Release!: A Walker Brothers Novel (The Walker Brothers #1)(10)

“What’s she like? Where did you meet her? Do I know her?” Sebastian was quickly sobering up.

“Nice. No. And no, you don’t know her.” I answered his questions rapidly, hoping he’d let the subject go.

“What’s her name?” Sebastian persisted.

“Eva.” I decided to keep it simple. He’d be meeting her soon enough, and I was uncomfortable talking about her.

Did it matter if Eva was technically their stepsister? Should they know the truth? I didn’t see why they should. They’d never known, and they’d never met her. She wasn’t blood, so there wasn’t much harm in keeping our flimsy ties a secret. Hell, I hadn’t even completely verified her claim yet, but I was already working on that. I did know that even when I did have proof that she was really our stepsister, I wouldn’t tell them. Dane could never know the truth.

“Do you love her?” Sebastian sounded puzzled.

Jesus Christ! I hated lying to him, even though he’d been a f*cking jerk for a while now. “Yes.” The word slipped from my mouth easily, the lie complete by uttering one single word.

“Damn. She must be hot.”

“She’s smart, kind, and honest.” I said those words without even thinking, knowing them to be the truth. Eva was everything many women in our circles were not. Maybe that was why I had this unholy instinct to f*ck her and protect her at the same time.

“I notice you didn’t say she was hot,” Sebastian mumbled.

“Touch her and I swear I’ll put you in the hospital,” I growled, unable to stop visions of Sebastian acting inappropriately with Eva.

“Holy shit, bro. I think you really are in love. And she really must be beautiful. I might be a dick, but you know I’d never touch another man’s woman, especially my brother’s.” There was some anger in Sebastian’s voice.

Yeah, I knew that. Sebastian had good reason to be testy about the subject. “I know.” But when you’re intoxicated, you’re a different person from the brother I knew and trusted. I didn’t add those thoughts to our conversation.

“Is Dane bringing Britney?”

I recoiled at the mention of her name, not because she meant a damn thing to me anymore, but because Dane was, in fact, bringing the woman I’d once cared about. Neither of my brothers knew I’d been intimate with Britney—in the biblical sense, or why she was now pretending she was madly in love with Dane. I knew she didn’t love my brother because she wasn’t capable of love. Britney was a user, a manipulator.

“He’s bringing her,” I replied flatly.

“Now there’s one hot woman,” Sebastian whistled appreciatively.

Britney was beautiful, but as attractive as a poisonous snake to me now. “On the surface, perhaps she is.”

“Are you jealous?” Sebastian’s voice was more quizzical than teasing.

“No. But I don’t trust that she’s with Dane for the right reasons.” I wanted Sebastian to see the truth for himself since I couldn’t tell him.

“You think she’s jerking his chain? That she only cares about his money?” Sebastian’s voice became clearer, and slightly hesitant.

“I guess we’ll figure that out eventually.” I was noncommittal because I needed to be. “But I don’t trust her.”


“You know something I don’t, Trace?”

“No. It’s just instinct,” I lied.

“The last thing Dane needs is more pain,” Sebastian grumbled. “But it makes sense. Dane is scarred, and it’s going to take a good woman to look beyond that to see who he really is.”

I wished Sebastian hadn’t been telling the truth, but he was. And Dane needed a far better woman than blood-sucking Britney. “We’ll see what happens.” My youngest brother was a far better man than either me or Sebastian. Kinder, gentler, at least he had been in the past.

My plan was to get Britney out of Dane’s life without causing him any heartache, but I wasn’t certain that was possible.

“I gotta go, bro. I ducked out of a party, but there’s a good whiskey calling my name.”

Dammit! I’d do anything to keep Sebastian from drinking himself into oblivion, and a sense of helplessness invaded my gut because of the physical and emotional distance between us. I didn’t want him driving, didn’t want him to get himself killed. Yeah, he was an adult and a dick most of the time, but he was still my brother. “Sebastian, you don’t have to do this. Where are you?”

“Don’t start with the bullshit tonight, Trace. I just wanted to hear your voice.”

The last thing I wanted was to be my brother’s conscience or his moral guide. Fuck, I knew I wasn’t qualified. I just wanted him to be okay. I wanted all of us to be okay.

Truth was, I wanted to hear his voice, too, and I wanted my damn family back.

“See ya in a few weeks.” Sebastian disconnected, and I was left with very few options but to hope I could talk sense into him when he got here.

After slamming the phone back into the charger, frustrated, I got up just as the doorbell rang.

I smiled as I moved toward the door, knowing more deliveries were here, knowing I was going to piss Eva off all over again—if she’d ever gotten over the first time.