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“Enough, Natches. ” Alex shifted from the wall. “Contain that temper of yours or get the hell away from her. ”
Janey threw him a surprised look before she jumped in front of Natches, her hands on his ches
t as he moved for Alex.
“Are you going to hit him?” she asked quietly.
“Right in the face,” Natches snarled.
“Would you really do that to me, Natches?” she asked. “Would you hit a friend, a man who saved my life six months ago, just because you were out of line?”
His expression twisted. Fury, concern, and love—he stared at her with all those emotions, and it made her feel like slime. Like the lousiest sister in the world.
“Janey. ” His hands clasped her shoulders. “I read those letters, honey. Whoever wrote them is dangerous. ”
“Whoever wrote them is a coward,” she told him, moving away from him, rubbing her arms as she forced back a shiver of dread at the thought of those letters. “Let it go. I’m handling it. ”
“Let it go?” Dawg beat Natches to the exclamation. “On what planet were you raised, Janey, that you think we’re going to let this go? You’re family. Do you think we’re going to let someone hurt you?
Terrorize you? Again?”
“I think you can’t really stop it. ” She shrugged, hiding the shame, the bitterness at the thought of those letters. “None of us can. They’ll get bored and stop. ”
“And then what?” Natches demanded. “Let me tell you, Janey. Then they get dangerous. Then they start taking shots at you. ”
She curled her lips bitterly. “And you want me to let you stand in front of me. Again? I’m not eight anymore, Natches. And Dayle is dead. Even then, I learned how to fight my own battles. I’ll fight this one, too. ”
“Son of a bitch, Janey!” He reached for her again, and the swift strike of fear that filled her must have shown on her face, because he stopped. His brows lowered in agony, his lips tightened. “Did you think I’d hit you, Janey?”
“No, dammit, I don’t think you’ll hit me. ” She was so tense now she felt as though the slightest touch would shatter her. “You moved too fast, Natches. It freaked me out. Okay?”
The quick, predatory action of her brother’s body often had her forcing herself to contain her reactions to it. Dayle had always been quick, quick to hit, to push, to backhand her if he thought she were in the least resistant to what he wanted.
Learning to control her reactions around men, any man, had been her hardest battle in the past months.
“Janey, we’re family,” Rowdy said then. “If you won’t come to the boats where we can watch you, or to Dad’s, then we’ll have to take turns staying here with you. It would be easier if you’d stay with one of us. ”
She lifted her gaze beseechingly to Rowdy. He was usually the sane one. The one the others listened to.
“Rowdy, I’ll be okay. I can’t just leave. ”
“And, Janey, we haven’t had you back with us long enough to take that risk,” he told her gently. “Hell, if we had raised you ourselves, we couldn’t take that risk, sweetheart. You’re family. ”
And she felt that; she did. It made her chest tighten with emotion, made her want to run to Natches and have him hug her, hold her, just ’cause he made her feel this way. That he cared that she was safe. That their cousins cared that she was safe. She wanted to hug all of them. But hugs had never been a part of Janey’s life, and taking one for herself now wasn’t that easy.
“You’re too damned stubborn, Janey,” Natches accused her.
“So says the kettle to the pot?” she asked sweetly.
Fat Cat chose that moment to walk arrogantly into the room, his rumbling growl directed at the men before he crouched and gave them all a little hiss. His orange fur seemed to bristle, and he gave all the appearance of a grouchy, ill-tempered male that didn’t want to deal with socializing that morning.
His head turned to Janey, topaz eyes glittering as though blaming her for all the testosterone parked in her living room. Or maybe he considered it his living room.
“What the hell is that?” Natches glared back at the cat.
“That’s Fat Cat. ” She grinned.
Walking over to the cat, she lifted his heavy body into her arms and moved to the door. “Come on, vicious. Time for you to go outside. ”
