Page 39 of Cruel Debts
"Oh, right. Rowan, this is Trinity. She's, uh, she's with?—"
"The Gunners. I've heard of her. Well, we all have, really. Less of an introduction and more of a promise that we'll wake up missing limbs and vital organs if we so much as breathe in the same direction as you."
"Rowan, if I were you, I'd look away. Who knows? She might be a medusa and turn you to stone if you look directly in her eyes." The other man joined us, and his looks were as day and night as mine and my brother's.
Harper rolled her eyes. "That's Nash. He's a grump, so you can just ignore him."
"Yo," the one called Nash said by way of greeting, his head buried in their fridge. "If you're looking for self-defense classes, you might want someone other than Harper. She's not the best teacher."
I watched a pillow from the couch go sailing across the room and hit him square in the back of the head.
"I'm better than you, asshole," Harper shouted back, a grin a mile wide on her face. "You're just mean."
"And Rowan isn't much better. When he tried to teach you, all you two got done was fucking."
My brows were in my hairline. I'd never been party to such a wild ass conversation before, and the fact that they felt so comfortable having it around a stranger like me was telling of their character and ease.
"Say that again with your whole chest, why don't you, Nash?—"
"Maybe Iwill!"
A firm hand pulled me out of the way just as Nash came crashing over the couch and took Harper to the ground, the two of them only half-wrestling. I turned to see the most beautiful man I'd ever laid eyes on—everything about him was radiant beauty. And his violet eyes?—
"You might want to give them some space. They'll be going at it until one of them taps out. And they're both stubborn, so it could be a while." His smile beamed at me, and it was nearly blinding in its intensity. "Angel. I think your boys call mePretty Boy."
"Oh, right, I think I've heard of you." Mostly, I'd heard he was deadly accurate with a knife and stunning beyond compare. I could attest to the latter now. I hoped to never be able to attest to the former. "I'm?—"
"Trinity McCoy. I know all about you." He squinted carefully, assessing my face. "You're the daughter of a rich oil mogul. Originally from Covenant Hollow, where your parents still reside. Your brother Keehn has been missing for years." He checked his nails, picking at invisible lint on his shirt. "You are here, I assume, because you want to find him, correct?"
I frowned. "You know an awful lot for a stranger."
He shrugged, his sharp violet eyes missing nothing. "It's part of the job. I'd be dead already if I wasn't good at it."
"Fair enough." Nash and Harper rolled across the floor again, coming within inches of our feet where we stood. "How long do you think this'll keep going?"
"Not long, I hope. I have things to do, and they require Nash's assistance." He leaned down as they passed by us again and yanked Nash up by the back of his collar, dragging him away from the girl in the center of the fray. "Come, brother mine. We have work to do that doesn't involve maiming our woman."
"You let him go, Angel, so I can kick his ass!" Harper was on her feet again, fists up as she faced off with Nash, who struggled against his brother's grip. "I can take him."
"I'd prefer you not,princess,"Angel growled, his eyes narrowed. "But if you want to kill him when we come back, you're more than welcome to have him once he's outlived his usefulness to me."
"Spoilsport," she pouted, her arms crossed over her chest. "See if I come toyoulooking for cuddles tonight."
Angel looked devastated, but he looked pretty while doing it. "Well, that's disappointing, but I'm sure I'll survive. Now, behave and play nice with the neighbor girl. If she goes home with even so much as a hint of a bruise on her, we're all fucked."
I watched him pretty much frog-march his brother out of the room, leaving us two women and Rowan alone again.
Rowan's laugh was friendly and boisterous. It reminded me of my brother. "Ah, so sorry you had to meet them like that. Nash is a troublemaker, and Angel is . . . difficult at best. I'd say out of all of us, I'm probably the most normal, Harper included."
"Oh, I'm used to chaos," I said, laughing as I took his offered hand. "I live with the guys, and we all grew up together. They're my brother's best friends. So you could say it was like having four brothers growing up."
"Ever feel any type of way about those brothers of yours?" Harper grinned at me with a pointed look, but Rowan leaned over and smacked her in the shoulder, shooting her a warning with his eyes. "Ow, hey, what? I was justasking."
"Ask things like that when I'm not around," he grumbled, marching out the front door.
And then there were two.
"So, seriously, though—I've goteyeballs.I know they're older, but like, they're hot. You ever, ya know, think abouthooking upwith one of 'em—or all of 'em?"
