Devon and Elz left the room, and Reed and Griffin stared after them. Reed turned his disapproving gaze on me, and I gave him an innocent smile, acting as though I didn’t know a thing. His gaze slid to Jarrett, who in turn looked at me and then back at Reed and then followed my example, allowing an innocent smile to breach his lips. I nearly laughed. I supposed Jarrett felt I knew Reed better than he did. As the saying goes, ‘When in Rome…’

Settling his attention back on me, Reed leaned on his pool cue, accusation written all over his face. “Where’s Hollister tonight, Jaymi? Didn’t he pick you guys up?”

Oh crap! Here we go.

I nodded. “Yes, he did. But he was unable to see us home, taking into account that he got physical with Elz, and Ryder had him thrown out of the club indefinitely. After that—”

“What do you mean, ‘he got physical with Elz’?” Reed’s anger spiked. Tossing his cue stick onto the table, he walked around, moving toward me.

I could see revenge already mounting his features—and Griffin’s, since his actions were the same as Reed’s, and he, too, was closing the space between us. The way they were acting made me think they’d soon be heading out the door, which I could only assume would be to find Grant so they could turn him into dog meat.

“Did he harm her, and she’s hiding it from us?” Reed said.

“No. Thankfully he didn’t have the chance. Devon busted out Grant’s four front teeth after already fighting him once. He warned him not to touch Elz again, but Grant was stupid, as usual, and—”

“What do you mean, touch her again, Jaymi?” Griffin growled, stepping closer. “You’d better tell us.”

Crud!

How could I tell them without telling the truth behind Elz and Grant’s relationship? They’d gut him and feed him to the crows if they knew he’d forced her to stay with him. I knew Elz hid a lot from her brothers because of their protective nature; she was afraid they might do something irrational and end up in trouble because of her, or even possibly ruin their own lives. I couldn’t blame her for that—they both had violent tempers when it came to protecting their family members. However, there didn’t seem to be any way around this. If I didn’t tell them, I knew both Reed and Griffin would march straight to the kitchen to wheedle the truth from Elz. I was pretty sure they wouldn’t like what they might find in there. Besides, Devon had already dealt with Grant; surely they wouldn’t do anything stupid.

Weighing the odds, I decided to go with the lesser of two evils and hoped Elz wouldn’t get mad at me.

Sorry, Elz. But I’m convinced you don’t want them coming to the kitchen. Hopefully, you’ll thank me later.

If Griffin was going to demand that I tell them, then I was going to begin with a demand of my own.

“Well, it’s a long story, but I want you both to promise me you won’t go storming out of here, at least not until you hear all of it. Can you do that?”

Though reluctant, they both agreed, so I went on. “Okay, then. Elz has never loved Grant, and was only with him because he was blackmailing her.” Ignoring the dark scowls on their faces, I took twenty minutes and filled them in on the details Elz had shared with me earlier in Boston Public Garden, excluding the part about Devon haunting her. I then concluded by expounding on the events of the evening at Ryder’s Club, excluding the part about Devon coming through time and already being married to her. I noticed, however, that the more I explained, the more furious Reed and Griffin became.

Being at the other end of their now-livid scowls, I was worried. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they were not only mad at Grant, but at me, also.

Surely not! I didn’t do anything—

“What?” Reed barked, and I jump at the sound of his harsh tone.

Jeez!

“What the hell are you talking about, Jaymi? And why in hell is this the first I’ve heard of it?” He glared at me with a look that said he wanted to shake the living daylights out of me.

Oh boy…

 

 

 

My feet hit the floor, and I was beside Jaymi in a heartbeat, uncompromising defense and possession welling up inside me. Without a second thought, I placed my hand on the back of her neck, staking a protective claim. My eyes made contact with the brothers and moved with warning back and forth between them. I felt the tension within Jaymi’s body and rubbed my fingers in a soothing motion on her neck and within her hairline, assuring her of my guard.

I hadn’t a doubt that Reed and Griffin read my expression and body language loudly and clearly, which was saying in no uncertain terms, Back up!

