“God, I’ve missed you,” Bri said, and Cole heard the quiver in her
voice.
Scott laughed and squeezed her one more time, then dropped her feet
to the floor and made sure she was standing before letting her go. Cole’s
estimation of the kid shot through the roof. He knew how to treat a lady,
even if he’d never been around them.
“You’ve only been gone a day and a half, squirt.” His gaze landed
somewhere over the top of Bri’s head, unable to focus on anything but
the black space that had been with him since the day he was born.
“I know, but that’s longer than ever before. What did he say to you,
Scottie?”
Scott’s shoulders slumped. “Do you really want to know?”
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Cole stood at attention. The jovial mood was about to turn ugly. He
wanted to put his fist through the wall. Fuck Wyatt and his contract, the
bastard. The man would get his comeuppance one way or another for
treating his kids the way he had. Cole would see to that.
“Yes, I want to know.”
Scott sighed, looking resigned, like he knew his sister wouldn’t give
up without knowing exactly what her father had told him.
“He said, and I quote, ‘That bitch sister of yours has somehow gotten
her lover to want you. Pack your bag, someone’s coming to get you.’ Then
he went on to rant about not telling anyone who I was, etc., etc.”
“I’m sorry, Scottie.”
“Don’t be, I can handle him.”
Scott turned and seemed to look right in Cole’s eyes, making him itch
to straighten and flick the piece of imaginary lint off his shirt. How had
the kid even known he was here? He had yet to make a sound.
“Tyler told me about what’s going on here, sir, and if you’re the lover
my father referred to…”
Shit, what had Tyler said to him?
Cole cleared his throat. “My name is
Cole.” His voice sounded lame even to his own ears.
“If you hurt my sister, I’ll kill you.”
“I would kill myself before I hurt your sister, Scott.”
Scott’s empty stare told Cole he was thinking, and then the kid
nodded and said, “All right then.”
Tyler walked in just in time to hear the threat. He, Cole, and Bri
breathed a collective sigh. How Wyatt thought his son wouldn’t measure
up was beyond Cole. The kid had more gumption than three-quarters of
the men in the world. He wouldn’t have to prove himself to
Cole
, that’s
for sure.
Scott swung around and faced Tyler. “You feel the same way?”
“I do.”
“Good, cause I really didn’t feel like killin’ anybody today. Too messy.”
He grinned like a Cheshire cat.
“You are a shit, you know that?” Bri laughed and grabbed her
brother’s elbow, guiding him across the foyer to the staircase, where she
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proceeded to tell him how many steps were in front of him. Bri stopped
about halfway up and looked over her shoulder, twin tracks of tears
glistening on her cheeks.
When she mouthed “thank you” to him and Tyler, Cole’s heart
stopped. He knew then he wanted to marry her. And for Tyler to do the
same, illegal or not. It didn’t even matter they’d only known her for less
than two days.
Tyler stood rigid, the indebted look on Bri’s face paralyzing him.
“What the hell just happened here?”
Cole chuckled. “I’m not sure, but I think the kid just threatened us
with death if we hurt his sister.”
“Yeah, I got that part. What I don’t get is how he knew where we
were. He looked at least in my direction, if not directly into my eyes.” A
shiver ran the length of his body, leaving goose bumps in its wake. “I
think the kid’s got a serious sixth sense.”
When Tyler had arrived at Wyatt’s house, he’d introduced himself to
the young man who’d answered the door, thinking he was just another
servant to the ungrateful Andrew Wyatt. “I’m Tyler Cannon, Mr. Masters’
security specialist, here to pick up Scott Wyatt.”
Now Ty laughed as he thought back to the way he must have looked
standing there speechless, in front of Bri’s brother, who was obviously
much more capable of getting around than Bri had led them to believe.
“I know who you are,” Scott had answered. A butler had joined them
at the doorway and handed Scott’s bags to Tyler before turning to Scott
and discreetly reminding him there were three stairsteps about four
paces forward. Scott had lifted his chin and marched out the door,
confident as he took the steps, then waited, his left elbow sticking out
slightly, for Tyler to guide him to the limo.
It had been downright freaky in the limo on the way over here. They’d
held an almost adult conversation, when Tyler had been prepared to act
like a babysitter to a frail, simpering boy who couldn’t see or hear.
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Hmm. He could think of some delicious ways to punish Bri for
allowing him to think the things he had about her brother. There was
nothing weak about the kid. Obviously in his relatively short, parentless
life, Bri had nurtured him into a strong, determined man. One who didn’t
care if he was blind and couldn’t hear well.
Tyler had a lot of respect for the kid. Respect that made him hate
Andrew Wyatt all the more. How could the man not see what his son had
become? How could he be so callous, to dump Scott like a leper just
because he couldn’t see? Scott had overcome his disability, why couldn’t
his father?
“That sixth sense might just get us in trouble here. I don’t think we’ll
be able to hide anything from him, that’s for sure.”
Tyler’s attention snapped back to the present and he shrugged. “I
already told him why he was coming here. He knows his sister was
blackmailed with the threat that his father would throw him in an
institution if she didn’t go along with his scheme. I’m pretty sure he also
knows Bri traded her body for his safety.”
Cole winced beside him. “Ouch. What’d he say?”
“Well, let’s see, he laughed when I told him about the institution and
claimed Bri always felt threatened when his dad mentioned sending him
away. Then he told me very sternly he knew his sister wouldn’t whore
herself, not even to save her baby brother. So he figured that there must
have been something about Cole Masters she liked, and if she was happy
then he wouldn’t stand in her way, no matter what his father claimed he
could do to him.”
“Intuitive, ain’t he?”
“That’s not all. About halfway over here, he says, ‘you want her too,
don’t you?’”
