Chapter 1

One

Clara

I sank into the worn, plaid chair across from my soon-to-be sister-in-law, careful not to spill my wine as I went. "If my family toasts you one more time, I'm going to need a designated driver."

Trinity raised an eyebrow and nodded toward my glass with a playful smirk on her lips. "You mean that ain't grape juice?"

She knew better, but I played along and examined my glass then took a sip before giving it another long, considering look. I shot a grin at Trinity. "Not even close, babe. I went for the real good stuff."

She pressed a hand to her chest. "I'm utterly shocked," she quipped dryly. "I can't believe your family seems to think you stopped aging sometime around the time you turned twelve. I thought for sure at some point tonight one of them would have swooped down and snatched your glass from your hand before a drop of alcohol could touch your pure lips."

Trinity's sarcasm held a note of truth that burned though I knew she didn't mean it that way. I clutched my wine glass closer to my chest and shot her a hard glare. "Never! It would be my cold, dead hand they'd have to peel it from. You can hold me to that, too."

The two of us fell into a fit of laughter. Not for the first time, it hit me how happy I was to have this new addition to the family. As Sawyer's soon-to-be wife, she was as much part of the family now and someone who I could count as an ally.

And she was one of the few people in my family—scratch that, maybe the only member of my family—who saw the real me instead of who they wanted me to be.

"I'm glad you can laugh about it," she said when we could breathe again. "I think if I were you, I'd have strangled all of my pesky brothers by now and be an only child."

I shrugged. "No one believes me when I point out they've been this way my whole life…"

Before I could finish my thought, Sawyer, my oldest brother, sank next to Trinity throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close.

I hid my smile by taking a big gulp of the red liquid in my wine glass. Sawyer's inability to keep his hands off his woman had become a running joke in the family. All mountain men were possessive with their wives, but Sawyer took it to a whole new level.

"What are you two talking about?" he nosed in.

"The way you all treat Clara."

Oh boy. I kept my cringe hidden behind another swallow.

Trinity snuggled into him, being just as bad as Sawyer when it came to the need for constant contact.

Before he could answer, my phone beeped with an incoming text message. I fished it out of my jeans pocket—again careful not to lose so much as a drop of my wine—and swiped my thumb over the smooth glass.

"Everyone you know is here, Clara. Who on earth could be texting you?"

I sighed, looked up from the message from one of my bandmates, and stared daggers at Sawyer. "It's one of my many many lovers, nosy. He wants to know if I'm available for a quick booty call later tonight."

Ha. The look on his face was priceless. It went from bossy know-it-all to what-the-fuck in a flash.

But the shock was short-lived. Sawyer's face quickly hardened after it turned a few nasty shades of red and purple. "You better be fucking kidding."

Trinity poked him hard in the side. " That right there! That's what we were talking about. Your sister is a grown-ass woman. She's entitled to her privacy. You don't get to ask her about whoever is texting her, let alone lecture her on her sex life."

I couldn't quite fight my smirk at Sawyer's horrified expression at the mention of my sex life from Trinity's mouth. How dare his baby sister actually grow up. It almost made me want to laugh.

Then he glanced down at Trinity and his face instantly softened. Poof. Like some kind of magic, I swear. My overbearing, overprotective pain-in-the-ass brother melted in a blink. And so did Trinity. Hell, my own insides turned to a puddle of goo at the sight of my big, badass brother totally melting at the sight of his true love.

"Sweetheart, Clara hasn't had to take care of herself the way you have. I'm only trying to look out for her. It's nasty out there like you already know."

The look on my brother's face as he explained his side to Trinity almost stole my breath away. He was so obviously proud of how she'd made her own way in the world since she was a teen. The mixture of admiration, love, and tenderness in his eyes squeezed at my heart. And somewhere deep down, I knew he meant well toward me. But damn a girl could only take so much.

"We just want to make sure she doesn't get hurt. She hasn't had to learn that not everyone is as sweet and innocent as she is," he offered.

"Well if you ask me, Clara here has everyone and everything in her life under control. Even that damn mean cat over there falls under her spell the second he gets close. I don't know what the hell you're so worried about. Men!"

Trinity and I clinked glasses.

As if to give proof to his words, Aunt Alice's grumpy old cat slinked his way onto my lap, purring the moment I stroked my hand over his black fur and kneading his claws into my jean-clad leg. That cat hated everyone on principle. Everyone except me. For me, he turned from a spitty, feral tomcat into a sweet-as-pie kitten seeking affection. I seemed to have that effect on most animals I encountered.

