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The agent who had deceived Raeg in an attempt to learn his parents’ whereabouts had deserved to die. She knew Raeg and Falcon had a sister no one ever saw. Margot had told her about the girl years ago. Summer knew herself how protective her own parents were of her and Aunjenue. They would kill anyone threatening their children to that extent, in a heartbeat.
By betraying any information she could have learned while sleeping with Raeg, that agent would have endangered his sister’s life and placed her in a possibly fatal position. She could understand his father’s decision to ensure that threat was eliminated.
Her daddy would decimate anyone determined to hurt her, no matter who they were. But, if his sons were involved with the person intent on such deceit, he’d go to them first. He’d try to make it right with his boys, because he loved them too, and he respected their intelligence and family loyalty.
He wouldn’t just eliminate one of their lovers, then allow them to believe that any woman they cared for was in danger.
And it was possible, Summer thought, that she didn’t have all the facts. Because she did know her brothers and because she did know the nature of strong, stubborn men, she knew Raeg and Falcon may well have set themselves up for someone just as determined and hotheaded to make such a threat.
From what Steven had told her, that was highly possible.
And they’d walk away from her rather than trying to fix it. They’d leave her there, her heart shattered, without a care, rather than let go of their pride enough to deal with the situation and with the man causing it.
Men would just cut their own noses off to spite their faces, she remembered her mother saying often. And this was a perfect example of their ability to do so.
* * *
Finishing her hair, she picked up the bracelet Steven had given her earlier and ran her fingers over the silver, gold, and crystal elements, frowning at the display of light and color in what were supposed to be fake diamonds.
Cubic zirconia perhaps? But they didn’t appear to be that either. From appearance alone, she was beginning to get the feeling the bracelet was far more expensive than Steven had let on.
To be certain, she’d have to show it to Brody. Her brother could look at a piece of jewelry and instantly ascertain exactly what it was.
First, she had to figure out what to do with the lovers driving her completely insane, she thought wearily. A woman really shouldn’t have to treat two grown men like little children who needed to be taught the truth. They should be mature enough to see the truth when it was punching them in face.
At this rate, she would end up punching them in the face.
She was in the mood for it too. Their father was a greedy ass, she decided. He could have at least saved Dragovich for her, to allow her to get her own little thrill on since it was her life the bastard had tried to snuff out.
Struggling with the clasp of the bracelet as she attempted to secure it, she stepped from the bathroom into her bedroom, staring down at her wrist at the thought.
“He could have left us some blood to spill,” Summer informed Raeg and Falcon as she glimpsed them waiting for her.
“Yeah, he’s a fucking prick like that,” Raeg told her, stepping to her and taking the bracelet from her. “Here, I’ll—”
He seemed to freeze, staring at the jewelry in shock.
* * *
Raeg stared at the bracelet, his world narrowing to the links of the silver and gold heirloom piece, the sapphire, amethysts, diamonds, and rich gold accents as familiar to him as a past he rarely allowed himself to remember.
“Raeg?” Summer questioned him softly. “Did I break it?” She stared down at the piece of jewelry in his hand. “It’s so pretty, but the clasp is kind of fragile.”
She was aware of Falcon’s breath catching as he moved to see what held Raeg’s attention.
“Where did you get this?” Raeg asked her numbly, his thumb brushing over the interlocking gem-studded links and the priceless diamonds held between every third link.
Three links. The rumored liaison centuries before between two Falcone ancestors and the lover the cousins had taken together was well known within the family. The bracelet had been given to the lover, it was said. A gold link surrounded by two silver ones and bridged by priceless diamonds was said to represent that once-sordid affair.
Their father, Roberto Falcone, had gone a different route though. He’d taken two female lovers because, he’d told sons, their love for each other was as deep as their combined love for him.
“Summer, where did you get this bracelet?” Falcon questioned her imperatively, the suspicion filling his voice matching the suspicion only growing in Raeg’s mind.
“Steven,” she answered them, confused. “He said it was his mother’s. He was supposed to give it to his son but he said not every man was blessed with sons.”
He hadn’t told her he didn’t have sons, just made a generalization, Raeg thought, aware of how Roberto Falcone could weave lies.
Then he frowned. “Steven? Your damned hairdresser?”
