Singe (Guardian Protection #1)

“Get a room!” Lark called, walking through the door with a pair of identical redheaded little girls in tow.

“Rhion!” they both squealed in unison and took off at a sprint before careening into her legs.

Rhion’s entire face split into a megawatt grin as she squatted and hooked them into a group bear hug. “Hey, sweets.”

“Daddy say you killed da turkey with you bare hands,” one of the girls said.

The other added, “After you wrestled it to da ground.”

I arched an eyebrow at Lark, but he was too busy beaming with pride at his baby girls to notice.

“Did he now?” Rhion twisted her lips and tipped her head back to scowl at him.

He feigned innocence. “What? Braydon told me you were working at a slaughterhouse.”

Everyone laughed, including Rhion, who stood up and looped an arm around my waist and announced, “Mum’s the word.” And then her body locked up tight as a woman’s voice came from the front door.

“Knock. Knock,” Katie said, timidly peeking her head inside.

Considering she graced nearly half of the picture frames in Rhion’s apartment, I immediately recognized her. She was cute, albeit a little mousy for my taste, but it didn’t escape me the way Devon and Alex suddenly straightened in their seats when she walked in.

Rhion strolled to the door. “Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in.”

Katie lifted her hands in surrender and flashed her gaze around the room. “I come in peace.”

Johnson grumbled something under his breath and went back to watching the game, though I could tell he was paying studious attention to Rhion and Katie out of the corners of his eyes. I followed his lead and walked to the makeshift bar Rhion had set up to keep us out of the kitchen while the chefs did their thing.

“Long time no see,” Rhion said as I twisted the top off a beer.

“I brought you a surprise,” Katie announced.

My body went stiff as I cut my gaze to Johnson and found him rising to his feet.

“What kind of surprise?” he asked.

Doing my best to keep it casual, I eased back to Rhion’s side and draped an arm around her shoulders. “Yes. I’d love to hear more about this surprise. Hi. I’m Jude.”

Katie’s gaze jumped to me, her eyes drifting to my arm, confusion and shock registering in her dull, brown eyes “It…it’s a peace offering,” she stammered.

Rhion’s voice dripped with sarcasm as she said, “You gave your mother my address and then dodged me for two months. It better be a Saint Bernard puppy I can name Mozart if you expect to be forgiven.”

The entire room went on alert when a second woman’s voice came from the front door. “The dog’s name is Beethoven. Not Mozart.”

“Oh my God!” Rhion shrieked.

Johnson boomed, “What the fuck?”

Devon cursed, “Holy hell.”

“No fucking way,” Alex whispered.

“Yesss,” Braydon hissed.

Katie smiled—a huge, toothy, white grin, which made her look far more attractive than I’d originally thought. But, as I saw the woman standing behind her, I realized not a single person in the room was looking at Katie.

The woman was unbelievably gorgeous. Tall. Thin. Shiny, black hair draped over her shoulders and down the front of her painted-on black dress. Her heels were so tall that she was closer to my height than any woman I’d ever met.

I recognized her immediately. Though I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why she was standing in Rhion’s apartment.

Lark moved to my side and whispered, “Is that Brianna Talbot?”

“Looks like it,” I replied, equally shocked.

“As in…former lingerie model turned lingerie designer, Brianna fucking Talbot?” he elaborated.

“I…” I started but trailed off.

It was. No question about it, but I’d never been so confused as I watched Rhion pull her in for an exuberant hug.

“What are you doing here?” Rhion exclaimed.

“I hear you’ve got a man. As your best friend, it’s my job to meet him and see if he’s worthy of my stamp of approval.”

Rhion playfully slapped her arm before turning to face me. “Jude. Meet Brianna. Brianna. Meet Jude.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, prowling toward them, extending a hand, which she took in a limp, feminine shake.

“Oh, he’s prettier than the pictures,” Brianna whispered to Rhion.

She giggled. “I told you.”

I blinked. “Pictures?”

What in the actual fuck was happening?

Leo was grinning as he headed toward the door. “Brianna,” he greeted, pulling her into a professional yet friendly hug. “I didn’t know you were coming. I’d have sent one of the guys to pick you up from the airport.”

Her deep-brown eyes lit as she aimed them down at Rhion and winked. “But then it wouldn’t have been a surprise.”

Just then, Sarah came rushing through the door. “Sorry, sorry. I’m late. I burnt the mac and cheese, so I had to start over. It’s cooking upstairs. I’ll need—” She suddenly froze. “Brianna?”

“Surprise!” she said with a blinding, big-screen-worthy smile.

“What the…” Sarah squealed, dropping her bags to the ground and rushing over to pull her into a hug.

I scanned the room around us. Johnson was blinking rapidly, Alex’s mouth was hanging open, Devon was finger-combing his hair, and Braydon was wearing a shit-eating grin.

Hooking my arm around Rhion, I tugged her off-balance until she crashed into my chest.

With a giddy smile, she snuggled against me, muttering, “This is the best surprise ever.”

“Surprise is right,” I rumbled into the top of her hair. “Your best friend is Brianna Talbot?”

Rhion tipped her head back and eyed me curiously. “Is that a problem?”

“Damn straight, I’m her best friend! She can’t live without me!” the willowy woman exclaimed, releasing Sarah as Katie shut the door behind them.

Rhion giggled and shot her a smile. Brianna returned the wide grin and capped it off with a wink.

Hand to God I heard Devon moan.

I ground my teeth together. “Right. You going to explain why, in the approximately four thousand conversations we’ve had about her, you didn’t think to mention her last name?”

Her head snapped back, a sudden attitude sifting through her features. “You didn’t ask.”

“That’s because, in your file, it says her name is Brianna Turner, thirty-four-year-old, housewife, mother of two, that you met online in a readers’ group.”

“Funny, I was unaware you were dating my file,” she smarted.

I looked up and found Johnson watching us, his expression equally as puzzled as I felt.

“Thirty-four?” Brianna questioned, clearly appalled. She turned her wrath on Leo and repeated, “Thirty-four?”

He chuckled. “I’ll change it to twenty-one if you’d like. Seems like a wasted effort now that you’re here. Cat’s out of the bag.”

Brianna smirked. “You still sign their paychecks though, right?”

“That I do.”

“What the hell is going on?” Johnson joined the conversation, his outrage only slightly more palpable than mine.

“Brianna is a client,” Leo replied. “She likes to keep things…well, private.”