Tara giggled when she rolled her eyes. “Mom is blessedly busy with Gage. But seriously, she’s been very supportive of my relationship with Ryker, even if my brother had a cow or twenty.”
“What? Who? You mean more than the normal macho positioning?” Tara swung her gaze past her and swept the room, her eyes landing on her husband. As if he knew she was looking, Carter turned in her direction and smiled back at her. A tinge of a blush rose to Tara’s face.
“Brody. He had a tantrum and had the audacity to bring up Ryker’s age. As if that was any of his business.”
“Why how much older is he?” Tara lifted her wineglass to her lips.
“Almost fourteen years.”
Tara’s eyes popped, and she immediately looked at Ryker. “No way.”
“Way. He’ll be forty-seven soon.” Brie took a drink of her wine.
“Girl, every woman in America wants her husband to be that buff when he turns forty-seven.” Tara shook her head. “Tell Brody to shove off.”
“Oh, she did.” Amber and Kallie strolled from the kitchen. Amber held a glass of wine; Kallie carried her usual—bourbon, neat. Amber chuckled, “He was a little full of himself for a while. I think he was more concerned with what the relationship would do to his and Ryker’s work association more than Brie and the Captain actually being together.”
“He doesn’t seem to have any problem now.” Kallie nodded toward the men. Carter, Sean, and Kyle had joined the conversation, but the topic must have changed because there was laughter from the huddle.
“Where are Rory and Blay?” Harper drifted from the kitchen with Erin and Caitlyn.
“And Bekki?” Caitlyn craned her neck around. “She was here a minute ago.”
“I’m here!” Bekki practically bounced out of the kitchen with a bottle of spring water in her hand.
“Oh, good. Excuse us, please.” Brie grabbed her wrist. “We need to have a conversation.” She hauled Bekki down the hall.
Bekki laughed and tried to grump, “What? I did nothing, I swear!”
“No, but you will.” Brie pushed her into the bathroom. “I need you to do something for me, and you can’t tell a soul where you got the information or Ryker will go through the roof.”
Bekki’s face lost all traces of humor. “What’s up?”
Brie drew a deep breath and detailed her conversation with Councilman Davis.
Bekki’s brows drew together. “I’ve been looking into other areas of graft within the city government and Councilman Davis’ name has come up more than once. Has anything strange happened? Anything at all?”
“Again, you can’t tell a soul.” She waited for Bekki to agree. “There were orders that suddenly vendors can’t fill and…”
“And? Come on, don’t keep me hanging.”
“Well, I don’t know if it’s related, but I’ve had my tire slashed and there are two guys that have been strong-arming me for money.”
Bekki grabbed her arm. “Oh my God, Brie! Have you filed a police report? Have you told anyone?”
“No, but I’ve bought a security system and Roger is having it installed while I’m taking time off. I know if those two punks see there is a system recording them, they’ll move on. They are low-level scum. I don’t need to run to Dad—or Ryker, for that matter.”
“I don’t like it, Brie. You need to make sure the police are aware of what those guys are doing.” Bekki shook her head and stared past her to the wall. “If I could tie the vendors that cancelled their orders to Councilman Davis, it could be the leverage I need to convince the station this is a story they should allow me to follow.”
“I wish you well. That man is slimy. He has a great public façade, but let me tell you, he’s a snake.” Brie shuddered.
Bekki stood and nodded. “I’ll look into it under one condition.”
Brie knew her sister—tit for tat was Bekki’s wheelhouse. “What’s that?”
“If those two scumbags show their faces again, you will call the cops and tell them everything. No one else needs to know, but the local precinct needs to have a record of it.” Her sister leveled her with a determined stare.
“Deal. I was going to report them if they showed again. They need to spend some time behind bars.” She hugged her sister. “Thank you for taking this up.”
“Thank you for the lead. If I can tie the graft from Councilman Davis to the particular organization within the city government that I’ve been investigating, it will make one hell of an exposé.” Bekki smiled widely. “It may even catapult me into the New York market.”
“Well, then, I hope you find all the dirt on that scum.” Brie opened the door and froze.
“What is going on?” Hannah stood outside the bathroom door.
“Nothing,” both Brie and Bekki said at the same time.
“Really?”
“Okay, Mom, you caught us. We were discussing my total lack of boyfriends and I was asking Brie how her sex life was now that she had a stud like Ryker.” Bekki crossed her arms and cocked her head. “Do you want to know what she said?”
Hannah’s eyes peeled open wide. “I do not. Really, Bekki.” Her mother shook her head. “Sometimes you take things a step too far.”
“That’s exactly what I said, Mom. Come on, let’s go visit.” Brie grabbed her mom’s arm and gave Bekki a ‘What the hell were you thinking’ look. Bekki smiled wildly and winked. The girl would end up giving their mom a heart attack. It was just a matter of time.
Ryker watched Brie, her mother, and her younger sister meander back into the living room. Bekki was nothing like Brie. Brie was like a breath of fresh cool air; her sister was a hurricane-force wind. Whoever took that woman on would need infinite patience and a strong will. Brie’s eyes bounced across the room until she saw where he was sitting. She smiled at him and he felt a warm smile spread across his face. He loved that woman more than life itself.
“Don’t you agree, Cap?” Brody’s question brought him back to the conversation.
He wasn’t going to
