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He and Judge moved to where she was sitting. Both dogs wore smiles as she lavished them with hugs and scratches.
Reilly pulled her attention from the dogs and let her gaze rake down Judge. “Damn, you’re big.”
“That’s what she s—” Judge whacked his arm, forcing him to cut off the last word.
Reilly laughed and stood, facing them.
She was a beautiful woman just like Reese. She wasn’t quite as curvy as her older sister, but she probably would be when she put on a few more years. Her face and body still showed her youth. The same with her attitude. She was much looser and more casual than her older sister. Deacon was happy to see she hadn’t allowed her recent beat-down to take away her spark.
Earlier, Deacon’s fury had been off the charts when she’d come downstairs for breakfast after Reese left. The first thing he noticed as they greeted each other was her long blonde hair was a touch darker than Reese’s, but they had the same green eyes.
The biggest difference between the two sisters, besides their age—which was almost eleven years, he discovered last night—was the slice from her temple and down along her right eye to her cheek. The cut was freshly healed but a scar might remain. With the way Reilly kept pulling her hair forward to cover it, it was obvious she was very self-conscious about it.
Broken arm, broken nose, bruises, and a cut from an unknown object. Reilly told him she hadn’t been conscious enough at that point to be able to identify what he hit her with. Which was probably somewhat of a good thing.
Later the pigs on the scene had found a glass knickknack which Warren broke against her head.
She also barely remembered her neighbors kicking in her apartment door and jumping on Warren to subdue him.
Thank fuck they did.
Thank fuck someone had enough balls to get involved.
“Got your shit packed?” Judge asked her.
Reilly sighed and glanced at the two small bags at their feet. “Everything I have with me. The rest is in storage down in Philly.”
“Just need enough clothes to get you through the next week or so. The sooner this is over, the better for all of us.” Judge shot him a look. “Nice digs.”
“Not shabby,” Deacon agreed.
“Got some scratch.”
“She works hard for it,” Reilly cut in. “Her ex tried to drain her dry, even tried to take this house, though he didn’t pay a damn dime for it out of his own pocket.”
Deacon’s brow shot up. During his online search last night for everything he could find on Reese, he hadn’t come across anything about her being previously married or currently divorced.
“He take the kids?” Judge asked, looking around. Probably checking for some sign of snot monkeys.
“You mean the one he had with another woman while they were still married? Yep, he sure got stuck with that one.”
“Damn,” Deacon whispered.
“Havin’ a kid with someone other than your ol’ lady is a good way to fuck up a marriage, I suppose,” Judge said with a grimace.
“How he created that kid is another,” Reilly said. She frowned and shook her head. “The Porter sisters apparently aren’t the best at picking men.”
“All right,” Judge boomed, clearly wanting to avoid that topic of conversation. “Time to hit the fuckin’ road.” He turned to Deacon. “Like we talked about in the meetin’, gonna keep someone in that apartment with her at all times. We ain’t havin’ another Autumn situation, that’s for damn fuckin’ sure.”
“Yeah, think that’s for the best,” Deacon agreed.
Judge turned to Reilly. “Can’t tell your sister shit about where I’m takin’ you or who you’re with. You got me?”
“Why?”
“Just trust us,” Judge answered. “It’s better for both of you if she don’t know. Once that motherfucker’s caught, we’ll let her know where you’re at, so she can come get you. But ‘til then, silence is fuckin’ golden.”
“She’s not going to like that. She has a thing about being in control of every situation.”
Deacon snorted.
“Deke will handle it,” Judge said, whacking him on the back. “He’s got balls of steel, so he says, so it shouldn’t hurt too bad when she kicks him in them.”
Reilly grinned. “I know you’re making a joke, but you don’t know my sister.”
Deacon rubbed at his singed nipple. Maybe he needed to wear a cup around the house. Just in case.
“He’s dealt with difficult women before. Right, cuz?” Judge asked, a grin splitting his long bushy beard and mustache.
“My sister is the queen of difficult,” Reilly warned.
“Deke’s always loved a challenge.” Judge snorted and shook his head. He quickly sobered. “Got all the shit you need to apprehend that fucker?”
“Yeah. With what I already had with me and what you brought, I should be good.”
Judge nodded. “Try to get this problem settled quickly, yeah?”
“Yeah. Once you get her settled in, buzz me. Got an idea.”
