the dark that he wasn’t sure.
“Their gender has nothing to do with it. Yell at anyone and you get less out of them than if you are levelheaded and feel the situation out before interrogating.”
“Telling me how to do my job, Special Agent?” He was poking fun at her, intrigued by her concern that they enter his sister’s house as though it were a crime scene. In actuality he’d already viewed the situation as needing just that kind of approach. Perry was quickly learning Kylie wouldn’t automatically follow his lead. She would jump in fully prepared to command the situation unless he instructed her otherwise.
“I’m just saying…,” she said, licking her lips and shifting her dark blue eyes while searching his face.
Perry put his arms on her shoulders, turning her around, then reached under her arm and pushed open the door. “We’ll work the scene, partner, but you’ll keep in mind this is my family and you won’t undermine anything I tell my nieces.”
“I wouldn’t dream-” Kylie stopped talking when Denise jumped up from where she was watching TV, her eyes wide, but then grinned broadly and ran to Perry.
Kylie stepped away so Denise could climb him, the last of the four still able to do that. “Dani came home, Uncle Perry. She and Mom are upstairs fighting.”
“You’re smart to stay down here and watch TV,” he told her, pecking her forehead with a kiss before peeling her off him and placing her on her feet.
“Will you watch TV with me?” Denise looked ready to fall asleep, her eyes puffy and her light brown hair tousled, probably from her being half-crashed on the couch.
“I’m going to go upstairs and check on things then I’ll be back down.” Knowing it would be harder to get away from Denise without her latching her small body to his leg, he escorted her back to the couch. “But I’ll fluff the pillows just like I would for me if I were getting ready to stretch out at my house and watch TV.”
“You’re the best pillow fluffer.” Denise crossed her arms, watching him seriously, but shot Kylie more than one curious glance. “Can I have a blanket, too?”
“
“May I have a blanket?” Denise asked, sounding sleepier when she crawled onto the couch and straightened so Perry could unfold the blanket and cover her with it. “Everyone says Kylie is your new girlfriend,” she asked, whispering although Kylie stood next to him. “Are we going to have to start calling her Aunt Kylie?”
“No,” he told Denise, not hesitating. That was one response he could give without getting a headache thinking of how to answer. “Now get comfortable and I’ll be back down in a few.”
“Okay, Uncle Perry. Mom said Kylie would see right through you and she would lock horns with Dani and all of that would be bad. So I’m glad she isn’t going to be my aunt.” Denise didn’t look at Kylie but snuggled under her blanket and turned to face the back of the couch.
Perry didn’t even want to think about what his sister meant by Kylie seeing right through him. He didn’t have anything to hide. One look at Kylie’s face and he knew she found his niece’s comment rather amusing. She was a smart woman, though, and hid the smile he saw glowing in her bright blue eyes. Instead, she turned toward the stairs and led the way up to the bedrooms. At least he had a hell of a view while climbing the stairs.
Megan approached the top of the stairs at the same time they did. Exhaustion lined her face and she was several shades paler than usual. God, he hated how hard she worked. And the added stress of the evening was the last thing she needed.
“Oh, Perry,” she cried, reaching for him while fresh tears appeared in her eyes. “Thank you so much for bringing her home.”
Perry didn’t make it to the top step before his sister wrapped her arms around him. She seemed thinner than usual, and she almost collapsed against him when he gave her a big hug. Glancing over Megan’s head at Kylie, who’d moved out of the way for the second time since they entered this house to allow his family near him, she stared at the floor, her expression unreadable. Before he looked away, he caught her glancing toward the one open bedroom door and guessed she itched to go talk to Dani.
“Kylie, would you give us a minute?” he asked, hating to admit she would probably be more successful getting information out of Dani than he would right now. In fact, before he calmed down it was probably a good idea if he let his niece alone. “Dani’s bedroom is straight ahead, the open door.”
Kylie didn’t say anything but nodded once, her expression tight when her gaze traveled down Megan’s backside. She left him with his sister and walked silently down the hall, her purse clutched to her side. Kylie disappeared inside Dani’s room, closing the door behind her.
“Dani called Kylie. I really don’t get any credit for finding her. And she kept me from killing your daughter, so she probably should be thanked twice,” he said, still holding Megan tightly in his arms.
“I need to get the girls to bed.” Megan didn’t comment on what he said.
Perry remembered Kylie’s brief story about her sister being killed when Kylie was a teenager and wondered if she wouldn’t do better consoling his sister, too. Emotions were running too high in this house, and he wasn’t the best psychologist on the planet.
“Denise is tucked in on the couch. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already out. I’ve locked the front door.”
“You know, you’re supposed to be a pain in my ass. You’re my baby brother,” Megan said, shifting in his arms but not looking up at him. Instead she made a fist and pressed it over his heart. “I was so scared, Perry. You have no idea-”
“Yes, I do.” He felt her start trembling and knew she held back from a full collapse. “I want you to take a hot bath. I’ve got your back, Sis. Go soak. Make it a bubble bath. The girls will be in bed tucked in and snoring when you get out.”
“Perry, I can’t.”
“Like hell. Quit acting like your daughters and talking back to me,” he growled, putting her at arm’s length and turning her around. Then holding on to her, he guided her to her bedroom, which was the only room upstairs with an adjoining bath. “I don’t want to see you again tonight,” he informed her.
“I’m too drained to fight you tonight.” Megan’s laugh was dry, but there was appreciation in her tone. “If I ask you a question, will you tell me the truth?”
“Do you know how much men hate hearing that out of a woman’s mouth?” He tilted his head, focusing on the dark circles under her eyes and how easily he saw her cheekbones. His sister needed a long vacation, to be pampered. Hell, if he could think of one good man in this town, he would play matchmaker. She was doing way too much on her own, and the girls’ acting up, like Dani did tonight, was more than she could bear. “What is it?”
Megan searched his face, worrying her lower lip for a moment. Even when they were kids she got the same look on her face she did now when she thought really hard about how to say something, or approach an uncomfortable subject. He narrowed his gaze on her, wondering what in the hell she was about ready to drop in his lap.
“What is your relationship with Kylie?” she asked, whispering as she shot a furtive glance at Dani’s closed bedroom door.
“We don’t have a relationship.” It was the second time tonight he’d denied anything was going on between him and Kylie. Tonight wasn’t the right night to suggest anything otherwise.
“Your hands have been all over her ever since you’ve been here.” Megan crossed her arms over her chest, giving him her shrewd mother look that reminded him so much of their mom. “You are having sex with her.”
“Do you really want to know what women I have sex with and when?” He didn’t like this conversation but knew how to throw it back in her face so Megan would back off.
“We’re a very tight, small family, Perry. And you are the main father figure in my girls’ lives. I know you want that role, and I don’t have a problem with it. But if you’re going to have any kind of relationship, then yes, I want to know when and how often,” she said firmly although still whispering. “I should have a right to yea or nay someone else entering into our family.”
“You don’t like Kylie?” He had a hard time believing that.
“Dani told me Kylie took your gun out of your lap while you were driving and Dani was sitting next to Kylie. She told me Kylie handled the gun like a pro, barely looking at it while checking its safety and ensuring it didn’t have bullets in it.”
“I noticed that, too.” He hadn’t given a thought to how professionally she handled the gun. Her actions had
