All at once, the Steele clan erupted and Gage flinched at the sudden commotion. Even during happy times, the mix of so many loud, yelling voices hacked at his battered brain.

Damned, fucking injury.

Evie rushed to Reid and Brynne and threw her arms around them. “Group hug! Yay!”

Around the table, there were more smiles and when Evie let go of the newly engaged couple, Grif reached over and shook his brother's hand. “Best move you ever made, asshole.”

Reid’s face lit up. “I know!”

Reid gushing. Those were two words Gage never anticipated being used together. But, hey, good for him. The guy had been schlepping his ass into town every day to see Brynne. Maybe he added in a trip to the bank or the post office, but Brynne was the reason he went and he never hid it.

She was good for him. Grounded and reasonable and more importantly, patient. According to Reid, Brynne saw through his asshole-ishness.

Across the table, Britt offered his congratulations. “Who’d ever have thought you’d be the first to get hitched? I figured it’d be Grif and Carlie Beth.”

“Well, yeah,” Carlie Beth said, “but since Grif wants to invite half the universe and I don't, we seem to be at a marital impasse. And we're not even married.”

Evie piped up again. “Did you tell Mom and Dad?”

“Yeah. We told them after dinner. Mom’s already talking about a tent in the yard for the reception. Why am I feeling like Vegas might be the way to go?”

From the corner of his eye, Gage caught Micki stiffen. Everyone at the table was too keyed in to Reid and Brynne to notice, but Gage? He didn’t necessarily have a dog in this race and his curiosity about Micki was growing.

He nudged her elbow, only to have her jerk away. What was up with this girl? “Pretty sure he was kidding about the Vegas crack. I don’t think Brynne is a Vegas-wedding sort of girl and Reid wouldn’t do that to your mom. First wedding in the family and all that.”

Micki’s gaze shot to the happy couple, then back. “That would devastate her. She’d love a wedding on her lawn.”

“Will you come in for that?”

Why he asked, he wasn’t sure. Really not his business, but what the hell? Might as well throw it out there. At least get her thinking about it.

From across the bar, a young woman called—shrieked really—Evie’s name. “Ooh,” Evie said. “Crystal is here! Be right back.”

Evie flipped her long hair back and darted into the crowd, shoving through like a runaway bulldozer, and Micki’s face transformed into a wide-eyed look of awe. Awe and something else, something in her hollowed-out cheeks.

Sadness maybe. But he was no shrink.

“She’s so fearless,” Micki said.

“That she is. Nice subject change, too, but”—Gage made a buzzer noise—“no dice. Are you coming back for Reid’s wedding?”

“I…I’m not sure.”

“I’ll talk to Reid. See when they’re thinking. Maybe you can work it into your schedule.”

“Suds,” Reid said, “I’m warning you now, after this wedding, I’m going on a honeymoon. We might be a couple of weeks. You’ll have to man the fort on your own while I’m doing wicked things to my new bride.”

“Jesus, Reid,” Britt said.

But Brynne laughed and added an eye roll as she pushed off his lap. “Lord, you’re a pig. I can’t believe I’m marrying you.”

“Too late now, sweetheart. You’re committed.”

“Before this is over,” Gage cracked, “she might be committed all right.”

Next to him, Micki snorted and—wait for it—was that, could it be? Yep. The corner of her mouth lifted into, if Gage wasn’t mistaken, a Micki version of a smile.

Micki Steele didn’t smile much. She simply sat, owl-eyed, taking in her surroundings like a kid waiting for the next beating.

Why that was, he didn’t know. But more and more, with every second spent in this woman’s presence, the niggling inside his damaged brain grew.

Whatever her secrets were, he wanted to know. The hint of attraction was there and his ignored baser needs could only stand so much. The lack of sex was his own doing, considering a few of the single females—Cherlyn Marstin for one—had made it clear they wouldn't mind losing their clothes in front of him. But Steele Ridge was a small town, and building a new life after his injuries had been his main focus. Dating someone from town meant seeing that person whether the relationship went anywhere or not.

And he wasn’t ready. Not while his injuries made him less of the man he expected of himself.

Even going home to Iowa right now was out of the question. He could hide his impairment from the Steeles. From his family? No way.

But the mystery of Micki might be a good exercise in challenging his brain.

As she sat looking beyond his shoulder, that nearly-there smile disappeared. Tracking her gaze, he swung his head to the bar where a dark-haired guy wearing jeans and a black graphic T-shirt bent low and whispered into Evie’s ear.

The dude straightened up, scanning Evie’s body from head to toe, nodding his approval with a heavy-eye-contact kicker.

If the Steele boys caught this, they’d go insane.

Gage didn’t like the look of this guy. Not even a little.

Just as he decided he’d make a quick trip to the john by way of Evie’s admirer and break that shit up, Evie whipped out her phone and grinned up at the dude. Maybe she knows him.

