“Sometimes I think you’re the toughest of us all. God knows you’re the smartest.” Cord hugged her and then smacked her ass. Hard.
“Hey!”
“You’re damn lucky we didn’t all swat you. You scared the crap out of us, Keely West McKay.”
“Sorry. I needed time alone to think. A family trait you’re all familiar with.” She wandered back to the fire pit.
Her brothers followed and crowded around the fire. Colt and Colby crouched by the fire. Cord perched on a log. Cam and Carter stood, hands in pockets as they stared at the burning embers and the flames licking the pale night sky.
Cord spoke first. “What happened between you and Jack that sent you runnin’?”
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” This from Cam.
“No. We both said some pretty nasty, hurtful things to each other. Sometimes that’s worse.”
“So is it over?” Colby asked.
Keely stirred the embers, glad the heat in her cheeks could be attributed to the flames. “I don’t know.”
“Do you want it to be over?”
Her gaze connected with Colt’s after he voiced that question. “No. God no. I think he probably does.”
“We’ve already established he’s a fucking idiot if he walks away from you,” Carter said. “I’m glad we—”
“Carter,” Colby warned.
“What? I’m glad we figured out he’s just as stubborn as her, that’s all I’m saying.”
A weird feeling rippled through her. “What are you guys talking about?”
“You. And Jack. Stubborn as all get-out, both of you. Didja ever try talkin’ to each other? Instead of throwing insults and stompin’ off mad as a wet hornet?”
Keely’s mouth dropped open. She stared at Cord, who couldn’t be considered chatty on his best day.
“She threw the engagement ring at him this time, not an insult, which tells me it’s over for good.”
Her gaze whipped to Cam. “How did you know I threw my engagement ring at Jack?”
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Lorelei James
“Chet and Remy.”
And they claimed their word was their bond. She snorted. They’d gone tattling to her brothers fast enough. “When did you find out?”
“When you didn’t show up at the building today. Doc Monroe told ’em you weren’t at the clinic. You weren’t answering your phone. They called everyone… Who’d they call first?”
Cord lifted his hand. “I reckon they started at the top of the birth order and worked their way down.”
“They called all of you?”
“Yep.”
“When was this?”
“One. Or thereabouts.”
Damn. “How’d you find me?”
“AJ,” they all said in unison.
“So what have you guys been doin’ the last six hours?”
Guilty looks.
Her pulse spiked. “Oh. My. God. What did you do?”
“Now, Keely. You gotta understand. We warned Jack not to mess with you,” Cam said amiably.
“He knew the risks and he hurt you anyway, which pissed us off,” Colby added.
Colt nodded. “You know we ain’t gonna let something like that slide.”
Fear, anger and shock all warred inside her. She forced herself not to scream to get to the bottom of what her crazy brothers had done to Jack. “What did you do to him?”
Carter studied her a minute before he spoke. “Would you care?”
“Yes! How could you think I’d…?” She inhaled, exhaled, amidst awful, bloody, violent scenarios racing through her mind. “Where is he?”
“He’s a little tied up at the moment.”
Every single one of her brothers started laughing.
Not good. Not good at all. “Tell me where Jack is right fuckin’ now or I will call every one of your wives and round up my own McKay posse to track him down. I ain’t kiddin’.”
More exchanged looks. Something passed between Cam and Carter. They stood, along with Colt, and walked to the back of Cord’s truck bed.
The grunting noises were loud in the stillness. Dragging, scraping sounds echoed. Hissed breaths.
Keely couldn’t see the action. She gasped when her brothers struggled into her line of sight carrying a bulky form. A six-foot-four, muscular form they dropped on the ground, none too gently. A form that was blindfolded, gagged, with arms and legs tied.
Holy fucking shit. That trussed up form was…Jack.
“Omigod! Please tell me you didn’t kill him!”
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All Jacked Up
“Jesus, Keely. Give us some credit. If we woulda killed him, you never would’ve known,” Colby said.