Dirty Little Lies: A Men of Summer Novel (26 page)

She hated to think her aunt or uncles could be capable of ordering their brother or their nieces killed. Lucia was another story, she thought wearily. She hadn’t been well liked in or out of the family. Still, she’d been family, and the Maddox Clan had always touted family above all things.

“So you think you’re just going to prance into that meeting and know what’s going without anyone saying a word?” he mocked her, the dark glower on his face imposing but not exactly swaying her.

She considered the question for a moment, though. “It’s been known to happen when my suspicions are aroused.” She finally shrugged before trying to explain. “I know them, Zack. I know their expressions when they’re lying, when they’re hiding something, or when they’re just being assholes and pretending to. It’s all in asking the right questions and paying attention to my instincts. I might not know what’s going on, or know who’s trying to get rid of me, but I might be able to figure out which direction to search in. Why do you think Vince’s trusted me as far as he did all these years? Because he knew I’d see their lies before he even suspected them.”

“No…”

“You don’t have the right to tell me no,” she informed him, holding on to her composure by a fingernail. “You can go with me. You can bring a dozen friends to back you up if that’s your choice. But I’m going.”

“Not if I tie you to the bed,” he growled, stepping closer, his arms lowering slowly to his sides. “You won’t be going anyplace then.”

And he meant it.

Frustration threatened to push her past the calm she was trying to find, threatened to destroy the hold she had on her fragile emotions.

“And I’ll never forgive you…”

“But you’ll be alive,” he snarled, crossing the distance too quickly for her to avoid the broad hands that latched on to her upper arms and dragged her against him. “Do you hear me, Grace. You’ll be alive.”

“Will I?” she whispered. “How much more do you think I can take, Zack? Everyone I’ve loved, everyone I want to love, is threatened. And the reasons we’re coming up with don’t make sense. But my father and my aunt died trying to identify it. My mother betrayed everyone who could have loved her for it. Kenni lost eight years years of her life, and a sister I didn’t know I had hates me,” she cried out. “I deserve to know why.”

She struck out at his chest, her fists slamming against the solid wall of muscle as she nearly lost control of the tears threatening to strangle her.

“I deserve to know why,” she whispered, laying her head against his chest and feeling the tentative, gentle touch of his palm as he held her against him.

“And if I can’t protect you?” he asked her, his voice quiet as he held her to him. “If something happens to you because I was looking in the wrong place at the wrong time, how do I survive that, Grace?”

She shook her head. “What difference if it’s today at Vince’s or the day after, or the day after that somewhere else.” She pressed her cheek to his chest. “Someone already believes I know something I haven’t put together yet, and they want to make sure it doesn’t happen. And only the immediate family is aware of the fact that Dad could piece information together and that Vince was hoping I’d learn how to do it. If it’s one of them, then today is the only chance we’ll have for another month. Because those five rarely come together, and then, only when they have to. And Vince makes sure they understand that once a month, they have to be there.”

Because he loved them, she knew. Loved them and regretted the choices he’d had to make that resulted in the endless arguing that seemed to erupt every time they were in the same place at the same time.

And he feared they’d all grow apart somehow, and if they did, then the strength of the Maddox family would fade as well. They were strong, he often said, because they stood strong. They stood together. And he was determined to ensure they always stood together.

Whether they wanted to or not.

She loved her uncles and her aunt Mary. They were an endless source of laughter, warmth, and family dinners at their respective homes. They couldn’t get along with Vince, but extended invitations to his sons and to Grace often. They trash-talked their brother, railed about him, but the moment Vince had ever needed them, they were there for him, old feuds forgotten.

The thought that any of them could have a hand in attempting to take over the family and the militia Vince controlled was unthinkable. But Grace didn’t just love her family; she also knew them. And she knew any one of them, with the right push, had the potential to turn against Vince.

And all of them were capable of killing.

But were any of them capable of murder?…

chapter eighteen

This was a really bad idea, Zack thought as he escorted Grace through the house to the garage where the pickup sat waiting.

Outside, Eamon and Dylan would drive ahead of them with Lobo and Calli behind them and Tech controlling the drone by satellite from wherever the hell he was located. It was all the protection he could give Grace, and it should be overkill. But something was making his neck itch.

