Lorie O - Strong, Sleek and Sinful

“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 made sense at the time and he would probably have done the same thing if their roles had been reversed at that moment.

“The list of qualities and talents you possess is longer than my arm.” Megan placed her hand on his shoulder and stared up at him with dark, all-knowing eyes. “We’re all accustomed to you handling all matters and seldom making mistakes.”

“Thank you,” he said, sensing he wouldn’t like where she was going with this.

“Kylie is a very beautiful woman. Smart and pretty, with a likeable personality. I can see why you would fall for her.” She paused, holding his gaze, and dragging the moment out before continuing. “Is there a chance she might not be being honest with you? Dani told me some of the things she said while in the truck, like how she needed to make some phone calls, and how she easily handled a loaded weapon. Before you left to go look for Dani, Kylie kept her cool while drilling me for information on Dani. Perry, is Kylie a cop?”

Perry saw immediately why Megan believed he would keep information from her like Kylie being a cop. “No, she isn’t. And if she were I would tell you,” he said, not lying.

Megan let out a long breath, once again exhaustion lining her face and making her eyes look puffy like her daughter’s. Perry ran his hand down the side of Megan’s head, hoping his smile reassured her.

“You don’t have time or energy to worry about me. Nor is it necessary. Go get that bath and relax.”

“You’ll make sure all the girls are in bed? They all have school in the morning.”

Perry wasn’t sure he wanted any of them leaving the house, even tomorrow for school. The hit tonight was personal, and he’d be damned if Peter were given another chance to smooth out his failure tonight.

“Bathtime now, young lady. Your girls are in good hands.” Perry turned her around and pushed Megan into her bedroom, closing her in when he pulled her door shut.

As outraged as he was at Dani for pulling the most stupid stunt of her life, one that too easily could have cost her life, it amazed him how perceptive she was. Kylie would need to watch her ass or a sixteen-year-old would blow her cover. He pondered this, going back and forth between being proud and furious with his niece while turning out Dorine’s lamp when he found her asleep in her bed and then carrying Denise upstairs and putting her in her bed next to Dorine’s.

When he opened Dani’s door without knocking, three incredibly stunning women turned their attention to him. Diane looked tired like her mother, Dani leery, and Kylie’s bright blue eyes were guarded for reasons he wasn’t sure of as he entered and closed the door silently behind him.