Unable to help it, he looked over Kylie’s shoulder, where Devon stood in their living room wearing an Army T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and an I-tried expression. “Has she been like this the whole time?” Kellan asked.
“Ever since you called last night,” Devon confirmed, leaning in to shake his hand and clap him on the shoulder. “I told her you were fine, but—”
“Please.” Kylie released an unladylike snort that reminded Kellan all too well how tough—and smart—she was. “Your arm could be hanging on by a tendon and a Hail Mary and you’d both try to convince me it was a flesh wound. Anyway, Devon has barely let me out of his sight ever since you gave us the update on what happened at Detective Moreno’s place, and he told me the intelligence unit had a patrol car camped out in front of your apartment all night, so yeah. I was worried.”
He should’ve known she’d be too perceptive not to pick up on the subtle changes that went with a heightened threat. And damn, did Julian DuPree ever fit the bill. “The cloak and dagger stuff is mostly just precautionary. Better safe than sorry.”
“Believe me, I remember.” Kylie linked her arm through his and guided him through her apartment while he tried like hell to forget that less than four short months ago, Xavier Fagan had held her at gunpoint and threatened to kill her half a dozen ways. “Anyway, I’m glad you came over,” she said. “I wouldn’t have been able to rest easy without seeing you in person.”
Kellan tried on a smile, forcing the expression to look nice and easy even though it was two sizes too small. “Of course I came over. I’m not on-shift until tomorrow, and you promised to feed me. And honestly, I’m fine.”
Okay, so fine was kind of relative in light of recent events. But the last thing he wanted was for his sister to worry. She’d been through enough with Fagan, and for all intent and purpose, he really was fine.
Just as long as he didn’t think about DuPree threatening Isabella. Or how she’d seemed to land directly in the bastard’s crosshairs. Or how she’d looked all sexy and sleepy and perfect the minute she’d woken up this morning, and Christ, Kellan needed to stick to facts, not feelings.
Kylie reclaimed his attention with a cluck of her tongue. “Fine enough to have cops on your threshold all night?”
“Those two patrolmen had the most boring night ever. No sign of trouble,” he said. “Not even a jaywalker.”
From the look on her face, she remained unconvinced. “Hmm.” She steered him into the kitchen, where something smelled damn close to heaven. “Well that’s a relief, considering Isabella’s apartment was pretty wrecked, right?”
Annnnd time to get selective with the truth. Kylie was already worried enough. Plus, thinking about Isabella’s apartment—and the chilling threat that had been left in it—wasn’t going to do a damn thing for his already iffy composure.
“Someone definitely ransacked the place.” Kellan sent a covert glance in Devon’s direction, meeting his eyes as his buddy pulled a pair of mugs from the cupboard and filled them both from the coffeepot on the counter. Thankfully, they were still fluent in the nonverbal shorthand they’d cultivated together in Afghanistan. The nearly imperceptible nod Devon gave Kellan along with one of the cups of coffee said he’d be on full watchdog status around Kylie until DuPree had been caught.
Kellan pulled a chair from beneath the kitchen table in the sun-filled breakfast nook, taking a long draw from his mug before saying, “Isabella’s headed to the precinct right now, and the intelligence unit is investigating the case with the FBI’s authorization. They’ll catch this guy.”
“Good.” Devon moved over the kitchen tiles, and even though the kiss he pressed to Kylie’s temple was chaste, the fierceness of his feelings for her practically radiated out of the guy.
And don’t you just know that feeling firsthand.
Kellan’s heart kicked faster behind his T-shirt and the plaid button-down shirt he’d slung over it. So he liked Isabella and didn’t want her to get mauled by a homicidal maniac, and yeah, she smelled really good and they had out-fucking-standing sex and he slept better than he had in ages when she was wrapped up in his arms. It didn’t mean anything. Definitely not anything major.
Shit. The whole thing was completely major. He liked her. A lot.
And as dangerous as that was, he didn’t want to stop.
The rumble of Devon clearing his throat brought Kellan back to planet earth. “I’m going to let you two talk,” he said. “You’ll let me know if there are any updates?”
As if that was even a question. “Of course,” Kellan said, tacking a silent thank you to the end of the sentence. Knowing Devon had Kylie’s back let him breathe a little easier, and he needed all the calm he could get.