Page 180 of Forever Never
She raised an eyebrow. “You know, you can trust us to worry with you. You don’t have to carry it alone. She’s my sister.”
He still itched to see her, to poke his head in the doorway of the studio and make sure she was there. Safe. His.
“I know,” he said finally. “It’s under control.”
She pinned him with amomlook. “Are you forgetting who my mother is? My sister and I don’t need to be protected from the truth.”
In the past, he’d found that giving Remi the least amount of information possible had helped keep her in line. It’s when she knew what dangers lay ahead that she made some of her worst choices.
But Kimber was another story.
“The plan is to stop him before he ever comes near Mackinac, let alone this house,” he told her.
“Judging from the look on your face, it’s not going well,” she guessed.
The song in the studio changed to something with a thrumming beat. It tugged at him, pulling him toward Remi.
“It’s a slower process than I’d like it to be.” It was as much as he was willing to give her.
“Keep me posted,” she told him. “You might be used to dealing with Remi, but unlike her, I only use information for good. I want to know when I need to start worrying.”
He nodded.
It felt wrong to have to keep the people he cared about updated on a threat he hadn’t yet mitigated for them. Like he was failing them. When the stakes were this high, he couldn’t afford not to do things exactly right.
“That’s all I ask,” Kimber said. She picked up her reading glasses and, with a wink, turned her attention back to her laptop.
Dismissed, Brick headed in the direction of the music and Remi.
He wanted to see her in his house, covered in flecks of paint, grinning or glaring at whatever world she was bringing to life.
The doorbell halted him in his tracks.
“Are you expecting someone?” Kimber asked, popping out of the living room.
It was the world they were suddenly thrust into when doorbells signified surprises, and surprises could be deadly.
“No,” he said, striding for the front of the house. “Maybe you should go wait in the studio?”
“I’ll stay with you,” Kimber decided.
There was more Remi in her than Kimber realized.
Casually, Brick reached down and released the snap on his holster.
But through the beveled glass, he spotted a familiar form. One that scared him almost as much as a murderous monster.
For a split second, he thought about not answering the door. But it was the coward’s way out.
“Audrey,” he said, opening the door.
His ex-wife looked good. Great actually. She’d cut her hair again, buzzing down the sides and leaving the top longer with tight curls. She had a stud in her nose—that was new. Her lips were painted a dark purple. She was tall and cool. Relaxed. Her black jeans and over-sized sweater were comfortable.
“Brick,” she said with a wide smile. She stepped across the threshold, pulling a suitcase behind her, and gave him a smacking kiss on the mouth.
“Audrey,” Kimber said, sounding as surprised as Brick felt. He could all but hear the accusation in her tone. He was sleeping with Remington, yet here his ex-wife was with a goddamn suitcase and a kiss.
“Kimber?” Audrey paused and looked back and forth between him and his guest. “Okay, I gotta admit I didn’t see this one coming.” She waggled her finger at them both.
