Chapter 40

I stared at the stranger on my doorstep. It was some guy in his late twenties, or possibly his early thirties. I'd never seen him before, and yet, something about him looked eerily familiar.

He was tall, with dark hair, dark eyes, and a lean muscular build that might've piqued my interest a couple of weeks ago, before I'd become so obsessed with another guy who looked remarkably similar.

I'd barely opened the door when the stranger said, "Where is he?"

Well, hello to you, too. Probably, if I'd been smart, I would've ignored the doorbell entirely. After all, it had brought me nothing lately but grief.

Joel was upstairs, taking a shower. And now, given my suspicions, I didn't quite know what to do. Should I welcome the guy inside? Or slam the door in his face?

Stalling for time, I said, "Where's who?"

The stranger flicked his head toward Joel's car. "The driver of that."

I made a show of looking toward the driveway. Behind Joel's car was a pricey-looking sedan with dark tinted windows. The way it looked, the guy had serious money – or massive car payments.

Then again, I could say the same thing about Joel, or even myself, if my car wasn't older and broken down, that is.

I pushed aside the distraction and returned my attention to the stranger. "You do realize you can't just show up here, demanding to see whoever."

"Yeah? Why not?"

I gave the guy a closer look.

Ungodly attractive? Check.

Amazing body? Check.

A total jerk, just like Joel had implied? Oh yeah. That was a checkmark so big, I'd need a billboard to write it on.

I crossed my arms. "Because it's impolite. That's why."

Behind me, I heard Joel say, "Yeah Bishop. It's impolite." A moment later, he joined me at the door. "So shove off."

Bishop. Yup, that was Joel's last name alright. They were definitely brothers, although why the guy didn't go by his first name, I had no idea.

I was still pondering that when Bishop gave Joel a hard look. "Where the hell are they?"

In a voice filled with mock innocence, Joel said, "Where's what?"

Bishop's jaw tightened. "You know what."

Oh, crap.

I knew what, too. Or at least, I was pretty sure I did. Thanks to my internet research, I'd seen the brother who owned the Camaro. That brother had cryptic tattoos and even less civility. This brother was tattoo-free, but not much nicer.

And I could guess what he wanted – the guns in the trunk.

My gaze darted from Bishop to Joel as they stared each other down. Hoping to diffuse some of the tension, I said, "Isn't anyone going to introduce me?"

Bishop said, "No need. I'm not staying."

So much for a happy family reunion. But did he have to be so rude about it?

I said, "Good. Because no one invited you."

The guy's lips curved into the hint of a smile. "Who's impolite now?"

Next to me, Joel said, "You are, dickhead."

The guy shrugged. "So I hear."

Joel said, "How'd you find me?"

"Give me my stuff," Bishop said, "and maybe I'll tell you."

"Or," Joel said, "you can tell me. And maybe, I'll give you your stuff."

I spoke up. "Or maybe, you could do it at the same time. You know, like a hostage swap."

In unison, they both turned to look. Neither one of them looked thrilled with my idea. I cleared my throat. "It works in the movies, right?"

"No." Bishop said. "In the movies, it all goes to hell."

Okay, so maybe he had a point. Still, I felt compelled to mutter, "Not in every movie."

Bishop looked unimpressed. "Then you and I are seeing different shows."

Joel said, "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"You know what I'm doing here." Bishop turned and glanced around the yard, as if assessing his surroundings.

I leaned closer to Joel and whispered, "You guys are brothers, right?"

"Supposedly."

"How many do you have, anyway?"

He glanced toward Bishop. "Too many."

In my view, there was no such thing. I would've loved to have a brother, a real brother – or better yet, more than one. I looked from one guy to the other. "You know, you guys really should be nicer to each other."

In unison, they both made the exact same scoffing sound. And for some reason, that made me laugh. "See? You're more alike than you realize."

But Joel was shaking his head. "No. I'm nothing like those pricks."

Well, that was interesting – and yeah, kind of rude, actually.

I looked to Bishop. He looked utterly unfazed.

In a surprisingly calm voice, Bishop said, "Well, this prick needs to talk to you. Now." His gaze shifted to me. "And preferably somewhere else."

I gave him an irritated look. "Don't you think that's kind of rude?"

"I'm not being rude. I'm doing you a favor."

Now, it was my turn to scoff. "Some favor."

Bishop looked to Joel. "Are you coming or not?"

"Forget it," Joel said. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Alright." Bishop shrugged. "You wanna discuss it here? Fine by me." He smiled. "I left Jake down the road. My guess? He'll be here in five, ten minutes. But hey, you do what you want."

My gaze snapped to Joel. From the look on his face, he was thinking the exact same thing I was. "Well, this is just great."