Declan

D eclan watched Danger as she made her way down the stairs that led from the bedroom that they were sharing to the bar. She had changed her clothes and pulled back her long, blond hair into a sleek ponytail. Seeing her mussed from her nap had him tied up in knots. He wasn't sure why he responded to her the way that he was, but he tried not to give it too much thought. Thinking about Danger with his unruly cock might prove dangerous and that wasn't something that he could change right now. He already had too much on his plate with the Dead Rabbits coming for his family.

"You clean up nice," he said.

Danger looked down at her body and back up at him. The look on her face said it all—she thought that he was an idiot, and maybe he was. Telling a virtual stranger that she looked nice might not be such a good idea. "I just brushed my hair and teeth—well, and put on some clean clothes. I wasn't sure if I had time to shower before your friends got here and I want to be a part of the meeting."

"Of course," he agreed. "We're discussing how to get your brother back, so you should be in on the meeting. The guys and Lil will be here soon."

"Is that for me?" she asked, nodding to the cup of coffee that he almost had forgotten that he was holding.

"Oh, yes," he said, "sorry." He handed her the coffee and she smiled up at him, nodding her thanks. She was certainly a woman of few words. She really hadn't told him too much about herself or her brother, other than the fact that he got caught up with the Dead Rabbits. For all he knew, Danger could be leading them into—well, danger.

"You don't talk much, do you?" he asked. wondered if he had actually asked her the question out loud. She didn't stop drinking her coffee long enough to answer him. Instead, she shook her head, making him chuckle.

"Especially not in the morning," she admitted, handing him back her coffee mug. "Can I get a second cup?" she asked. "I'm usually a two-cup kind of girl."

"Sure," he agreed. He walked back to the kitchen, where he had found the coffee pot, and Danger followed him. "I found the coffee maker back here, and my brother, Cillian texted me to say that Savage said to help ourselves to whatever we want. I can make us some eggs or something," he offered. "I'm not much of a cook, but breakfast is my specialty."

"I'm fine with just coffee," she said, taking the full mug from him. "I'm not much of a breakfast person. Unless it's for dinner. I love having breakfast for dinner."

"Same," he admitted, "but, that might just be because I really don't know how to cook much else. Plus, I'm a creature of habit and like to eat the same thing most nights." Back at home, he didn't lead a very exciting existence. He stayed in most nights, while all his old high school buddies went to the local pub in town. He decided that he didn't want to party as much after his parents passed. He had to take care of Lil and she was quite a responsibility. He was only five years older than his youngest sister and at twenty, he didn't have a clue about how to take care of a teenage girl and she liked to give him trouble around every turn. But he'd do it all over again if it meant keeping Lil out of foster care. When their parents were alive, they were a tight-knit family. He didn't want that to change just because his parents were gone. decided to buckle down and finish raising his sister and take night classes to get his electrical engineering degree. He was able to make good money back home and provide for himself and Lil, and that was enough for him.

Becoming a loner wasn't ever a part of his plan, but sometimes, the best-laid plans often went astray. learned to be content with going to school or work and back home to take care of Lil. He liked to be there for her to ask her how her day was, just as his ma had so many times. He knew that he'd never be able to replace their parents, nor did he want to, but being there for Lil became his top priority.

The back door opened, and Savage and another man walked into the kitchen, catching them both off guard. "Shit man," grumbled. "I thought you were one of the Dead Rabbits."

Savage barked out his laugh, but didn't find anything funny about the whole situation. "What were you going to do if I was a Dead Rabbit?" Savage asked. "Offer them a cup of coffee."

"Speaking of coffee," the other guy said, "I'd love a cup."

", Danger," Savage said, "this is my husband, Bowie." nodded to the guy as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Not to pry, but I thought you were married to a woman?" asked.

Savage's smile was wicked, "I am," he said. "Well, we are. Bowie and I are married to Dallas. I'm guessing that Cillian never wrote home about the three of us," Savage said.

"Cillian didn't write home about much after our parents passed," said. "And no, he wouldn't have included your marital status in his letters."

"How exactly does it work? You know, the three of you," Danger asked. The three men shot her a look and she grimaced. "You know what, don't answer that," she insisted. "It's none of my business."

"If you really want to know, I'd be happy to draw you some pictures," Savage teased. The big guy seemed to be having a whole lot of fun watching Danger squirm. If was being honest, he liked watching her too.

"No, I'm good," Danger insisted. She took her coffee and disappeared into the bar, leaving the rest of them standing there watching her.

"I guess we spooked her," Bowie said. "Well, you spooked her." He looked Savage over and the big guy just laughed at his husband.

"She'll get used to it," Savage insisted. "Your brother and sister should be here any time. Then, we can get the meeting started. How did you sleep?" he asked.

"Not great. I think that Danger slept worse than I did though. I found her out in the parking lot sleeping in her SUV. I convinced her to come in and take the bed because I couldn't sleep anymore," said.

Bowie smiled over at him, and felt the desire to punch his goofy grin right off his face, although he was sure that Savage wouldn't allow that. "So, you didn't end up in bed together?" he asked.

"No," breathed. "We just fucking met each other, and if you haven't noticed, she's not interested in me."

"I wouldn't say that," Savage challenged. "She just needs to warm up to you it seems."

