Midnight Moonrising (Moonrising #2)(19)

Roel pointed at Katie. "Oh, buuurn! You just tried to hustle a hustler and got spanked, trick!"

"That's not fair," Katie argued. "I didn't even get a shot!" She turned swiftly to stare at Alex, her expression growing more irritated when she caught a glimpse of his gloating smile. "You lied!"

He shook his head. "I didn't lie. I said I don't play much anymore, not that I wasn't any good at the game. You assumed that all by yourself—and I let you."

Katie huffed and slapped two one-hundred dollar bills on top of the pile of money. "I'm breaking this time."

"Katie," Heath groaned. "He's better than you; just face it. Take your bruised ego and go sit down while your dignity is still intact."

"No! I want to play again. The guy may as well have been playing himself, because he sure as shit didn't give me a chance to play against him!" She turned back around and gave Alex a solid look. "Match the bet."

"Here, dude," Heath said as he handed Alex a beer. "You earned that one, but I think you're going to need something a lot harder now that you beat her—like a bat or a tire iron. She's never going to leave you alone until you've been defeated."

Alex took the beer and popped the top, ignoring the hole Katie was drilling in the side of his head with her eyes. He wanted to smile again, but knew better. He held up the beer to Heath. "Thank you. Any of you have a bat handy?" he said, and couldn't stop the smile from pulling his lips upward when everyone except Katie laughed.


"You're really not going to give me a rematch?"

Alex snatched up his winnings from the edge of the pool table and tucked them in his wallet. "Yes, but not today." Before she could argue with him, he glanced around the room at the others. "Are you… all Mena's cousins?"

"Yes—" Katie said, and at the same time, Heath popped in with a "No."

Heath opened another beer and pointed at Alex. "Sorry. That was my drunkenness talking. I'm not driving later—just so you know. No, I mean, yes—yes, we are all her cousins."

Katie sighed and covered her eyes with a hand. "Jesus Christ, Mena should have prepared us for this."

"For what?" Alex retorted. "Mena told me yesterday that Daryn was her cousin, and when you all blocked me in the driveway, she said she thought her family wanted to meet me—"

"Daryn isn't my cousin, Alex, and neither is anyone else present," Mena said as she walked into the room. "I'm sorry for lying to you yesterday. Daryn was a bit of an overachiever when he noticed you talking to me, and he took his actions too far. It was the only thing I could think of to tell you. If anyone caught wind that I was possibly having an affair, the press would have had a field day with me this morning."

"Speaking of Daryn, where is the suck-up?" Roel said as he linked his fingers behind his head and lounged against the corner of the sofa. Kicking his sneakers off, he stretched his long legs down the length of the cushions, making himself comfortable. "Did you eat him?" he said with a smirk.

Mena raised an eyebrow. "Thought about it, but no. However, he is licking his wounds and should be along shortly."

Brad sucked in air through his teeth and grimaced. "The boy is never going to learn."

"Learn what?" Alex said, still clearly confused and wanting answers.

"I think you should explain this one, Mena," Katie said, and plopped down in a chair beside the sofa. "We don't know how much you want him to know."

"Know about what?" Alex exclaimed.

"Marc was the leader of a secret group—um, sort of like a secret society. When he died, I took over as leader. We don't think his death was accidental or a coincidence of him being in the wrong place at the wrong time; we believe he was murdered intentionally."

Alex's eyes widened and he looked around the room, meeting the blank stares of each of the others. Daryn's tall form filled the doorway.

Without turning, Mena said, "Join us, Daryn, and sit down."

Daryn walked in and sat in the first chair he came to. Alex studied him for a moment, but the guy kept his head bowed, so no one could see his eyes.

Alex sighed and ran his fingers over his head, removing his toboggan. "What—like a cult?"

Katie laughed. "More like Hell's Angels."

Mena took Alex's hand, and he glanced down at the feminine fingers against his big, rough ones. Their hands were so different, but seemed to fit together perfectly. Then it dawned on him, and his head shot back up so he could see her eyes. "They are your bodyguards, aren't they?"

"Ding, ding, ding!" Roel chimed in from the sofa. "Somebody get this man a beer, and get me another while you're at it."

"Get your own beer," Katie countered.

"Enough," Mena said, barely above a whisper, but the room fell silent.

Alex noticed.

"Are you in trouble? Is someone after you, Mena? I can get you protection—"

Brad snorted. "We've got that covered, cop."

"Hell yeah, we do," Heath said, and bumped fists with Brad.

"Well, what do you know?" Alex said.

Mena shook her head. "Nothing."