It was almost an hour before Dane had the willpower to stop kissing her. They were snuggled under the blankets, his arms around Jaimi, her head resting on his shoulder, as they listened to Travis sing. Thanks to the presence of a few thousand fans, they were both still fully clothed, which had somehow made everything even more intimate. All they could do was kiss, and it had been a long damned time since he'd spent an hour kissing a woman.

He knew the order of songs Travis had planned for the evening, and he knew they were running out of time. "Sweetheart?"

"Hmm?"

"We need to talk."

She stiffened against him, a movement so slight that it was almost imperceptible. "You want to know why I don't know my brothers?"

"Well, yeah, that and I need to tell you about your dad. Which do you want to do first?"

She was quiet for a moment. "I'll talk," she said quietly. "I think it would feel good."

Something settled inside him at the realization that she trusted him. "I've got you."

"I know." She began to play with the buttons on his shirt. "I grew up in Boston with my mom. She was a teacher, too. It was just the two of us. She never dated, and she always told me that my dad had died before I was born. She was an amazing mom, and I never missed having a dad."

Guilt tore at Dane's gut, guilt for what he was going to have to tell her. "You had a good childhood?"

"A wonderful one. I was so happy." She sighed. "When Emily was born, and it became the three of us, we were a powerful force. I felt strong and invincible, like I didn't need anyone."

He could feel the "but" coming. "What happened?"

"A few months ago, my mom went on a backpacking trip on the Amazon river—"

"The Amazon river? Seriously?" Well, damn. No wonder Jaimi was so independent.

"Yeah, she was an adventurer. Nothing ever stopped her, except on this trip, she caught some tropical infection when she went swimming—"

"Swimming in the Amazon? With crocodiles? And snakes?"

"Yeah." The affection in Jaimi's voice was evident. "She was a lot bolder than I am. But she got bitten by something, and it got infected. She decided not to cut her trip short, and it got worse. I tried to get her to come home, but she refused."

Dane tightened his arms around her. "What happened?"

"She video-called me from some village a couple weeks ago." Jaimi's voice was heavy. "She looked terrible, and admitted that she was dying. Apparently, whatever had bitten her was extremely poisonous. She said she couldn't die without telling me about my brothers. She said she'd been on a cross-country backpacking trip when she was in her twenties, and had a brief fling as she was passing through Rogue Valley. Apparently, a few years ago, she decided to see if he was still around, and she discovered I had all these brothers. She'd left Chase's picture in her desk, and told me where to find it. She made me give her a deathbed promise that I'd track them down." Jaimi could still feel that shock when her mom had made that last call. "I promised, of course, but I told her she wasn't allowed to die in the freaking Amazon."

"And?"

"She ignored me, and died that night. One of the others in her group called me the next day and said she'd died. She'd already made arrangements to be cremated by the village and released into the forest to nourish the earth, so that was it. She'd always said she wanted to be cremated and released into the Charles River, which was, of course, highly illegal, but apparently, the Amazon had become her new resting place." That still annoyed her just a little bit. She knew her mom was independent, but it would have been a little thoughtful to let her only child have the closure of being able to do the ceremonial end-of-life thing.

Dane swore. "She sounds pretty damn bold. I wish I could have met her."

"Yeah, she was amazing. Emily is just like her, but I'm nowhere near the woman she was." Jaimi rested her head on Dane's shoulder, breathing in the feel of his arms around her. "She told me I wasn't allowed to be sad."

Dane pressed a kiss to her head, a kiss so tender that her throat tightened. "It's okay to grieve, sweetheart."

"She'll come back from the grave and shoot me if I waste my life being sad," Jaimi said. "And I think she's right. She lived an amazing life all the way to the end, and if I could live with a fraction of that spirit, I'd be thrilled. I'm working on it, but I spend half my time being afraid." She sighed. "I know I sound all tough, but I'm not, at least compared to her."

Dane sighed, gently stroking her hair. "It's okay to find your own path. You don't have to be like your parents. Sometimes, it's better not to be."

His words hung like a weight in the air, and she knew he was referring to her father. With a deep breath, she sat up and faced him, trying to channel her mother, and find courage she wasn't sure she had. "Tell me, Dane. Tell me about him."

Dane sat up, facing her, his face serious. "He doesn't matter," he said gently. "You have become this amazing and powerful woman, with an incredible role model in your mom. It doesn't matter who your father was—"

"Was? So, he's dead?" A flash of sadness engulfed her, sadness for the man she hadn't bothered to think about her whole life. "Before I was born? Like my mom said?"

"He died about ten years ago."

"Ten?" She blinked, her throat suddenly tight. "So, I could have known him? I could have met him?"

Dane swore under his breath and took her hands. "Jaimi—" He paused, and she looked at him, searching his face.

"What, Dane? What?"

"He wasn't a good guy."

She waited for more, but Dane didn't say anything else. "Tell me. What does that mean?"

Hell. Dane had no idea how to tell her. She was so beautiful, her soul was so pure, and she was so strong. But at the same time, she was so vulnerable. "Jaimi—"

"Dammit, Dane. Stop messing with me. Just tell me!" She pulled back, her hands balled into fists.

Dane ground his jaw, knowing that she deserved to know, and that she deserved to know from him, not from some stranger. "Your dad was an abusive alcoholic," he said finally.

She blinked. "What? You mean, like to his sons?"

"Yeah, to his sons. To their friends. To their girlfriends. To their mothers. He was a bad guy."

She stared at him, her face so crestfallen that he could barely make himself continue. "Mothers? They have different ones?"

