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  “Because someone has to. When I had enough information I was planning to take it to Edward Dennis and turn it over. I’ve heard he’s a good man.”

  “Someone is threatening your sister; what about the other woman?” Her friends, weren’t they? And obviously close to this guy.

  “Payton and I…”

  Mick understood the longing in the other man’s face. Poor bastard had it bad for Dr. Asher, but wouldn’t admit it to himself yet. Mick’s brother had looked just like that a few months back. “She’s yours?”

  “She is. I have security assigned to Payton, now, and to Cody, and to my personal assistant…I tried Paige, but she made them too easily. All three times.”

  Of course she had. Mick scanned the files quickly. He’d been able to read twice as fast as most people since he was about thirteen. “Fill me in. Details. Everything you’ve got. Nothing is going to happen to Paige. I’ll make damned sure of it.”

  “I’ll hold you to that.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Mick brooded for the rest of the barbeque and into the evening. He followed Daviess around with his eyes mostly. He knew she was freaked out by it, but she didn’t outright question him.

  Why would she? They’d certainly clashed at these types of functions before. She’d dumped lemonade in his lap once.

  From what the guy said, she had no idea they were related. How could everyone have missed it?

  The irritant favored her brother considerably, once someone knew what to look for.

  But it was clearly obvious that she didn’t know. He didn’t agree with Lucas’s decision not to tell her. She deserved to know, especially if she was going to be running into the guy all the time.

  And especially if she was going to be threatened because of their relationship.

  Yeah, she damned well deserved to know.

  He made a point of following her home. The Reynolds family would be coming later—he’d overheard Dan and his new wife talking about helping clean up—so they were guaranteed some privacy.

  He’d been to Reynolds’ place before, but had never ventured around the back to where Paige’s entrance was.

  He’d never been in her space before. That would change tonight. Like it or not, she wasn’t staying here alone.

  And he somehow doubted she’d be staying there much longer with all the kids in potential target range.

  He knew she had a soft spot for kids; she’d never do anything to put one in danger. Anything.

  She met him at the edge of her tiny porch. Her apartment was in a half-basement with a walk out entrance. She had privacy from her landlords; at least some. The fedora she wore hid her eyes from him and he snatched from her head. He hated when she wore hats, it was like she was hiding. “What are you doing, Mick? Did I forget something?”

  You could say that. Apparently she’d forgotten that she had a brother.

  “I need to talk to you.”

  “About what?” Suspicion was evident in her voice, in her eyes. The low light of the porch made her dark eyes look even darker.

  “You’re in trouble.”

  “Again? When am I not with you?”

  He fought the urge to growl at her. He always wanted to growl at this woman. “It’s your brother.”

  He cursed himself when he saw the confusion and wariness on her face. “I don’t have a brother.”

  “You did. You do. And now he’s gotten himself—and you into trouble. We need to talk.”

  “I don’t have a brother.”

  “Yes, you do. And you were right there next to him tonight. Care to guess who?” He’d told her, and not how he’d meant to do it. He’d had thoughts of telling her gently, so that he didn’t put that exact expression in her eyes.

  The dark, hurt, confused, vulnerable one that he dreamed about sometimes. Her eyes, in another woman’s face.

  She’d always irritated the shit out of him; he wouldn’t deny that.

  But he didn’t want to hurt her.

  “Paige…Listen…get your bag. You’re coming home with me. You can’t stay here; there are too many kids around. If you have been targeted, do you want that?”

  She shook her head. “My bag’s in the closet. I need to…I need Al. She’s at your house?”

  “I think so.” She’d damned well be; even if he had to call her back from that apartment Seth was renting from his sister-in-law. “I’ll drive. We can talk on the way.”

  “It’s that guy, isn’t it? Davis Lucas. It used to be Lucien Daviess. I wonder why he changed it. Wonder why I didn’t know, didn’t realize…he still looks the same. I remember him.”

  Somehow he doubted she even realized she was talking to him anymore, so consumed with this new information.

  He really was a rank bastard. He could have told her so much more…so much more…

  Kindly.

  He was a bastard where she was concerned, wasn’t he?

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  “So that’s how you tell her?” Mick’s sister-in-law hit him with the dish towel. Then she hit him again. He’d spilled everything five minutes after dragging Daviess into the house he shared with his family. One look at Daviess and his sister-in-law had demanded to know what he’d done.

  “I thought it was more expedient since her friend’s being threatened because of this guy. Since she is, too.” Maybe he could have used a bit more tact. He hadn’t expected to see that much hurt in her eyes. Maybe he should have? How old was she when she’d been separated from her brother? “There isn’t exactly a whole lot of time to play nice.”

  Al was glaring at him, as well. Mick felt heat hit his cheeks. Not that he was embarrassed; but being the target of three feminine glares and the sympathetic gazes of Seth and Mal didn’t help.

  “Quit hitting me, Jules. We need to focus on finding who the threat is, before it gets to crisis point.”

  Mal stood and took the towel from his wife. “Sit. You’re giving the baby whiplash.”

