by Jenny Penn
* * * *
Mike watched Brett all but pant after Angie as she sauntered past him like a cat who knew the dog eyeing her was leashed, though he doubted she’d mind getting eaten. In fact, she’d been seconds from a devouring when he’d shown up, which left him with only one question echoing through his mind.
“What the hell do think you were doing?” Mike demanded to know the second he was certain Angie was out of earshot.
“I was just trying to teach the woman a lesson.” Brett huffed indignantly as he turned back toward Mike.
“And what lesson was that?”
“I don’t know.” His brother shrugged, a small smile tugging at his lips. “Can’t remember.”
“Oh for God’s sake! We just had this conversation.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but I’m horny,” Brett shot back. “You had me out on that damn boat fishing for the past three weeks. I’m a young man. I’ve got needs.”
“Fine!” Mike snapped. “We’ll go out and find you a woman. Just keep your hands off Angie!”
“Fine.” Brett sulked as he threw himself into the kitchen seat, and Mike could tell that it really wasn’t fine.
Hopefully, though, his brother could manage for a minute or two on his own because Mike needed to get dressed. He made it quick, not even bothering with shoes, keeping an ear out for Angie. It wasn’t a shock that she was moving slower or that he made it back to the kitchen before her.
Brett knew Mike had rushed. His brother shot him a look and shook his head sadly as Mike stepped through the door. He ignored Brett. After all, his brother didn’t have any right to cast a stone. Brett was the one who had been treating Angie to a quick finger fuck.
Mike knew his brother. If he hadn’t interfered, he had no doubt that Brett would have ended up taking Angie right there against the dryer. Really, that was no way to treat a virgin. That was just why Angie deserved better than them.
Both brothers stilled as the sound of her bedroom door opening echoed down the hall. It was followed by the click-clack of heels on hardwood, and then Angie was strutting into the kitchen looking like a million bucks in a custom-tailored suit with a skirt, though she’d clearly forgotten one important item.
“Aren’t you supposed to wear a shirt with that?” Mike grouched as his gaze narrowed on the sexy swells of her breasts revealed by the deep V of her jacket.
God but she looked good, and just seconds from being naked, but really he should have kept his mouth shut because no sooner had he spoken than Angie was rubbing up against him, her leg sliding up his thigh as she ground her hips into his.
“That’s not all I left off,” Angie purred with a smile that promised all sorts of erotic delights. “Wanna see?”
“Oh, yeah,” Brett breathed out, all but leaping out of his seat. He came rushing forward, and Mike knew exactly what he intended to do, but they didn’t need to indulge Angie with any kind of sandwich, even a meatless one.
“No.” Stepping quickly back from the sudden rush of panic that flooded through him, Mike masked the frantic sensation with a scowl that he aimed at the woman causing him to sweat in a way he never had before. “If you’re going to live here, we need some rules.”
Mike straightened up, trying to reclaim his dignity, despite the disgusted look his brother shot him. He didn’t know if he was fooling Angie, but Mike wasn’t fooling Brett. Not that it much mattered. Angie clearly wasn’t interested in hanging around to discuss the matter.
“Oh, please spare me the lecture.” Angie waved him away and turned to march off toward the door. She paused with her hand on the knob and cast a pointed look back over at him. “I’m not your sister, and you sure as hell aren’t my big brother. There is no fighting destiny. Go ahead and try, it won’t change anything.”
With that grand pronouncement, she swept the back door open and promptly walked into the large man filling in the doorway. They didn’t come much bigger than GD, which explained why Angie literally bounced off of him and stumbled backward. Big he might be, but slow he was not. GD managed to catch Angie by the elbow before she ended up on her ass.
“Watch out, now,” GD warned her, though it was clearly too late. “Oh, it looks like I’m interrupting something.”
“A grand exit,” Angie informed him as she shook off GD’s hold. “So if you don’t mind stepping out of the way…”
“By all means.” GD stepped back on to the small landing that led down to the patio out back. “I assume you are headed down to the police station given your outfit?”
“Of course.” Angie paused on the porch to glance up at him. “Have you already been there?”
“Yeah.” GD frowned as if that answer weighted heavily on him.
He cast a quick glance back at Mike, who didn’t even bother to pretend he wasn’t listening in. The big man shot him a dirty look before turning a shoulder on him. That might have muffled their conversation, but it didn’t stop Mike from catching GD’s plea to Angie.
“I was hoping you might have a word or two with Patton on Lana’s behalf.”
“A word or two about what? About how Lana tried to kill her?”
“It wasn’t like that, and you know it.”
“I don’t know anything.” Angie shook her head. “I haven’t been to the station yet.”
“Yeah? Well, you know how these things work,” GD shot back. “The DA is going to do whatever the Davis brothers insist he do. They’re going to do whatever their woman tells them to, which means that crazy is steering this ship, Angie, and it isn’t just Lana’s fate hanging in the balance. It’s the whole damn club’s. Think about it.”
Angie shot him a dirty look but didn’t take up the argument as she turned and continued on with her grand exit. Mike watched her go until she was out of sight. Then he turned his attention on the big man crowding into the kitchen.
“What the hell was that about?”
