Her smile fell. “I don’t know…”
“Melanie, I haven’t told Talon or anyone else what happened to you. We don’t have to talk about that. They already know there’s something between us. It could be that you’re just visiting me today, and I invited you along.”
“Will they mind?”
“You saved my brother’s life. No one will mind. We would all happily buy your meals for the rest of your life.” I smiled, giving her my hand.
She took it, and I pulled her up so she was standing next to me.
“Text them first, and make sure they don’t mind.”
“That’s not necessary, but I will. In the meantime, do you want to change into some jeans or something?”
She nodded. I left the room and texted Talon quickly, and of course he was thrilled to have Melanie come along. In ten minutes, she came out in a pair of jeans, ankle boots, and a pullover top that accentuated her breasts beautifully. Her lips were painted a soft burgundy.
She looked fresh and beautiful. I wanted to grab her and kiss her senseless, but if I did that, we might never get out of here. As much as I wanted her, I couldn’t let Talon down.
I did give her a quick kiss on her burgundy lips. “You look beautiful,” I whispered in her ear.
She clamped up against me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Can’t we just stay here?”
“You know as well as I do that you can’t stay in a hole forever. I will be with you. You know my brother would take a bullet for you, and so would I. We will be perfectly safe in his house.”
She relented, and soon we were on our way. As we got into the car, my phone buzzed again.
Another text from the unknown number.
Chapter Twenty–Two
Melanie
Something was bothering Jonah. He was a little tense, though not nearly as tense as he’d been the previous night with Bryce. I had never been to Talon’s home. As large as Jonah’s house was, the main house seemed twice as big.
My skin warmed as we walked through the foyer, past the grand living room, and into the gourmet kitchen—again, twice as big as Jonah’s, which was bigger than I’d ever seen. The last time I’d seen Talon and Jade I’d been naked, sitting on the side of Jonah’s pool. That had been the day I sneaked out of Jonah’s house, explored downtown Snow Creek, and then traveled home, only to be…
Everything seemed to come back to that. But I had a new lease on life at the moment, something new to explore in Gina’s alleged suicide. Perhaps she had been the victim of the same type of kidnapping that I had been.
And…had I not been a victim myself, would I have even thought to explore the issue further? Most likely not. I hoped I wasn’t exploring in vain.
“Looks like they’re out on the deck,” Jonah said.
I took in a deep breath and followed him outside. I hadn’t bothered to put my boot back on, and I limped a little, but my ankle was quite a bit better.
Jade and Talon I recognized, and two of the others weren’t difficult to pick out. The tall woman with long dark hair was a feminine version of her three brothers, and the other man was…wow. Talon had once told me that Ryan was considered the best-looking and most jovial of all three Steel brothers. He was indeed gorgeous—perfect features, perfect hair, perfect searing brown eyes. And he did have a smile on his face. But I looked toward Jonah. Nothing could compare with his rugged darkness.
Talon smiled as we walked out. “Hey, Joe. Hey, Doc.”
Jonah grabbed my hand. “Melanie, you know Jade and Talon. This is Marjorie, and this is Ryan.” He pointed out his brother and sister, and then he gestured to an older woman sitting at the end of the table, her legs boosted up on another chair. “And this is Jade’s mother, Brooke Bailey.”
Marjorie came up to me first, holding out her hand. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. I can’t thank you enough for…everything.”
I attempted a smile. “Nice to meet you as well.”
Then Ryan came forward. “So you’re this amazing doctor I’ve heard so much about.” He took my hand. “So great to meet you.”
“You too.” Then words failed me. I didn’t really know what to say.
“I hope you’ll pardon me if I don’t get up,” Brooke Bailey said.