“Do not lower your hands,” Ali ordered. “If I think you are reaching for your gun, I will shoot you.”
Okay, obviously, things were tense. And Ali was still in a sheet. A situation that needed to be corrected. He slipped between her and Ramsey.
A furrow immediately appeared between her eyebrows. “What are you doing? Why are you in my line of fire?”
“Because I suddenly got worried that your finger might get twitchy, and it would be awkward as hell if you shot my brother.”
Her eyes flared. “What?”
“Jinx.” A snarl from behind him. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that Ali just learned one of my secrets.” He never took his gaze off her. “I’m thinking that now, she’ll be comfortable leaving me alone in the room with you while she gets her sweet ass dressed.” He offered her a quick smile. “Because he might be pissed at me—he usually is—but Ram won’t hurt me.”
“Don’t be too sure about that,” Ramsey groused. “At the moment, I feel like killing you.”
Ali hadn’t lowered the gun. “If he’s your brother, why go through the show of giving me your gun and having me hold it on him?”
“Well, obviously, because I wanted him to know he couldn’t mess with you.” His head turned toward Ramsey. “She never gets caught in the crossfire, understand? Ali is always off-limits. You don’t touch her, you don’t threaten her, and you don’t let your world come near her.”
Ramsey’s mouth thinned. “Message received. Loud and clear.”
Good.
“Oh. I get it.” Ali grabbed Jinx’s arm and pushed the gun into his hand. “You’re both crazy. Should have just said that from the beginning.” She frowned up at him. “Do not let your brother leave before I get back. It will take me less than a minute to dress, and then I want a full explanation as to why one of the most notorious criminals in the area decided to pay us a late-night visit—and the answer had better be more than just…he’s family.”
Well, he had been planning to lead with that...
Ali scooped up her clothing and hurried for the bathroom. The door shut on the end of her sheet.
Jinx looked down at the gun.
“You can put that away, don’t you think?” Angry. Rough.
He put the gun back in the drawer. Tension still tightened his shoulders. “I didn’t get your texts. I was busy at the time.”
“Busy—fucking the new girl?”
His head snapped up. “Off-limits.” Hadn’t they covered that? He stalked toward his brother. Ramsey held his ground. “Everything about her is off-limits to you.”
“Sure. Because you get to poke your nose into my life, try to tell me how to handle my lady—”
“You don’t have a lady!” Jinx exploded. “You let her go. The best thing to ever happen to you, the first good thing that I can remember—and you let her just slip away!”
Ramsey lunged toward him. “I didn’t let her slip anywhere. She was taken.”
“But she came back,” he snarled.
“And she doesn’t remember a damn thing about me!” Low. Guttural. Pain-filled.
The bathroom door opened.
Jinx realized that it probably appeared as if he and his brother were about to rip each other’s throats out. Fair enough. They both turned and looked toward Ali.
She raised one eyebrow. “Family issue?”
She was dressed. Good. Great.
“How about we take this conversation out of the bedroom and say…to the den? That good with you two? Then we can all sit down and have a nice, civilized discussion that doesn’t involve the two of you attacking each other.” With that, she headed for the bedroom doorway.
Ramsey straightened his shoulders and kept glaring at Jinx. “I won’t be staying. No need for a civilized discussion about anything. Not like you and I have ever been civilized a day in our lives. That shit is for losers.” He stomped after Ali.
Sighing—because his brother was actually right, being civilized was not a strong suit for either of them—Jinx followed in his wake.
But when he got into the den, he saw that Ali was blocking the door—and Ramsey’s obvious intent to exit.
“Nope,” she said ever-so-sweetly with a flutter of her lashes. “Not until I get answers.”
Ramsey’s hands went to his hips. “I’m not super fond of you.”
Jinx tensed. “Ramsey.”
His brother ignored him. “You pop up out of nowhere, and suddenly, Jinx is in danger. Danger that I am sure is tied to you. So, how about you do us all a favor and maybe just pop out of his life?”
Jinx grabbed him. Spun him around. “What the actual fuck?”
“It’s her, isn’t it? I get it now. When you called and said the guy was coming for you, that he was trying to hurt something that was yours, I didn’t put the pieces together. Now, it’s all fitting for me. You know, since I walked in on the aftermath of the two of you and your obvious fuck scene, it’s all fitting into place for—”
Jinx shoved Ramsey against the nearest wall. His forearm pressed to Ramsey’s throat. “Not another word.” Savage. Jinx glared at him. “Blood or not, I will kick your ass. Everyone else in the area might think you’re the boogeyman, but I’m still bigger, still badder, and I will make you cry just like I did when we were kids.”
Ali tapped him on the shoulder. “He’s not wrong.”
“Damn right, I’m not wrong,” Jinx snarled as he shoved his forearm even harder against Ramsey’s throat. “I will make him cry, I will make him beg—”
Ramsey rolled his eyes.
“No, I mean he isn’t wrong. Ramsey isn’t. I did pop back into your life, and now you’re in danger because of me. He also did walk in right after we had sex. I mean, I was wrapped in a sheet. You were naked. All very obvious tells.” Another tap on the shoulder. “So I don’t see why you are attacking him when all the man is trying to do is protect his brother. Seems unnecessary.”
It felt very necessary.
Dammit.
And then—
The front door swung open. No alarm sounded. No beep. Nothing.
Odin stood in the doorway—filled the doorway—and glared at them.
“So much for this place being secure,” Ali mumbled. “I’m thinking we should have just stayed at my condo.”
“I remotely disabled the alarm so I could get in. And I have a key.” Odin shut the door. Took in Jinx and Ramsey. “Figured it had to be him, when you called and wanted the cops to stay back.”
Terrific. Now they were in full-on cluster-fuck mode. “I wanted the cops and you away.” Just for clarification.
Odin inclined his head. “You were protecting your brother. I get it.”
Ramsey swore. “What have you done, Jinx? Hired a skywriter or some shit? Does everyone know about our relationship?”
No, he hadn’t hired a freaking skywriter. “Odin is a PI. He figures stuff out. Uncovers clues. It’s in his job description.”
“I knew long before I started working at Trouble for Hire,” Odin told him. “I trailed you once when you cut away from everyone. Was worried you needed someone to watch your six.” He motioned to Ramsey. “Saw you two meet up.”