Trinity snorted, shaking her head at me. She'd caught me on more than one occasion over the years sneaking out of town to play with my band. More recently, I'd even stashed my guitar in her apartment. But that was before she hooked up with my brother.

I blinked at her, eyes wide, flashing the innocent look I'd perfected after years of trying to hide my activities from my older brothers. If it made them happy to think of me as sweet and innocent, who was I to argue? Which is probably the problem. I didn't nip it in the bud soon enough and now it's too late and I just have to deal with it.

Trinity rolled her eyes and leaned forward. "One of these days, Clara Becker, you're going to show your family your true colors and they're going to love all of them. All of you ."

Sawyer's eyebrows snapped together and he twisted his head to look at me again, but he played the wise card and bit his tongue. But I knew he burned to ask what the hell all that meant.

I let my gaze travel the room as I fought to maintain my temper. What I said to Trinity was true. I was used to my brothers' controlling ways. Over the years, I mostly just smiled and nodded and found ways to do my own thing with none of them the wiser. Confrontations are not my thing and fighting

But every once in a while, the overprotectiveness and pressure to stay as innocent as a kid got on my last nerve. It made me want to spill the beans on everything I'd done in the past few years that broke the rules they seemed to think applied to me just because they said so. God, I hated being the baby of the family.

As I fought down my anger, my gaze landed on two men standing by themselves in the corner of the room—Dyson and Eeli. They'd been as much a part of my life as my own brothers for as long as I could remember. But no way in hell I actually thought of them as brothers. But, when my brothers weren't around to keep an eye on me, those two had always been happy to fill in.

That was before they came back. Staring at them now seemed like gazing into the eyes of strangers. On the outside, they looked the same. Dyson was still classically handsome with his light brown hair and eyes. Clean, straight lines defined his cheekbones and brows. Shoulders made for a woman to cling to and feel protected in his powerful arms.

Eeli was darker, broodier, his features a little more rugged. Both towered over me and were the perfect definition of mountain men. Let's face it, they were both hot enough that they'd fueled more than one of my hormone-infused, teenage fantasies over the years.

Not that I'd ever gotten the chance to act on them.

They'd both gotten a little bulkier over the years, their time in the military building a few more layers of muscle. I'd noticed on one of their rare visits home they'd gotten a little harder looking, a little more intense.

But they'd still been Dyson and Eeli—two of Sawyer's best friends, guys I knew well and cared about. Even when they were home on leave, I'd been able to tease smiles from them. They'd mingled with family and friends when members of the family got together.

The two men I saw now were not the Eeli and Dyson I knew and loved. They were virtual strangers. The few times I'd run into them since they'd returned home for good, they'd barely acknowledged me. Definitely not normal behavior.

And speaking of not normal behavior…they were always, always together. In a way that was just…out of sorts. They were never joined at the hip and now I never see one without the other.

I wasn't the only one who'd noticed either. I'd wandered into several conversations the last few weeks that told me Dyson and Eeli had been through something that left them scarred. And not in the way that left marks on the skin that would heal over time.

No, whatever happened to them left scars that marked them soul-deep, in a way that changed them irrevocably.

Of course, whenever anyone became aware of my presence, conversations dried up. God forbid some tidbit of anything mildly unpleasant hit my innocent ears. Can't let Clara hear the world isn't made of cotton candy and unicorns.

For fucks sake it's a wonder I haven't lost it yet.

"Clara? What's going on?"

I tuned back in to find Sawyer staring at me, his eyes probing as if he was trying to dig out all my deepest, darkest secrets.

He could try!

"That's what I'd like to know." I shot a look over to Dyson and Eeli and then looked back at Sawyer. "What's going on with those two?"

Sawyer followed my gaze and his mouth flattened, his lips tightening almost imperceptibly.

"Don't worry about them. They're fine. Nothing for you to worry about, pumpkin. They just need some time." His hard look never changed, but he tried to go for nonchalance with his tone.

I rolled my eyes. "Nice try. Don't feed me bullshit. I'm too old for that shit. I know you guys are all worried about them. I know something's wrong. And time obviously isn't making a bit of difference. They've been like that for months now."

"Don't say bullshit and shit."

I blinked. Seriously?

"You're fucking kidding me, right?"

Trinity lost it. She started howling with laughter, her whole body vibrating with it. Sawyer turned a scowl on her and she started laughing harder, tears springing to her eyes.

