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Cam

“You hurt my little sister and I will personally make you scream like a Bieber fan.”

“Hysterically, painfully, and without pause until he passes out?” Dougal asks amiably, looking for all the world as if he’s quite accepting of my pain and suffering.

Alec Mallory gives me an evil smile and nods once, his brown-eyed stare so flat I can’t help but understand that the man means business and will not hesitate to make his words truth.

“Jolly good old chap! Told him so meself just the other day, not the Bieber part, but close enough. I say, are you a fan of his by chance?”

I give Alec another once over and cast Dougal a glance that tells him my opinion of that nonsense. When Shaw had spoken of her brother, her twin, I’d pictured a thin, studious bloke with her hair and feminine features.

I was bloody being hopeful.

What I got now is a bloke that is just an inch shorter than my six foot two inches, a body that makes the fucking rock look like a pussy and a face that is mean enough to scare babes.

According to Dougal, he is what the ladies would call a “killer.” I believe them, just not the way one would assume because I know that if I so much as breathe wrong on his beloved sibling, the man will take my not at all small or weak frame and turn me into a bleeding pretzel. Literally bleeding.

“The day I listen to that shit I may as well take a blunt, rusty knife to my sac.”

I wince and see Dougal furtively cover his own balls.

“Right! Okay, so not a soft bone in that massive husk,” Dougal muses, stretching his eyes at me with a quick shake of his head. “Soooo, we should definitely go pub crawling tonight.”

“I’m here for my sister. Anybody makes her cry and they die.”

“Right. Well, now that I am officially terrified, I think I’ll go get a drink and subject myself to Griffin.”

He saunters off in the direction farthest away from where we’re standing, watching Shaw and Mum coo over Angelica where she’s holding court in the middle of the sitting room.

“You wanna tell me what’s going on now that the window dressing is gone, Stone?” Alec growls, his eyes going soft when Shaw laughs at Angelica’s antics.

I shrug the tension from my shoulders and catch Kent’s eye, letting him know to keep watch while I’m gone. He nods once and drops to the carpet, making cooing noises and distracting everyone as I turn and walk out, Alec hot on my heels.

He accepts a brandy and falls into a chair in front of the hearth when we get to my office, and I close the door. His posture looks relaxed, but the man looks about ready to start chewing on my bones.

“I know you don’t like me.”

“Understatement.”

Ahem. Well. Honesty is best yes?

“And I completely understand.”

“Smart at least.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“I’ve royally buggered up with Ducky in the past.”

“Her name is Shaw.”

Ignore it, Cameron. The man is a psychotic.

“Would you let me speak? We’re likely to be here all bloody week if you keep that up.”

That gets me narrow eyes before he nods once, his eyes trained on me over the rim of his glass.

“Like I said, I fucked up, massively, but I am no idiot. She’s the best thing that has or will ever happen to me, and I plan to rectify my errors. That aside, we, my cousins and I, and even Ducky, believe that she was shoved down those stairs. Wait, let me finish. She’s been having nightmares about the fall, but has not yet regained her lost memories.”

He nods, and I see his eyes close before waving me on.

“She said she was sure that the person who pushed her was Robert.”

That gets him sitting upright and grinding his teeth.

“He’s dead.”

“Well, yes. But I won’t write off her account. She’s no liar.”

“About fucking time—”

“Would you shut up and let me finish!” I yell, squeezing my fists so hard my knuckles pop.

Yes, the man is huge and probably frightens monsters, but I am no slouch. I’ll kill him and hide the body in the backyard if need be, but I will not fall out with him and ruin Ducky’s mood. Not in public anyway.

“Go on.” Grudgingly said, but I’m relieved to see that his lip twitched for the barest second.

“Right, so going on that, and the theory that whoever did it is targeting her because I love her, we’ve decided to set up…why are you smiling?” I ask, feeling a cold shiver race down my spine.

The man scowling is scary. A smile from that stern face? Evil.

“You love her, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Told her that?”

Always in my business.
Why, if I wasn’t sure that simpletons and lunatics can’t share the same gene pool, I’d almost want to test him as Griffin and Dougal’s long lost sibling.

“No, and before you start in on me, I have a reason. I want to marry her, yes, but we had always intended that so I can’t really use it as a show of my love and devotion. I want to tell her after, when she doesn’t
need
to hear it. That way she’ll know how sincere I am.”

I cringe because, yes, I sound like a total oaf, but Alec surprises me by smiling, his face transforming so much I catch a glimpse of Ducky in there somewhere.

“Good.”

“Good?”

“Yeah, man. Good. All I want for her is happiness, man, and if you can give her that and the love she deserves, then you can live. Now. Tell me about what you got planned for this weekend. I don’t want any surprises, and I think I may have a few things to add that could help us.”

By the time we’re done planning and drinking I know two things: Alec Mallory is no college student or studious lawyer. The man has been in the military since the day he left his mother’s house, and he knows his way around a quick murder and body dump.

Apparently telling Shaw that he was studying law was meant to ease her mind and keep her from constantly worrying herself to death over her Alec.

The second thing I know, is that Alec Mallory will truly kill me and acid wash my bones if I even so much as make his sister sniffle.

I’m just glad I’m no longer
that
stupid and that by the end of this week I’ll have ex-military crawling all over my home, posing as guests.

Can’t hurt to have more security, although at this rate I’m not sure I’m even worried about my baby anymore. Chances are I’m the one in more danger.

Shaw

Closing the door as quietly as I can, I creep down the hall and skip down the stairs, belting my robe snuggly around me as I make my way to the kitchen,

I’ve been jonesing for chocolate biscuits forever, and thanks to Margery’s insistence that chocolate isn’t good for babies, I haven’t had one in three days.

