I felt guilty about upending her life to this extent. All of Celine’s family was here, as was her useless baby daddy. And now, she had to leave them all and move far away because of me.

“No. She won’t have to. We will protect her,” promised Marcus.

“But Arjun is so vicious. He won’t stop harassing her so easily,” I protested.

“You let me worry about that, Tia. I swear I won’t let him harm her. Now, tell me what you’d like to drink. It’s happy hour at Casa Donovan.”

“She looks like a Cosmopolitan girl,” said Luke, putting an arm around my shoulder.

“No pink drinks for me, ever,” I cried, with a laugh. “Besides, I can’t drink on the job.”

“You’re off duty now that Maddie is in bed, honey. And if my brother acts like a slave driver, we’ll get you unioned up in a jiffy,” promised Luke.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re going to get me in trouble?” I asked skeptically.

“Me? I’m harmless,” he swore, looking like an innocent schoolboy.

I shook my head and laughed, unable to resist his charm. Marcus and Luke were nothing like their grumpy older brother, but they didn’t move the needle on my libido even by an inch. They gave me strictly brotherly vibes. I wished I could fall for a good boy like Marcus or even Luke, who looked like Lucifer’s minion on Earth. Why did I have to be hung up on a man who scowled more than he smiled, and made my heart pound like I’d run six miles in under a minute?

“In that case, I’ll have a Moscow mule, please, and make it kick,” I told Luke, with a weary sigh.

“Coming right up,” he said, as he reached for the cocktail shaker.

“Want to shoot some aliens? You can be on my team,” offered Marcus.

He and Fee were setting up an elaborate gaming console that looked as if it needed a PhD to operate.

“I’m not much of a gamer,” I said apologetically.

“I’ll teach you,” said Marcus. “You just have to point and shoot.”

Luke brought over my drink and I took a hearty sip before I settled down next to Marcus. He showed me how to use the controls, and even though Fee literally slaughtered us, I had a great time blowing up spaceships. Maybe it was the alcohol. Boy, that mule was kicking me hard!

I was curled up against Marcus and laughing uncontrollably at how Fee could single-handedly massacre the three of us when I felt a tingling in the back of my neck.

I turned around slowly to find Leo in the doorway, glaring at me with murder in his eyes.

CHAPTER 12

LEO

Tia was the first one to notice me standing in the doorway. She sat up uncomfortable, looking guilty as hell. And so she should be!

Just yesterday morning, I had fucked her brains out in this very house, and here she was, cozying up to my brother. He, on the other hand, looked smug. When he realized I was glaring at the two of them, the treacherous bastard put his arm around Tia and pulled her closer.

What was he even doing here? The smarmy scumbag was supposed to be looking after Tia’s friend, not sniffing around my woman. Wait!What?

Tia wasn’t my woman. She was just a one-night stand. If she wanted to jump from one Donovan brother to another, that was her choice. I didn’t care, as long as she didn’t do it under my roof. That was plain disrespectful. And I didn’t like being disrespected. By anyone.

I rolled up my sleeves and stalked into the room, heading straight for Marcus. Maybe my intention was written on my face because the sniveling coward jumped over the back of the couch and hid behind Aunt Fee.

“Aunt Fee, save me,” he yelped. “Leo’s going to hit me.”

For fuck’s sake, we weren’t kids anymore. He could fight his own battles.

“Get up from there and explain yourself,” I roared.

“Leo,” said my aunt, sharply. Her whip-like tone stopped me in my tracks. “What on earth are you doing?”