Dungeon Games (Masters and Mercenaries #6.5)(20)

“That wouldn’t be a whole lot of people, guys,” Karina admitted. “I work most of the time. The people at Sanctum are pretty much the whole of my social group.”

“Good,” Liam said. “The less people we have to deal with, the better.”

There was a knock on her door.

Sean frowned. “I thought you said you didn’t have friends.”

She shrugged. “Maybe it’s Brighton. He said he was coming over. He’s early though.”

Karina crossed the small space to the door and opened it, expecting to see the big gorgeous cop who she was absolutely, one hundred percent not going to sleep with. Her mouth dropped open. “Terry?”

Her brother-in-law stood in the doorway, grinning from ear to ear. He was a younger version of Kevin in the face, though he was much more slender in build than her husband had been. “Hey, Karina. Bet you’re surprised to see me.”

Well, that threw a big old wrench into her plans. “You could say that.”

He held up his arm, and Karina could see the beginnings of a cast wrapped around his hand. The rest was in a long-sleeved shirt, but she could see the outline of the cast went almost to his elbow. “Come on. Let me in. I’m injured. I only have a couple of minutes until I have to go see my therapist. He’s just up the road a bit, so I thought I’d stop by to let you know I’m in town.”

She shook her head, completely in shock. She hadn’t seen Terry in years, hadn’t even spoken to him in almost six months. Terry was the only one left from Kevin’s family besides some distant cousins and uncles and aunts, who hadn’t been close. He was older than she remembered, thinner. “Of course. What happened to your arm?”

He sighed as he stepped inside. Her small apartment was getting crowded. “The usual. I was in the Caribbean making a little cash by taking the tourists deep sea fishing. They got drunk and harassed the girl I had serving drinks. Asshole broke my arm. Needless to say I’m no longer welcome at the Bermuda Fisherman’s Club. I have a friend who’s a therapist here. I’m staying with him while I rehab.” He turned and caught sight of Liam and Sean. “And you have friends over. Wow. I didn’t expect that.”

She felt herself flush. There was no way to miss the disapproval in his voice. It was stupid, but the idea of Kevin’s brother thinking she was screwing around really made her nervous. It was almost like Kevin finding out. Utterly irrational, but she found herself floundering. “Guys, this is Terry Mills. He’s Kevin’s brother. Terry, uhm, this is…”

Sean’s face went from hard to smooth in a heartbeat and he stepped up. “Her very good friend. I’m Sean. This is my boy, Li. I would call him my husband, but we’re not allowed to do that in the state of Texas. It’s a shame you know because our wedding would be fabulous.”

Liam stared at Sean. “Are ya kidding?”

Sean rolled his eyes negligently. “Don’t mind him. He doesn’t want to spend the money on a wedding. He’s a tightwad. So you’re Karina’s brother-in-law? I have to admit we’ve been curious about our girl’s family.”

Holy freaking shit. Sean had picked his cover and it looked like Liam hadn’t been in on the plan. If she hadn’t been in a sticky situation, she would have poured herself a tea and sat back and watched the fireworks. As it was, all she could manage was to nod her head. “Yes, this is Terry Mills. He’s Kevin’s younger brother.”

Terry sighed and laughed a little. “Sorry. For a minute there I thought Karina was dating again. That was a shocker.”

Sean grinned and gave her a little wink. He was actually really good at that. He should have gone into theater. “Oh, she is. You should see him. That is one hunk of a man. Isn’t he, Li?”

And Liam was a terrible actor. He just frowned. “He ain’t exactly my type.”

Sean waved him off. “Mr. Grumpy there likes blonds. Lucky for me.”

Terry frowned Karina’s way. “You have a boyfriend?”

Karina shook her head. Sean had been very specific. He really didn’t want to break their cover for anyone, and that meant she had to keep hers, too. Even to what was left of her family. Still, she found she couldn’t let him down entirely. “Not really. He’s just a guy I met at a club.”

Terry went a faint pink and he leaned in, his good hand on hers. “Tell me you aren’t still into that scene, Karina. It was dangerous when Kevin was with you. It’s insane now. Tell me you aren’t playing around with that BDSM crap.”

It was her turn to flush. Terry had always had a serious problem with their lifestyle. He could sleep with a girl a night, but he got deeply prudish the minute the handcuffs came out. “It’s really none of your business.”

“I’m your brother-in-law. I promised Kevin I would look after you if anything happened. It damn straight is my business.”

“Then where the bloody hell have you been for the last couple of years? Because I ain’t seen anyone looking after her,” Liam said, his eyes narrowing.

“I’ve been working, but I trusted that Karina would be smart enough to stay away from the perverted stuff. I was obviously wrong. Do you know what Kevin would think if he knew you were running around with…what the hell do they call themselves? Doms?” He shook his head and visibly took a breath. “I’m sorry. It’s your life, sweetie.”