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Cole thought of the huge one he carried about his father. He felt guilt at his complicity.
“Monica...” Gabe said.
Cole looked over at her face. She shifted nervously, and was avoiding his brother’s eyes. It was odd and telling.
Uh-oh.
“At this point, anything you are keeping from me is a betrayal,” Gabe said, his voice hard.
She closed her eyes and released a heavy breath. “But I signed a nondisclosure agreement when I was hired,” she said.
Uh-oh.
Cole could only imagine the things Monica knew about the family, having worked as their housekeeper for five years. The NDA had been necessary. Like it or love it, they were famous and the press—the paparazzi—hungered for a break in the armor that shielded the family’s privacy.
“Gabe...” he said, realizing she was in a terrible position.
“Monica,” Gabe repeated sternly, ignoring his brother and keeping his laser focus on his bride-to-be.
“You can’t say anything,” she insisted, finally leveling her eyes with his.
Cole was curious.
“I once found a file in your parents’ bedroom of all the brothers being under surveillance by a private investigator,” she admitted, her words rushed and almost tumbling upon each other.
“What!” the men roared in unison.
If they had been in a cartoon, the walls and floors would have shaken.
Monica squeezed her eyes shut then opened one to look back and forth between them.
Gabe angrily paced.
Cole’s grip on his wineglass threatened the fragile stem.
“Maybe it’s time to flush out their secrets and give them as good as they give,” Cole said, curious if his father’s dalliances had continued over the years.
Gabe paused and looked over at his brother. “I wonder how much they would like a PI digging into their lives,” he said. “I can’t even believe the nerve of them. Our parents. Are we that big of a sheep to them thatwedeserve no privacy?”
Cole felt insulted. Indignant. Betrayed.
Again.
That stung.
And he was sick of it.
“Well, an investigator helped me with locating my mother,” Monica said, referring to her trials to reconnect with parents who had given her up into the foster care system.
“What was her name again?” Gabe asked. “Bobbie...?”
“Barnett,” she supplied.
“Are we doing this?” Gabe asked.
Cole firmly nodded. “Hell yeah.”
One week later