But then the guy leaned over and whispered in her ear again, this time looking over her shoulder.

At Micki.

What. The. Fuck?

Did Micki know him? His clothing choices, dark and edgy with a skull and crossbones on his T-shirt, reminded him of Micki. Her messenger bag had that same skull and crossbones. Maybe they were friends from years ago? This guy had to be in his thirties, though. Definitely at least a few years older than Micki.

Beside him, she set her hands on the table and dug her fingertips into the scarred wood until her unpainted nails went white.

Not happy.

Gage’s shit meter blew apart. “You know him?”

Pushing herself up, she set her shoulders and let out a long breath. “I sure do.”

Micki’s heart slammed so hard it should have bruised her spine.

Standing at the bar, in the middle of the Triple B, in her hometown, where her family lived, was Tomas—Tommy.

Basically having sex with her sister.

Maybe that sex thing was over the top, but she knew exactly how Tommy operated. The way he wormed his way next to Evie and whispered in her ear, he knew exactly what he was doing.

Of all the women in all the towns in North Carolina, Tommy didn’t accidentally show up in Steele Ridge and meet her sister.

He wanted Micki’s attention.

Well, he’d gotten it and the rage, the absolute devouring of her nervous system, made her limbs tremble.

Dammit. Knowing it would be the first place Phil would look, Micki shouldn’t have come back. Even for a quick stop. Her plan to stay just ahead of him and be gone by the time he’d scammed himself out of that Mexican prison was an epic fail.

Phil. Was he here, too? Or was this the proverbial shot across her bow? The warning that she should get back to Vegas where, if she did what she was told and didn't make a fuss, she'd be rewarded.

No. If he were in the area, he’d be in the Triple B. Either with Tommy or alone. Simply to unnerve her. To get under her skin, to control her, by dropping hint bombs of what would happen if she tried to run or distance herself. The evidence. Always the evidence.

“Excuse me,” she said to Gage.

When he grabbed her wrist, her already tense body stiffened and he let go, holding his hands up.

“No,” she said. “It’s not…”

“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have touched you.”

Now she’d insulted him. Great. She'd pushed away the one person, a near stranger and bona fide war hero, who didn’t pepper her with questions or judgment.

“It’s not you,” she said. “I need to talk to someone.”

“The idiot with Evie?”

“I’ll take care of it. Please don’t call attention to him.”

Before Gage could comment, she pushed through the crowd, all that simmering rage moving her forward. Compared to what she’d experienced when she’d first arrived, diving into the center of this crowd to get to Tommy didn’t seem like such torture. All she knew now was that she needed to reason with him. And get him away from Evie.

Away from Jonah.

Away from all of them.

As she approached, he met her gaze, cocked one eyebrow and held up his beer in toast. At the very least, he seemed amused. A good sign.

She could work with amused. Which, given their history together, he knew all too well. And that cut both ways. As coworkers and friends, they’d shared years of inside jokes, not to mention an affection for sarcastic humor.

Right now, he was screwing with her. Trying and succeeding in unnerving her by pulling Evie into this hot-ass mess of a scenario.

I can do this.

After ten years of being too afraid to break free, now suddenly she grew a backbone?

“Well, hello,” he said, feigning surprise at Micki’s appearance.

Evie swatted Micki’s shoulder. “You didn’t tell me your friend was coming.”

I didn’t know.

“Yep,” Micki said. “I see you two are getting acquainted.”

“You know me”—Tommy let his gaze linger over Evie again—“always a sucker for beautiful women.”

Evie rolled her eyes. “We met in town earlier. I was at Brynne's shop and he came in looking for a gift.”

Or following my sister.

Micki inserted herself in the minimal space separating her sister and Tommy and wound up bumping a woman attempting to divert Tommy’s attention with her giant boobs.

Girlfriend, you don’t want any part of this.

Micki ignored the woman and met Tommy's stare. “Talk about a surprise.”

“Yes. Let’s talk about it.” He leaned in. “I guess I don’t need to tell you that you left your phone in your car. Your trunk, of all places. And, hey, your emergency bag was gone.”

He'd actually broken into her car. A slow-moving panic sparked in Micki’s brain as Evie watched—and listened to—the exchange.

Get her out of here.

“Evie,” she said, “give us a second, please.”

“Sure.” Evie waggled her phone. “Call me!”

Her little sister wandered off, her adorable butt swinging as she went. Something feral ignited in Tommy’s eyes, and Micki’s panic exploded. This was her friend. Years and years together. She’d trusted him, shared secrets—some anyway—as well as her heartache over her family’s estrangement. All of it confided to a friend, and loved one.

Yes, she could admit that. She loved him. Maybe not the way she loved Jonah or her real family, but they shared a connection. A tether to the strange world of Phil Flynn that only those in his inner circle could truly grasp. How pathetic was that? Phil manipulated her into his lowlife world, then slowly, over time, convinced her she belonged with him, that she could trust him and her family didn’t understand. The truly sick part was that she knew. All this time, she’d understood he’d worked her into a corner. She couldn’t put all the blame on him. She took part by allowing him to separate her from her family. And then he’d capitalized on her fear of being without that same family by convincing her he was the one to trust.

