Forty torturous minutes later, Marcus steered the rental car into the parking lot of the strip mall that contained Wilde Security. Reece had bought the old mall on the cheap several years ago because—well, Vaughn was pretty sure his second oldest brother was a genius when it came to making money. Reece had seen the flood of young professionals and budding families pushing eastward looking for cheaper rent, knew the influx of money would clean up the formerly rough area, and now the brothers owned a prime piece of real estate.
But while the Wilde Security office and the empty stores surrounding it were no longer boarded up and covered with graffiti, the building was still the lone shabby holdout among a gaggle of shiny new shopping centers and apartment complexes. Reece was doing his best to rehab the old stores into rentable spaces, starting with the space directly next door to their office, which had recently opened as a coffee shop owned and operated by Reece’s wife, Shelby.
The shop was currently doing a steady stream of business—which was great, except that it left parking at a premium.
Marcus whistled as they cruised the lot, looking for a space. “You guys have made some big improvements since the last time I was here.”
“Yeah, that’s Shelby’s new place. The Bean Gallery.”
“Looks like she does good business.”
“She does. She has a head for it.” Looking back, it wasn’t such a stretch that the vibrant splash of color that was Shelby Bremer had ended up with uptight, repressed Reece. They were at opposite ends of the spectrum, the two of them, but it was the same spectrum. They both had an eye for business and a talent for making money, and they were both total nerds.
Vaughn grumbled, impatient as they circled the lot again. “This parking situation is getting annoying, though. Cam’s been telling us we need to put signs up to reserve our spaces.” It was supposed to be a casual remark, just small talk, but saying his twin’s name sent a spear of agony through him.
Jesus, he hoped Cam was holding up.
“Hey, we’ll get him back,” Marcus said and finally snagged a spot directly in front of The Bean Gallery.
As Vaughn climbed out of the car, he caught sight of Shelby through the front window—her hair was bright pink this week, so she wasn’t hard to miss. She stood behind the espresso machine fixing a drink, but when she spotted him, she passed the task to one of her baristas. She flew across the shop, shoved open the door.
“Vaughn!” She threw her arms around him and squeezed hard enough that his bruised ribs protested. “Oh, God. We’re going crazy here. Reece told me to keep working like everything was normal, but I can’t—” Her voice cracked, and she squeezed him again. “Libby’s sick with worry, which can’t be good for the baby. Eva’s scared out of her mind—which, you know her, means she’s pissed off at everybody. Reece and Jude have had a hell of a time talking her down from launching a full scale assault.”
Yeah, that sounded like Eva.
Vaughn gave himself a second to hug his sister-in-law, to draw strength from his family. Then he set her back at arm’s length and met her gaze. “Shel, listen. Reece is right. We’re probably being watched so you should carry on as if nothing—”
“Uh-uh.” She shrugged away from him and held up a finger, pushing it into his face as if daring him to argue. “I’ve made up my mind. I’m closing down for the rest of the day. I’ve already told the customers we have a family emergency. Seriously, how can you guys expect me to pretend everything is a-okay when Cam’s in trouble? He’s my family now, too, and I love him just as much as you do.” She nodded, a gesture that very much tacked on a so there to the end of her sentence, then marched back into the coffee shop, pink ponytail swinging.
Marcus snorted. “Man. I like her. You Wilde boys sure know how to pick them.”
Yeah, all of his sisters-in-law were pretty great. His brothers had good taste. Him, not so much. Of course he’d be the one to go and fall for the selfish femme fatale-type.
Jesus. The more he thought about how Dahlia had threatened him with his own weapon, how she’d run when he’d most needed her help, the more pissed off he became.
Yeah. He sure knew how to pick them.
He strode into Wilde Security and found Eva pacing laps around the three desks lined up in the main part of the office. She was pale and looked shocky to his trained eye. She kept rubbing the band of her wedding ring like it was a magic lamp, but no genie was going to pop out to solve their problem. Reece sat at Vaughn’s desk, frantically typing on a laptop. Jude bounced back and forth between keeping Eva calm and comforting his wife Libby, who sat behind his desk and looked as if she had been crying for hours. Apparently fear and pregnancy hormones made for a volatile mix.
Reece looked up when the little bell over the door signaled Vaughn and Marcus’s entrance. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of Greer since you called. Nothing but voicemail.”
“Yeah, I tried him, too,” Vaughn said. “Same thing.”
Jude straightened away from his wife and a rare flash of true anger darkened his eyes to navy. “Where the fuck is he? He should be here with us.”
“That’s the thing—he’s always been here with us,” Reece said. “His entire life has revolved around us. Wherever he is now, whatever he’s doing, it’s something he needs, and we have to respect it.”