to side with them. She’d staked that claim last night at the school and in his bed, but standing this close, feeling the certainty of the words through the simple touch that bound them, meant everything.
Shifting as he stood and clearly uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation, the chfief cleared his throat. “This is—”
“I’ve got this.” The mystery man stepped up.
Declan pegged the guy’s age around Callen’s. They shared a similar stony affect. Where Callen had loosened up and started to smile over the last few days, this guy looked like his mouth had settled into a permanent flat line.
Hands behind his back and squinting as if he needed sunglasses inside, the guy’s gaze traveled around the room as he nodded. There was something familiar in the way he held himself. The dark hair and eyes fit in around here, but