Brighter Than the Sun

“Glad to meet you, Zoe. And welcome to the family. I’ve no doubt that Ma has already indoctrinated you into the cult, as Rusty so irreverently deemed us.”

“Glad to meet you too,” Zoe murmured. “Rusty has told me so much about you all that I feel as if I already know you.”

She instantly gave an inward groan. Way to go, idiot. Do exactly what Rusty said not to do. Open yourself up for more than you bargained for. But to her relief, Garrett’s teeth gleamed all the more and he cocked an eyebrow in his sister’s direction.

“I hope it was all good things. Like how I’m the best-looking and smartest brother.”

There were muffled and some not-so-muffled choking sounds made in the group now surrounding Zoe and Rusty.

“I believe she mentioned that Donovan was the brains of the operation,” Zoe said, unable to help herself, relaxing and returning his tease.

“That I am,” another man said as he stepped forward.

To her surprise, he didn’t shake her hand, but instead enfolded her in a gentle hug and then turned and introduced her to his wife and then to their two children, though Rusty had explained they were actually Eve’s half siblings, Travis and Cammie.

Soon it became a muddled confusion as Zoe attempted to commit each name and face to memory. She had the names already, but now she needed to make sure she remembered which face went with each family member. Even before the introductions were complete, she was all but wilting. Never had she been made to feel so welcome or at home by complete strangers. Well, by anyone, anywhere, for that matter. It only brought home the fact that she was utterly ignorant of something as simple as family dynamics, and it brought an unassuageable ache to her heart.

But then she noticed another man standing just off to the side, one she hadn’t been introduced to yet. She searched her overwhelmed brain for who this might be, but all the family names—and God, there were a ton—blended together and she could barely recall the last few people she’d been introduced to, much less the ones who had come first.

On cue, the man stepped forward, his expression more intent than those of the others had been. Almost as if he’d been studying her and had found a discrepancy. His welcome didn’t seem to be as automatic as all the others’, and she immediately tensed in an effort not to give in to the overwhelming jitters that threatened to make her muscles quake.

“And this is the last of my brothers,” Rusty said cheerfully, oblivious to the turmoil unleashed inside Zoe. “Joe is Nathan’s twin, the older of the two by a few minutes or so.”

His hand slid over her outstretched palm that she hadn’t remembered extending. She was besieged with sudden awareness, an odd sensation snaking through every single muscle in her body. Though his expression was indecipherable, his touch was exceedingly gentle, almost as if he could sense her terror. And when he spoke, it was all she could do to suppress a full-body shiver.

“Welcome to our home, Zoe,” he murmured.

CHAPTER 5

“WHAT exactly does anyone know about Rusty’s friend?” Joe asked with a frown as he and Donovan stood to one side, watching Rusty and Zoe.

The two women were conversing quietly away from the others, but Zoe frequently allowed her gaze to travel over the rest of the assembled people, and it was what Joe could see in her eyes that bothered him. What he couldn’t see reflected in her gaze bugged him even more.

Something seemed off, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. It was obvious she was checking Rusty’s entire family out, but instead of idle curiosity or even genuine interest being the most probable reasons for her scrutiny, he could swear he saw worry and fear. It was almost as if she were literally looking over her shoulder expecting some sort of surprise attack, which would be absurd given that Rusty would most assuredly have given her friend at least basic background information on her brothers. Then again, he might be seeing what he’d expected to see. What apparently, he, and only he, was projecting onto Zoe’s skittish behavior judging by the fact that none of his brothers or the hodgepodge smattering of team members present from both his and Nathan’s team as well as Steele’s seemed to share the nagging in his gut, which was becoming more aggressive by the second. And if any one of his brothers or his teammates thought for a minute that there was a danger to the family, their wives, children and friends, they wouldn’t stand idly by or wait for the appropriate time. Which meant that Joe was on his own with his scrutiny and suspicion of Rusty’s friend.

Donovan chuckled and elbowed his brother. “Worried this is another one of Ma’s plots against you?”

Joe made a sound of exasperation. That hadn’t even crossed his mind, though now that Donovan had mentioned it, could that be all it was? Was this a setup? He nearly shook his head in denial. No, that wasn’t what was going on here. That wasn’t at all the vibe he was getting from Zoe.

“Can you be serious for once? From all accounts, no one has ever heard Rusty even mention this friend, and then suddenly she calls Ma and says she’s bringing her to visit for an indeterminate amount of time. I don’t know, man. Something’s not right. She’s skittish and seems extremely nervous. She barely managed to make eye contact during introductions, and if she’s supposed to be my downfall, she didn’t seem in the least interested. In fact, she couldn’t back away fast enough once she got through all the names and faces.”

Donovan snorted. “Hell, can you blame her? Our family intimidates the hell out of me on a good day. Have you considered she’s shy and overwhelmed by being besieged by the entire Kelly clan all at once? It wasn’t as if she was eased into this. I feel sorry for the poor woman. She was all but thrown to the sharks just a couple of days after she arrived.”