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Lix leans back in his chair. Brett looks up at me from his paper.

“You dickheads could’ve warned me about the drop-off!”

I kick Lix’s chair.

“Hey!” He balances himself long enough for his feet to hit the floor. “It wasn’t my fault. I told Brett.”

Lix is the youngest, so he’s versed in the art of being a tattletale. My little brother can usually talk his way out of anything. When that doesn’t work, he’ll beat his way out.

None of us say it, but he’s the most dangerous of our pack. He’s not only an MMA fighter but he’s also proficient in martial arts and wrestling, courtesy of Brett and me. He’s a quick learner. Being shuffled around in the system must’ve helped him adapt to new things faster and easier.

“I forgot.” Brett lowers his paper and scratches his scruffy chin. “You left the job site in such a hurry for the call. I was more worried about you going than anything else, and it slipped my mind.” His eyebrow lifts. “I take it everything went okay with Willa’s niece.”

“No. Fucking everything didn’t go okay!” I rush a hand through my hair. “I ran into her at a café this morning before I knew who she was. She nearly got herself punched in the face by some hothead for arguing with the asshole in line. And that was after she accused me of not washing my hands after using the bathroom.”

Lix laughs, back to rocking on his chair. “You always wash your hands for yourself when you go into the bathroom, and when you leave, you wash them for everyone else,” Lix says, reciting Mom’s favorite bathroom line.

“Right!” I toss out my hand. “That’s what I told her.”

“Hi!” Cassie walks in as my brothers laugh their asses off at my expense. She glances around the room. “What’d I miss?”

“It seems Cole has unclean hands,” Lix says, doubling up the laughter.

“Now, I find that hard to believe,” Cassie says in my defense, setting her purse on the desk and giving Brett a smile that only belongs to him.

“Thank you.” I wink at her when her eyes make it back to mine.

I like having her around. She ebbs the testosterone that tends to get the three of us into fights.

“It also appears Cole has met Willa’s niece,” Brett says, lounging in his chair and resting his hands behind his head with a widening grin.

I can’t blame him for not warning me. He’s right. I left in such a hurry to do the job that it likely did slip his mind. But some heads-up when it comes to Harper James, that shit would’ve been helpful.

“Oh, yeah, that’s right!” Cassie’s eyes widen. “Is she nice?”

“No.” I shake my head, recalling Harper’s slippery tongue and clever eyes. “She’s annoying, aggravating, and she’s a smart-ass.”

“Awesome,” Lix says and means it.

He’s into difficult people. He looks at them as a challenge. Me? I see right through their bullshit. The only problem is that when it comes to Harper James, I can’t read her bullshit or otherwise.

Nothing.

It’s like she has a shield around her that protects her from me and my spot-on instincts. I couldn’t read her. Couldn’t foresee her intentions. Couldn’t get a feel for her life, disposition, or impressions, not of me or the situation I left her in last night.

And because of it, I felt uneasy leaving Amanda with her.

And that’s fucked up.

I know Willa trusts her, so I should. But how can I when I can’t get a read on her?

“She can’t be that bad,” Brett counters.

He’s got a soft spot for Willa. Not that we all don’t respect her and wouldn’t do anything for her. But Brett met Willa first. They started the escort service together before they knew what they were starting.

We kind of fell into it after that.

Willa counsels abused women at her home and heads the local Domestic Abuse Center. A few years back, Brett worked on her new addition. She gave one of her clients Brett’s number. He worked at the woman Julia’s home. When Brett discovered she was being abused, we got her out of there after some convincing. It was messy, and we nearly killed her abuser, but that’s how it all started.

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