In For the Kill (McClouds & Friends #11)(47)

The light shone through the loose weave of her entirely inadequate sweater, showing every perfect detail. Every slender curve. Her hair shifted and swung, light catching every wave. Hypnotizing him.

She shot a nervous glance over her shoulder, giving him a fresh jolt of astonishment at how f*cking pretty she was. Even without makeup, her eyes were set off by long, sooty lashes and sharp, winged brows. Her lips were red. Slightly puffy. From lots of hard use last night.

Oh, shit. Cool it. He could not walk in there with a hard-on.

Sveti pushed open the door that led into Tam and Val’s kitchen, packed with people whose collective gaze swerved right to them.

Sveti’s family. The toughest sons of bitches he’d ever met on the right side of the law. Tam held court, seated on a high stool by the bar. Her topaz eyes flicked over Sveti, doing a diagnostic X-ray once-over. She gave Sam an arctic glare. “So nice of you to finally join us.”

Lara, Miles’ wife, ran for Sveti and hugged her. Lara, more than any of them, could relate to Sveti’s ordeal, having spent months herself in captivity until Miles rescued her. She looked good, nearly two years later. Her pregnancy didn’t show yet, but she had a happy glow. The last time he’d seen her, she’d been as fragile and waiflike as one would expect after her harrowing adventures. She’d been beautiful even then, but she was a knockout now, with some more meat on her bones.

He kept his eyes locked on Sveti and Lara’s embrace. It was a much safer resting place than any other point in the room.

“Your timing rots, Petrie,” a voice behind him growled.

Sam turned to Nick Ward and his wife, Becca, who was waiting her turn for a hug with Sveti. Liv, Sean’s wife, was in line behind her.

“What timing?” Sam asked. “Being there when they nabbed her? Following her, rescuing her? Is that the timing you’re referring to?”

“You know exactly what I’m referring to,” Nick said.

Sam shrugged. “It is what it is.”

“You think the day she almost gets herself killed is the day to make your big move?”

“You’re wrong, Nick.” Sveti’s voice rang out. “It was my move! I went to his house uninvited. I seduced him. And a lucky thing, too, or he wouldn’t have seen them take me, and you guys would be getting a very bad telephone call right about now. So back off.”

Nick thudded back down into his chair. He looked like he was chewing steel wool.

Sveti swept the room with her gaze. “Sam saved my life. I love you all, and you have been very good to me, but get it through your heads. I’m not a child. In fact, I’ve never been a child, not since you’ve known me. So not another word about me and Sam hooking up. That’s between him and me.”

Silence followed that blunt announcement, broken by Sean’s soft laughter. “Seduced, hmm? Sveti, you vixen, you.”

“Shut up, Sean,” Nick said sourly. “I am not entertained.”

“My, aren’t you masterful today,” Tam said to Sveti. “Getting laid appears to stiffen up your spine. Bow down, bitches.”

Sveti’s eyes dropped. “I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to—”

“Oh, for God’s sake, don’t ruin it!” Tam snapped. “I like to hear some proper sass out of you! But we have more important things to talk about right now than your sex life.”

“Yeah, like breakfast,” Becca chimed in, from the stove. “Rachel, honey, get the toast out of the toaster and butter it, okay? I have a bacon and Swiss omelet coming out of the pan with your name all over it.”

For a few wonderful minutes, eating occupied them completely. With the McCloud Crowd, the food was always good. Sam inhaled the fluffy omelet with a mountain of toast and washed it down with coffee. Sveti didn’t have much appetite, but she was nagged and poked until she got around a couple of eggs and a slice of toast.

Then Rachel leaned over the table, her dark eyes magnified by the thick lenses of her glasses. “So? How did you seduce him, anyway?”

Sveti choked and sputtered on her orange juice.

Tam made a shushing noise. Nick and Becca’s little daughter Sofia piped up in the silence. “What’s seduced?”

“Out!” Val roared. “Rachel, take the children up to the playroom!”

Val seldom raised his voice, but it had a jolting effect. Rachel scooped up Jon, Kev and Edie’s son, and scurried out, herding Sofia and Eamon, Sean and Liv’s son, before her. Eamon had a keen ear for anything that disturbed adult sensibilities, and was crowing “Seduced! Seduced!” at the top of his lungs as they retreated down the corridor.

The quiet felt ominous. Tam sank onto her stool. Sam swept his eye over the assembled multitudes. There were Kev and Edie, Nick and Becca, Sean and Liv, Miles and Lara, Tam and Val. About half of the entire complement of this crowd and their progeny, and thank God for it, or the place would have been a f*cking zoo. Even so, it was way too many eyes. And all of them so damn focused.

Sveti dabbed nervously at her mouth with a napkin.

“So,” Nick said. “We’ve been working on a plan. The way things stand, we’ve decided it’s best to keep you here on lockdown.”

Tam looked at Sam. “And you’re not invited,” she said. “Last night was an exception.”

Sveti shook her head, but Nick plodded on. “This house has the best security, and it’s the easiest to defend. Plus, there’s room for backup people to stay. Tam and Val’s arsenal is—”