  “Don’t be an idiot like your brother.” But she sat. Mick understood his brother’s hovering, though Jules didn’t like it. She’d miscarried before. She turned toward Mick again. “You! Sit. Tell us, show us, everything this guy gave you. Now.”

  Paige hadn’t said anything. Mick wanted to drag her out of the kitchen, to explain that he hadn’t meant to hurt her by telling her the way he had.

  And he hadn’t. Why did he always end up doing something idiotic to put that exact look in her eyes? “Paige?”

  She looked at him and there was a world of confusion in her black-as-sin eyes. But she pulled herself together. Her words were cool when she spoke to him. “Tell us exactly what he told you. And why you, and what he was expecting you to do about it.”

  He explained how Lucas had opened up to him. He’d emailed Mick minutes after the threatening phone call, sending documents after documents.

  Mick wanted to look at them for himself.

  His sister’s fiancé said it best. “Shit.”

  “What I thought, too.”

  “Question is, if Paige didn’t even know who this guy was, then how did whomever took these know?” Al asked the question that Mick knew would be on everyone’s mind.

  Mick looked at Paige.

  “Another thing we need to consider,” Seth said. “If Paige is here, and there is a threat, where in the hell are Dr. Asher and Lucas?”

  Al was already grabbing her phone. “That’s a good question.”

  “I was under the impression that Lucas is keeping Dr. Asher pretty damned close to him.”

  “So that leaves Paige as the most vulnerable,” Jules said.

  “I’m calling Sebastian.” Mal was pulling his own phone out of his pocket. “He’ll need to get a detail assigned.”

  “No. I don’t want Carrie involved, or worried,” Paige said. “She’s been so sick lately. She doesn’t need problems with me.”

  Mal covered Paige’s hand with his. “Like it or not, kid, as your team leader, Sebastian will hav
e to know. You’ll have to take precautions until this is settled.”

  She wasn’t happy about it, but the girl always took his brother’s advice. Mick had noticed that from the very beginning.

  “I’ll call Lorcan,” Mick said. Action was always his first line of defense. “And I’m going over to Lucas’s now. It’s time we got some more detailed answers. I assume you’re going, too?”

  “I think we all should,” Al said. “Meet him in force. Get the answers we need. Paige? Are you ok with this? You get the deciding vote.”

  Everyone looked at her. She held herself together well. Mick could definitely give her that, but her pain and confusion was there, beneath it all. Damn it. Why did he always hurt her? Finally, after a long moment, she nodded. “Ok. But when we get there, I get first crack at him. And no one else. I mean no one else, got me?”

  She looked straight at Mick.

  He just grunted at her—what else was there to say?

  But he made damned sure she rode with him on the way. Just to be on the safe side.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Place was a damned fortress, but the gate was open. As if Lucas was taunting his stalker, telling the bastard to come on in and get him. Mick had to admire that kind of balls.

  He had a feeling this Lucas guy wasn’t afraid of much.

  They were met just inside the gate by a team of four security agents. Mick studied them quickly. They were big, healthy, and armed. And if he missed his guess—ex-military. Hadn’t he heard that somewhere before?

  His sister stepped to the forefront of their group. She smiled at two of the men. “Terrence, Chase, it’s good to see you. How have you been?”

  The two men who’d saved Al’s life relaxed slightly. One spoke. “Agent Brockman, ma’am. How have you been? Recovering easily?”

  “Fully healed. Doctor gave the green light last week.”

  “That’s great to hear. How may we help you tonight?”

  “We’re looking for your boss. We have some questions for him regarding a case we’re working. We think he can help us.”

  “I’m sure he’s already expecting you. We’d be happy to park your vehicles for you. And Mike and Joe can escort you to where Mr. Lucas is waiting.”

  “That’ll be wonderful, Chase. Thank you.”

  Mick didn’t like handing his personal vehicle over, but he understood the pretense. Lucas was a wealthy man with security hired to protect him at all costs. Mick wanted to play nice with the guy until he got his answers. At least at first. If he felt the guy was involved in something illegal, Mick would bring the law down on him.

  Regardless of the guy’s connection to Paige or Dr. Asher.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Luc knew the instant they arrived and it surprised him. He definitely hadn’t been expecting a frontal assault. He’d planned on meeting Brockman at the PAVAD building tomorrow when he drove Payton in.

  Payton. He debated waking her, guilt flooding him. He’d kept her up later last night than he should have. And she hadn’t complained. All teasing in the guestroom aside, he should have let her sleep a little longer.

  He watched her for a moment.

  Luc could just turn them all away—his sister included—and let her sleep for a few hours. The questioning could wait.

  But if they were to face the inquisition that was fast approaching, he wouldn’t want to be in a vulnerable position like Payton currently was. He knelt beside her and shook her. “Payton, you need to wake up. We’re about to have company.”

  Rath lifted his head from where he slept curled around Payton’s legs. The dog woofed, signaling he heard the people approaching. He and Ren went toward the front door and took up sentry positions.

  At least they’d remembered that part of their training.

  Payton sat up, and wiped a hand over her eyes. “How long was I asleep?”

