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CHAPTER 1
Dark gray eyesstared back at Toth. Eyes so familiar even though he’d never gazed at them before.
I have a brother.
No, four. Four brothers.
While he’d sat on that news for a long time, the idea hadn’t hit home until now. Looking dead in the face at a man that showed no welcome. No open arms. No sobs for the long-lost sibling he’d never known. He had made it blatantly clear Toth was unwanted.
Toth had already told Nash, the guy who’d answered the door, his relation to him. But the new man Nash called downstairs had to be another one of his brothers. His face was more stoic than Nash’s, permanent anger lines etched his brow, but his build, dark hair, and turbulent eyes were too similar to Toth and Nash’s to dismiss him as someone unrelated.
If Toth hadn’t just read about his oldest brother, Cole Holmes, who’d died in an explosion, he’d have assumed the menacing brute glaring at him was the deceased sought-after assassin.
He cleared his throat and met the measuring gaze of the man who hadn’t introduced himself. “I’m Toth. Your brother.”
The man’s skin paled several shades. “The fuck you talking about?”
“Uh, you can come in,” Nash, the brother who’d answered the door said, beckoning from inside the house.
The dude blocking the doorway didn’t move.
Nash smacked the guy in the shoulder. “C’mon man. Let’s hear him out.”
Without a word, the unfriendly barricade inched back enough to let Toth pass.
“Thanks for the warm welcome,” Toth said under his breath as he entered the home. He let his gaze drift past the one confirmed brother to the hardwood floors, cream-colored area rug in the living room and neat pictures of nature scenes hanging on the walls. The space screamed that a female resided here.
Toth’s stomach did a dance. Did he have a sister-in-law? Nieces and nephews? The prospect of having siblings had been a lot to process—he hadn’t considered a deeper family tree.
Nash gestured at him to remove his shoes and Toth complied, following his older brother to the couches.
“I’d offer you a coffee but Cole might combust if I do.” Nash’s tense smile quickly faltered and his focus shot to the man stomping behind Toth.
“Thanks for that. Idiot,” he snapped, slinking around Toth and dropping into the armchair at the corner of the room adjacent to the couch.
“Cole?” Toth shook his head and ran a hand over his hair. “I thought you were dead.”
Cole sent annoyed daggers toward Nash, then returned his stare back to him. “Nah, but if it turns out you’re not who you say you are, you will be.”
The meaning hung heavily in the room.
Toth bunched his hands into fists. “I didn’t fucking come here to get threatened.” He lifted his gaze to Nash, still standing awkwardly in the living room. “I’ll see myself out.” He turned around and the muscles in his back blazed heat, waiting for the bullet that would enter his flesh.
Cole had faked his death and surely he wouldn’t let anyone walk away knowing it.
Toth had come armed—he always carried. Never thought he’d use a gun on his family though.
“Hold up.” Cole’s husky tone cut through the room.
Toth stopped. Slowly he turned around.
Cole stood, then shoved his hands in his pockets. “What year were you born?” His dark brow pierced together and a hint of question lingered in his gaze.
Toth worked his jaw back and forth. While he hadn’t come here to get threatened, he had come here to meet his family. Raised an only child, he’d longed for the siblings he’d once heard his mom call out for in a drunken stupor.
And then later denied.
For twenty years he’d kept the Freudian slip close to his heart. Wondering. Hoping. Praying that he wasn’t as alone as his parents made him feel.
