“Thank you kindly.”

“Open it.”

She hid her smile by shoveling a spoonful of yogurt into her mouth. “I’m eating,” she said around her food.

He rested his elbow on the table, his chin in the palm of his hand. “Open the robe, Ronnie Lee.”

With an annoyed sniff that even she didn’t buy, she put her nearly empty bowl on the table and loosened up the belt at her waist. Keeping her eyes on him, Ronnie pulled the robe down over her shoulders and licked her lips. “Like this?”

Brendon growled and she thought he’d come over the table for her when his cell phone went off. His growl turned into a snarl, and he snatched his cell phone off the table. “What?”

He glanced at her and Ronnie opened the robe completely, arching her back. His eyes locked on her breasts and he gave a small whimper. He frowned. “Mace who?”

She covered her mouth to stifle her laugh.

Brendon flinched. “Oh. Llewellyn. Yeah. What’s up?”

Ronnie watched the humor go out of his eyes. “You can’t tell me over the phone? Yeah. Okay. Okay. One o’clock. I’ll be there.” He sighed and disconnected.

“What’s wrong?”

“Mace needs to see me. Has information on my brother.”

Ronnie stood up, pulling the robe back on. “Come on.” She stepped over to him and held her hand out. “Let’s get showered and dressed. Once you’re done, we can still do that museum thing if you want.” Although she doubted that would be happening, she wanted to act as positive as possible. But if Mace didn’t have bad news, he would have told Shaw over the phone.

“You don’t have to go.”

“Do you want me to go?”

He didn’t answer at first, staring at the table. Finally, he slipped his hand into hers. “Yes. I want you to go.” He let out another sigh and allowed her to pull him out of the chair. “I’ll need you to keep me from beating the shit out of Mitch. Who knows what the little idiot has gotten himself into now.”

Brendon stared blindly while they chatted around him. He stared blindly at the corkboard with its pictures and diagrams. He stared and stared and stared, not sure what he was actually seeing. Realizing he knew nothing about his own blood. His own brother.

Around him they talked about the offices Mace and Smitty had so quickly secured with Sissy Mae’s help, including a gorgeous cheetah receptionist who looked organized, highly competent, and like she could probably outrun a gold medalist sprinter. They chatted about the weather and the annual New Year’s Eve party at the hotel. They chatted about a new club on East Fourteenth. Llewellyn and Smitty dropped their bomb and then let him deal with it on his own while they drank bottled water and chatted about theirlives.

Finally, after he’d stared at the corkboard—and that one picture that said so much—for longer than many might consider normal, he exploded, his roar shaking windows and the glass on tables.

Silence, not surprisingly, followed until he heard Ronnie ask, “Could y’all leave us alone for a minute?”

They left without making a sound, and hands that were becoming as familiar as his own cupped his face. Ronnie turned him so he gazed down at her. One look into those hazel eyes and Brendon pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her neck.

“How could he not tell me?”

Ronnie’s arms held him tight and she said, “Because he’s being a passive-aggressive prick. But he’s not hopeless.”

“I’m going to kick his ass when I see him.”

“Call him. Tell him to come to the hotel. You’ll feel better once you know he’s safe. ’Round his own kind.”

“I should let him deal with this on his own.”

She kissed his cheek. “You’ll never forgive yourself if anything happens to him. We both know that.”

He nodded, knowing she was right.

“So call the little fucker up and tell him to get his skinny lion ass over to your hotel.”

“And my sister.”

“If you must.”

He released her so she could hand him the phone she took off his jeans.

Dez walked into the room from a separate door, carrying two bottles of water. She glanced around as she stepped closer to them. “Where is everybody?”

“They ran to safety,” Ronnie joked.

Those strange green-gray eyes narrowed and Dez asked, “Did Mace roar at you guys? I told him not to keep doing that.”

“No.” Ronnie patted his shoulder. “That was ol’ Shaw here.”

“Oh.” Dez seemed to immediately lose interest, turning and staring at the corkboard Mace and Smitty had set up. She frowned and pointed at a picture of Mitch. “Who’s that?”

Sighing as he speed-dialed his brother. “Him? That’s my brother.”

“I didn’t know your brother was a cop.”

Brendon glanced up at the picture of his brother in full Philadelphia PD uniform. His graduation picture. The graduation and career Brendon had never known about.

“Yeah. I didn’t know either.”

Chapter Fourteen

B rendon looked up as his brother sauntered into the suite that had been reserved for him.

Hands in pockets and a cocky stance, he stared down at Brendon. “What?”

“You said you’d be thirty minutes. That was three hours ago.”

“I was busy. What do you want?”