“Shadow, get out of that car right this second.” Liz stood a few feet away with her hands on her hips, her lips in a tight, firm line, and her eyes on fire with anger.
“That’s Liz,” he replied to Elle. “Liz, sweetheart, how are you?”
“Don’t try to sweet-talk me. It didn’t work for these four, and it won’t work for you either.”
Elle watched as men emerged from the house and took their luggage inside the stately mansion. A quick glance in Devon’s direction told her to relax, as their actions must be commonplace. He laced his fingers with hers and walked toward the waiting hosts. The closer they got, the more confused Elle became.
She recognized the men from Devon’s funeral, though she didn’t know their names. Except Liz. But then, everyone in the chapel knew her name that day.
“Elle, this is Noah ‘Reaper’ Steele and his wife, Brianna.”
“Hello, nice to meet you,” she said to Brianna first and shook her hand.
“Elle, we wanted to approach you in the hospital waiting room, but it just didn’t seem like the right time. You’d been through so much already, and we didn’t want to appear to be insensitive fans. I’m so glad to meet you now.”
“Thank you. I wasn’t in the best frame of mind, so keeping your distance was probably best,” Elle chuckled.
Her gaze drifted up to Noah’s, and she reacted before she could stop herself. Her eyes grew wide and her lips parted—but no words would come out. “Umm,” she stammered. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Noah offered his hand, and Elle hesitated briefly before accepting it. From the corner of her eye, she saw Devon cover the smile that split his face in two. “Very nice to meet you, Elle.”
“You’re the one who picked me up off the floor and set me in the pew,” she said while staring a little too long at his lips. “Thank you so much for doing that. I would’ve stayed on the floor had you not.”
“It was the least I could do for you.”
Devon snickered beside her and tried to hide it with a fake cough.
“Something to say, Shadow?” Reaper asked, lifting one eyebrow in challenge.
“Nope. Not a thing. Elle, this is Colton ‘Bull’ Lanier and his wife, Chaise. Noah and Chaise are brother and sister.”
Elle found herself in the same predicament when she greeted Bull and Chaise. And Devon didn’t help when he unsuccessfully tried to hide his laughter. After Bull cordially addressed Elle, he threatened Devon with, “I’m kicking your ass as soon as you’re healed. Fucker.”
Devon wore a huge, shit-eating grin when he steered Elle away from Bull and to the next couple. “This is Braxton ‘Rebel’ Reed and his wife, Heather.”
“Elle, it’s great to meet you. My condolences to you on what will happen to Shadow the second he’s healed enough to take his beating.”
She had no idea what they meant, but she couldn’t take her eyes off Rebel’s lips or his fingernails.
“Don’t pay any attention to Rebel, Elle. The heat down here fries his brain sometimes,” Devon explained. “This is Silas Steele, Noah and Chaise’s older brother.”
“Elle, I’m so glad everything turned out well for you after your ordeal. You should probably purchase big-and-tall-sized diapers for Shadow as soon as possible. He’ll need them for a while after we get through with him.”
“You too, Silas? That hurts,” Devon lied through his smiling teeth.
“And, my love, this is Liz.”
“I knew you were faking it at the funeral. Hello, sweet girl. How are you? You didn’t fool me for one minute, Shadow. I’m so sorry you have to witness this, Elle, but it’s best for us all. What you did is just unforgivable and inexcusable, Shadow. Did you have a nice flight, dear? Now that you’re here, it’s time for you to face the music.”
Elle attempted to keep up with Liz’s conversation. She was terrifying and angry when she addressed Devon, then loving and grandmotherly when she spoke to Elle. Liz had carried on two entire conversations, in two distinctly different tones, without taking a single breath.
Liz picked up a small black makeup bag and retrieved two vials of fingernail polish. Her keen eyes snapped up to Devon’s and held an inherent threat. The other men smiled broadly.
Reaper’s pink leopard-print-colored lips spread across his face. Bull’s lips were white with pink, blue, and green dots covering them. Rebel’s lips had been painted with a bright, sparkling blue polish. Silas’s appeared to be black stripes on a bright orange background, until he closed his lips. Then the word “TRAITOR” could be read clearly. Their fingernails matched the colors used on their lips. And apparently, Devon was her next target.
“What’s the story behind the nail polish?” Elle finally asked.
“It goes with the doghouses. Each man out here has one. We even painted names on their specific homes. They lied to us, let us believe Shadow was dead instead of letting us in on the ruse. They didn’t trust us enough, so they had to be punished,” Liz explained. “Did you know?”