"Either way, you owe me twenty dollars," Bowie said to his husband, holding out his hand. He waited Savage out as he dug through his wallet and handed over a twenty-dollar bill.

"Why do you owe him twenty?" asked Savage, although he had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

"He bet me that you'd end up in bed together and I said that you wouldn't," Bowie said, shoving the money into his pocket.

"For fucks sake," grumbled. His brother and Lil walked through the back door, and he almost inwardly groaned. The last thing he needed was the two of them piling on about him sleeping with Danger, or not sleeping with her in this case. He especially didn't want her to find out that the guys had a bet going on about it.

"Who won the bet?" Lil asked, pulling in for a quick hug. Cillian did the same and wondered if they were all in on it. "Tell me that he didn't sleep with her because I could use the twenty dollars from my older brother."

"Wait, you two bet on our sleeping arrangements too?" he asked, shooting his siblings a dirty look.

"Don't get your panties in a twist," Lil breathed. "I bet that you wouldn't defile the poor woman and Cillian here bet that you would."

"Jesus, Lil," whispered. "Keep your fucking voice down, she'll hear you."

"If it helps you feel better, I bet you'd be able to coax her into your bed because you're my little brother and you have game, just like me," Cillian teased, patting him on the back.

"You do not have game," Lil insisted, "and neither does . I'm sure that he was a perfect gentleman."

"Wait, how do you two know that Danger was even here with me? She left while you four were still here last night," he said.

"We took turns watching the bar last night. We saw when she pulled into the parking lot and that's when we made the first bet," Cillian admitted.

"The first bet?" asked. "Do I want to know?"

"It's not that bad," Lil assured. "We bet on how long it would take you to find her and get her to come into the bar with you."

"And who won that bet?" groaned.

"I did," Lil said. "So, how about it, did I win the second bet too?"

"Yeah, you did," Bowie said. "Savage has already paid me my twenty, so pay up, Cillian." His brother groaned and pulled his wallet from his back pocket.

"Viv is gonna kill me for making bets with you again, Lil." He handed her the twenty and she triumphantly took it and looked it over, as if checking to see if it was real. "Don't be a bad winner," Cillian insisted.

"I am not a bad winner," Lil grumbled, making all the guys laugh. "Shut the hell up. Where is Danger anyway?"

"She's out in the bar drinking her coffee," said.

"I'm going to go out and join her," Lil said. She patted on the arm as she passed him. "I'm proud of you for keeping it in your pants for once," she teased.

"Shut the fuck up, Lilliana," grumbled. He followed her out into the bar to find Danger sitting up at the empty bar, sipping her coffee.

"Is everyone here?" she asked.

"Yeah," said. "They are just grabbing coffee and they'll be in." He sat a few stools down from her and didn't dare look in her direction. He was worried that she had heard their conversation in the back room.

"Hi Danger," Lil said, sitting next to her, "I'm Lilliana."

"Yes, I remember you from last night," Danger said. His sister looked like she was about ready to ask the poor woman if she wanted to be best friends and braid each other's hair or something. His little sister was always eager to make friends. Sometimes, she was a bit overly eager, but that was part of her charm. She was one of the nicest people that knew, and he didn't think that just because Lil was his little sister.

"How was your night?" Lil asked.

"Long," Danger whispered. "I'm afraid that I'm a bit grumpy since I didn't get much sleep last night." She shot a look as if her sleepless night was his fault and he shrugged.

"That's what you get for sleeping in your car," he grumbled. She looked like she was about to speak up with Savage, Bowie, and Cillian walked into the bar.

"Ready to get this meeting started?" Savage asked. wondered who was going to take charge of the meeting, but he should have known it would be Savage. From what he remembered about the guy, from when he was a kid living in town—Savage liked to be in charge.

"I have new intel from one of my contacts at MI6. We texted this morning and she told me that the Dead Rabbits are holding my brother about two towns over. She said it's called Athens. Do you know of it?" Danger asked.

"Yes," Savage said. "Are you sure that you can trust your contact?" he asked.

"Of course," Danger insisted. "June is one of my closest friends. I trust her with my life, and I trust her with Anthony's life too. I'm going to look for him and if you want to tag along, you're welcome to do so."

"Now, hold on," Lil said, "you can't go running into wherever they are keeping your brother and dare the Dead Rabbits to do their worst. I've seen what their worst is, and I can promise you that you don't want that. I almost lost my husband because of them. You would be risking your life as well as your brother's life if you go in there halfcocked."

wondered when his little sister had gotten to be so smart. "Lil's right," agreed. "We will need a plan if we're going to help your brother."

"Then what do you suggest?" Danger asked. "We just sit around and wait for a sign that we should go in there?"

"That's exactly what you're going to do," Savage said. "You two need to lay low," he insisted. "I have a guy on the inside. He's been working undercover for me, trying to get intel since Lilliana showed up here, asking my club for help. She and I have been working with the local FBI office to bring down the Dead Rabbits. If you go running in there, guns blazing, everything will go to hell."

"You can't be serious," Danger spat. "You just want me to sit around here and wait for you to come up with information from one of your guys?" she asked.

"Exactly," Savage growled. "That's exactly what I want you to do—both of you," he said, pointing between Danger and . He knew that arguing with Savage wasn't going to get him anywhere. Besides, the guy was right. This thing with the Dead Rabbits was bigger than any of them and they could use all the help they could get.