Sweet Sinful Nights(91)
That sounded like a damn fine plan.
*
Her grandmother was in the kitchen refilling a pitcher of iced tea. Michael swooped in behind her and grabbed something from the counter.
“Told you we’d get you a wedding gift,” he said, holding up a small white box with a silver bow tied daintily on it.
“I wrapped it,” her grandma chimed in. “That’s why it looks nice.”
“Because you boys don’t know how to wrap gifts,” Shannon said as she reached for the box. “Yet another reason why you all require further domestication,” she said, taking her time to give each of her brothers a steely-eyed, yet playful stare.
“Good luck on that front. Pretty sure I’m not trainable at all,” Ryan said, tucking his thumbs into the belt loops of his shorts.
Shannon patted him on the cheek. “There, there. Every dog can learn.”
“All right, funny girl. Open your gift,” Michael said.
“You know I don’t need anything, right? I hope you didn’t get me a blender,” she said as she removed the silver bow from the box.
“The world’s smallest blender,” Colin joked.
Peering inside, she found soft tissue paper laid on top of something metallic. She folded back the tissue paper to uncover a gorgeous platinum bracelet that matched the rose gold and silver ones she already wore.
“Oh, it’s so pretty,” she said, admiring the simple and elegant design. When she spotted the date engraved in the center, she brought her hand to her heart. “My wedding date.”
“Look at the inside, too. It’s also inscribed,” Michael said, nudging her with his shoulder.
Turning the slender bracelet on its side, she read the engraved script. “To our incredible sister on her happily ever after. We love you, always. Michael, Ryan and Colin.”
A lump rose in her throat, fighting its way free. She clasped a hand over her mouth, as a tear slid down her cheek.
That tear was a declaration. An announcement of their love, their bond, their unbreakableness. Her boys—her men. She wrapped her arms around Michael and Colin, and Ryan jammed his way in, too, for a big group hug.
“I love you guys. So damn much,” she whispered in their huddle.
“We love you,” they all said in unison.
When they pulled apart, Shannon wiped the tears from her cheek, and shot them a wild grin. “Hmm. Now who gets to go next? Michael, Ryan, or Colin?” she said, counting off her brothers as her grandmother laughed. “I have a feeling the next one of us to fall in love will be—”
The doorbell rang, cutting off her prediction.
“I’ll grab that,” her grandmother said, heading to the front door, a few feet away. “Probably my neighbors. I invited them too.”
When she opened the door, there were two men on the front step. One wore a light blue button-down. The other sported a gray striped shirt. Both had ties, loosely knotted, and badges at their waists.
Her spine straightened and her smile erased itself. Shannon did a quick inventory of people, even though she already knew the answer—everyone she loved was safe and sound in the house. Still, her pulse doubled as she and her brothers moved closer to the door, flanking their grandmother.
The guy in the blue button-down spoke. “I’m looking for Victoria Paige. Is she here?”
Her grandmother nodded crisply and held out a hand. “I’m Victoria. What can I do for you?”
He shook her hand. “I’m Detective John Winston with Metro. This is my partner,” he said, but Shannon barely heard the other man’s name as blood pounded in her ears. “We wanted to let you know as the family of the murder victim, that due to new evidence in the homicide of Thomas Paige, the investigation is being reopened.”
THE END
Stay tuned for SINFUL DESIRE, book #2 in the Sinful Nights series, now available for preorder across all retailers! SINFUL DESIRE releases in September and tells the story of Ryan Sloan as he falls in love with the glamorous and brilliant Sophie Winston against the backdrop of the reopened investigation. If you'd like to receive an email when SINFUL DESIRE and other new titles are available, please sign up for my newsletter.
A brief excerpt of SINFUL DESIRE follows.
SINFUL DESIRE
Book 2 in the Sinful Nights series
Chapter One
The light was playing tricks on him.
The golden haze of the late afternoon sun, and its halo glow, was some kind of illusion. No way, no how—it was not possible for anyone to be so gorgeous that she practically shimmered.
Mirage was the more plausible answer to explain the platinum blonde stepping out of the Aston Martin at three o’clock in the afternoon on a Friday in July, looking like she belonged in a gangster movie. The woman they all fought over. The woman who brought the men to their knees.
From the pinup dress, to the pouty lips, to the gleaming car that nearly stretched a city block—or so it seemed—she was…
Glamorous. Sultry. Voluptuous.
His fantasy woman.
No question about it.
This was lust at first sight. Pure, unadulterated lust knocking around in his chest and threatening to make matters in his charcoal gray slacks harder than he needed them to be right now.
But he was willing to deal with that problem because the woman could not be ignored. A groan rolled around in Ryan’s throat as he stared shamelessly over the top of his aviator shades. He walked along the palm-tree lined sidewalk that framed police headquarters, cycling through his best opening lines, even though he had a hunch a woman like that—a woman who wore a black dress with a cherry pattern and bright white sunglasses—had heard them all. Busty and bold enough to pull up to Vegas’ municipal building at midday looking like sin come to life, this woman wasn’t going to be wooed by lines.