And now Tommy, too. The son of a bitch was using her sister as bait.

The betrayal alone made her burn. She’d process that later, after the anger wore off.

“Stop it,” she said. “I know what you’re doing and Evie’s a good kid. I thought you and I were friends?”

“We are friends. But imagine what I thought when I saw your bag gone. I trusted you to do the right thing.”

The right thing. They’d been crawling around in filth for so long they probably wouldn’t know the right thing if it clocked either of them upside the head.

“I’m sorry. I…” She looked around the packed bar—what am I doing?— and shook her head. “I don’t know. I was alone in the office. Thanksgiving day and I had a moment there. I figured I could see my family for a couple of days while you worked on getting Phil out. Then I’d just come back when it was time. Besides, as long as I have my laptop, I can work from here.”

Liar, liar. But, oh well. If it bought her time to back Tommy off and get out of Steele Ridge, she’d be set. The short-term goal right now? Convince him her visit to Steele Ridge was just that. A visit. Like all the other times.

Short-term goal two: Make sure Evie’s number disappeared from his phone.

Tommy made a tsk-tsk noise. “I might believe that if you hadn’t ditched your cell.”

“Not intentionally. I must have dropped it when I reached into the trunk. By the time I realized it, I was already on the road and figured I’d e-mail you.”

“And yet, you didn’t.”

“I responded to you.”

“Once.”

Touché. She stood silently while the music blared and the crowd bunched in. If she waited long enough, Tommy would say something. One thing about her old friend, he needed to fill space.

He eyed a tall redhead passing by, then faced Micki. “Tell me you needed a break. Some downtime. A little R and R, whatever. But don’t lie to me.” He drove a finger into his chest. “Not to me.”

He knew better. She should have anticipated that. Being home was short-circuiting her brain. Best to agree with him, let him believe he’d gotten it right.

She nodded. “I’m sorry. With Phil out of the picture, I wanted a few days to myself.”

She set her hand on his arm, a gesture she’d made thousands of times. Each time done with affection, but now, after his little charade with Evie, all the warmth usually found with Tommy—Tomas—had been replaced with a cold numbness.

Tomas looked over at the redhead again. Micki had already lost him to a Playboy model. Well, she could have him. She could fuck him hanging from a chandelier if she wanted.

After Micki convinced him to go back to Vegas.

“Tomas, please. Phil knows where I am twenty-four/seven. I freaked a little. I grabbed my go-bag and headed out. Originally, I’d thought about LA. By the time I got to the bus, I changed my mind. My brother just got engaged and I wanted to be here. That’s all.”

Of course, Tomas wouldn’t know Reid had just announced said engagement. She hoped.

“And what? You weren’t coming back? Phil won’t let that happen. You know you have to come back.”

“Is he with you?”

“No. He’s still in Mexico. Should be out tonight. He sent me to keep an eye on”—he checked on the Playboy model and came back to her—“things.”

On her. But, phew, no Phil to deal with.

Yet.

“Did you tell him I was gone?”

He met her gaze, his lips tight for a second before they slithered into a grin. “Would I do that to you?”

No. He wouldn’t. Not Tommy. But this was Tomas. Phil’s soldier. The one relied on to do things they wouldn’t share with her. For her own good, they’d said.

And truthfully, she didn’t want to know. Didn’t want to face it.

All these years, Tommy had been her friend. Her ally. Her confidant when living in the deceit of Phil’s world consumed her.

Except, he’d just leered at Evie to provoke Micki.

Some friend.

Still, she had to roll with this. Get out of this current dustup and make a plan. She gripped his arm and squeezed. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I figured you’d come here.”

“See? That alone tells you I didn’t intend on not coming back. Of course this is the first place you'd look. If I wanted to run, I wouldn’t be dumb enough to hang around here.”

Which was all true. He’d simply caught up with her before she could disappear.

Tomas glanced over at the table, where a burst of laughter from the Steele clan erupted. “That’s your family?”

“Yes. My brothers and their girlfriends.”

And Gage. She found him watching her, those observant eyes of his taking it all in. She needed to peel away from Tomas before suspicion grew and Gage, or her brothers, wandered over. Because right now, she didn’t have a clue how to explain who Tomas might be.

Other than to say he was Phil’s henchman and in Steele Ridge to make sure she returned to Vegas.

Her brothers would love that.

Sensing something, Gage stood and she turned back to Tomas. “Give me until tomorrow with them. Please. If Phil needs something, I have my laptop. Okay?”

The redhead nudged closer, and Tomas gave her a once-over similar to the one he’d given Evie. “Tomorrow,” he said, keeping his hungry eyes on the woman. “Then we both get on a plane and go.”