Page 92 of The Wrong Highlander (Highland Brides 7)

“Mom and Dad,” he said with a grin.

“Right,” she said with disgust, and then added, “Fine. Then grab your cell phone and stay here. I’m going to go downstairs and see what’s happening. But if I say ‘Spidey, come on down,’ lock your door, hide, and call 911. Okay?”

“Spidey?” he asked, wincing slightly. “Seriously?”

Pet rolled her eyes at the complaint. “If they know your name is Parker Peters they’ll just think it’s a nickname. Get it? Parker Peters? Peter Parker? Spiderman?”

“I got it before you explained it,” he said with derision. “But it’s just so juvenile and lame.”

“Are you calling me lame?” she asked with amazement, and then realizing this wasn’t the moment for this discussion, muttered, “Whatever. Look, sweetie, this is serious. Just call 911 if I call you Peter then, okay?” She waited for him to nod, and then turned and eased the door open, pausing only to hiss “stay here” before sliding out of the room.

The hallway was surprisingly dim for seven o’clock in early June when the sun stayed up until nine or so, but it was light enough to see still. Pet had crept about halfway to the stairs at the opposite end of the hall when a voice called out, “Hello?”

The voice this time was female . . . but not Oksana’s. Pet paused to snatch up a crystal vase from a side table, hid it behind her back and moved to the railing that overlooked the front door entry.

Her eyes widened slightly when she saw the group of people crowding the large entry. Four men and a woman surrounded Oksana, and every one of them was dwarfing the housekeeper, who was a few inches taller than Pet’s own five foot two. They were also all staring up at her, she noted and then her gaze settled on the couple next to Oksana.

Pet felt her shoulders relax as she recognized the pair; Marguerite and Julius Notte. They’d been on the front porch talking to her sister, Quinn, when she’d arrived that afternoon, and had stuck around long enough for introductions before heading back to the Caprellis where they were staying for a couple of weeks. They were house-sitting while the older couple visited their daughter in Texas.

Her gaze slid to the other three men now, and her eyebrows rose slightly. All of them were big, but while two were just tall and muscular, the third was a complete behemoth, taking up twice as much space as anyone else in the entry. He was the biggest man Pet had ever seen, and that was saying something. She dealt with a lot of jocks in her work, but not one of them could have measured up to this guy. The shoulders on him! Good Lord! She’d heard black was supposed to be slimming, but the black T-shirt he wore just seemed to emphasize the width and muscle it was stretching to cover. His black jeans, on the other hand, were making his hips look tiny, or maybe they just were tiny in comparison to his shoulders. She followed the line of the jeans down to the black Doc Martens he wore and then slid her gaze back up again, taking in his shaved head and the fact that he wore rings on every one of his fingers. They could have been mistaken for brass knuckles except that they were silver. All told, the guy definitely didn’t look too safe to be around.

“Hello, Petronella. How nice to see you again.”

Pet forced her gaze back to Marguerite and almost sighed aloud with depression. Honestly, the woman was everything she wasn’t but had always longed to be—tall, curvaceous and beautiful with long, wavy auburn hair, and perfect pale skin. Marguerite was wearing a pretty summer dress and sandals that just emphasized her femininity and made Pet feel like a slob in her T-shirt and shorts.

Realizing they were all waiting for her response, Pet forced a smile and murmured, “Hello, again.”

“We just came by to introduce you to our nephews and their friend. The boys stopped by on their way back from the east coast and have decided to stay awhile. We didn’t want you to be concerned if you saw them coming and going,” she explained and then smiled wryly and added, “But we got here to find the front door wide open. When we didn’t see anyone around, we thought we’d better make sure everything was all right. I fear we startled your sister’s poor housekeeper.”

“Oh,” Pet breathed, her gaze sliding back to Oksana. A frown curved her lips downward when she noted that the woman was just standing there, staring straight ahead at nothing. Although, she could be watching out the side window for her husband, Pet supposed. Oksana’s husband was supposed to pick her up at seven. Pet shifted her attention back to Marguerite, stilling slightly as she noted her eyes. Marguerite and Julius had both been wearing sunglasses when she’d met them that afternoon. They weren’t wearing them now, though, and she could see that Marguerite’s eyes were blue while Julius’s were black, but both had silver flecks in them. It was as if someone had blown glowing silver glitter into—

“You know these people?”

Pet turned in surprise to see Parker at her side. The boy was frowning down at the people in the entry with Oksana. Taking her nephew by the arm, she gave him a push, trying to send him back the way he’d come. “You were supposed to wait in your room.”

Ignoring her urging, Parker held his ground and said, “They don’t live on this street.”

“Your mother introduced me to them when I got here. They’re house-sitting for the Cabellies,” she explained, still trying to urge him back toward his room.

“Caprellis,” he corrected even as Marguerite did.

“Jinx,” the woman said lightly, her smile widening. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Parker. Your mother and aunt were bragging about you this afternoon. Were your ears ringing?”

Parker shook his head, and then asked, “Who are you?”

“Marguerite Argeneau Notte,” she introduced herself solemnly, and then began introducing the others. “And this is my nephew Zanipolo Notte,” she gestured to the man on her right who was tall, and slender with lean muscle and long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. Gesturing to the man just past Zanipolo, she continued, “And a family friend, Justin Bricker.”

Pet noted his short dark brown hair, handsome face, and laughing green eyes . . . again with silver flecks.

“Our nephew Santo Notte,” Marguerite added, gesturing to the bald behemoth.

Pet slid her gaze over the taller man’s eyes. They were as black as Julius Notte’s, but there was much more silver in his eyes, and the lighter color seemed to be growing, she noted grimly.

“And, of course, my husband, Julius.” She turned and placed a hand on the arm of the man on her left. He was the only man here not wearing black. The other three men were decked out in black jeans, black T-shirts, and black Doc Martens. It was almost as if it were some sort of uniform. Julius, however, wore the same blue jeans and white T-shirt he’d had on when she’d met him earlier.

Every one of the men were over six feet tall, but Justin Bricker and Zanipolo were closer to six feet, while Santo and Julius were at least six-foot-six or better. The two shorter men were also lacking a lot of the muscle Santo had. They were still muscular, but with a leanness to them rather than the solid bulk he had. Julius was somewhere in the middle.

“Where are the Caprellis?” Parker asked suddenly, sounding suspicious.

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