I tried to tell her that she was confusing babies with dogs, but she just laughed and threatened to tell the housekeeper to get rid of all chocolate products.

I’d lied and said, “I won’t have another one my whole pregnancy.”

She’d seemed satisfied while Cam had sputtered and spat tea all over his breakfast. That man is too observant for my own good.

Now that it’s all clear, I’m almost dying for the forbidden contraband.

“Sneaky Shawsie.”

I squeal and almost wet myself, laughing hysterically when the oven light turns on and I see a grinning Alec sitting there holding a box of cookies and a glass of milk.

“You ass, you want to be cleaning my pee off the kitchen floor?”

“That would be a
hell no
. Now get over here and share your snack while you tell me what’s up. We haven’t really had a minute alone since I got here.”

I smile and flop down beside him, throwing my legs over his and snuggling close. He still smells the same, part sweat and that scent that’s a cross between home and clean linen.

I’ve missed him. A lot more than I thought possible. A lot more than I’d realized, but now that he’s here, I feel a distinct disconnect, as if my new life won’t fit with him, or as if he won’t let himself fit with this new life and family.

Well that is not gonna happen. I’ll kick his ass until he gives in and joins the clan. I love him; he’s my only family left, and I refuse to let him drift away again.

“Well, I fell down a flight of stairs and broke my brain, and now I’ve got one kid, another on the way, and I’m getting hitched this Saturday,” I tease, smirking when his eyes narrow and he flicks my ear.

“Smart ass. I mean, your guy told me about what’s been going on—”

“I’m not nuts if that’s what you’re thinking,” I say, afraid that he’ll use an insanity plea to force me back home where he can watch me.

He’s been so hard to talk with lately, no thanks to my foolishness in calling him in the first place—and he flat out hates Cameron.

“Calm down there, Meryl, I’m not trying to upset you here. I just want to know if you’re okay.”

“Why are you so different?” I say suddenly, not bothering to answer his question. “You…you aren’t the same, not bad or anything, just…you seem a lot more…”

Hard. Cold. Detached from things. I dunno exactly how to describe the way he is now, but it’s not…he’s not the same young boy I hugged goodbye before putting him on a bus to Louisiana. That boy had been open and so guilty about leaving me in the same city as Gloria while he went off to pursue his dream.

What I have now is a man, a man who seems jaded and tired and the exact opposite of the brother I’ve been thinking about so often.

“Shaw.”

“No. I’ve been thinking a lot lately and know what? We broke our promise to each other. You and me both. We swore we wouldn’t lose touch and that we’d always tell each other everything. Remember. You and me against the world. You and I sticking it to Gloria. I haven’t heard from you in so long before I called. The sad part? I didn’t call you when I needed you because I didn’t want to mess up your life. But it’s…why are you different?” I ask again, nibbling distractedly on my fifth cookie.

Alec sighs, and I almost feel bad about laying such a heavy one on him. Almost. I’m still kinda upset about how rude he was to Cam and the cousins, so I don’t feel that guilty, but still.

“I went to Tulane. I lasted two months before it felt like the walls were closing in on me. Then I left, threw my scholarship to the dogs and did what I needed to do.”

“You’re not a lawyer? Or a quarterback?”

He avoids looking at me for a minute before meeting my eyes.

“I play quarterback for the team we got on base. But I am not a lawyer.”

Oh gosh. Am I mad? Upset? Hurt?

“I thought that was your dream. I thought that if I bothered you with my stuff that I would be jeopardizing your future and all this time you were…do not tell me you went to war,” I say with a growl, feeling the bottom drop right out from under me.

Alec shrugs and looks away again.

“Fine. I won’t tell you that.”

“Jesus! Seriously? You were out there dodging bullets and risking your life and you didn’t tell me!”

“Calm down, Ducky.”

I clamp my mouth shut as Cameron strolls in, dressed only in a pair of black sleeping pants and a whole lot of skin. He lifts me up and sits down in the seat across from Alec, sitting me sideways on his lap and pulling the cookies and milk closer to me.

“Cameron.”

“Give it a rest, baby. He’s a man. Men have to do what they must to feel like men. He needed more than years of being stuck in a dingy dorm room and bending the laws to make money. It is what it is. Forgive him and move on.”

Really? That’s the answer, the Holy Grail of wisdom I’m gonna get here? I turn to look at Alec and see him grinning, so yeah, maybe that is all I’m getting.

“You both suck.”

“Not in this lifetime.” They both say in unison, and I giggle, rolling my eyes.

Go figure. I had to go fall in love with a guy who is exactly like the brother I never knew really existed. Freaking ironic.

“And idiots. So you’re some big, bad G.I. Joe?”

Where have all the cookies gone?

“Here Duck.” Cameron sighs, pulling a new box to me.

I dig in and listen to Alec recount some of his tamer missions, cringing more than he’s comfortable with while Cameron seems to delight in the fact that my brother is in real danger. All the time.

“So my buddies will arrive tomorrow. That leaves three days for them to start blending in. Dougal is gonna spread it around that they’re extended family, you know, make them seem more…”

“Less threatening?” I quip, instinctively knowing that whoever is badass enough to be my brother’s “crew” is probably mean enough to chew glass and shit out whole vases.

That gets me a smile and a wink from the asshat, and I rise and stretch with a snort.

“You owe me a huge apology for being such a douche. And you, take me to bed. You know how cranky you are if you don’t get enough. Goodnight Al.”

He’s still laughing as Cameron carries me swiftly up the stairs, his own chuckles making me giggle into my hand.

“I can survive on three hours of sleep a night and you know it, Ducky.”

It’s my turn to grin and look smug.

“I wasn’t talking about sleep, Cam.”