I fought off a smile of my own. I was annoyed at my brother, for sure, and more than a little concerned about Dyson and Eeli, but Trinity's laughter was contagious. And really, Sawyer could do and say what he wanted. None of it would sway me.

After almost a full minute, she quieted, wiping the trace of dampness from beneath her eyes. "I'm sorry. But that was hilarious. You use the f-bomb so often, if I didn't know better, I'd think you invented the word. Hearing you correct a grown woman about her language.…sorry, baby, that's too funny. And you're lucky I love you because you almost deserve a good right hook, too."

Sawyer continued to scowl. But I think some of what Trinity said might actually have sunk in a tiny bit. I could see something working behind the scowl, a hint of understanding that made a small kernel of hope grow inside me.

All I could do was shrug. "Like I said. I'm used to it."

"Wouldn't it be nice to get unused to it?" Trinity asked, turning serious.

Huh. The thought danced through my head—the freedom of being able to be myself without my brothers breathing down my neck. How amazing would it be to share all of myself with my family? Not just the bits and pieces of myself they'd find acceptable?

I focused back on Trinity and Sawyer only to find my brother considering me with a thoughtful look.

After a moment, he shook his head. "I'm going to go see what kind of trouble Mac is getting up to."

He pressed a fast, hard kiss on Trinity's lips and then stood, walking out the sliders into Aunt Nola's backyard.

I stared after him a minute and then found my gaze pulled back to the two men in the corner. For the first time in a long time, I felt live wires inside me crackle and dance around. Odd energy traveled through my body and tugged at my heart. It was similar to the tug I got when I found another animal in need of rescuing or worked to find homes for the abandoned pets at my shelter. Something about it wasn't quite the same, though.

As the intensity grew, my nerve endings began to fire like little pinpricks under my skin. A bevy of butterflies swept through my stomach and a fierce feeling of possessiveness clawed its way through me, digging in and settling into every fiber of my being. Which was odd. I always thought the men were supposed to be the possessive, protective ones.

With my gaze firmly trained on Dyson and Eeli, I could almost hear my rational brain click off and something much more deep and primitive switched on. Only one word could take form in my mind.

Mine.

"Hey, Clara, you okay?" A soft hand landed on my shoulder and gave me a gentle shake.

I blinked, fighting my way through the thick fog overtaking my mind. I shifted my gaze to find Trinity leaning forward in her seat, her brows pulled together in worry.

I shook my head. "Sorry. I guess I drifted off there for a second."

She wiggled back into the couch and she glanced between me and the spot where Dyson and Eeli stood. I don't know how long I'd been lost in my own little world, but judging by the smirk slowly twisting Trinity's lips, I'd have to guess it was long enough to be noticeable.

"Drifted off. Yeah, okay. I guess that's one way of putting it," she teased.

I sank deeper in my seat. "What? I can't be worried about guys I grew up with?"

"Oh, was that concern I saw on your face? ‘Cause from where I was sitting, it looked more like…hunger. Horny hunger." Laughter clung to her voice.

I squinted, wrinkling my nose. "I was just trying to think of how I can help Dyson and Eeli. They're good friends, and I hate to see them having a hard time."

Her laughter died, but I could see the amusement still lurking behind her eyes and in the tipped-up corners of her mouth. "I understand. I know the guys have all been worried about them. And it would be great if you could figure out a way to get them back to themselves." A wicked grin stole over her face and I braced myself. "Of course, from the look you were wearing, I'd say maybe you've thought of a few things you'd like to try. And at least two of them were totally X-rated."

I shot her a dirty look as she grinned at me, but movement from the corner caught my attention. Dyson and Eeli turned almost in unison and headed for the back door. Crap. Were they leaving?

At the thought, my heart started racing and a voice inside me screamed for me to get up and follow them. It took a great deal of strength to stay rooted in my spot.

I turned to Trinity and decided I'd take my chances and confess. I had to tell someone the feelings I've had stirring inside me long before just tonight. "Okay, so I might have noticed over the years that Dyson and Eeli are totally hot."

She nodded. "Oh, yeah. Totally."

I grinned, but then let it slip from my face as I went on more quietly, "But I really do think they need some help. I wish I could think of something to do."

The minute the words left my mouth, a resolve grew inside me. I would help them. I wasn't going to sit here wishing I could do something. I'd keep trying until I found a way to break through.

I was going to do whatever it took to bring Dyson and Eeli back to life. And if something happened between us, well, I'd consider that one of life's sweet surprises and wouldn't that rock my family to the core.