“Damn.” Cole chewed on his lip like he was contemplating how to
atone for their sins. “What did you tell him?”
“The truth. That both you and I were interested in his sister.”
“And?” Cole twisted his hand in the air.
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Ty shrugged again. “He got really quiet. Then he said if when he got
here, he sensed that his sister was scared or unhappy, he would make
our lives miserable.”
Cole laughed. “Why the hell is Bri so worried about him? Sounds to
me like he can hold his own.”
“My sentiments exactly. I’ve got to get over to the office for a while.
There was trouble last night with one of my operative’s cases.” Tyler
swung toward the door.
“Yeah, go, go. I’ll give them some time alone, and we’ll meet you here
for dinner.”
“’Bout six?”
“Yeah.”
Tyler skipped down the front steps, digging for the keys in his pocket,
and smiled. He and Cole had been thrown for a loop today. At least they
wouldn’t have to walk on eggshells around Scott. He was sure the kid
could hold his own with both of them, and give back double what they
dished out. Not having a male role model sure hadn’t hurt him much, Bri
had seen to that.
Tyler’s heart skipped a beat and his cock hardened beneath his
jeans. She was theirs, and he couldn’t think of a better woman to fill the
position. Damn, he wanted her again, wanted to feel the tenderness and
compassion she felt for Scott, wrapped around his hips as he pumped
into her heat.
It was going to be a long day.
“You look good, squirt.”
Brianna looked at her baby brother who had somehow, in the very
recent past, become a man. She wondered how she’d missed it, then
smiled. “Oh yeah? And just how would you know what I look like?”
“I can feel it in you. You’re happy. Are Tyler and Cole the reasons
why?”
Damn, she never could put anything past him. She wouldn’t be able
to lie to him either. He had an uncanny knack for knowing when she
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was. She stopped in the hallway, not wanting to disrupt his step
counting. Not even a nuclear bomb could do that, but still.
“I don’t know, Scottie. I’ve only known them for a day and a half, but
already I feel more…relaxed.”
“Sex’ll do that to you, I guess.”
Brianna lifted her hand to smack him on the back of his head but he
intuitively turned and blocked it with his shoulder. “And just what do
you know about sex?” she huffed.
“Nothing, in person.” He shrugged and a big grin split his face. “But it
sounds like fun in the books.”
“I see that I’m going to have to start censoring your listening material,
young man,” she teased. “And furthermore, this is not a conversation I
want to be having with my brother.”
“Yeah, well, maybe I’ll talk to Tyler, he seems pretty cool. I bet he
knows a lot about the female species…”
More than I’m willing to share with you.
Brianna slapped her hands
over her ears. “La, la, la. I can’t hear you.”
Scott laughed and started walking again, without the benefit of his
sister’s guidance.
“I ought to let you find your room on your own, you rat.”
He grinned again. “Won’t be the first shin bruise I’ve gotten because
you made me do it on my own,” he said over his shoulder.
“You’re about to get another one. There’s a table, one o’clock about
three…”
She wasn’t quick enough. The table wobbled precariously on two legs
when Scott stepped into it. The vase sitting on it pitched forward and fell
to the carpeted floor with a thud, breaking into several big pieces.
“Oh shit, I’m sorry, Brianna.” Scott knelt down and felt for the broken
pottery.
“Stop it, Scottie,” she hissed. “You’ll cut yourself. I’ll get it.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“Scott.” Brianna grabbed his arm and turned him toward her, angry
that one little incident could change him from the confident young man
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he’d come in as, to the frightened little boy he’d been years ago when
their father was around.
“Everybody okay?” Cole strode down the hall, anxiousness bracketing
his mouth.
“Yes…” Brianna said quickly.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Masters, I’ll pay for the…” Scottie looked down at the
ground, “…whatever it was. I swear, I just knocked into it on accident.”
Brianna wanted to scratch her father’s eyes out for making his son
this way. Her throat knotted and her stomach turned, watching him
grovel to Cole for a vase that had gotten broken by accident. If Cole so
much as said one mean thing she would walk out the door, deal or no
deal.
Cole looked perplexed. “Are you the same kid who just threatened to
kill me if I treated your sister badly?”
Scottie gulped and wiped his palms on the thighs of his jeans. “Yes,
sir.”
“Cole.” There was a smile forming on one corner of his mouth and
Brianna let out the breath she hadn’t been aware she was holding.
Scott shook his head and swallowed again. “What?”
“My name is Cole. You wanna call somebody sir, talk to my dad. Did
you know you and your sister both swallow a lot when you’re nervous?”
He knelt down with them and Brianna couldn’t help but be
indignant. “Would you stop talking about me swallowing?”
Cole shrugged. “I can’t help it, it’s one of your many endearing
qualities. And it allows me to read you like an open book. Back to the
matter at hand.”
Brianna and Cole glanced at Scottie who was looking for all the world
like he was about to be thrown in the dungeon. His face had drained of
color, and his hands fisted tight.
“I could smack you for that open book comment.”
“Maybe later, baby. I promise you, Scott, there is nothing in this
house you could hurt. My mother had two boys growing up in this house
and she didn’t leave anything valuable lying around. When my parents
moved into a different house, I didn’t change anything. So, feel free to
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run into whatever you’d like. I’d say do your worst, but that sounds like
hell on the shins.” Cole winked at Brianna.
“You are such a liar,” she mouthed back at him, but was glad to see
Scottie’s hands loosen and the color return to his cheeks. A tear slipped
out of the corner of her eye and Cole reached up and wiped it off with the
pad of his thumb.
“I’ll still pay for it.” Scott was as stubborn as they came and Brianna
laughed at the mutinous look on his face.
“No you won’t. Your room is about five or six…or maybe seven or
eight, God I don’t know, come on.” Cole stood and helped Scottie to his