Griffin seemed as angry as Reed, but getting my message, he took a step back, lowering his tone. “Jaymi, are you saying you knew about this blackmailing thing all along and you never said anything to Reed or me, you just left Elz to deal with it on her own?”

Jaymi brought a shaky hand to her forehead and let out a frozen breath. “My gosh, you guys, you know good and well I wouldn’t have kept something like that from you if I’d known about it. Elz only told me today, and I told her we would have to figure a way to deal with him. I planned to convince her to tell you both and let you deal with him. I had every intention of doing that very thing tomorrow morning. I didn’t expect things to get out of hand tonight the way they did, with him grabbing her and all.”

“And besides,” I cut in, “Devon was there. He would never allow anything to happen to Elz.” Nor would I.

Reed’s gaze cut to mine, where I continued to stand guard beside Jaymi.

“No offense—what was the name, Jarrett?—but we can protect our own sister from scum like Hollister. That is, if she were to confide in us. Now, I don’t want to sound like an ass, but I don’t want my sister falling for that guy in there,”—he jabbed his finger toward the kitchen—“just because he comes off as some knight in shining armor who saw a golden opportunity when she was in a vulnerable position. I appreciate what he did and all, but that doesn’t mean I trust him.”

Reluctant to remove my hand from Jaymi, I had no choice and withdrew it from her neck, allowing it to trail lightly down her spine. I bit back a grin as she stiffened with gooseflesh mounting her arms. But I decided to behave myself when I saw Griffin’s eyes drop to her tightening nipples and his brows go up. His gaze found mine, and I leaned back against the bar, bracing myself on my elbows and addressed Reed’s concern.

“No, I understand. I would feel the same way about my sister, Katharine. Nevertheless, I can assure you that Devon’s intentions are completely honorable. He is a true gentleman of the highest class and has the utmost regard for your sister.”

Neither Reed nor Griffin looked to be buying it.

Jaymi said, “It’s true, guys. To be honest, Elz has known Devon for about six years now, and he’s here in Boston just to see her. If it makes you feel any better, your dad likes him. He’s even invited him, as well as Jarrett, for an extended stay here at Bainbridge. Devon, and this guy towering beside me,”—she jabbed her thumb my way, bringing a smile to my face at how casual she was about my high ranking—“come from a very respectable family. I know Elz only introduced them by their first names, but they’re actually Devon and Jarrett Phoenix of the highly respected Phoenix family in England. Jarrett’s father is the Duke of Seton. So you can both rest assured Devon is not just some guy from a club who saw a golden opportunity.”

Reed’s face morphed into a smile, and he stared at me.

“Hell, I thought you looked familiar, but I figured there was no way. You started racing recently, didn’t you? Jet Phoenix, isn’t it?”

I tipped my head and grinned. “That’s right.”

Reed laughed. “Sebastien Dubois told me you’re giving him some competition.”

Got to love Dubois.

I felt amusement ease into my expression. “You know Seb?”

“Yeah, man. He’s one of my best friends.”

“Well, don’t believe him, he’s lying.” I laughed. “There’s no real competition between us. I have nowhere near his driving talent, but I am having a bit of fun attempting to keep up with him.”

“Yeah, well I think he would say you’re being modest. Evidently, you two are good friends as well, since only his friends call him Seb.”

“Yeah, Jarrett and Seb are good friends,” Jaymi said, answering for me. “Seb talks to me a lot about him.” She looked at me. “But he evidently left a few things out. I had no idea your dad was the Duke of Seton.”

“Seb talks to you about me?” I asked her, wondering why— Wait! Jaymi! This is the down-to-earth American girl that Seb says I need to meet?

“Hold on. So you’re the Jaymi that Seb speaks so highly of?”

Color bloomed in her face. “Does he?”

“He does.” I grinned, thinking of the things Seb had told me, and how badly she wanted to meet me.

I looked at Reed. “Jaymi’s right. Seb and I have become good friends. I met him last year.”

The conversation rolled along, falling into a more relaxed mood as we realized we had a lot in common. We started to enjoy our visit, and the room teemed with a more jovial atmosphere.