Page 45 of Her Keeper
Sloane narrowed her eyes. “It is, but it’s still just a guy. I don’t recognize him, and I know Penny and Michael don’t. Joseph doesn’t, or he would have said something when he came in. Do you know him?”
Brooks turned her eyes up to meet Sloane’s gaze and looked at her steadily.
Then she shook her head.
But anyone with eyes in their head could see that she was lying.
Though I wondered why.
20
MICHAEL
By the time we came to a stop in front of my father’s house, I was steaming.
And it wasn’t an emotion I was used to handling.
The emotions were Joseph’s specialty, and yet he was the one driving and trying to talk some sense into me.
“I hate being on this side of things,” I growled, looking up at the house.
“And yet here you are, little brother, so let’s get some things settled,” he said, his voice tense. “We’re going to go in there and tell him what we know. We’re going to show him that Penny has already fulfilled her end of the bargain without needing to meet with Monica or put herself in danger. We’re going to show him the picture and give him our best guess, then let him go to work on confirming that.”
“If he’ll even bother,” I muttered. Because I had serious doubts about whether my father would pursue this on his own or not.
After all, he’d been willing to let the Carusos run around town doing whatever they wanted for weeks without raising a hand. I still couldn’t understand why he would have done that, but I was guessing there was more to this whole story than we knew, and that made me trust him even less.
“That’s not our problem right now,” Joseph said mildly. “We need to get him off Penny’s back and guarantee her safety. We need to make sure he calls off the hit men. If we have to work on this mystery on our own after that, so be it. Right now, we have one mission.”
“One mission,” I agreed.
“And that means you keeping your temper in check.”
“That’s rich, coming from you.”
He chuckled. “Don’t I know it. Let’s go.”
We got out of the car and stalked toward the house, though I was stalking a bit slower than usual due to the wound in my leg. When we got to the front door, Duca opened it and welcomed us in.
“Got your message, boss,” he said quietly. “He’s upstairs in the living room with your mother.”
Joseph and I both paused.
“How’s Mom?” he asked, taking the words right out of my mouth.
Duca exchanged a glance with Joseph and frowned. “Not great. You know she’s on your side.”
“But can’t do much about it,” I finished. “As usual.”
It was the story of our life. Our mother had always been the best parent in the family. She loved us to distraction and would have done anything for us. My father, however, had decided early that we needed to be taught how the real world worked. And he’d had his way, despite my mother’s protests.
My little sister, on the other hand...
Dante appeared from around the corner, her face lighting up when she saw Joseph and me. She flew right into my arms, then gasped when I stumbled.
“I didn’t know you’dactuallybeen shot,” she said, jumping back.
I made a face at her. “What did you think it meant when someone got shot, exactly?”
