Page 42 of Surrender
“Are you fucking serious?”
“What?”
“Keefe is in love with a woman he barely knows! Do you know what that means?”
“How do you know that? Did you ask him?”
Liam already knew the answer. Keefe didn’t need to say it out loud—Sophie would know. Twins didn’t need words. Still, rule number one of being married to Sophie O’Brian: never interfere in twin business.
But in this case, he dove in anyway.
“I don’t need to ask him,” Sophie snapped. “Shit, Liam, this isn’t just a fling! He’s looking at her like she’s the answer to every question he’s ever had. And she—God knows what she wants. He’s too trusting. Too good.”
Liam put the car in reverse, easing them out of the driveway while giving her a chance to breathe. “You love your cousin Connor, right?”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“And Simon?”
“Of course.”
“I’m just saying love at first sight isn’t exactly rare in your family. It’s happened before to good people. People you trust. You trust Connor, right? And Simon? Maybe Keefe deserves the same grace?”
She crossed her arms tightly and stared out the window at a hedge blooming with wild fuchsia. Her voice was quieter, but no less fierce. “It’s not just love. It’s the one. He thinks she’s it. I saw it all over his face.”
Liam reached over and laid a comforting hand on her knee.
If Keefe had really fallen—truly fallen—then Sophie would have to find a way to make peace with it. She’d protect him, as always. But if Ruby wasn’t who she claimed to be… if she so much as flinched in the wrong direction…
Well. Sophie would deal with her.
And it wouldn’t be pretty.
Chapter 13
The scent of grilled steaks and briny oysters drifted in through the open windows, blending with the tang of salt air and the distant clatter of laughter. Outside, some of the men were hovered over the grill, flipping meat and telling stories with wild hand gestures, still proud of the oysters they'd dug up that afternoon. Inside, the rest of the O’Brian family were preparing to cram around the dining table.
The kitchen smelled like something sweet bubbling in the oven—one of Sylvia’s berry crumbles—and whatever mix of flowers Sondra had decided belonged in the centerpiece. Darcie had lit candles despite the lingering summer light slanting through the windows.
Everyone was gathered at Connor and Darcie’s for a family dinner, though the real purpose, everyone knew, was to gawk at Sophie and Liam, freshly back from their honeymoon in Greece and still glowing like a couple in a travel brochure.
Sophie walked into the house first, hand linked with Liam’s, cheeks pink from the heat or maybe just the attention. Keefe was right behind them.
Nan clapped her hands together. “Look at you two so tan! I’d swear you walked straight out of a movie.”
“More like a steamy romance novel,” Simon muttered from behind a wine glass.
“Simon,” Sondra warned, elbowing him.
“What?” he said, grinning. “I’m just saying—look at them.” Simon gestured to Sophie’s flushed face. “You don’t get that color in your cheeks from the sun or that hairstyle standing up—usually.”
Sophie flashed a glare Simon’s way.
But Simon being Simon ignored all warning and pressed on. “Oh, come on. Like we don’t all know that you and Liam are having wild sex.”
“We—” Sophie was about to feign innocence but then thought why? “How do you know that?” she said with an angry smirk.
“Sondra told me about finding you two at it in the snug.”
