Page 46 of Her Keeper
She made the face back. “I thought surely my brother’s too smart and crafty to let that sort of thing happen to him. Idiot.” She turned her smile on Joseph, then, but quickly changed to a frown. “You guys here to give him more good news?”
“Something like that,” he told her.
“Good luck to you, then. I’m keeping out of it. For now.” And she turned and left like she’d just wanted to see us for a moment.
Or like she didn’t want anything to do with how our father was going to react to seeing us both here.
I was guessing it was the latter. Dante was smart and incredibly headstrong, but she was also mostly practical. And she’d learned a long time ago that it was smartest to stay out of my father’s way when he was in a mood.
Luckily for her, she’d always been given that choice.
“Well then,” I said, watching her go. I transferred my stare to my brother. “Let’s get this over with.”
Joseph, though, was watching our sister, his face full of speculation. “She’s starting to remind me of someone.”
“Sloane,” I said quickly. “She’s modeling herself after her. Are you just now noticing?”
He turned his eyes to me, his expression telling me very clearly that he was, in fact, just noticing. I laughed and shook my head, then motioned for him to follow me. We were hereto talk to my father, not discuss my sister’s goals of becoming just like her sister-in-law when she grew up.
Though personally I hoped she’d manage it. Dante was a spitfire, and I couldn’t imagine anything more amazing than her becoming another Sloane Brennan Rossi.
We walked quickly up the stairs and toward the living room, but then paused outside the door.
“You ready for this?” I asked. Because the truth was, Joseph was going to take the beating. I might be more responsible for the situation with Penny, but my father had always been harder on Joseph than he was on me. I thought it was probably because Joseph tended to lead with his emotions.
My father didn’t much care for emotion. Unless you counted anger.
“Let’s do it,” my brother said, his shoulders rising defensively.
Right.
I turned and stalked through the door. Inside, my father was watching TV while my mother sat in her favorite chair and read. I walked forward, grabbed the remote, and turned the TV off. Then I faced my father, Joseph at my shoulder.
“Dad,” I said calmly.
He sneered up at me. “The prodigal son returns.”
So it was going to be that way.
“Indeed,” I muttered. “And I’m here with news. I know Penny was here. I know she told you about Monica Hart’s article, and I know you made a deal with you. I’m here to tell you her deal is fulfilled. We know who Monica is working for.”
Before he could reply, I opened Joseph’s laptop and spun it around. “The night I left with Penny, this man was following her. Once right outside her building, and again when I was transporting her to a safe house.”
“You have her at a safe house?” Another sneer. Another look like I’d lost my mind.
“Of course I do. You have a hit out on her and I don’t want her killed.”
The sneer became even more disgusted .”I should have known you’d fall for that little whore. From what I hear, she’s been fucking around all over the city.”
I almost dropped everything and hit him right then. Hell, I almost pulled my gun out and shot him. But Joseph’s hand came down on my shoulder and he stepped in front of me before I could do anything.
“I’d be careful what you say about Penny Lane, Father, or you’re going to have to deal with Michael’s temper. And if you think my temper’s bad, it’s only because you’ve never seen his. We’re here with news, and if you’re smart, you’ll listen. Because this is a whole lot bigger than just a magazine story.”
My father’s glare transferred over to Joseph, and for once in my life I was glad to let my older brother stand between me and someone else.
Joseph grabbed the laptop from me. “This is the guy who’s been following Penny, and it’s not a long shot to figure out that he belongs to the same family Monica’s working for. They’re after Penny because they think she’s worth something to Michael. Think they can hold her for ransom against the family. And that matches up with everything else that’s been happening. The attacks on our soldiers. The spies in our warehouses. The shipments disappearing.”
Instead of agreeing, my father simply grunted. Like he was willing to listen, but not believe. So Joseph kept talking.
