Page 20 of The Plan

“We heard you are moving. We want to know what’s going on.” Murdoch didn’t exactly wait around when he wanted information. “You’re hiding something.”

Of course, George would choose that exact moment to knock on her still open door—and walk right in. Like he was the king of everything.

Her brothers turned, almost as one, and crossed those muscly arms over those muscly chests, and glared at the intruder in their midst. They puffed up in an instant.

Great.

“Well. Veronica, sweetheart. I didn’t know you’d have guests this morning.” He came right to her, as if her brothers weren’t ready to destroy the invader near their baby sister. He kissed her, right on the mouth. Then he cupped her cheek. “You feeling okay this morning?”

“I’ll survive,” Ronnie said, drily. “I’m not so certain you will, though.”

He leaned down, whispered in her ear. “Have you told them yet?”

“I was just about to. You might want to start running now. They are faster than they look.”

“Sweetheart, a Hiller doesn’t run from anything.” And then he kissed her again.

It was like waving that red flag in front of the bull here. Her brothers—definitely the bulls.

Oh, dear.

The father of her baby was about to be toast.

Okay,so he wasn’t expecting her brothers to be so…big. The shortest was around George’s own six-three. The other two were a bit taller. And beefier. And all three were looking at George with clear suspicion in their eyes.

Of course, him having his hands on their precious baby sister might have something to do with that. He held his hand out to the closest one. That was what a person was supposed to do with wild dogs about to tear them apart, right? “George Hiller. I’m the attorney Veronica works for, and I’m the man who adores your sister completely. I’m…still in the process of convincing her of that.”

“He has the whole ‘do the right thing’ going on,” Veronica so helpfully added. “No one gets to hit him, understand? Georgie is all about doing the right thing right now. Keep that in mind.”

“Why does he even need to do the right thing?” the guy in the Hawaiian shirt asked. He looked like a damned beach bum. “What exactly has he done with those paws?”

“Sit down. I want all three of you sitting down. I was going to tell everyone at Mom and Dad’s this weekend, but…”

“Are you pregnant, Ronnie?” The one with the buzz cut and the shirt with ARMY printed over his far too muscled chest asked quietly. He had a book on pregnancy in his right hand now. There were two more books on the table in front of him. And prenatal vitamins in his left.

And knowledge in his eyes.

Veronica’s cheeks turned bright red. Her eyes practically shined. She nodded.

George tightened his hold on her and pulled her closer protectively. He didn’t know how these guys were going to react at all. He could only imagine how he’d feel if some guy got Giavonna or Genny or Greer pregnant someday. Maybe it was an outdated belief, but…a guy just wanted to protect his little sisters. Nothing wrong with that. “Yes, we are having a baby. I love your sister and I’m trying to convince her of that.”

“What the hell, Ronnie?” the growly one demanded. “What were you doing?”

“Well, I think we all know what she’s been doing,” the shaggy-haired one said. “Bad girl, Ronniekins. Bad. Little sisters aren’t supposed to do that naughty stuff. The problem is that we don’t know this guy. How do we know he’s not just some creeper taking advantage of our baby sister?”

“I’d think you three would trust me to make my own decisions,” Veronica said. It wasn’t exactly a defense of George,per se. But she wasn’t telling them he’d seduced her and panicked.

He swore if a guy ever did that to one of his sisters, they’d be picking that man up off the floor.

“As for you…” She turned on him. Just like that. One small finger pressed against his chest. She just kept poking him. “Don’t go telling my brothers things that just aren’t true. They are impressionable creatures, you know. They’ll believe you. Wanting to do the right thing and loving me are two different things. I believe we have discussed that before.”

“But they don’t have to be separate things, sweetheart. I loved you long before the baby. I just didn’t think I was the kind of man you needed. I was being noble.” He cupped her cheeks, and pressed his lips to hers. The way those guys were looking at him, it might be his last opportunity to kiss their sister. “But if your brothers want to take me outside and thrash me, I can understand it. I do have three younger sisters of my own, after all.”

“Sounds good to me,” one brother said. He still eyed George like he was ready to slaughter him. “Let’s go. Get this done, then we’ll take you to breakfast and decide what you are doing next.”

“Murdoch Michael Lake, you will not be thrashing Georgie!”

George winced at the nickname. Not exactly strong and manly, was it?

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