Page 24 of Queen of Diamonds
Those last words were as good as an arrow through Rand’s heart, the pain intense. He’d worried when they’d rushed Zoe to the emergency room, but it hadn’t done a bit of good.
Kinsey glancedover at her passenger. Her brothers hadn’t been happy when she’d insisted they make a stop at her apartment so she could get her car. She wanted to be able to leave if she wasn’t comfortable. They’d asked so many questions about how safe her apartment security was on the way to her place that she hadn’t even gone in. She wasn’t ready for them to invade her space, so she’d gone straight from their car to hers with Alex in tow.
So far he was the brother she was the most comfortable with. She couldn’t help wondering what her life would have been like if she’d grown up with them.
“What has you so deep in thought, little sister?” He grinned at her. “I really like saying that.”
“Guess you’re not the baby anymore,” she said, avoiding his question.
“You have no idea how happy that makes me. They’ll have to stop calling me ‘baby brother’ now.”
“Well, on the male side you still are the baby brother.”
“Just go and burst my bubble.” He let out a dramatic sigh, making her laugh.
“Sorry.” She stopped behind Nate’s car when they arrived at a gate. He punched in a code, then waved his hand for her to follow him in. A high stone wall hid the grounds from view. “Wow, his house is inside here?”
“Actually, so are mine and Court’s.”
“You guys live in a compound?”
“Yeah. We’ve made a lot of enemies. This is safer for our families.”
That didn’t sound good. She parked next to Nate’s vehicle and glanced around as she got out of her car. Three houses were set in a half circle, each on what looked like an acre of land. Security lights flicked on as they walked up the sidewalk. Nate had said they were going to his house, so she assumed the one they were approaching was his. It was a sprawling ranch style, and she did a double take at the little faces pressed against the window, watching them.
“Um…”
Alex laughed. “I should warn you that there’s a crowd here, waiting to meet you.”
Nate opened the door, then stepped aside, motioning her to enter.
“Like how big a crowd?” She stepped to the side while he closed and bolted the door after they were all in. These guys really did seem to take their security seriously.
Alex stared at the ceiling for a second while clicking off his fingers. “Thirteen, plus one Gentry on the way to be exact. Actually, fourteen counting Rosie.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Were there aunts and uncles she didn’t know about?
“Nope.”
He slung an arm around her shoulder, and she couldn’t help but like it.I have a family.They entered a large living room, and even though Alex had warned her, she paused at seeing all the people staring at her.I have a really big family.Four of them were women and the rest were children. Wow, her brothers were prolific.
Before she could say anything, three of the women surrounded her, smothering her in a group hug. Kinsey hadn’t been hugged by a female since losing her mother, and with her emotions running high at having a family again, she burst into tears, thoroughly embarrassing herself.
“Oh, honey,” one of them said. “This has been a crazy day for you, hasn’t it?”
There was an understatement if she’d ever heard one, and she nodded.
The women stepped back but kept their hands on her arms. “I’m Madison, Alex’s wife,” the one with red hair and green eyes said.
“I’m Lauren, Court’s wife,” said the very pregnant blonde with spiky, pink-tipped hair.
The last one, a gorgeous blue-eyed blonde, smiled. “And I’m Taylor, Nate’s wife.”
They were all gorgeous, actually.
“I can’t believe you’re really here,” Madison said. “You have no idea how hard the guys have been trying to find you.”
“And instead she found us,” Alex said. He glanced at his brothers. “We need to work on our investigative skills.”