Whether instinct or premonition, the hunter always knew when he was being hunted, and Zack had felt hunted for days. That warning that he was being watched, stalked, that a wild card waited, anticipating the best moment to throw a wrench into Zack’s plans.

But hell, Grace herself had become a wild card. He hadn’t expected her to go to her room and do the dress-for-success thing she’d done while working for Vince. The prissy, tailored pants and silk blouse that made her look like a million bucks and as cool as an ice princess. It made him feel like some lowly knight without a chance of melting her.

It made his dick thicken and throb with the need to feel her melting around him again. Because she might look like an ice princess, but he knew damned well exactly how hot she could get.

Hot enough to burn a man clear to his soul.

The drive from his house to the Maddox home just on the outskirts of Loudon, along the banks of the river, didn’t take long, and despite the itch on his neck, they pulled into the Maddox driveway without incident.

That didn’t mean there wouldn’t be an incident.

One thing you could count on with Vince Maddox and his sons: they were an incident waiting to happen.

When the three black vehicles drew to a stop, Zack breathed out a heavy sigh as he glimpsed dozens of men just inside the tree line bordering the house on three sides.

The front door opened to reveal Cord himself, a scowl on his face as he leaned against the doorframe, simply staring at the truck, his expression closed. Jeans, a short-sleeved shirt, boots, and leather vest with a weapon strapped to his thigh.

It wasn’t often he saw the other man so clearly armed.

“What do you think?” he asked Grace as she sat still and quiet in the seat next to him.

*   *   *

Grace watched her cousin carefully, his expression, the way he leaned lazily against the doorframe, thumbs tucked into the leather belt cinching his hips, weapon clearly displayed. He didn’t appear to be happy to see them, but he wasn’t glaring at them. Weary patience seemed to have settled on his broad shoulders, the temper that could easily explode when tested was nowhere in sight, but it was simmering.

“He expected us,” she said quietly. “He’s resigned to something, but he doesn’t like it. He’ll fight it. But he’s expecting trouble. He’s also anticipating something. Cord likes to stir things up sometimes. He says it gets results. He reminds me a lot of the stories I’ve heard about Dad.”

“You know this how?” Skepticism colored his voice as he gripped the steering wheel, glancing from Cord to her. “He just looks pissed to me.”

And he might, to someone who didn’t know him as well as she did.

“You’re looking at his expression, not his eyes, or the way he’s trying to appear relaxed. The tension in his shoulders tells another story. They’re straight rather than slouched as they would be when he’s relaxed. His feet are firmly planted rather than tilted in with his body. He’s ready to react.” She knew the members of her family in ways she doubted they suspected.

She’d watched them, studied them over the years, just as she did everyone else she came in contact with. She knew body language, expressions, and even the lack of expressions told their own story. What she hadn’t known instinctively, she’d learned by reading. She had known when dealing with personalities as strong as her uncle and cousins that she’d need an edge to keep up with them.

She wasn’t confrontational, she wasn’t an in-their-face type person, and trying to be such a person only gave her indigestion.

“Possible danger?” Zack asked.

She snorted at the question, amused that he’d ask it. “He’d love to bruise your other eye, but you’re not in danger of a bullet, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“What about you? Are you in danger of a bullet?” Something dark and dangerous edged his voice at the question.

“Not as far as Cord’s concerned.” She shook her head slowly. “He’d neither pull the trigger nor give the order. He’s not above playing the game, though. He’s after something,” she murmured thoughtfully. “I suspect he expected us, and he’ll use it.”

“Hide-and-seek. Come on, honey, let’s go play with them for a little while,” he muttered, the words causing her to still, to hold her breath as he opened his door and slid from the vehicle.

Hide-and-seek. Where had she heard that before, in relation to her search for information?

“I’ll hide,” she said softly as he opened the door.

“I’ll seek,” he drawled, gripping her waist and helping her down.

He’d keep them distracted enough that they wouldn’t watch her as closely as they might otherwise, allowing her to glimpse any unguarded expressions or telltale body language.

He’d ask the questions, she’d wait for the silent answers.

