resort , the real pains in the ass are women, especially in large groups. I swear to God, I am never letting another romance writers’ conference in my hotel.”
Rafe and Eli exchanged glances.
“When you had your little reveal, you said, ‘I’m in the middle of it. These people are ruthless, and they are going to find massimo’s pink diamonds any way they can.’ ” Eli pointed his cast at Noah. “So what the hell am I supposed to believe? What you say now? Or what you said then?”
“I’m a congenital liar.” Noah shrugged.
“You little shit,” Rafe said in a low voice. “Tell us.”
“Look, I got suspicious about all that fuss about a bottle of wine, so I looked up information about Massimo.I figured stuff out, got too involved in the process, and when I said I was in the middle of it, I meant I was in the middle of looking into the case. I didn’t realize everyone was going to take me so literally.” Noah checked his brothers for their reaction.
They weren’t buying it.
Tempers sizzled. The emotional temperature on the front porch rose. If Nonna hadn’t been there, Eli and Rafe would have reverted to childhood, sat on Noah, and punched him until he gave up the information—or lost consciousness.
He would have lost consciousness before he told them the truth.
Thank God, the low-throated roar of a powerful motor sounded in the distance.
Heads turned.
“The girls are back!” Nonna said, and smiled.
She loved her new granddaughters-in-law.
She loved seeing Eli and Rafe married at last.
Noah had hoped those two marriages would satisfy her, but obviously she still had hopes for him. And in the normal run of things, he would be married, with a string of kids.
Hey. No regrets. He’d made himself a good life.
Eli stood and limped over to join Rafe at the rail. Both men watched the long, winding drive to the Di Luca farmhouse with an intensity that all too plainly expressed their anxiety. They knew they had to let the women go to town. They couldn’t confine Brooke and Chloë for their safety. But with the violence that had happened in Bella Terra, they feared every moment Brooke and Chloë were out of their sight.
Nonna joined them at the rail and watched the cognacmetallic Porsche Panamera 4S with palpable lust. “I have to talk to Chloë about letting me drive that bad boy,” she said.
Noah grinned.
Eli wore the pained expression of a man whose wife had bought herself a treat, a grossly expensive sports car, for finishing her second book.
“I can’t believe you haven’t already driven it, Nonna,” Noah said. “Aren’t you the one who urged her to buy it?”
“I didn’t urge her to,” Nonna said primly. “When she saw my Mustang, she said I inspired her.”
With a sigh, Eli put his arm around Nonna. “Thanks, Nonna. I owe you for a lot of gray hairs.”
“It’s payback,” Nonna said tartly.
With a wave at the porch, Brooke unfolded her tall frame from the passenger seat. She had her Nordic father’s fair skin and her Irish/Native American mother’s glossy dark hair, and she blew a kiss to Rafe as she walked around the car. “Everything’s fine, honey,” she called.
Leaning into the driver’s seat, she helped Chloë out.
Chloë was the exact opposite of Brooke. She was shortish, too thin, sported white-blond hair with pomegranate red streaks over one temple… and she hadn’t finished her part of the recent fight for the Di Luca bottle of wine in good health. The break in her breastbone had needed further repair, and her surgeon had recommended a light, abbreviated body cast until healing was confirmed. Her dislocated shoulder and the necklace of bruises that had not quite faded from around her throat made her seem even more fragile.
At the sight of her slow, painful motions, Eli clutched the horizontal rail so tightly his knuckles turned white.But he sounded calm and confident as he called, “Hi, Chloë. How was the drive?”
Chloë looked up at him and
Rafe and Eli exchanged glances.
“When you had your little reveal, you said, ‘I’m in the middle of it. These people are ruthless, and they are going to find massimo’s pink diamonds any way they can.’ ” Eli pointed his cast at Noah. “So what the hell am I supposed to believe? What you say now? Or what you said then?”
“I’m a congenital liar.” Noah shrugged.
“You little shit,” Rafe said in a low voice. “Tell us.”
“Look, I got suspicious about all that fuss about a bottle of wine, so I looked up information about Massimo.I figured stuff out, got too involved in the process, and when I said I was in the middle of it, I meant I was in the middle of looking into the case. I didn’t realize everyone was going to take me so literally.” Noah checked his brothers for their reaction.
They weren’t buying it.
Tempers sizzled. The emotional temperature on the front porch rose. If Nonna hadn’t been there, Eli and Rafe would have reverted to childhood, sat on Noah, and punched him until he gave up the information—or lost consciousness.
He would have lost consciousness before he told them the truth.
Thank God, the low-throated roar of a powerful motor sounded in the distance.
Heads turned.
“The girls are back!” Nonna said, and smiled.
She loved her new granddaughters-in-law.
She loved seeing Eli and Rafe married at last.
Noah had hoped those two marriages would satisfy her, but obviously she still had hopes for him. And in the normal run of things, he would be married, with a string of kids.
Hey. No regrets. He’d made himself a good life.
Eli stood and limped over to join Rafe at the rail. Both men watched the long, winding drive to the Di Luca farmhouse with an intensity that all too plainly expressed their anxiety. They knew they had to let the women go to town. They couldn’t confine Brooke and Chloë for their safety. But with the violence that had happened in Bella Terra, they feared every moment Brooke and Chloë were out of their sight.
Nonna joined them at the rail and watched the cognacmetallic Porsche Panamera 4S with palpable lust. “I have to talk to Chloë about letting me drive that bad boy,” she said.
Noah grinned.
Eli wore the pained expression of a man whose wife had bought herself a treat, a grossly expensive sports car, for finishing her second book.
“I can’t believe you haven’t already driven it, Nonna,” Noah said. “Aren’t you the one who urged her to buy it?”
“I didn’t urge her to,” Nonna said primly. “When she saw my Mustang, she said I inspired her.”
With a sigh, Eli put his arm around Nonna. “Thanks, Nonna. I owe you for a lot of gray hairs.”
“It’s payback,” Nonna said tartly.
With a wave at the porch, Brooke unfolded her tall frame from the passenger seat. She had her Nordic father’s fair skin and her Irish/Native American mother’s glossy dark hair, and she blew a kiss to Rafe as she walked around the car. “Everything’s fine, honey,” she called.
Leaning into the driver’s seat, she helped Chloë out.
Chloë was the exact opposite of Brooke. She was shortish, too thin, sported white-blond hair with pomegranate red streaks over one temple… and she hadn’t finished her part of the recent fight for the Di Luca bottle of wine in good health. The break in her breastbone had needed further repair, and her surgeon had recommended a light, abbreviated body cast until healing was confirmed. Her dislocated shoulder and the necklace of bruises that had not quite faded from around her throat made her seem even more fragile.
At the sight of her slow, painful motions, Eli clutched the horizontal rail so tightly his knuckles turned white.But he sounded calm and confident as he called, “Hi, Chloë. How was the drive?”
Chloë looked up at him and
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