“Dunno.” Flynn sucked in the pine-scented air. He’d worried, their first day here, that the whole place would smell like theair fresheners that car washes hung from mirrors. But it took less than a day to enjoy it. To stop comparing it to the thousanddifferent smells of Chicago and just enjoy the simplicity and pureness of one. Okay, two if you got close to the ocean. “We never bothered to get that chip implanted that’d tell us where he is. BecauseKellan’s not a fucking labradoodle.”
“He’s been gone more than he’s been home lately.”
“How would you know? You’re at the hospital with Mollie more than you’re home.”
“What can I say? The hospital’s got all those beds, sitting empty most of the time. I’m just being a good citizen, makingsure they get used.”
“For sex.”
“Used is used. Don’t nitpick like Kellan.”
Flynn racked his brain. Tried to think of the last time they’d stared at each other, bleary-eyed, over cereal.
But he’d been grabbing breakfast with Sierra for at least the past two weeks. It was his way of making sure she ate. She wouldn’tlet him help any other way. Definitely not with money to get her out of that matchbox of a house. Sharing his place with hisbrothers didn’t exactly make it believable that he had extra cash to throw her direction.
They’d turned into a neighborhood that would be perfect for Sierra. Mostly condos. That translated to lots of neighbors. Welllit. Safe. Too bad she was too stubborn to be coerced into moving. Not to mention too broke. How was he supposed to fix thatwithout revealing their steady WITSEC paycheck? Not to mention their hidden stash of millions, back in Chicago?
Thoughts of Chicago brought Flynn right back around to his brother. His mostly MIA brother. “I think you’re right. Something’sgoing on with Kellan.”
Rafe startled, bouncing against the leather seat a little. “I didn’t say anything was going on. Just that he’s more or lessdisappeared.”
“Man, you’ve really let your mob-honed instincts go. You and I are the only two people Kellan can confide in, and we don’t know what he’s up to. That means something’s going on.”
“We need to find him. We haven’t even told him about O’Connor being in town,” Rafe said in a much lower, more serious voice.
“You said O’Connor went on that overnight deep-sea fishing trip up the coast.”
“Yeah. Bragged about it so much I think people up in Portland got the news flash. You need to be at the dock in the morningto pick up the tail.”
Flynn nodded as he parked in front of a building identical to those around it. He noted a couple of trees, but no clumps ofbushes where somebody could hide between him and the front door. “No problem. I’ll talk to Kellan, too. About our problematicvisitor and our plan to involve Delaney once we know more.”
“Christ, save that for last. One mention of the marshal and he’ll be trying to tail O’Connor himself just so he can reportto her sooner.” Rafe worked his phone into the pocket of his jeans as he got out of the car.
Flynn hurried around the trunk to ask quietly, “Are you packing any heat?”
O’Connor showing up in town changed everything. They’d agreed to check in with each other every time they changed locations.And for once, a condom wasn’t the only protection Rafe had with him at all times.
Rafe stuck out his foot and wiggled it. “I’ve got a knife. Strapped to my calf. Why do you think I’m wearing long pants atthe end of June? What about you?”
“No weapon.” Flynn wasn’t ignoring the potential danger. Or being cocky. His MMA skills, along with Krav Maga and other martialarts techniques, were enough. “Just my fists. And my feet. That makes me more lethal than your knife by a long shot.”
“You’re probably right. Remember, the number one thing is to protect yourself. If anything feels off, do what you gotta do.We’ll work out the rest later.”
“Number one is to protect Sierra.”
“Fair enough.” Rafe started to walk up the flower-lined path to the front door, but paused after just a step. “She’s goodfor you. You were a pain in the ass when we moved here. Now you’re getting back to being the brother I knew. The brother I’vemissed.”
“She’s amazing. But—” Flynn broke off, trying to figure out what to say without breaking Sierra’s trust. Although, in a perfectworld, he’d convince her to let him dial Rafe in to her trouble. No doubt Chicago’s most notorious fixer would be an assetin figuring out how to clean up her situation. God knew Flynn didn’t intend to let the status quo remain. Sierra couldn’tlive with that dark shadow over her life. “—it’s complicated.”
Laughter rolled out of Rafe. So much that he bent over and braced himself on his thighs. When the hilarity finally ran itscourse he looked up at Flynn, gasping a little. “You thought falling in love would be easy?”
“Shut up.” He hated it when Rafe pulled the wise older brother routine. Especially when Kellan wasn’t around to bounce itdown onto.
“You’re a moron, Flynn. Seriously. Love’s complicated. Like . . . a hundred times more complicated than reconfiguring yourfantasy football team when your star QB gets injured game one.”
Flynn knew that. Just like he’d known that leaving everything behind in Chicago would be hard. Shitty. But knowing something didn’t come anywhere close to experiencing it. Kind of like having sex. The description fell about eight miles short of the reality.
Rafe clapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s go get our women.”
Sierra put her hand on top of Flynn’s where it rested on the gear shift. Such a normal, coupley gesture, but one that absolutelythrilled her. “It was very sweet of you to pick me up. Totally unnecessary, but sweet.”
“Wrong. Making sure you don’t bike across town in the dark is very necessary. Girlfriend Safety 101.”
Geez. This wasn’t Manhattan. Or even Milwaukee. There weren’t