Chapter 3
“Nothing for you to worry over,” GD shot back as he closed the door and moved to help himself to some coffee. “I heard you two were back in town, and I came—”
“Anything that has to do with Angie is now officially our business.” Brett cut him off, causing GD to pause as he glanced up at the other man.
Normally he was the biggest guy in the room, assuring that GD didn’t take much shit from anybody, but that didn’t hold true when Brett and Mike joined the party. They weren’t little by any measure. Neither were they above using their size to their benefit.
Today they looked ready to brawl. That was fine by GD. It might be early, but his day was already chock-full of shit. That didn’t mean it couldn’t get worse. With his cousin’s sudden appearance that morning, it probably would.
“So, it’s like that, huh?” GD snorted and shook his head. “You two idiots realize you are taking all the fun of the chase away from the woman, right? I mean, everybody expected you to put up a little fight, at least.”
“Everybody?” Mike’s scowl darkened at that revelation. “Who is everybody? Why do they know our business?”
“Everybody is everybody,” GD repeated, not intimidated in the slightest by either brother’s frown. “And nobody has forgotten Angie’s crazy dream or your over-melodramatic response. So, welcome home, where your business is everybody’s business, and their business is yours.”
“Well, you can just go tell everybody that this fight has just begun.” Brett smirked, his glower giving away to a grin GD recognized well, even after ten years.
Of the two brothers, Brett had always been the charmer. Relaxed, easygoing, athletic, and always there to help, Brett never had a bad word to say about anybody it seemed. Mike, on the other hand, was a little weird. The man ironed his T-shirts, and he’d been athletic but never really put much effort into it. GD remembered Mike had always had his nose buried in some book.
That had paid off. Mike had managed to graduate fifth in his class and had been accepted to West Point. He hadn’t gone. Instead, he’d enlisted with his brother
. That was just weird. Then again, twins tended to be a little weird, especially about each other. GD figured Brett and Mike were a little odder than most, given they almost never agreed about anything.
Even what to do about Angie, apparently.
“There is no fight,” Mike said, contradicting his brother. “We’re not engaged in any battle. Whatever Angie is up to, whatever she does, it’s not our problem.”
“Yes, it is,” Brett snapped.
“Brett—”
“Mike!” Brett shot back with the same plaintive exasperation his brother had used.
It was an obnoxious gesture, one that had Mike’s lips thinning as he clenched his jaw and glared at his brother. Brett glared back. They stood there like that, the seconds ticking past with heavy silence until GD had had enough. He didn’t have time for this bullshit.
“Well, this is just fascinating and as glad as I am to see you two back in town again, we’ve got some business to discuss,” he declared, interrupting their staring contest and drawing both annoyed gazes in his direction.
“Yes, let’s,” Brett agreed with a nod. “We’ll start by you explaining what you and Angie were whispering about.”
“I take it you haven’t read the paper.” GD sighed. It was a long story, and he really didn’t feel like going through all the details. So he shortened the tale to just the important facts. “Lana confessed to setting the Davis brothers’ old barn on fire. I’m sure they told you all about that.”
“Uh-huh.” Mike nodded as GD fished a mug out of the cupboard and turned toward the coffeepot. “Patton got caught inside and damn near went up with the building.”
“It wasn’t that close,” GD muttered. “She wasn’t even burnt.”
“I’m sure that makes Chase feel so much better.” Mike snorted, and GD had to admit he had a point.
Chase was fit to be tied, not that GD could blame him. He knew how he’d feel if one of his exes almost hurt his girl. The guilt that thought alone stirred in him had GD cringing. Brett wasn’t shying away, though.
He was stepping up.
“I still don’t understand what that has to do with Angie.” Brett crossed his arms over his chest, blocking GD’s path back around the island counter. “While you are explaining things, I’d like to know just what the Angie meant when she said she was supplying you guys with women.”
“Trust me, you don’t really want to know.”
Of that, GD was certain, but he knew nobody was listening to him. The brothers were back to picking on each other.
“Who the hell cares about all that shit?” Mike scoffed. “What I want to know is how a club full of so-called studs can’t manage to de-hymenate one damn woman? You couldn’t help us out there, huh?”
“You fuckers have been doing with my Angie, it stops now!” Brett snapped, shooting GD a dangerous look.
“Your Angie?” Mike gaped at his brother. “You’ve been around the woman for all of two hours! Now she’s yours?”
“She wrote to me almost every week I was gone,” Brett said, defending himself. “I know Angie better than I know most people.”
“Oh please.” Mike rolled his eyes. “Next you’re going to be saying you fell in love with her mind.”
GD waited, but Brett just stood there smiling. He didn’t know what to make of that, and Mike had clearly worn out of the argument. He flopped back into a seat with a sigh as Brett turned a pointed look back in GD’s direction.
“I believe I asked you a few questions, and I’m still waiting for my answers.”
The command in Brett’s tone irked GD a little, and he considered taking exception, but things were bad enough. He’d eaten enough attitude already that day. So he shrugged and offered the other man a response that was sure to irritate.
“I don’t know what else I can tell you. You seem to have all the details. Angie supplies us with women.”
