Page 60 of By the Letter

Shira’s cheeks were almost glowing, and it was…striking. Sweet. If she didn’t like attention, she’d need to stop being so adorable.

“You’re fine,” she replied. “I expect it from you, so I’m prepared.”

Ben elbowed Nate. “See? I’m fine. Shira and I are already friends.”

Nate leaned around Ben, leveling Shira with a soft look. “You can ignore him. He doesn’t mind.”

“Thanks, Nate.” She offered him a small, timid smile. “I guess I have to get used to you guys since Roman says you’ll be around a lot once Beanie’s here.”

Nate chuckled. “We’re around a lot in general. Don’t know if it’s healthy or not, but that’s us. Before this big move, Rome and Ben lived together, and I was next door. It’s going to take some adjusting now that he’s on this side of town.”

“We might move too,” Ben added. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did, nor would I object.

I raised a brow. “You’re not living with me.”

“What about your other brother…Adrian?” she asked.

“Adrian’s job keeps him busy at night. He’s harder to track down,” Nate said.

“Oh? What does he do?”

“He owns a club,” I told her, leaving out the minor detail of which club. I didn’t want her to feel embarrassed about my brother’s connection to where we met.

Leave it to Ben to blow it by snickering. “A club? Be specific, man. Sooner or later, Shira’s going to find out Adrian owns a sex club.”

Her body went solid beside mine, but she kept her reaction off her face. “Oh. Okay. I guess a place like that wouldn’t exactly be a brunch spot. Working nights makes sense.”

That made my brothers laugh, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn’t tell how she was feeling, but she was smart enough to connect the dots and figure out MHC was Adrian’s club. If she was bothered, she didn’t show it as she tucked into her dinner, scrunching her nose at the game she watched with Nate and Ben.

When her plate was empty, I took it to the kitchen. She tried to claim it was time for her to go home, but all three of us insisted she stay. So, she settled beneath the fuzzy blanket Nate had draped over her, and before long, her eyes fluttered closed, and she fell asleep.

Hard to believe it was possible with Ben shouting at the TV and Nate leaping to his feet then slamming back down when his guy missed a shot, but her face remained placid, and her breathing was slow and steady. Again, I was hit with a deep sense of satisfaction. Shira felt secure enough to fall asleep next to me and my brothers. There wasn’t much more I could have asked for.

“Is she asleep?” Nate whispered.

“She is.” I swept hair off her forehead. “Growing a kid is tiring work.”

When Shira still hadn’t stirred a little while later, Nate looked from her to me, his brow furrowed in thought.

“How could you have gotten her so wrong?” he asked.

I knew exactly what he meant. How could I have spent any time around this woman and thought badly of her? I believed everything I’d heard about her, and what I hadn’t heard, I’d formed assumptions based on observations. I’d been wrong. Deeply, undeniably wrong.

“I’m an idiot.”

Ben nodded enthusiastically. “Glad you said it.”

“She’s closed off and shy. When I met her, I misread her as icy and arrogant.”

Ben chuffed. “Because you believed the bullshit Frannie said about her.”

I couldn’t deny it. “That and the letters.” I rubbed the space between my brows and exhaled. “She wrote them. It wasn’t Frank at all. Every time I sent him a letter, it was Shira writing back to me.”

It took a lot to catch Nate off guard, but he jerked like he’d been shocked with electricity.

“What the fuck?” he hissed. “That’s…interesting. How do you feel about that?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. Much less attached to GoldMed, for one. Frank Goldman instantly went from something like a mentor to a lecherous creep for going after her when she was nineteen years old.”

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