Realizing they were all waiting for her response, Pet forced a smile and murmured, “Hello, again.”
“We just came by to introduce you to our nephews and their friend. The boys stopped by on their way back from the east coast and have decided to stay awhile. We didn’t want you to be concerned if you saw them coming and going,” she explained and then smiled wryly and added, “But we got here to find the front door wide open. When we didn’t see anyone around, we thought we’d better make sure everything was all right. I fear we startled your sister’s poor housekeeper.”
“Oh,” Pet breathed, her gaze sliding back to Oksana. A frown curved her lips downward when she noted that the woman was just standing there, staring straight ahead at nothing. Although, she could be watching out the side window for her husband, Pet supposed. Oksana’s husband was supposed to pick her up at seven. Pet shifted her attention back to Marguerite, stilling slightly as she noted her eyes. Marguerite and Julius had both been wearing sunglasses when she’d met them that afternoon. They weren’t wearing them now, though, and she could see that Marguerite’s eyes were blue while Julius’s were black, but both had silver flecks in them. It was as if someone had blown glowing silver glitter into—
“You know these people?”
Pet turned in surprise to see Parker at her side. The boy was frowning down at the people in the entry with Oksana. Taking her nephew by the arm, she gave him a push, trying to send him back the way he’d come. “You were supposed to wait in your room.”
Ignoring her urging, Parker held his ground and said, “They don’t live on this street.”
“Your mother introduced me to them when I got here. They’re house sitting for the Cabellies,” she explained, still trying to urge him back toward his room.
“Caprellis,” he corrected even as Marguerite did.
“Jinx,” the woman said lightly, her smile widening. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Parker. Your mother and aunt were bragging about you this afternoon. Were your ears ringing?”
Parker shook his head, and then asked, “Who are you?”
“Marguerite Argeneau Notte,” she introduced herself solemnly, and then began introducing the others. “And this is my nephew Zanipolo Notte,” she gestured to the man on her right who was tall, and slender with lean muscle and long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. Gesturing to the man just past Zanipolo, she continued, “And a family friend, Justin Bricker.”
Pet noted his short dark brown hair, handsome face, and laughing green eyes . . . again with silver flecks.
“Our nephew Santo Notte,” Marguerite added, gesturing to the bald behemoth.
Pet slid her gaze over the taller man’s eyes. They were as black as Julius Notte’s, but there was much more silver in his eyes, and the lighter color seemed to be growing, she noted grimly.
“And, of course, my husband, Julius.” She turned and placed a hand on the arm of the man on her left. He was the only man here not wearing black. The other three men were decked out in black jeans, black T-shirts, and black Doc Martens. It was almost as if it were some sort of uniform. Julius, however, wore the same blue jeans and white T-shirt he’d had on when she’d met him earlier.
Every one of the men were over six feet tall, but Justin Bricker and Zanipolo were closer to six feet, while Santo and Julius were at least six-foot-six or better. The two shorter men were also lacking a lot of the muscle Santo had. They were still muscular, but with a leanness to them rather than the solid bulk he had. Julius was somewhere in the middle
“Where are the Caprellis?” Parker asked suddenly, sounding suspicious.
“Texas.” The answer was a rumble of sound from the behemoth Marguerite had introduced as Santo. Pet had always gravitated toward deeper voices, and his seemed to vibrate right through her.
“They wished to visit their daughter,” Marguerite added now, drawing Pet’s reluctant gaze away from the big man. “I gather she moved there last year and they’ve been missing her and their grandbabies, so they put their house up on the House Swap exchange. We saw it and applied for a trade.”
Parker immediately relaxed and began to grin. “I signed them up on the House Swap site,” he announced gleefully, and was suddenly racing eagerly down the stairs.
Cursing under her breath, Pet immediately gave chase. She caught up with Parker