Page 19 of Taken By my Brothers' Best Friends

Reed shook his head and walked away, his attitude as dark as ever. Dean shot me an accusatory look, like I was the bad guy for upsetting Reed. Reed started out upset. That wasn’t my fault. He was just naturally peeved.

Sugar’s voice was suddenly crackling into the room with us. “We know you’ve got the eagle! We can do this top-secret spy stuff, too. Tell the eagle her friends have arrived. I repeat. Tell the eagle her friends have arrived!”

Dean groaned. “Tell them to go home.”

“Let them in!”

“Tell them it’s important!” Ava sounded just as excited as I was. “Tell them they’re harboring a celebrity and they don’t even know it!”

My stomach knotted. Celebrity?

“Celebrity?” Lennon raised his eyebrows.

“Let us in! I need to freak out about what we found out in person!” Bianca even sounded excited about whatever secret they were holding. “Also, this may go against your job to protect her, but I need to slap her for keeping us out of the loop for so long!”

“Tell them to go home.” I backed away from the counter and nearly tripped over Bobby. “You’re right. My safety. Thank god for y’all putting my safety first. So, just tell them to go on back to Devil’s Den.”

Lennon perked up. “Wait a minute. I’m rethinking my decision.”

“No. They can’t come in.” I pressed my fingers to my mouth and shook my head. “Make them go.”

“We know a famous writer! I’m losing it! Let us in!” Sugar sounded so happy I felt bad for wanting to smack her.

“A famous writer?” Dean slowly turned his head to look at me even as he spoke to Lennon. “Let them in.”

“No! Dean!” I rushed forward and grabbed his arm. “Please, please, please!”

“It’s done. They’re coming.” Lennon grinned. “Want to tell us who you are before your friends get here?”

I looked down at my feet and glanced up at Dean through my lashes. “Please?”

“Keep your cute little looks to yourself. They’re coming and we’re going to find out what secret you’ve been keeping.” Dean patted my head and looked genuinely pleased with himself. “This should be fun.”

“Cute?” I sighed and turned around. “I’ll be in my room.”

He caught my arm. “Who are you?”

For some inexplicable reason, I wanted to cry. A secret I’d held so close to my heart for over half a decade was about to be ripped away from me and tossed out into the world. My entire life was about to change.

“Hey. What’s wrong?” Dean’s thumb traced a soft line on my inner arm. “You’re about to cry.”

I swallowed that urge and shook my head. “Nope. I’m a Hellstone. We don’t cry.”

“Sure. Well, are you going to tell me who you are or are you going to let your friends do it?”

I tried to make my mouth form the words but I couldn’t. I pulled away from him and went to my room. I only had a few more seconds to live life as Vera Hellstone, certified bum.

CHAPTER 17

Dean

The four women stormed into the house with all the energy of a bull with a man on its back. The one taking the lead was the oldest and she started ranting as soon as she laid eyes on me. “Where’s Vera? You guys have a lot of nerve, hiding our girl from us. You couldn’t keep her from us, though. Even though her brothers wouldn’t tell us where she was, we figured it out. Even if y’all are as handsome as any man I’ve ever seen. Except for Steve. Do y’all know Steve? He’s the mechanic in town. He’s—”

“Sugar.” Another of the women stepped forward with her arms crossed. She had the look of a person ready to be a bulldog when the moment struck. “Where’s Vera?”

“She’s in her room. You should be thanking us for letting you in. The point of keeping her here is to keep her safe. If half the town is coming in and out of here, she won’t be safe.” I frowned at them. “What author?”

“V.H. Springs!” They all shouted at once and I felt my face go red.

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