  “Probably a few hours. We’re about to have company.”

  Fear filled her blue eyes. He pulled her glasses off the table and slipped them on her nose. “Not that kind of company. Your kind of company. I think some of your colleagues are about to join us.”

  “Who?”

  “Brockmans. And it looks like a lot of them, all of them. However many that is. And my sister, apparently.”

  Her eyes widened. “Oh, Luc…Are you ready? Do you want me to talk to her first? See how much she knows?”

  “No. I don’t want her angry with you because of me.”

  Payton chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before speaking. “She probably will be anyway.”

  “I’ll see that she isn’t.” He hadn’t thought about that, at least not fully. He didn’t want her losing her relationship with his sister because of him. Not at all. “But you might want to straighten your clothes and hair quickly. I’d hate to give them any ideas about what we’ve done.” He leered, hoping to at least get a smile out of her.

  It was a small one, but it was there. He pulled her against his chest and hugged her, surprising both of them. Luc had teased her a few times over the last several hours, but he hadn’t invaded her space. This time he did. He kissed her lips, hard, wanting them swollen before their visitors saw her.

  He wanted the others to think he and Payton had been snuggled together. He liked the idea of the rumpled couch and blanket, and the woman all soft and bleary eyed. He liked the idea of claiming her.

  He couldn’t help it.

  Luc wanted her, as selfishly as possible. But how did he get her?

  Chapter Forty

  Paige was the first through the door of her brother’s mansion. How weird was that?

  He stood at the bar, dark and menacing. Maybe it was best to just get this over with? “Davie.” The name she used to call him, the one she barely remembered, slipped out. The little boy who’d loved her was still in there somewhere, wasn’t he? He’d always seemed so strong, so invulnerable. He’d cared for and protected her—she remembered that—and then he’d left her.

  “Paige Jane. So you know.”

  “How long have you?”

  “I found you a month shy of your eighteenth birthday.”

  She was vaguely aware of everyone coming in behind her. No one really spoke, and she appreciated that. Al and Jules each rubbed one of her arms, their presence silent support. It helped.

  She had her friends, the people who loved her. She took a moment to look around the ridiculously huge place. Payton sat quietly on the man’s couch. Paige just looked at her—what did she say to the woman who was most likely sleeping with her brother? “Since LT bought Carrie’s software.”

  “Yes. I found you, and through you Carrie. And her program was one I needed. It benefited all of us for me to purchase it.”

  Two hundred fifty thousand dollars had benefited them a hell of a lot. It had gotten them both a college education and a real roof over their heads. It had changed their lives, and she’d always half felt in debt to Carrie. If it hadn’t been for Carrie’s skills—But it hadn’t. It was because of Davie. Luc. Whatever his name was.

  “We need to talk.”

  “My office is this way.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  “You should have told me.”

  “And said what? By the way, you’re the sister I gave up more than twenty years ago? How would you have liked that?” He wanted to touch her. So he didn’t.

  “You didn’t give me up. You did the only thing a twelve year old could have done.” Her eyes weren’t judgmental. “Davie…”

  “I remember you calling me that. You were the only one who did. I’ve not heard it in years.”

  She prowled around the room. Why did she always wear black? Had she always been that way? “Why did you change your name? Davis Lucas? How did you get that?”

  “Lucian Daviess sounded too specific. And Lucas was the last name of the man who took me in, gave me all of this. Lucian Lucas? Sounds like a porn star. At least that’s what Manny used to say. And mostly because I didn’t want to be Lucien Da
viess anymore. I didn’t want someone looking into who I was and finding out what I’d come from. Or finding you. Manny drilled it into my head that you protect the ones you care about.”

  “He sounds like he was really nice. I’m glad you found him.”

  “He found me, P.J. I was young and stupid and alone, and there he was. He saw something in me. I was damned lucky.”

  “You took his name because you loved him, didn’t you?” She looked at everything on the shelves. Zoom, she’d always been that way. Ever since she could crawl. “I’m glad you had him.”

  “Me, too.” But who had she had? “Who did you have?” Had she been alone since he’d taken her to the welfare office that day?

  She turned and looked at him. She shrugged. “I had—have—Carrie. And Al. And Payton and Cody and the Brockmans and Dan and Ally and the kids. I have family.”

  “I’m glad.” Shouldn’t he just say what was going on in his head? “I hated leaving you that day.”

  She flopped in the chair and crossed her legs. “Look. I get why you did it. You were a kid, I was a kid, and she wasn’t worth the air she breathed. I’m not sure why you chose that day, though. I remember something bad happening. But I don’t know what it was.”

  “And you want to know.”

  “I think I deserve to. I’ve thought about some things, ya know? Imagined. I’d like to know the truth.”

  “Here’s the easiest version. She was a drunk for most of her life, and when she wasn’t drunk she was high. By the time I was ten, she was feeding me crack, chased down by beer. I made a promise that I wasn’t going to let the same shit happen to you.”

  “I don’t think I’m cut out for the Leave it to Beaver kind of life. I don’t think I’m good at families, complete with big brothers.”