"Yeah. Your nine brothers have seven different mothers. Some of them he married, others he didn't. Most of the women he brought into the home were not good people. The only way your brothers survived was by sticking together."

She stared at him, her face shocked. "How bad was it?" Her voice was a raw whisper.

Fuck. He had to tell her. He knew he did. But he didn't want to. He could go into gruesome detail with example after example, but he didn't want to. There was one incident that would sum it all up, and spare her the details. "Chase killed him to save Travis's life when Travis was sixteen," he said softly.

"What?" She began to scramble backwards, as if she could get away from what he'd told her. "Chase murdered my father?"

"No!" Dane lunged to his feet, catching her wrist as she stood up. "Chase saved Travis' life, because he is a born protector. Your brothers are the most heroic and honorable men I know. They protected and defended each other as best they could."

"So, my father tried to murder his own son, and my brother killed him in return? My family is all a bunch of murderers?" Her face became stricken. "The man who's watching my daughter is a killer? Dear God, Dane, what have you done?" Her voice was panicked now, pitched with fear as she lunged for the edge of the trailer.

Dane swore and leapt to the ground, catching her as she landed. "Jaimi—"

"No!" She shoved at his hands. "I need to go get Emily—"

"Listen to me!" He clasped her shoulders. "Every single one of your brothers is a good man. They aren't like your father."

"Not like him? They killed him! Killed!" She tore herself free and sprinted past him, racing in a desperate sprint toward the Stocktons.

Shit. He'd completely fucked it up. Swearing, he broke into a sprint, ducking around people as he rushed to catch up to Jaimi before she got to the Stocktons.

* * *

He was too late.

The concert had ended just as Jaimi had raced away from him, and it took Dane too damn long to get through the multitude of festival attendees wanting to talk to their sheriff. People were packing up their belongings, chatting happily as they milled about, making it almost impossible for Dane to navigate quickly.

By the time he got to the Stocktons, Jaimi was nowhere to be seen, and the Stocktons were all standing around, looking startled.

Fuck. What had she said?

Swearing under his breath, Dane walked up, trying to appear casual. "Did Jaimi come by?"

Everyone looked at him, but Chase was the one who answered. "Yeah, she came by, like a bat out of hell. She retrieved her daughter and took off so fast that she almost trampled Zane."

Dane swore. "What did she say?"

"Not much," Zane said. "She grabbed her daughter, muttered something about having to leave, and then bolted."

Relieved that she hadn't called Chase a murderer, Dane let out his breath. "Which way did she go?"

Zane pointed toward the parking lot.

Shit. She was leaving. "I gotta go." He whirled around to go after her, when Chase's voice stopped him cold.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

Slowly, Dane turned around to face Chase. Every single Stockton, and their wives, were watching him. "Tell you what?" he asked evasively.

"You think we're blind?" Ryder said. "What the hell do you think is wrong with us?"

Hell. "I don't know what you mean."

"Stockton eyes," Maddox said evenly. "That little girl has Stockton eyes, and we all know damn well that you saw it, too."

Fuck.

"And her mom has the Stockton cheekbones," Chase added. "You had to have seen it, and you delivered them right to us. What the hell is going on, Dane?"

Dane looked around at the men he considered his family, who had been his only bright light when he was a kid going through a hell not that different from theirs. "I promised her I wouldn't tell."

"Fuck that," Zane said. "You're choosing her over us? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"He loves her," Chase said quietly. "Look at the expression on his face."

Dane quickly tried to assume a neutral expression. "I need to go after her. She's upset, and she might be leaving town—"

"Then you better talk fast, because your ass isn't going anywhere until you spill." Ryder folded his arms over his chest. "What the hell, Dane?"

He looked at Ryder and Maddox, the twins, standing side by side, and guilt shot through him. He'd been tight with all the Stocktons, but he was the same age as the twins, and they'd spent the most time together. They were his brothers. His family. His everything. Swearing, he finally sighed. "If I tell you, do you all swear not to do anything? To let me handle it?"

The brothers and their wives all looked at each other, then Chase spoke for them. "If we agree with how you want to handle it, yeah. If not, no."

That wasn't good enough. He knew what family meant to them, and he knew that if they went after Jaimi now, they would all lose her forever. She was running scared, and he needed to get to her first. He knew he could help her, but he needed to find her first, before the Stocktons descended. "I need a promise. You all give me forty-eight hours before you do anything. And I mean anything. If you won't swear to give me that time to work with Jaimi, I'm telling you nothing. And since I'm the one with the gun and the badge, you all know damn well you can't stop me if I turn around and walk away right now."

Was it wrong that he played the sheriff card for his own personal use? Probably. But right now, he didn't care.

Chase swore and looked around. One by one, each of the brothers nodded. Dane then looked at Mira and Taylor, waiting until Mira finally threw up her hands. "Fine, we promise, too."

Taylor rolled her eyes, but she nodded. "Fine."

Lissa, Hannah, and Erin all nodded as well. "We promise."

"Okay, then." Dane gritted his teeth, knowing that all hell was going to break loose when he told them. If he had actually been a member of the family, they might even disown him when they found out he'd kept it a secret that they had family. Glancing quickly at his watch, he nodded. "Two minutes, and then I'm going after her."

Zane gestured to a chair. "Two minutes."

Dane ignored the chair. Instead, he looked around at his brothers. He took a deep breath, and then dropped the bomb that he knew would shock the tight-knit siblings to their core. "You guys have a sister."