Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Brady's knee bounced incessantly from his perch in Tristan's office while he waited for Riley's call with Fiona to connect.

All week, he'd had this niggling sensation something was coming. Between the frequent dreams of Kaida and the restlessness in his gut, he was ready to bust his seams. And to learn she was not only real, but here on the island was an oh-shit of epic proportions.

"Hey, Fi. It's Riley."

Brady exchanged a worried glance with Tristan across the desk.

"Great, you?" Riley nodded. "Listen, I'm with my brothers. Can I put you on speaker? Thanks." He pulled the phone from his ear and tapped the screen. "Okay, Fi. You've got all three of us."

"Hey, boys. How goes it?" Fiona Galloway's sultry voice slithered into the enclosed room like a fog. For as long as Brady could recall, she had a way of getting a man to stand at attention just by moving her lips.

Tristan leaned forward, elbows on the desk. "We had a guest check in today. She has an interesting last name. Anything you want to tell us?"

"Not particularly."

Brady got up and paced, unable to sit still any longer. Leave it to Fiona to play a cat and mouse game. He would've sworn the woman was a reincarnation of Holly Golightly, but this wasn't a Capote novel, no matter her resemblance to Hepburn. He so didn't have the patience for her right now.

"Cut the crap, Fiona." Tristan's hard jaw ticked. "Who is Kaida Galloway?"

"So testy." She clicked her tongue. "Maybe it's time to switch to decaf. Perhaps a rose quartz crystal in your work space to relieve tension? We sell them at the shop."

Tristan hissed through his teeth, eyes seething, but Riley made a slashing motion with his hand to shut him up.

"Hey, Fi. We're just wondering, that's all. The Galloways don't typically check into the hotel if you get family on the island to visit. Is she a cousin or something?"

"Or something." Glib, Fiona's middle name.

Brady wore tread patterns on Tristan's carpet while his oldest brother shoved a hand through his hair as if wanting to yank it out.

"I'm sending Aunt Mara over sometime today to pick up Kaida's things. She's checking out. Charge the room to our store if it's a problem."

There went Brady's back-up plan to knock on Kaida's hotel room door tonight. Not that he had any clue what he'd planned to do once she answered.

"What's going on, Fi? Come on, talk to me." Riley scratched his jaw. "What's with all the cloak and dagger?"

Ever the peacemaker. For the first time in memory, Brady was glad of Riley's remote friendliness with the sisters.

A resigned, long-winded sigh emitted through the speaker. "We do need to chat, the six of us. Soon." She paused, and Brady's ulcers grew ulcers. "Let's just say it's of grave importance that we do. Tomorrow night. Seven o'clock. The clearing in the woods. That way we're out of eyesight from islanders. Oh, and Tristan? Leave your attitude at home."

Riley frowned at his phone, then shoved it in his pocket. "Well, that was informative."

"Attitude, my ass. I'm not the one who can't answer a basic damn question." Tristan shoved both hands in his hair this time and fisted the strands. "I absolutely will not meet them there, either. No way in hell."

"Afraid she's gonna turn you into a frog?"

"Enough." Brady dragged a deep breath into his lungs, unsure how he was going to make it thirty hours before he got answers. He didn't need his brothers fighting on top of it. "If she's not their cousin, who is she?"

They stared at one another, three mute idiots with no direction.

"You've seen her. We haven't." Riley's throat bobbed in a swallow. "Any resemblance to Fiona or Ceara?"

Brady conjured Kaida to mind, all the times he'd encountered her in dreams and the brief blip he'd caught of her outside the library. She had caramel blonde hair, unlike Fiona's dark brown waves or Ceara's auburn ringlets. Her eyes weren't quite the same shade, but they were blue. The nose and...

"Crap." Brady closed his lids, fought a wave of dizziness. "Blue eyes, same nose, and the same mouth." He looked at his brothers. "Those unmistakable Galloway lips. Aside from her hair and a different facial shape, she could be..." He left the ridiculous statement hanging.

"On my sword collection, if you were thinking sister, I might kill you." Riley waited, staring, staring. But Brady couldn't deny the accusation. "Oh Jesus."

"Praying's not going to help." Tristan set his fists on the desk and leaned into them. "They don't have a sister. We'd know if they did."

"Would we?" Riley stood and paced to the window. "Because they're so forthcoming with info, right? Our families are thick as thieves, open as a book with one another."

Tristan's face registered a four out of five on the touché scale. "Where's she been all this time, then? For all we know, she's an uncle's friend's cousin's former maid."

Riley rolled his eyes. "Who just so happens to look like Fiona and Ceara?"

"We'll find out tomorrow." Brady rubbed the dull ache in his chest. "The clearing is neutral territory, and we're all going." He shook his head when Tristan opened his mouth to argue. "All three of us, we're going. Something is wrong. You know it. I know it. If you want to deny it, fine. Do so after the meeting."

His cell pinged a text. He glanced at the message from his assistant Jessica and frowned.

You're needed at the courthouse renovation. Something about cornice pieces.

"I have to go." Brady glanced at Riley, then Tristan. "If for no other reason, do it for me. I need you there and I need answers." His brother's eyes softened in reserved understanding. "I was a kid when I first saw her. Think about that, about how crazy this seems. Man, Tristan. She wasn't a dream, after all."

Shoulders slumped, Tristan moved around the desk and pulled Brady to him for a quick hug. "I'm sorry. You're right. I'll be there for you. Of course, I will." He grabbed Brady's shoulders. "If either one of them turns me into a frog, though, you're stuck running the hotel. Remember that."

Brady laughed. And just like that, his world righted. All their lives, it had been them three against the world. All he ever had to do was turn, and one of his brothers was there. They razzed each other and had very different personalities, yet they clicked. There wasn't anyone he loved or trusted more.

"Thank you." Brady hugged Riley, too, for the hell of it, then walked to the door. "I'll see you at home later."

For now, he had work to do, and he was eternally grateful for it. Anything to keep his mind off a certain blonde. Or curses. Or dreams turned reality.

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