She knew that game. She knew it all too well.

“Afternoon, Zack,” Cord greeted them with a drawl, all southern cordial and mockingly welcome.

“Cord,” Zack returned the greeting in the same vein as they started up the steps to the porch. “I could complain, I reckon, but would anyone listen?”

Southern male posturing. It was subtle, polite for the most part, but filled with knowledge of one another.

“Gettin’ someone to listen is the easy part. Now, gettin’ them to do something about it is a mite harder,” Cord pointed out as they stepped to the porch. “This isn’t a good idea, cuz,” Cord stated softly, his gaze softening as she and Zack neared him. “Family night’s savage as hell, and you seem to be their favorite topic of conversation tonight. Go back to Zack’s and settle in with a movie or something.”

“And spoil your plans?” she asked, seeing his surprise that she actually called him on the fact that he knew she’d be there and he’d planned accordingly.

“Only if you stay, sweetheart.” Fondness softened his features. “You leave, and I’ll cover you, you know that. Stay, and they’ll focus on you more than they’ll focus on each other.”

“Like a pack of coyotes scenting blood,” Zack snorted.

“Or sharks,” Cord agreed with a sigh before he straightened from the door. “We found Richard James.” His gaze locked on Zack’s. “Dead. Missin’ his innards, too, when we found him. You know anything about that?”

The gruesome act had her stomach churning. Who would do something like that?

“Not me,” Zack assured him, though satisfaction radiated from him. “And here I would have just put a bullet in his heart.

Cord’s lips quirked, no doubt hearing the echo of disappointment in Zack’s voice that Grace caught as well.

“Might as well come on in and let the family see you’re alive, Grace.” His smile was faintly sardonic. “Before they save me the trouble and kill each other.”

It was a monthly refrain, a monthly threat.

Despite the thoughtful glances her cousin cast her way, Grace didn’t acknowledge them, and she didn’t speak. She couldn’t.

“You know, Grace.” Cord surprised her when he paused in front of the doors to her uncle’s office and stared back at her somberly. “Sometimes, to protect the people he loves, a man has to give the impression he doesn’t care if they’re protected or not. Doesn’t mean he hasn’t done all he can to ensure that protection, or that he wouldn’t step in at the last minute if needed.”

It wasn’t an apology; it was a statement. Cord was trying to tell her he’d done what he felt was best. But he didn’t regret the decisions he’d made.

“Enough, Cord,” Zack growled. “Leave her alone until she can piece this shit together.”

Cord glanced back at him thoughtfully. “Want another fist in that ugly face of yours?”

It wasn’t a rhetorical question. Cord wanted a fight, the tension gathering in his body would take the outlet if Zack wanted to accommodate him.

“The two of you aren’t twelve anymore,” she informed them both scathingly. “Cord, get out of the way. Now.”

“Mouthy brat,” he muttered, but opened the doors and stepped inside with a cocky swagger she hadn’t seen him use in years.

“Look who came to visit,” he announced as the four men and their baby sister turned to the door in surprise. “It’s Grace and her guard dog, Zack.”

Vince sat at his desk, leaning back in the comfortable red leather chair and staring at his family, his face flushed, jaw clenched as each of them leaned over the desk, yelling over the general state of the family and the Kin.

At Cord’s announcement, they stared at Grace for long, silent moments, their expressions as unguarded as they were going to get.

“And did you hear? We found Richard James,” Cord stated, causing all eyes to swing to him. “Stomach tore open and his guts missing, but it was definitely him.” He turned back to Zack and Grace to mutter, “There, I got them all warmed up for you.”

*   *   *

Cord had been waiting on something, all right, and he was definitely after something. He was waiting on Grace and Zack and the chance to make his announcement as she watched the family staring back at them.

Shifts of expression, tones of voice, they were often subtle, slight. The answer wasn’t always immediately apparent, but Grace knew when suspicion and knowledge were on the same path. As Cord and Zack kept the rest of the family from focusing on who she was watching and when, she kept her lashes lowered, her attention measuring each of them as questions and accusations were thrown like vicious blows among four brothers and a sister who would claim at any given time to love each other. As long as they weren’t in each other’s company.