“I missed you too, baby.” Eve grinned as the little girl stared back at her with eyes an odd mix of green and gray. The world would label the color hazel, but there was no way such a tame description could describe it. At any time, there were at least two shades of green playing with the unusually dark gray color.

“I’m gonna go play with Bliss now.” She jumped around like a little Mexican jumping bean on caffeine. “Love you, Auntie Eve.”

“Love you, baby.” Eve smiled back at her, watching as she skipped off, the pretty summer dress she wore bouncing around her.

At that second, the possibility of being pregnant slammed into her so hard, Eve lost her breath.

Pressing her hand to her stomach, she looked around wildly, desperate to escape now, to find someplace to think, to ache in peace.

Someplace where so many people weren’t around her and possibly watching her.

Entering the quiet house, Eve moved through the kitchen, remembering the years that the reunion had been held in the house, and the kitchen had been brimming with people, laughter, and food.

It had quickly outgrown the house, though—so much so that Grandpa Ray and his “boys” had gone in together and built the backyard kitchen, with its huge grill, gas stove, and a sink so big Eve had teased them that it could double as a tub.

The whole thing was built under a massive gazebo-style shelter with a fireplace at one end and sliding windows that allowed the whole interior to be open to the yard in the summer to catch the breeze that rolled out of the mountains. In the winter it could be enclosed and, with the warmth of the fireplace, made a wonderful gathering area.

Moving to the living room and sitting on the sofa, she slipped her sandals from her feet and curled her legs beside her. Resting her head in the corner of the furniture Eve stared into the shadowed room as she closed her eyes and fought her tears.

She’d been crying for a week and she was tired of it. She hated it.

Not that fighting the tears often did her any good. Just as they did now, there were those tears that escaped her control and eased down her cheek.

“I’ll have to kill him if he’s the reason you’ve been crying for a week.” Dawg’s declaration had her eyes flying open as she quickly swiped the tears from her cheek.

“I can’t talk to you yet,” she whispered, refusing to look at him.

She couldn’t look at him. She felt too guilty. She’d made a promise, and no matter what he’d done, that didn’t change the fact that she had broken her word to him.

Dawg let out a hard breath and a second later she felt him sit down beside her.

Leaning forward, his big hands clasped between his spread legs, he stared at the floor thoughtfully.

“Do you hate me now, little sister?”

Swinging her head around, she stared at him in surprise. “Hate you? For what? Caring enough for me that you tried to protect me?” She sniffed back more tears. “Wouldn’t that just make me more awful than I already feel I am?”

Her voice was hoarse with the effort to hold back her emotions as she watched him, despising herself for the brooding look she saw in his eyes.

Finally he shook his head slowly. “You’re not an awful person at all, Eve,” he seemed to chide her gently. “What would make you think you are?”

Her breathing hitched as she pushed back a sob. “I lied to you. I didn’t mean to, but I gave you my word and I broke it. I broke it and I blamed you for my own guilt when I knew, you may not have been able to explain why, but you were only trying to protect me.”

His brows lowered, his expression becoming dangerously still.

“Eve, do you think I’d hold that against you?”

She couldn’t maintain his look. Turning away, she whispered, “One of the few things asked is that we not betray family.” She shrugged. “I lied . . .”

“And I think I’ll kill Brogan and just have it done with,” he threatened as her gaze swung back to him. “Because it’s obvious that falling in love with him has somehow weakened your mind.”

Never let it be said that Dawg Mackay was afraid to state his opinion.

Eve shook her head in confusion. “I promised . . .”

“Pretty much because I manipulated you into that promise and exerted as much guilt as I could to ensure you made it.” He snorted. “Eve, sweetheart, you can’t let the people you love do this to you.” Reaching out, he wiped a tear from her face as his expression eased. “Honey, I never blamed you for breaking your promise. Hell, I knew you would break it.”

“Then why did you come to the cabin?”

“Because the night before, someone had broken into your room and trashed it maybe?” He sighed. “It took several hours for me to find out you had left with Brogan. He wasn’t answering his phone, and yours was going straight to voice mail. No one knew where the two of you were or where Brogan planned to go. If it hadn’t been for Timothy and the fact that he knew the location of the cabin, then I would have driven myself wild thinking that you were hurt, or worse.”

Lips parted, Eve stared back at him in surprise. “I hadn’t known about my room until I returned home.”

“I was going to tell you before you left the cabin.” He sighed. “It’s just . . . Hell, sis, I took one look at Brogan that morning and I knew you’d slept with him. Then all I could think was, ‘That bastard was sleeping with my baby sister.’ Sometimes I forget you’re an adult. I still see that wary, uncertain teenager who watched me with that sure and certain knowledge I was going to let her and her family fend for themselves.”

Eve looked away from him.

She’d been terrified when she’d returned home to find her suite trashed. So terrified she’d accepted her mother’s offer to move into the extra bedroom above the inn.

She was still in that bedroom.

“Come on; you’re not crying because you broke a promise I knew you’d never be able to keep,” he chided.

She was almost amused. Sliding a sideways look toward him, she caught the concerned look on his face.

“Then why did you ask me to promise, Dawg?” She didn’t know how to feel about anything this week. Or how to deal with such strong, stubborn men.

“Because I was fighting to find a way to protect you, Eve.” He reached back and rubbed his neck with an air of weariness. “I could see what was going on between you and Brogan. I’ve watched it building between the two of you, and when I saw it was going to happen, and it was going to happen soon, I needed time to finish some things.”

Did he know?

Her eyes narrowed on him. “What are you talking about?”

He sat back on the sofa and watched her quietly. “I know Brogan’s an agent for DHS, Eve. I suspected at first, but then I knew what he was doing here. You don’t have to keep that secret for him, from me.”

“I never asked to be told.” She picked at a loose thread on the knee of her jeans as her throat thickened with emotion. “Is he okay?”

“Why do you ask?”

“He’s not been at the inn in a few days,” she revealed. “I was just wondering.”

“You’ve been worried as hell,” he corrected her. “Timothy says you’ve been pacing your bedroom.”

She shrugged again. “I was just wondering.”

“He had some things to take care of in D.C.,” he told her. “He should be back in a few more days, from what I understand.” Thank God.

Eve felt a sense of relief expand inside her. She hadn’t realized how worried she had been until Dawg had confirmed that Brogan was okay.

“Do you love him, Eve?” he asked, his gaze so heavy she felt her lips tremble.

“Does it matter?” She had asked herself that question all week.

“You don’t think it does?”

“It didn’t seem to matter to him.” A bitter laugh escaped past her lips as the ache in her chest echoed to her soul. “He had a job to do. I was a way to do that job.”

“Hmm,” Dawg murmured. “I guess that was why he waited two and a half years to do it, if that’s true? Strange, if I knew that there was an asset that could help me solve a case, I believe I’d be on her ass first thing out.”