“And?” Brett pressed.
“And?” GD repeated back.
“Why is she going to the police station?”
“Yeah,” Mike spoke up, finally seeming to agree with his brother on one thing. He did want some answers. “Why’s Hailey down there?”
“Probably because Patton’s down there.” At least, that was what GD figured. He also figured neither brother was going to let him get to the real point of his visit if he didn’t satisfy their curiosity about everything else.
“Okay, look.” GD set his mug down and tried to lay it all out for them. “Angie supplies us women. Lana manages them. Patton is engaged to the owners. Patton and Lana hate each other. Angie is good friends with both of them. Until today, Patton didn’t know Lana was working down there. Chase didn’t know that Lana had burnt his barn down. If this all comes out…”
Hell, GD didn’t even want to think about the ramifications. Not that it really much mattered to him anymore. He was done with the club, which was exactly why he’d come to have a chat with the Mathews brothers.
“You guys are screwed.” Brett snickered as he finished GD’s thought for him.
“And here I was thinking you two would want to become one of us guys,” GD retorted.
“You offering us a membership?” That had Mike perking up. “Because Brett here was just complaining about a lack of pussy.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that is a problem for you with Angie around.”
Everybody knew about the challenge the two idiots had dared to issue to one the most stubborn woman around. It had been years and Angie still hadn’t let go of the issue. She was damn near on a holy mission, saving her virginity for Bret and Mike. All it was going to cost them was a wedding ring. As if that was just the dumbest thing in the world, the legend around their epic battle had only grown larger when people learned that it had all started with a dream Angie had had where she’d been married to both brothers.
Of course, everybody knew that Angie put a lot of stock in dreams, which just went to prove that she was nuttier than Patton. Patton was the only other woman known to be crazy enough to save her virginity into her twenties for a set of brothers that kept turning her down. Of course, the good money had always been on Patton. From what GD could see, the woman was still the one to bet on this time.
“Not a membership, a job.” GD glanced pointedly from brother to brother. “I hear you two are without one of those.”
“Actually, hadn’t been looking.” Brett shrugged and nodded toward his brother. “And big brains there plans on applying down at the community college in Dothan, though he hasn’t got a clue as to what he’s going to go for.”
“I know I’m only going part time,” Mike quickly corrected. “After all, a man’s got to eat.”
GD had a feeling he knew just what Mike was dreaming of snacking on.
* * * *
Angie parked her car across the street from the police station and sat there behind the wheel, trying to figure out what the hell she was really going to do once she walked into the station house. The easiest thing would be to side with Patton. After all, she was the one who had almost been killed.
Still, Angie knew Lana well enough to know that the other woman would never intentionally harm anybody, no matter what. Didn’t she deserve to at least explain what happened before Angie judged her? Even if she didn’t, what about the club?
GD, that jackass, was right to be concerned. This was a tangled mess. Worse, it was a public one. Clubs like the Cattleman’s could survive only in secret. The club shouldn’t come before justice, though.
Should it?
Angie could go around and around all day and grow a headache the size of the Grand Canyon, or she could get out of the car, cross the street, and see what she did once she got to the other side. That was how she normally handled stressful situations. She let her gut guide her because it knew best. So, with a deep breath, Angie shoved open her door and hurried on into the lobby before she lost her nerve.
Not large by any measure, the station was mostly one big room separated by a large counter. On one side,
deputies milled about while civilians remained on the other side. Normally there would be only one or two deputies around and absolutely no civilians, but that morning the lobby was full and bustling.
There were the Davis brothers, all three pacing round and round in endless circles. Then there was Patton, firmly planted on the long wooden bench seat that ran the length of one wall. To her right was Hailey, who had a hold of her hand and was practicing her “there, there” pat. Then there was Rachel, the local reporter, dating the very deputy she was talking to as she leaned against the counter, looking anything but professional right then.
There were others loitering about the lobby. Angie recognized a few as councilmen, another as a lawyer, and even a few of the busiest gossips had come to linger about and try to overhear the latest news. That was the curse of a small town. Nobody’s business was ever private, which just went to prove that GD was right to worry over the club.
Angie, though, wasn’t. She’d find a different job if the club shut down, but Lana was still screwed, no matter what. Really, as far as Angie was concerned, this was all Chase Davis’s fault. He was the one who had led Lana on, who had toyed with her emotions for years, who had denied the obvious and allowed her to believe in a fantasy he had known wouldn’t come true.
In short, he was an asshole.
She made sure he got that message, too, when he glanced in her direction. Shooting him a dirty look, Angie turned toward Patton as she rushed up to offer her a quick hug.
“Angie!” Patton stepped back and gave her a smile that contradicted her words. “You didn’t have to come down here.”
“Yeah,” Angie drew that word out with a heavy sigh, realizing what she had to do. “I’m sorry, Patton, but I didn’t come for you.”
“What?” Patton blinked. “Then what are you doing here?”
“I’ve got a confession to make.”
“Oh God, no!” Patton rolled her eyes and reeled backward, shooting her own dirty look at Chase before turning her attention back to Angie. “Not you, too. I’m kind of full up on confessions today, if you don’t mind.”
