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“TMZ was right?” Luke asked, his cup dropping to the floor.
Heath plopped down in the nearest chair, his long legs sprawled out in front of him. “What’s his favorite color? I’ll knit matching hats for the two of you.”
“I knew it.” Melanie smiled in satisfaction.
The screen froze on her best friend’s face and Zoe smacked it in frustration. “Stupid connection.”
“My house is not a trashcan. Pick it up,” she heard Carter, the eldest of the Ambrose siblings, say as their video call resumed.
Luke muttered ‘sorry’ and did as he was told, but then Logan, the pusher of buttons, got involved. “Zoe. Got. Married,” Logan repeated with a smirk, then looked at the group. “Think I should say it in Spanish? It is his first language.”
Melanie snorted and Zoe laughed.
“I heard what she said, chilito.”
Logan grabbed his crotch. “I got your little bitch, right here.”
“So, you’re admitting we’re not identical everywhere.”
Carter shot to his feet. “Do you mind? There are ladies present. Not to mention your niece is taking a nap just inside the house.”
“Who invited Eva? She’ll tell the whole county.” Heath picked up the bag of chips and tilted it up, frowning when nothing came out.
Evangeline, the youngest of the Ambrose siblings, tossed her hair. “Please, my nickname isn’t Mouth of the South. That honor would belong to you, brother o’ mine.”
The two started arguing and pretty soon the entire room was off subject.
“Do something, Carter,” Zoe ordered her brother.
Carter whistled and every head turned to look at him. “Could everyone shut up long enough to concentrate on the problem at hand?”
“How is it a problem Zoe’s married?” Melanie asked.
Zoe wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, how is that a problem?”
“You’re assuming they’ll stay that way,” Luke pointed out.
“Gee, thanks, Luke,” Zoe snapped.
“I think it’s romantic,” Evangeline sighed and Zoe beamed at her. She could always count on her baby sister’s support.
Heath rolled his eyes. “That’s because you’re female. That’s all women think about—marriage and babies.”
“Is that what Isabella Edwards has been thinking about?” her baby sister shot back.
Zoe tried to get a better look at her youngest brother. He was still after Isabella? She hoped no one told Gabriel. He’d hunt Heath down, drive out to the ocean and drown him for trying tomes with his sister.
“How do you know about me and her?” Heath’s voice rose. Yep, he was a dead man.
Evangeline wiggled her brows. “Oh, I know things about people you wouldn’t believe. Things that would blow your mind.”
“What possessed you to do something so stupid? So out of character?” Luke stopped in the middle of the room and crossed his arms over his chest. He stared at her computer screen image, then glared at Melanie. “Or should I say who encouraged you to lose your damn mind out there?”
“Well, I just told her to shake things up a little and be wild out in Vegas. I didn’t think she’d get married. I thought she’d just find a man to get it… on… with.” Melanie’s words slowed as every male but Carter looked at her like she was insane.
Zoe groaned and smacked a hand to her forehead. “Stop talking, Melanie!”
Evangeline started laughing.
“Dammit, Eva, it’s not funny. The thought of that womanizing ass**le touching her makes me want to perform surgery on him without anesthesia. Romanov doesn’t respect women. He just uses them.” Luke’s hands clenched into fists. He looked like he was itching for a fight. “I know all about his reputation. He’s legend.”
Evangeline smiled brightly. “I think Zoe likes the thought of him touching her. In fact I know she would.”
Heath groaned and leaned forward in his chair. “I hate repeating myself, but how do you know?”
A cold chill went down Zoe’s spine and her palms became damp. What exactly did Eva know?
“You people are so thick.”At their blank looks, she sighed and pulled out her e-reader. “Maybe this will help your feeble male minds.”
“Evangeline Mae, put that up,” Zoe ordered, wishing she could teleport through the wireless connection and smash it to pieces. “I should’ve never given you the stupid thing.”
Understanding dawned on each face as it was passed around, until Luke got it. His pissed-as-hell-look grew darker. “Don’t tell me this is the same guy she met out in California at that party of Aunt M’s.”
“No problem.” Evangeline snatched the e-reader back from Luke and handed it to her sister-in-law.
Zoe grabbed her laptop and yelled at it. “Hello, I’m still here! Ask me, not her.”
Melanie ran her finger across the small screen, turning pages. “There could be lots of tall Russian guys with blond hair, blue eyes and…oh, yeah…in chapter fourteen, we find out Dimitri has a tattoo of a sunflower. Doesn’t Ian have a tattoo of a rose—seriously?” Her brown eyes flew to Zoe’s, hurt filling them. “I can’t believe you kept it from me.”
“I didn’t keep it from anyone,” she mumbled, ducking her head to avoid Melanie’s stare. It was the only thing Zoe’d ever kept from her best friend.
“But he’s the bad guy,” Heath pointed out, shooting Zoe a funny look when she glanced back at the monitor. “Bad guys are, well, bad.”
“Wow, Heath. Anymore words of wisdom you care to share with the group?” Logan asked.
“Dimitri isn’t completely bad,” Zoe said, her cheeks heating. “He’s misunderstood. And I’ll have you know that I use celebrity pictures all the time as inspirations. Joshua’s doppelganger is Henry Cavill.”
“The guy from The Tudors?” Evangeline sent Zoe a disbelieving look. “Yeah, right. Anyway, the pictures of them from that night helps, too.”
“You went through my things?” All thoughts of gratitude for her sister’s support fled. To think that she’d help Eva sneak out to see Reece by distracting their mother with a spur of the moment shopping spree. Zoe hated shopping with their mother. Or rather what their mother tried to get her to buy.
“Welcome to my world,” Heath grumbled, his mouth full of chips. It wasn’t surprising that he was on his next bag. He was always hungry, always eating. Then again, playing for a minor baseball league while trying to get the attention of scouts from the majors was grueling on the body. Heath was obsessed with playing and working out. He was also obsessed with knitting. Something that amused the rest of the Ambroses to no end.
